I knew that Luffy and the prisoners from Impel Down would drop from the sky. Still, knowing something and seeing it with your own eyes were two entirely different experiences. The sheer absurdity of a marine warship plummeting from the heavens was downright hilarious.
I couldn't help but burst into laughter, drawing a sharp glare from Whitebeard.
"What's so amusing?" The old man grumbled.
I shrugged, grinning. "You don't see warships falling from the sky every day. Come on, it's kind of funny if you think about it."
Whitebeard let out a deep rumble of discontent. "That's a marine ship. Aren't you concerned it might be one of Sengoku's ploys?"
I shook my head. "Not really. Look at their uniforms—they're escaped prisoners from Impel Down. No way Sengoku would risk something this chaotic in his own ranks."
The ship crashed precisely where Jozu had cleared a chunk of ice earlier. Marines stood frozen, their eyes wide with shock as prisoners poured out, looking more like an invading horde than desperate escapees. Among them, familiar faces began to appear—Jimbei, Ivankov, Buggy, and even Crocodile. And finally, with his trademark wide grin, came Luffy.
"Ace!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs, "We're here to save you!"
"Luffy!" Ace was certainly surprised to see his brother.
"A former warlord and a current warlord working together. How interesting!" From his position, Doflamingo's laughter echoed.
"Garp! It's your family again!" Sengoku shouted.
My own amusement faded as I remembered the potential trouble Luffy had brought with him. Crocodile, specifically. Better to handle him now before he causes a headache later.
"Old man," I said to Whitebeard, "I need to deal with something before it spirals out of control."
"Do what you must," Whitebeard rumbled.
Activating Blooming Step, I blurred across the battlefield, materializing directly behind Crocodile before anyone could react. The ex-Warlord stiffened as he found the blade of Nidai Kitetsu grazing his neck. The escaped prisoners froze, unsure whether to intervene.
As Crocodile found himself inches away from a sword that'll decapitate him instantly, I spoke, my voice cold as ice.
"Listen, Crocodile, I don't really like you, nor do I like what you did in Alabasta. Lucky for you, we're at war right now. So, I don't have the time to kill you. I know that you have some sort of beef with Whitebeard. But if I even see you within 100 meters around him, I'm going to chop you into pieces and feed your body to sea kings. So, don't get in my way. Understood?"
Crocodile raised his hands up as if he were surrendering, "Okay, okay. I promise I'll be good."
The moment I withdrew my sword, my observation Haki gave me a warning. Crocodile's sand attack coming from behind.
Tch. This guy never learns.
I coated my arm with armament haki, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed his face into the deck of the ship with enough force to split it in half. The other prisoners scrambled to avoid the destruction.
Crocodile coughed up blood as rage twisted his face. He tried to get up, but I pushed him back down with a glare.
"You have been the big fish in a little pond for too much time, Crocodile. So much so that you've forgotten what true monsters of the sea look like. How can even imagine defeating Whitebeard when you can't even touch me?" I leaned in closer, my voice dropping to a near growl. "Here's the reality: you have two choices. One, I kill you right now and save everyone the trouble. Or two, you stay and fight—for yourself, not for anyone else. Take down a few big names from the Navy and rebuild your reputation. What's it going to be? Choose smartly; your life depends upon it."
Crocodile thought about my words. He might be an asshole, but he was also a logical person. This kind of person needs to be kept on a short leash. Otherwise, they'll stab you in the back the second they get the chance. And I couldn't afford to do that on this battlefield.
"Fine," he muttered. "I'll keep my distance from Whitebeard."
I smirked and released him. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Turning to the other prisoners, I raised my voice. "Listen up; if any of you try to go disrupt the battlefield, I'll kill you. This was a warning for all of you. It's a fight between pirates and marines. If anyone tries to fight another pirate here, they're nothing but a traitor. Are you a traitor?"
A few of them murmured 'no'. So I asked again, shouting, "Are you a traitor?"
"No!" they shouted in unison.
"What are you?" I riled them up.
"We're pirates!"
"Good. Let's show these filthy marines what pirates are truly made of!"
"YEEAAAAH!"
"WHOOO!"
With a resounding cheer, the prisoners, led by Buggy, charged into the marine lines. They were just so easy to manipulate.
Satisfied, I turned to Ivankov. "The same goes for you and your squad. Help if you can, but don't interfere with our plans."
Ivankov flipped their hair dramatically. "You don't need to tell me, my dear! I'll follow straw-boy's lead."
Luffy was certainly surprised by my sudden arrival. He didn't interfere when I bashed Crocodile's head on the ship. It seems Luffy never did trust Crocodile. I gave him a smile,
"You've grown stronger, Luffy."
He was somewhat confused. "Why are you here, Zeph-guy?"
"Same reason as you."
Jinbei gave me a cautious look. "You know this man, Luffy?"
"Yeah," Luffy said, still confused. "We met before Alabasta. He almost killed my whole crew."
"Hey, don't make me sound like a villain!" I said, feigning innocence. "I was just teaching you a lesson."
I shifted my attention to Jinbei. "Nice to meet you, First Son of the Sea. I've heard a lot about you from Whitebeard. I'm Zephyr, the chief tactician for this war. If you have any suggestions, run them by me so we don't disrupt the plan."
Jimbei gave me a curt nod as a sign of confirmation. Luffy spoke,
"Zeph-guy, you seem like an important person here. We heard from a transponder snail that they're going to move up the execution. I just thought it's better to tell you."
"Thanks. I'll take care of it. Now, get moving. We don't have much time."
As Luffy and Jinbei charged into the fray, I noticed Marco speaking urgently to Whitebeard.
"Sengoku's up to something," Marco said. "They wouldn't announce the execution's delay unless they were planning a trap."
"I agree," I added, walking up to them. "It's a setup."
Just then my transponder snail buzzed. Squard's voice came through.
"Zephyr, it's just as you said. They're deploying the Pacifistas."
"Good. Pull your troops back and conserve your strength. Don't waste energy on them."
"They're trying to box us in," Squard warned.
"I know. Just trust me."
I looked at the platform and saw that Sengoku was satisfied with the progress. Pacifistas were keeping us in a corner, and our troops were struggling to progress. He was planning us to box us in and then blast us to smithereens using Akainu's magma.
It's time to use the contingencies.
"Old man, can you destroy those two ice blocks?"
He gave me a questioning look, but by now he trusted me enough. He positioned his hands and sent a quake towards the enormous mountain. Everyone was surprised to see Whitebeard destroying the ice mountains. They asked themselves.
Is he trying to make an escape route for the allied ships? Why waste his energy on those things?
Their questions were answered as transponder snails rang throughout the battlefield.
"The Pacifistas are being destroyed."
"We have sightings of six more ships. They got in just after the ice was destroyed."
"Who are they? More allies of Whitebeard Pirates?"
"No...it's the Supernovas."
A grin spread across my face as the marines' shouts filled the air. Eustass Kid's laughter boomed over the chaos, his magnetic abilities tearing apart Pacifistas like they were toys. X-Drake, Mad Monk and Scratchmen Appo were also there, destroying as many Pacifistas as they can.
Our troops were pushing through the ranks as the Pacifistas have stopped attacking them. Luffy has already gotten the key from Hancock. Supernovas were destroying the Pacifistas. Whitebeard was unharmed. Sengoku was pissed as none of his plans were working out.
Everything was going perfectly.
But I wasn't done yet. I have a few more surprise reveals for you, Sengoku. Just you wait.