Not only John Giant was shocked, all the vice admirals standing behind Orion, including Gion, as well as many officers in the square, looked on in astonishment at the figure kneeling on the ground.
They were not shocked that Orion had awakened Conqueror's Haki, but rather that he had managed to make Vice Admiral John Giant kneel before him without any resistance, solely through the power of Conqueror's Haki.
Most importantly, Orion Conqueror's Haki had not affected anyone else present, it was solely locked onto John Giant.
After a brief silence, a commotion suddenly erupted among the crowd, and various voices began to emerge.
"What happened? Why did Vice Admiral John suddenly kneel?"
"Didn't you hear? It's Conqueror's Haki! Lord Orion unleashed Conqueror's Haki!"
"What is Conqueror's Haki?"
"Conqueror's Haki is impossible to awaken through training and only one in a million people are born with the ability to use it!"
"Even if its Conqueror's Haki it shouldn't be able to make Vice Admiral John kneel without any resistance!"
"There's only one truth!"
"Lord Orion strength is likely infinitely close to that of an Admiral, or even surpassing an Admiral."
Orion paid no attention to the shock of everyone present, he continued to walk steadily toward John Giant. With each step he took, John Giant felt the weight of the invisible mountain above him increase, making it impossible for him to resist and his massive body crawled lower as Orion approached.
When Orion reached him, he could no longer hold on and fell flat on the ground with a thud, pressing his entire body against the ground.
Yet even so, the pressure above him showed no signs of easing. As he lay flat on the ground, cracks immediately appeared in the ground beneath him, spreading out in all directions.
Seeing the ground crack beneath John Giandt, the vice admirals following Orion widened their eyes, and the soldiers in the square had to hurriedly dodge as the cracks spread beneath their feet.
"That Conqueror's Haki even cracked the ground!" Gion, following Orion, looked down at the cracks spreading beneath her feet, then raised her head to look at the figure standing before John Giant, her face filled with disbelief.
"Conqueror's Haki cannot be trained, it can only be enhanced with the increase of one's own strength!" Strawberry also showed a fervent expression at this moment, his words tinged with excitement.
"Lord Orion ability to crack the ground with Conqueror's Haki is enough to show that his strength may surpass that of an admiral!"
Orion, standing before John Giant said nothing but calmly gazed at the giant vice admiral.
Although John Giant was pressed flat against the ground, due to his massive size, Orion, who was just under six feet tall, could only look him in the eye.
"Betting on the absolute justice of the Navy?"
After staring at John Giant for a moment, Orion suddenly looked up and laughed.
"Vice Admiral John, aren't you even a little curious why, as a member of the Giant race you have lived in the Marine Headquarters since childhood?"
John Giant struggled to get up, his head seemingly glued to the ground unable to raise it.
He could only speak with difficulty.
"Orion.... you... as a vice admiral of the headquarters, you launched a rebellion to seize the position of Fleet Admiral. You… you have no right to speak of justice in front of me."
"It seems you really aren't curious." Orion shook his head and smiled, then simply stepped forward.
Bzzzzz—
As Orion foot landed, a low-frequency vibration once again rippled through the air and the Conqueror's Haki, elevated to its highest realm by the system, burst forth.
The next second, the ground collapsed with a loud bang and John Giant who was standing on this ground, fell down, level with the surface.
"Not bad"
Looking at the figure embedded in the ground, Orion squinted his eyes, very satisfied with the Conqueror's Haki that had reached its highest realm.
John Giant appearance didn't require him to take action, the reason he stopped Strawberry and the others was to test just how domineering the Conqueror's Haki that recently elevated to its highest level could be.
Of course, using Conqueror's Haki to suppress John Giant was merely a small test for him, the power of Conqueror's Haki at its highest level was far beyond this.
....
At That Moment.
A flash of light shot up from the family residential area and then arced through the night sky, landing straight in Marineford Square.
As the flash disappeared, Sakazuki and Borsalino stood side by side behind Orion.
"ADMIRAL SAKAZUKI!"
"ADMIRAL BORSALINO!"
As soon as the two admirals appeared, chaos erupted again in the crowd with many people placing their last hopes on them, excitedly shouting out loud.
However, just as these people thought the two Admirals had come to stop Orion, Sakazuki immediately stepped forward, facing Orion and saluting saying.
"Fleet Admiral Orion, Sakazuki returns to his post!"
Sakazuki words instantly silenced Marineford Square.
The soldiers and officers in the crowd, who had been eagerly anticipating, flashed with despair in their eyes, even the Admiral who upheld absolute justice, Sakazuki, had pledged loyalty to Orion.
What reason did they have to hold onto hope?
Borsalino, standing alongside Sakazuki didn't remain idle either and also raising his hand in salute.
Orion turned to face the two with a smile, then stepped forward decisively.
Seeing this, Sakazuki and Borsalino quickly followed.
Next, Gion, Hound, and the other vice admirals also regained their composure and followed closely behind.
Due to the small incident with John Giant and the timely appearance of Admiral Sakazuki and Borsalino, no more noise emerged from the tens of thousands of soldiers gathered in the square. They all stood tall, looking up at Orion as he ascended the steps to the high platform.
Upon reaching the high platform, Orion surveyed the crowd in the square, then took a step forward amidst the attention of all.
"ATTENTION!"
As soon as Orion took a step forward, Sakazuki, standing at the foot of the high platform, immediately turned around, facing Orion and saluting loudly,.
"SALUTE TO THE FLEET ADMIRAL OF THE MARINE—!"
The tens of thousands of people in the square stepped forward in unison, then raised their heads toward the high platform, shouting in unison.
"LOYALTY!"
"JUSTICE!"
The loud and synchronized voices echoed across Marineford, ultimately converging into a torrent that resonated in the night sky.
....
In the conference hall of the headquarters, Sengoku and Zephyr stood by the window looking at the young marshal standing on the high platform in the square, feeling the air filled with a passionate and vigorous atmosphere. They both sighed in unison.
"Youth is wonderful."
As soon as their words fell, their expressions suddenly changed and they both looked up at the sea outside the walls of Marineford.
They saw a figure riding a bicycle under the moonlight, leisurely approaching Marineford.
As this figure moved forward, the originally rippling sea before him began to freeze at an astonishing speed.