One Piece: Silent-Silent Fruit

"Then let's begin! Your mission is to break in through the main gate and pin down the Navy's main force. If the Navy sends out its elite combatants, our Bloodsworn Guards will assist you in battle," said Bins solemnly.

"His Majesty made it clear: your mission is the most difficult of all. You'll be taking on the bulk of the Navy's forces. If any of you are afraid, there's still time to back out. Retreating now is no shame. But once you step onto the battlefield—without His Majesty's order, there is no such thing as retreat!" Bins' voice was sharp and commanding.

"Rest assured, without His Majesty's order, I won't take a step back. My Second Unit has no cowards!" bellowed Raelmann with a fierce grin.

"You can also rest assured," Bins added, "When the time comes, His Majesty and the Vice-Captain will personally step in to hold back the Navy's top fighters."

"Well then, what's there to be afraid of? As long as you can keep the Admirals and higher occupied, even if the Navy sends ten times our numbers, they won't scare us Second Unit folks," Raelmann said, raising his weapon high.

"Good. Then let's begin." Bins nodded, the order given.

...

Back at Navy HQ, the calm of the command tower was shattered as a Marine burst through the doors in panic.

"Admiral! It's bad! A large force of pirates is charging in through the front gate!"

"What arrogance! They're attacking head-on through the main gate?" Sengoku shot to his feet, completely caught off guard.

At that very moment, Raelmann stepped out from a spatial rift at the Navy's front gate, his eyes locking onto the towering central building of Navy Headquarters. A cold smile curled on his lips as he raised his hand in the shape of a gun and mimed pulling the trigger.

"Charge!"

"Kill!"

The warriors of the Second Unit surged forward like a tidal wave, howling as they stormed toward the heart of Marineford.

Sengoku had envisioned countless possible ways Rosinante might launch his attack. Yet never had he expected they would brazenly charge in through the front door. That gate was the very face of Navy Headquarters. Even after deploying troops across various posts in anticipation of an assault, the front gate still had the majority of the Navy's forces stationed there. It should have been the last place anyone would attack.

And yet the Gray Kingdom had chosen to strike there.

There was only one explanation—they were outrageously confident in their strength.

With their spatial transportation abilities, the Gray Kingdom could have chosen any number of ways to infiltrate. But they chose to fight head-on. That could only mean one thing: they truly believed they could overpower the Navy in open combat.

Such brazen arrogance!

Sengoku's face twisted with fury. To him, this was a direct insult—a declaration that the Navy was nothing to fear.

He stormed out onto the high platform of Navy HQ and looked out over the sea of pirates charging through the main gate. Since the Navy had not been fully prepared, they were being pushed back rapidly by the onslaught of the Gray Kingdom troops.

"Unforgivable... they've gone too far!"

Behind Sengoku stood Fleet Admiral Kong and the gathered Vice Admirals stationed at HQ, all with faces like thunderclouds.

"Fleet Admiral Kong, Admiral Sengoku! The pirates have broken through the first line of defense!" a sweating officer reported.

"What? How could they break through so quickly? What the hell are you all doing?!" Kong roared.

"They have snipers," the officer stammered, "They're targeting our commanding officers. Every time we try to organize a defense or counterattack, the snipers take out our lieutenants and captains. Their rifles are devastating—perfect accuracy against anyone below major rank. Even majors and above are being pinned down. Without leadership, our formations collapse. The soldiers are falling back in chaos!"

Kong's expression darkened even further.

"These... these are the elite soldiers of Navy HQ? Running from pirates like scared dogs?" he growled through gritted teeth.

Beside him, Sengoku's face was now deadly serious.

What made Navy HQ soldiers stronger than regular troops wasn't just power—it was discipline and structure. Lieutenants led platoons, captains led companies. These low- and mid-ranking officers were the backbone of the Navy's command and coordination in battle. If they were taken out, the whole army would be like a snake with its head cut off—no direction, just panic.

A devastating tactic, Sengoku thought, eyes flashing with insight.

And it was not something the Navy could easily replicate. First, pirates usually fought in disorganized mobs—killing a few lieutenants wouldn't break their lines. Second, even if the Navy wanted to try it, they didn't have nearly enough precision sniper rifles with this kind of power.

They were being systematically targeted.

"This is a decapitation strike," Sengoku said grimly. "We've been blindsided by an elite army trained for war. These are not your average pirates. We can't treat them as such."

Hearing that, Fleet Admiral Kong's rage finally simmered into grim focus.

"Reform the defense lines immediately. We cannot let them storm through our front gate like this!"

"Raise the inner defense wall! Regroup the retreating forces and hold the line!" Sengoku barked.

"Defense wall?" a captain asked in confusion, "But they're already inside the outer wall..."

"That's the outer ring," Sengoku snapped. "It's meant to stop assaults from the sea. There's still an inner defensive wall in front of the central tower."

"The inner wall? Right!" The captain blinked—he'd barely heard mention of it before. No wonder. That inner wall had never been raised before since its installation.

"But even if we raise it now, the first line is already lost. Plenty of pirates must have slipped past into the inner zone," a Vice Admiral noted.

"Exactly why we need to raise it now," Sengoku said. "To cut off their front and rear, divide their forces. It's the only way to disrupt their assault!"

"And notify the artillery crews. Tell them to fire at will! Bombard their front lines with everything we've got—buy us the time to raise the inner wall!" Kong shouted.

"Understood!" an officer saluted and ran off to deliver the orders.

With the command given, the mighty cannons of Navy Headquarters thundered to life. Explosions rocked the battlefield as shells rained down on the advancing Second Unit like a torrential downpour.

At the same time, the inner defense wall in front of the central tower began to rise.

"What's going on?"

"A wall? They're raising another wall!"

"They're trying to block our advance!"

The front-line fighters of the Second Unit stared in frustration at the towering barrier. But before panic could set in, a warrior of the Shandia, armed with a heavy flamethrower, stepped forward.

"Clear the way!" he bellowed.

Without hesitation, the nearby fighters scattered to the sides, giving him room.

He leveled the flamethrower at the rising defense wall and pulled the trigger.

BOOM! A blinding stream of scorching flame shot forward, crashing into the wall with a deafening roar.

But as the flames dissipated, everyone stared in shock.

The massive wall remained standing—untouched, save for a faint, scorched mark.