Zephyr looked at the photograph of the little girl in his hand and smiled. "She’s very beautiful."

He handed the photo back to Hillber.

Snapping back to his senses, Hillber carefully accepted it and tucked it away as though handling some priceless treasure, obvious pride filling his voice.

"Right?"

At this moment, after receiving the latest order, the fleet had already begun changing course.

Watching the massive fleet turn across the sea and surge forward at full speed, Zephyr asked, "Did they find the pirates?"

Hillber’s expression finally became more serious. "That’s right. Just now, one of our fleets west of Wano was destroyed.

"According to the last message received by Headquarters, it was the remnants of the Beasts Pirates led by Jack the Drought. They have dozens of pirate ships and their target is suspected to be the final End Point island.

"That should be the Beasts Pirates’ last remaining main force."

Pirates were different from the Marines. Each ship might carry fewer people than a Marine vessel, but they made up for it with sheer numbers...

Still, the Marines were not helpless either. Once they caught up, they could first unleash long-range bombardment from afar. Against concentrated artillery fire, those aging pirate ships would likely be destroyed in large numbers before the real battle even began.

After that, it would come down to the battle between strong fighters.

At worst, both sides would destroy each other together.

Zephyr slowly nodded with a grave expression. "End Point... then we really do need to catch them quickly. If they manage to detonate it, then all the sacrifices made until now will have been meaningless."

Suddenly, Hillber burst into laughter. "No problem. No need to worry. Hahahahahaha!"

For some reason, his expression became rather strange.

"Those stupid pirates won’t succeed. Just now, Commander-in-Chief Morris informed me that the magma beneath End Point had already been drained away by Fleet Admiral Sakazuki long ago.

"The destruction of the second End Point island was also just an act. All we need to do is catch up to the remnants of the Beasts Pirates and stay behind them. We’ll pretend our warships don’t have enough firepower and slowly wear them down.

"If their target truly is End Point, then they probably won’t turn around to counterattack. They’ll want to reach it as quickly as possible since they can’t catch us anyway.

"By the time they finally reach the last End Point island, even if half of those pirate ships aren’t destroyed, at least one-third of them will be gone. It’ll make the battle easier."

Even though he said "easier," his words were still filled with determination...

Zephyr slowly let out a breath. "So that’s how it is. Sakazuki really deceived the entire world."

Hillber’s tone held nothing but admiration. "Yeah. Fleet Admiral Sakazuki truly is..."

There were no words left to describe it.

Perhaps from the very moment the war began, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki had already planned for this day.

What terrifying foresight... 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Zephyr gazed into the distance and smiled faintly. "That’s good too. Now this old man can fight without holding back."

Beside him, the blue-haired Ain frowned slightly, unable to hide the worry in her eyes. "Zephyr-sensei..."

Zephyr, who had been staring out at the sea, turned around.

Thinking about Hillber’s earlier words, he suddenly felt somewhat relieved.

How could life possibly be without regrets?

But perhaps some regrets did not need to exist...

Zephyr smiled and looked at the worried Ain. "Do you still need to call me sensei now?"

Ain froze. "Eh?!"

Before she could react, Hillber beside them burst into laughter, grinning as he looked at her.

Seeing the smile on his face, Ain finally realized what Zephyr meant. Her face instantly turned red as she looked toward him and stammered, "F-Father..."

Zephyr smiled with deep satisfaction. "Mm."

There was a trace of emotion in his voice as he sighed softly. "I may not be able to attend your wedding with Soter anymore, so I’ll accept this ’father’ in advance. When I get down there later, I’ll have to properly tell your mother that Soter found himself a wonderful wife."

An unconscious gentle smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as though he were recalling old memories.

From the very beginning of this war, Zephyr had never intended to return alive.

For him, quietly dying of old age in bed was something he could never accept. And the older he became, the more he missed the people from the past.

Especially after his son grew up. Once the fledgling bird was finally ready to spread his wings and fly on his own, the Zephyr who had poured all the love born from longing for his wife and guilt toward his son into Soter suddenly found his heart becoming empty.

Many nights, he would sit alone beside the bed holding his wife’s photograph, sleepless until dawn.

Now, his son had also found a good wife, and it was even the student Zephyr himself had watched grow up all these years.

The moment Ain called him "father," the final burden lingering in Zephyr’s heart quietly disappeared.

There were no regrets left anymore...

* * *

Beneath the Red Line, ten thousand meters under the sea.

ROOOOAR!!!

ROOOOAR!!!!

ROOOOAR!!! ROOOOAR!!!!

The anxious cries of ancient beasts echoed throughout the endless darkness of the deep sea.

These were the voices of the ancient Sea Kings communicating with one another.

Several supermassive Sea Kings, each thousands of meters long, were gathering together as they sped through the deep sea toward Fish-Man Island. Their colossal bodies moved like living mountains beneath the ocean, stirring violent currents that churned through the darkness wherever they passed.

"Something is wrong!"

"Faster!!"

"Our king is in danger!!!"

Their voices continuously echoed through the dark sea.

These supermassive Sea Kings were the very beings that had waited for hundreds of years for the ancient weapon known as the "god," Poseidon, to be reborn.

And the true form of Poseidon was actually a mermaid princess born only once every eight hundred years, a princess capable of communicating directly with Sea Kings.

She could command these Sea Kings that stretched thousands of meters long, as well as the endless sea beasts across the oceans. With ease, she could destroy the world... or save it...

These Sea Kings had existed since ancient times. Their incredibly long lives had gradually granted them a mysterious form of perception...

Just like during the era when Gol D. Roger ruled the seas, they had already foreseen the birth of the king.

And now... they had foreseen the king’s death!!!!

No!!!!

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