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Red Line. Holy Land Mary Geoise, Pangea Castle.
With the highly anticipated war at Marineford looming tomorrow, martial law grips the entire city of Holy Land Mary Geoise. Squads of armed soldiers patrol the streets, their presence thickening the air with tension.
Even the Celestial Dragons—self-proclaimed gods who tower above humanity—have been confined by Gorosei decree. Not a single one may step beyond Mary Geoise's borders, lest they fall prey to abduction by the Four Emperors' crews. Red Port, straddling both sides of the Red Line, has barred all unauthorized vessels and personnel.
Only warships and government-approved ships may approach now. Permanent residents have already been evacuated. Any unidentified vessel daring to draw near will face a hailstorm of cannon fire from the encircling fleet.
Sephiroth, Sengoku, Tsuru, Koumei, and Kuro passed through the towering iron gates into Pangea Castle, the heart of the World Government's power. They moved toward a designated conference room where the summoned Shichibukai would gather.
Flanking the broad corridor to the meeting hall stood rows of stone-faced Marine soldiers, weapons at the ready. Sephiroth, his Vice Admiral cloak swaying, nudged Sengoku ahead of him.
"Where's the restroom? First time here—no idea where anything is."
"Left, straight for a hundred meters, then right," Sengoku sighed. "Got it. Go on ahead without me." Sephiroth veered off toward the indicated direction. Soon, he pushed into an opulent restroom and strode to the farthest stall.
The stall near the window clicked shut behind him. This marked his first proper entry into Pangea Castle. Previous trips to Mary Geoise—like boarding the high-altitude elevator to the New World—only skirted the civilian routes along the city's periphery.
The Celestial Dragons' residential quarter? Never stepped foot there. Pangea Castle? Until now, just a rumor. With Observation Haki unfurled across a twenty-kilometer radius, Sephiroth let his awareness bleed into every corner of Mary Geoise, skimming the surface of countless presences.
Dozens of formidable auras pulsed within the city—sixty, seventy at least. In his wide but indistinct sweep, each stood out with the raw intensity of a Marine Vice Admiral. Could he pinpoint their exact strength? Not a chance.
Observation Haki's clarity waned with distance. That he could map the entire city at all placed him among the world's elite few. No surprise, really. The World Government's reach extended beyond the Marines—plenty of monsters lurked in its shadows.
Sephiroth flexed his right hand. A black bat peeled from his palm, darting through the window's gap. Once he left, it would scout Mary Geoise, probing the Government's hidden strengths. Not that he expected much. Intel gathered by a single bat had its limits.
The reconnaissance bat he'd split off pulsed with far greater life force than ordinary bats, but that only bought it clearance to patrol Pangea Castle's outer perimeter. Venturing into the heavily restricted interior would almost certainly trigger Observation Haki detection from the castle's guards.
Sephiroth guided the bat to roost in a towering tree before exiting the restroom. As he approached the conference room entrance, his sweeping gaze took in the scene: two distinct factions seated at a lavish banquet table. The Shichibukai—Hawkeye, Blackbeard Teach, Tyrant Kuma, Yamato, and Hancock—faced off against Marine leadership: Sengoku, Tsuru, Koumei, and Kuro.
"Sephiroth! Over here—we saved you a seat!" Yamato shot up from her chair, waving a half-gnawed lamb leg toward the empty spot beside her. Sengoku's glare could have melted steel, his silent warning clear: Don't you dare. Sephiroth stared blankly.
This girl... Yamato meant well, but subtlety wasn't her strong suit. I'm in full Marine regalia, and she's beckoning me to the pirate side of the table?
Hancock, seated beside Yamato, sensed the tension. Without missing a beat, she flicked the younger woman's forehead with a perfectly manicured finger. "Sit. Eat. Stop embarrassing yourself," she murmured, voice dripping with regal exasperation.
"Ow! Okay, okay..." Yamato plopped back down, chastened, and resumed chewing with exaggerated focus. Sephiroth took his rightful place among the Marines.
With the assembly complete, Sengoku lifted a dossier from the table. "The Marines have gathered you Shichibukai here for one purpose," he began, voice clipped. "The coming battle demands your participation. You'll receive briefings on key officers from Whitebeard's, Kaido's, and Big Mom's crews—targets requiring your... attention."
He didn't expect much from this pack of wildcards. Pirates fought for themselves, not causes. If they showed up tomorrow without actively sabotaging the war effort, he'd count it a victory.
Which was precisely why he'd positioned them at the front lines—let the Emperors' first assault soften them up. If they survived, fine. If not? One less problem.
———
Dawn broke over the Calm Belt.
Ace shuffled forward in chains, sea-stone cuffs sapping his strength as Impel Down guards marched him toward the waiting warship. They sealed him in a cage reinforced with the same devil-fruit-nullifying mineral, flanked by four escort vessels. The convoy set sail for Marineford.
Slumped against the cage bars, Ace studied his armed escorts through half-lidded eyes. Escape was impossible in this state. Worse was the gnawing certainty—his family would come for him. The thought of Whitebeard's crew charging into a massacre on his behalf twisted like a knife in his gut.
If it weren't for the strength of his vitality making it impossible to commit suicide by biting through his tongue or crushing his own windpipe, he'd have ended this farce days ago. Irony, he thought bitterly. The very power that made me a threat now chains me to watch them die.