As we approached Navy Headquarters, a massive wave suddenly rose and instantly froze solid. It was likely the result of Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit and Kuzan's Ice-Ice Fruit interacting. The sight seed to defy the laws of nature. The people on the rchant ship swallowed nervously, tension rising.
"Good thing we're not late! Looks like the fighting just started. We still have plenty of ti to make a difference, right?"
Ace smirked and bumped his fists together. He was always full of fighting spirit.
Luffy also wore a serious expression, staring at the frozen sea. He knew only Kuzan could do this, so he clenched his fists, steeling himself.
When we entered Navy Headquarters, the war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy was in full swing. Smoke rose from all directions, and cannonballs flew nonstop. In the original manga, the brutal scenes were softened, but the actual battlefield before my eyes was anything but romantic. Blood was spilled everywhere, and screams never ceased.
'As expected… war is just war.'
I sailed the rchant ship next to the Moby Dick, Whitebeard's flagship. Finding a patch of unfrozen sea nearby, I landed the ship.
"A new ship has appeared at the front!!! From the flag, it's the rchant's Island!!!"
Our arrival put the Navy on edge.
"Father, sorry I'm late. In the end, I couldn't rescue Thatch. The Navy had prepared in advance. It's not much of a replacent, but I brought reinforcents."
Ace went to Whitebeard as soon as the ship landed and briefly explained what had happened.
"It's fine. As long as you returned safely, that's enough."
"Old man."
"Jinbe, you ca too."
After everyone disembarked, I put the ship away and went to Whitebeard for a brief greeting.
"Thank you for helping us."
"Don't ntion it. In the end, I couldn't rescue Thatch, so it's hardly help. Instead, I'll keep the Admirals occupied."
Whitebeard smirked. "If it's you, I can trust you with that. I leave it to you."
As I spoke with Whitebeard, the Navy was clearly rattled.
"Damn it — the Whitebeard Pirates alone are too much, and now the rchant King…"
While the Navy panicked, I surveyed the battlefield. On the Admiral's side, I saw a burly man with purple hair and a Battle Smasher on his arm — most likely Zephyr. With Kizaru dead, it seed Zephyr had taken on the Admiral position, even if temporarily. Probably only possible because Weevil hadn't beco a Warlord yet.
On the Warlord side, unlike the original, all except Hancock were present.
'Since she didn't participate in the war, she'll be stripped of her Warlord title… Hancock must have firmly chosen her side.'
Once I'd assessed the situation, I advanced, quickly taking out nearby Marines. The Marines, knowing that ordinary soldiers couldn't handle , barely tried to block my path.
But Smoker and Tashigi, whom I hadn't seen in a while, stood in my way.
"Taejin, long ti no see."
"It's unfortunate to et under these circumstances, but long ti no see. And the cute young lady — long ti no see too."
Tashigi blushed again. "C-c-c-cute…"
"Snap out of it, Tashigi! He's an Emperor!"
"Ah, yes sir!"
Smoker looked at incredulously. "Tch! Even in a situation like this, you're flirting. You haven't changed."
"So what? Working on the rchant's Island still seems better than being a dog of the Celestial Dragons believing in a false justice, don't you think?"
"I've heard about the rchant's Island. I'm sorry about that. But if the Navy loses to pirates in these chaotic tis, even greater chaos will follow. You know that too."
"No, I think starting over fresh isn't such a bad idea."
"Damn it, you're impossible."
"That's my line."
I couldn't waste ti here, so I quickly closed in on Smoker and drove an uppercut into his abdon. No matter how much a Logia user of the Plu-Plu Fruit, he couldn't withstand Armant Haki.
PUK!!!
"Guhk!!"
THUD.
"Weak one — take a rest."
Smoker slumped forward, unconscious.
"Smoker-san!!!"
Tashigi was shocked, but there was no answer.
Tap!
"Ah!"
I lightly struck Tashigi's neck to knock her out. Then I picked them both up and continued forward.
anwhile, the others who had co on the rchant ship were already fighting. Ivankov was facing Bartholow Kuma, Jinbe was fighting Gecko Moria, and Ace was fighting Donquixote Doflamingo.
Luffy was taking on several vice admirals, but even while fighting, he kept glancing toward Kuzan.
Unlike the original, Luffy wasn't recklessly charging ahead alone. He fought in coordination with his allies, having learned his limits from his fight with Kuzan and doing what he could.
I continued forward, lightly kicking aside anyone who recklessly challenged . As I ventured deeper into enemy territory, the three Admirals finally blocked my path.
"Really… Taejin, you should have just accepted the Warlord position. I really don't like this situation."
Kuzan seed very displeased with how things had turned out.
"It can't be helped. We have different positions. Anyway, take these two. We're friends, after all."
I took a box of cigars from my inventory, tucked it into Smoker's coat, then handed Smoker and Tashigi to Kuzan. Kuzan took them and briefly stepped aside — probably to move them sowhere safe.
anwhile, Sakazuki asked with an angry expression, "Why did you kill Kizaru? With your strength, you could have ended it cleanly!"
"I would have liked to, but Kizaru is a user of the Glint-Glint Fruit. There was no way to hold back against him. If I had let my guard down for even a mont, I would have been the one to die. And speaking of which — didn't you try to kill before? The Navy and I have already crossed the Rubicon."
Sakazuki sighed, reproaching himself. "Ha… you're right. I got too excited. I lost my reason over a friend's death. Kizaru rely died for justice, like so many others."
His self‑reproach felt off. As expected, Sakazuki was an unbending man — in the worst way.
"Sakazuki, you haven't changed."
As I thought, there was no reasoning with this man. Our values were too different — dealing with him was exhausting.
"And you must be Zephyr. I've heard of you."
"Yes, nice to et you. Kizaru's death is unfortunate, but I always knew a day like this might co. He relied too much on his Devil Fruit. I warned him…"
Even as he said that, Zephyr in his own way seed sad about Kizaru's death.
"So why are you involved in this war? It has nothing to do with the rchant's Island, does it?"
"That's not entirely true. Many of my acquaintances are involved in this war, and I was sowhat close to Thatch."
Sakazuki asked, "So you're dealing with pirates now?"
"Of course. The people of the rchant's Island need to eat, don't they?"
I wasn't lying. There was no reason to hide it anymore.
"Do you know that the pirates you deal with are creating orphans?"
"Don't worry about that. You may not believe , but I only deal with people who have a normal sense of morality."
I began loosening up. "Shall we start now? I won't hold back anymore. Apart from my acquaintances, I also need to collect for what you did to the rchant's Island people. This won't end well."
"..."
When I brought up the rchant's Island people in the Navy, Sakazuki had no excuses. Even he had nothing to say about them.
I quickly closed in on Sakazuki and threw a punch infused with Ultimate Void Fist.
CRASH!!!
"Guh!!"
But Zephyr stepped in front of Sakazuki and blocked the attack with the Battle Smasher on his right arm. Zephyr was pushed far back, and only after Sakazuki caught him did he stop.
"Grrr… damn it… You're not ordinary. Is that to be expected of one of the Emperors? Now I understand how Kizaru lost!"
Zephyr frowned at the fist mark on his Battle Smasher. I was also a bit surprised — even though it was a light hit, he had blocked it. The Battle Smasher's strength was impressive, but more than that, it showed how strong Zephyr's Armant Haki was.
"Oh dear… I just got that repaired…"
"Zephyr‑sensei, the rchant King is one of the top‑tier Emperors."
"I realized that from his first attack. There's another sea monster on the loose."
Zephyr and Sakazuki took their fighting stances.
"Really… I wouldn't be talking about monsters if I were you. You're a monster group that survives by drinking the blood of sacrifice as the Celestial Dragons' dogs. Don't you even realize that you yourselves are slowly becoming monsters?"
"Nothing can be perfect. Ideals are just illusions."
"I'll grant you that, but the closer you get to an ideal, the more you have to strive for it. Well, the Navy has consud too many sacrifices already, so it's probably too late for you."
With that, I also took my stance. I attacked first again. They defended with Zephyr and countered with Sakazuki — a coordinated strategy they must have planned before fighting.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!!!
"Grr… Sakazuki!! I can't hold out much longer!!"
"I know."
At Zephyr's shout, Sakazuki began attacking relentlessly, timing his strikes with mine.
"Hellhound!!!"
Tap!
But while I attacked with one hand using Armant Haki and Ultimate Void Fist, I used [Infinity] and Ryuo with the other hand to deflect Sakazuki's attacks. This was only possible because of my [Parallel Thinking] ability.
This differed from the martial arts concept of Yin‑Yang Divine Technique, which requires two opposing internal energies to be used in a Taiji pattern and has inherent limitations. Operating with [Parallel Thinking] was superior. Moreover, [Parallel Thinking] isn't limited to two streams of thought, so its applications far exceed Yin‑Yang Divine Technique.
"Rock Fist!!!"
Tap tap!
Suddenly, Zephyr — who had been solely defending — seed to decide he couldn't keep it up. He aid his Battle Smasher at and fired a powerful cannon.
"Smash Blaster!!!"
KABOOM!!!
I jumped back, evading the attack.
"Damn it… it's like fighting two people. Where did a monster like this co from…"
Seeing that their attacks weren't working at all, they broke into a cold sweat and looked flustered.
I closed in again, this ti adding Conqueror's Haki to my attack.
CRASH!!! CRACK!!!
"Grrr!"
The Battle Smasher, already damaged from several powerful blows, couldn't withstand this one and shattered.
"No…"
Before Zephyr could panic, I pressed my attack — but suddenly my Observation Haki picked up a danger signal.
"Ice Block: Partisan!!!"
CRACK CRACK CRACK!
I jumped back again to evade. Ice spears stabbed into the ground where I had been standing.
"Phew… glad I wasn't too late."
Kuzan, who had moved Smoker and Tashigi, seed to have returned. Sakazuki frowned at him. "Were you planning to co after we were both dead?"
"Ara ara… I tried to co as quickly as I could. You're being too harsh."
Thanks to Kuzan's tily intervention, they caught their breath and reorganized. Now I was facing all three Admirals at once.
Reviews
All reviews (0)