Chapter Ninety-Three: The Battle Ends

“Hey—”

Rolan turned, his face deathly pale, and came to Touqi’s side with a faint smile.

In the end, he had won.

But the battle was not yet completely over.

He lifted his eyes toward the Marines who had deliberately kept their distance and were still slaughtering one another, then hoisted Touqi’s body and staggered toward them step by step.

The mastermind was already dead. As for the others, he no longer wished to add to the killing.

After all, they were fundamentally different from pirates. Even if they had merely obeyed Touqi like mindless puppets, they were still Marines from Headquarters. In the presence of the Headquarters brass, Rolan believed they did not have the胆 of running wild.

More importantly, he was now one of the Navy himself. If he wanted to successfully poach people from within the Navy, he could not do things that would give others cause to criticize him.

“One-Sword Style, Iai: Lion’s Requiem—”

With Zoro’s roar, Touqi’s hulking fat lieutenant swayed for a moment, then slowly collapsed.

“We’ve finally won.”

Penglis, too, was battered and bloodied. Looking at the fat lieutenant lying on the ground, he let out a miserable laugh.

But when he turned and saw Rolan over there, that pained smile froze at once.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, afraid that what he was seeing was only an illusion.

Yet that slowly approaching figure was utterly real.

He had expected Rolan not to be able to defeat Touqi. After all, one was a colonel, while the other was a vice admiral, one of the strongest fighters in the Navy beneath the admirals.

Just now, he and Zoro had fought with all they had, hoping to end this as quickly as possible so they could go help Colonel Rolan.

But the sight before him made him feel as though he were dreaming.

Why?

He knew Colonel Rolan was strong. He knew Rolan could easily defeat Colonel Smoker. But that was still no reason he could defeat a vice admiral from Headquarters.

Even if Rolan looked weak now, as though a single gust might knock him over, he had still won.

“Rolan, is it over?”

Zoro also saw Rolan and grinned, utterly unconcerned by the wounds on his body.

“Not quite over yet.”

Rolan glanced at the Marines still fighting in the distance and shook his head.

“Touqi is dead?”

Penglis was still somewhat dazed, unable to believe what he saw.

“Come on. Let’s go finish this for real.”

Rolan led the two of them toward the Marines.

When they reached the middle of the Marine formation, Rolan flung Touqi’s corpse to the ground, and before he even had to say a word, everyone fell still.

After a long moment, the Marines under his command burst into cheers, while the Marines under Touqi stood there ashen-faced and silent.

The outcome was already obvious. Their immediate superior, Vice Admiral Touqi, had actually been defeated by a colonel who had only just joined the Navy, and had even died by his hand.

It was all over.

A battle that should never have happened had come and gone with equal speed.

At that moment, the Marines under Touqi felt how ridiculous they had been, especially their vice admiral.

They had waited so long in the Calm Belt, only to gain not vengeance, but ruin.

And they themselves had once been elite officers of Naval Headquarters, with bright futures and promising prospects, only to end up facing imprisonment.

No matter how many merits they had earned in the past, the single charge of attacking fellow Marines from Headquarters was enough to erase everything that came before.

Even the Marines who had died in this battle would not be able to receive the death benefits they deserved.

Leaning against a mast, Rolan watched the Marines cleaning the battlefield and shook his head with a wry smile.

This was all because of him. If he had not had Smoker quietly eliminate Captain Mouse, none of this would have happened, and these Marines who had willingly fought beside him would not have died.

But if he were given the chance to start over, he would still make the same choice.

Only then, he would make sure to raise his own strength first, and end this battle before it even began.

Not like now, when he had won at great cost, and many of the Marines below him had died as well.

“Report to Colonel Rolan: in this battle, 127 comrades were killed, 89 were seriously wounded, and 567 suffered minor injuries.”

“Apart from the combat personnel, nearly everyone else was injured as well.”

“Among the enemy, including Vice Admiral Touqi and his lieutenant, 76 were killed, 156 were seriously wounded, 238 lightly wounded, and 897 were captured.”

Holding a report, Penglis came to Rolan’s side and delivered his report in a low voice.

After listening, Rolan gave a light smile, took the report, and while reading it, said with self-mockery, “When I used to read history books, the numbers written there about how many people died because of this or that always seemed like nothing more than figures on a page.”

“But now, after seeing those bodies with my own eyes, I finally understand how heavy those few lines in a history book can be.”

“How does the Navy usually handle Marines who die in action? How much is the death gratuity? If it’s not enough, I’ll personally add another hundred million berries. Make sure their families are properly cared for.”

“Even if they didn’t die fighting pirates, they still gave their lives in the name of justice.”

Hearing this, Penglis abruptly snapped to attention and saluted Rolan. “Colonel Rolan, I believe that if the warriors in heaven knew what you are doing now, they would be deeply moved.”

He did not ask where that hundred million berries had come from.

No matter where the money came from, there were far too few senior officers willing to reach into their own pockets as Colonel Rolan was doing.

Rolan only shook his head. “I don’t need them to be moved. This is what they deserve. You could even say I owe them. No matter how much money there is, it’s only dead matter. Once a person is gone, they are truly gone. Compared with what they did for me, what is a hundred million berries worth?”

With that, he folded the report and tucked it into his chest. Then, as if remembering something, he rose from the deck and gazed out at the distant sea.

“If we set out now, how long until we can reach Marineford at the earliest?”

“At our current speed, we should arrive tonight,” Penglis thought for a moment before answering.

“Too slow. Bring the prisoners over and go at full speed. I want to enter the harbor of Marineford before sunset.”

Rolan’s voice turned hard. “Also, lay the bodies of our Marines out on the deck. When we enter the harbor, replace every flag with a white one. There must be no insignia left.”

“What are you planning to do?”

Penglis asked worriedly.

“I want Fleet Admiral Sengoku to see how the Marines under my command died.”

Rolan narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know how many loyalists Touqi still has in Marineford, or how many friends he has at Headquarters. But as long as even one of them is still hiding in the shadows, neither I nor any of you will have peaceful days ahead.”