By the time Kuzan, Momonga, and the others arrived at the western coast, the battle was already over.

Corpses of pirates lay scattered around Yoriichi's feet, while countless others had fallen unconscious not far away. Standing in the center of it all, Yoriichi's face and body were soaked in blood. His black training uniform, bathed in sunlight, had taken on a dark crimson hue.

He was breathing heavily, his aura still brimming with [Haki], and his long, blood-colored hair whipped wildly in the sea breeze. The moment he sensed someone approaching, Yoriichi turned his head. The sheer killing intent in his eyes made Momonga and Binci flinch instinctively.

"Yoriichi!"

"What happened here?!"

Even Kuzan was startled by Yoriichi's gaze. He quickly called out, his voice filled with concern. Only then did Yoriichi's expression begin to soften.

He had been completely immersed in the fight with the pirates, his sense of vigilance stretched to the limit. So when he saw Kuzan and the others, it took him a moment to fully pull himself out of that combative mindset. After hearing Kuzan's voice, he slowly came back to himself.

"Oh, nothing much."

"Just ran into a few pirates."

Yoriichi leaned on his sword to support himself, clearly exhausted. Fighting Golden Lion Shiki hadn't drained him as much as clearing out the remnants of Shiki's crew. That had taken real effort.

The pirates Shiki had recruited were no ordinary lackeys. Not only were they powerful, but many of them also possessed strange and unpredictable Devil Fruit abilities that had made the battle extremely tricky.

Yoriichi had known Shiki's abilities well—his Devil Fruit powers and swordsmanship were familiar territory. But when facing a mob of weird pirates with bizarre tricks, he had to stay on high alert, fearing some unexpected ability might catch him off guard.

In this sea, no matter how strong one is, they're never immune to ambushes and underhanded tactics.

Whitebeard and Garp, after all, would certainly have some words to say on that topic.

"A few pirates?"

Momonga was left speechless by Yoriichi's nonchalant tone. He scanned the battlefield and did a rough count—just the number of fallen pirates, dead or unconscious, must have numbered in the thousands!

And this was a few?

Even with a casual glance, Momonga spotted several familiar faces. He vaguely recalled that a few of the pirates now lying at Yoriichi's feet had bounties exceeding 100 million berries.

"Is that… Golden Lion Shiki??"

While Momonga was surveying the carnage, Binci suddenly let out a cry of shock as he noticed something incredible.

Kuzan and the others turned to look. Binci was frozen, staring blankly at a golden-haired head lying on the ground in the distance. Kuzan focused his gaze, then quickly strode forward with his men. He knelt and gently turned the head with his hand, revealing a terrifyingly familiar face.

"Yoriichi?" Kuzan whipped his head around, looking at Yoriichi with disbelief.

"Yes. It's him."

Yoriichi's calm confirmation left the Marines stunned and speechless.

Golden Lion Shiki was dead.

Looking at the gruesome battlefield, Kuzan had reason to believe that not only was Shiki dead, but his entire pirate crew might've been completely wiped out as well.

A legendary pirate and his entire crew… destroyed by Yoriichi alone?

Logic told Kuzan this was impossible. But the evidence before him left no room for doubt.

Soon, Momonga and the others began examining the pirate corpses. After checking only a few bodies, they started to realize the full scale of what Yoriichi had done.

At his feet alone, they counted over a dozen pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million berries.

"This is just… insane."

"Yoriichi, how badly are you hurt?"

Kuzan had wanted to ask what exactly had happened here, but he stopped himself. After all, Yoriichi had just been through an intense battle. His injuries should take priority.

Surely he must be badly wounded after something like this?

"Just a few superficial cuts. Nothing serious."

Once again, Yoriichi's reply left Kuzan silent.

After a long pause, Kuzan exhaled heavily and turned to the others.

"Notify the branch. Have Kyros bring men to clean up the battlefield."

"There are still plenty of unconscious pirates. Shackle them and take them back to the branch for imprisonment."

"Sort out the pirates by bounty. Make a full report and send it to me—I'll forward it to Marine Headquarters."

Kuzan's shock was immense, but once he regained his composure, he issued orders decisively. Yoriichi added, "Quite a few pirates escaped. They've infiltrated the town."

"Kuzan, I need you to lead the search personally."

Kuzan's expression hardened, and he nodded firmly.

Soon, Momonga contacted Kyros at the G-ICE branch. Kyros arrived at the west coast with several hundred Marines and began escorting pirates to the branch prison.

During this process, some pirates who had regained consciousness tried to resist. A few even managed to kill some recruits before being swiftly taken down by Kuzan.

Despite having both Kuzan and Yoriichi present, there were still many complications during the prisoner transfer.

Among the pirates knocked out by Yoriichi's [Conqueror's Haki], several were Devil Fruit users. G-ICE was a newly established branch, and their supply of Seastone handcuffs was extremely limited. As a result, some pirates managed to escape en route, and a few Marines lost their lives.

Kuzan was furious when he heard this. He wanted to execute the remaining pirates on the spot. But thanks to Momonga and Binci's intervention, he didn't go through with it. Instead, he personally took charge of the escort.

This made the subsequent transfers much smoother.

A few days later, the battlefield was fully cleaned, and the results of Yoriichi's actions were tallied.

Aside from the most notorious target—Golden Lion Shiki—Yoriichi had either killed or captured eight pirates with bounties over 500 million berries, and several dozen with bounties over 100 million.

A report that could shake the entire world was delivered to Marine Headquarters, signed by Kuzan himself.

Night.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

It was past midnight, but Fleet Admiral Kong's office was brightly lit.

The report from the G-ICE branch now lay on his desk. Kong sat in silence, unmoving.

On the sofas before him, Zephyr and Garp were lounging in single chairs. Zephyr had his arms crossed, grinning silently. Garp was stuffing donuts into his mouth, sipping tea between bites, secretly enjoying the atmosphere.

Across from them, Sengoku and Tsuru sat as well, but unlike the two relaxed veterans, they held copies of the report in their hands, scanning each page carefully.

"Fleet Admiral…"

"With results like these…"

"Should we… promote him to Admiral?"

After a long silence, Sengoku was the first to finish reading. He looked at Kong, gauging his reaction, and suddenly asked the question.

At those words, Zephyr and Garp's smiles grew even wider. Kong, however, cast Sengoku a speechless glance and countered bluntly:

"You think that's even possible?!"

"If this had happened without… prior incidents, with accomplishments like this, promoting him to Admiral would've been a given! Who would've objected?"

"But now, do you really think it's possible?!"

Kong slammed the table, shouting in frustration.

He suspected Sengoku was messing with him—though he had no proof.

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100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter

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