Chapter 103 Combat Readiness

Keeping silent means that Rowen will use himself as bait to see if he can catch the enemy hidden in dark. There is no great joy in nature better than this, and if there is, you can take it in stride.

“Okay, I’m going back to bed. Replace the carriages as soon as you get to the City of the Spring Queen. Don’t waste any time.”

Rowen shook his arms and left after saying that.

The Thunder-Lightning Stimulation Method was as fascinating as ever, and in just a few minutes, he felt as if his whole body had been beaten by Zephyr but Rowen was still thinking in his heart.

Premonitions, or Omens, never came out of thin air. There is a reason for them especially in a world where people can see the future with Observation Haki.

This is an uncontrollable sixth sense Rowen had seen once on Earth. Rowen was surviving in the wilderness one day and this premonition appeared once before, he felt that he would be attacked by a brown bear while sleeping. 

During the day, he found paw prints on the tree trunk, but the paw prints were very old and he didn’t care. As a result, the brown bear attacked him in the middle of the night, and his intestines flowed out of his body and he barely survived.

Now that this premonition had appeared again, Rowen couldn’t help but get a little nervous.

“Who the hell could it be? Is it Crocodile?”

This is the only clue he can connect with. He had prepared for this in advance as he had already guessed that he would face some strong enemies. 

But to be honest, Rowen didn’t put an alone Crocodile in his eyes. Even if he hadn’t mastered the Wind Treading Class Gyojin Karate (Fish-Man Karate). 

Rowen is confident that it is impossible to lose as he just needs to be careful of Crocodile’s Ground Death-Erosion Samsara and his body doesn’t get drained of water.

So is there really anyone to be wary of at the First Half of Grand Line?

The answer is Yes.

Rayleigh counts as one, the Empress would also count as one to be wary of, and so would the Kuma who “travels” everywhere.

But why would these three people come to fight him?

So excluding the Pirate Forces, the only ones who can threaten him on the First Half of the Grand Line are the Underground World, and themselves… the Marines!

Rowen laid on his bed and silently closing his eyes.

“If that’s the case, then I have to… look forward to it!”

At this time Rowen did not realize that his Observation Haki was gradually manifesting certain qualities to itself. 

In addition, a similar situation happened once before he had crossed over to this world, so he did not even look deeper into the Observation Haki aspect of this moment’s whim.

A few hours later, the City of the Spring Queen, Hustnov Station.

“Lieutenant Commander Dante! The advance force should have 980 people, and 980 people have been counted, please give us further orders!”

A Marine Lieutenant led the troops to assemble at the station, they were the first 980 men to leave Water Seven City and they were waiting here to meet Rowen and then they would all go to Pucci together.

After all, the number of Pirate United Army is tens of thousands, and Marine without high-end combat power can not guarantee that the opponent will not ambush. At the same time, the sea train to Pucci has been suspended for many days, and most of the sea trains’ heads have been transferred to and from other lines. The interception of one is already in the face of Rowen HeadquartersRear Admiral. It is not necessary to use two if one train can be pulled away. Add trouble and uncertainty.

After all, the Pirate United Army has tens of thousands of people, and the marines without high-end combat forces stationed there cannot guarantee that the other side will not ambush. 

At the same time, the Sea Train to Pucci has been out of service for several days, and most of the Sea Trains have been transferred to other lines and back. 

It was because of Headquarters Rear Admiral’s face that they were able to stop one train and it is also not necessary to use two trains to pull away, which adds to the trouble and uncertainty.

“Well, good job.”

Dante was dressed in a brown suit while his Justice cloak was hunting in the night wind. He pressed one hand to the hilt of his sword and his eyes were glinting menacingly as he glanced from side to side.

Since Rowen told him about his hunch, Dante looked at everyone as if he was looking at the enemy. In his eyes, the enemy might be hidden in the shadow outside the station and they might jump out of there and attack Rowen at any time. 

However, he also did not forget his responsibilities, and after taking a glance around the area, he ordered all the soldiers: “Notify all Ensign to arrange various soldiers’ Carriages, and pay close attention to the workers who change the front of the Carriages, leave a hundred people to scatter with me on patrols, and strictly prohibit any unrelated personnel from approaching the Train. If some unexpected situations occur because of someone then I am giving you permission to use lethal force!”

Dante suddenly said the command as his Killing intent leaked out of his body, and then he added another sentence.

“Now, on behalf of Rear Admiral Rowen, I announce that the whole army here has entered Level 2 War Preparations!!”

“Yes!!”

The Soldiers’ expression condensed and they raised their hand and shouted loudly.

As the order was issued, the station suddenly sank into an abyss of indescribable Killing Intent. 

The soldiers who came out of the Marine Headquarters are not like the soldiers on the Four Seas, they are trained and experienced and they could fight against ten ordinary pirates at the same time on the battlefield. 

When they got serious, even the air became sticky with their Killing Intent. Everyone was silent as they performed their duties while clenching their weapons.

Combat Readiness Rating is a classification of the combat readiness of troops, from low to high, which is divided into four to First Grade. 

The “Level 2 War Preparations” is the highest level of readiness that a Marine General Officer below Admiral can use, and once the order is given, it means that the Marines are in a full war operation. 

To put it in an irrelevant way, Marine’s “Buster Call”, which was so fearsome in the sea, was only a “Level 2 War Preparations”, after all, only Vice-Admirals were mobilized there was no Admiral among them.  

The Highest Level of War Preparation can only be issued by the Three Admirals and the Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

So in plain terms, the “Level 2 War Preparations” at this time is a castrated version of Buster Call without any Warships or Artilary Fire and without any Vice-Admirals!!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Just as the troops were getting into their carriages one after another, a sudden gunshot came from the distance.

The sound of guns alarmed all the Soldiers, the Elite Soldiers immediately rushed towards the place where the incident occurred. The action was orderly without a trace of panic.

Dante led the Soldiers to rush over and found seven or eight corpses lying in the alley. A group of Soldiers held their guns expressionlessly and aimed forward. 

An unbroken young man leaned against the wall while cursing hoarsely: “You group of Executioners! Butchers! We are just Civilians!!!”

“What happened?”

“Lieutenant Commander Dante, they were hiding here and spying on us. According to the order, we killed them when we found them.”

“Good job!”

As the Young Man looked on with despair and horror, Dante patted the Soldier on the shoulder and then drew out his sword.

“Marine Level 2 War Preparations, irrelevant personnel will immediately evacuate the area, otherwise… kill without pardon!”

Siii!!

…………

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