Hearing Ray's sudden reminder, Gaban's heart involuntarily skipped a beat.
Over the past two hours, he had learned about a few of Ray's incredible abilities from the small soul entity named Jaken hovering beside him.
Ray's sense of smell was unbelievably sharp—estimated to be able to detect scents from a fifty-kilometer radius.
Yet, Ray remained completely indifferent to their conversation.
After all, Jaken spoke with measured restraint, careful to reveal absolutely nothing about his master's true identity.
Relying on this preliminary understanding of Ray's power, Gaban took the initiative to ask.
"What kind of scent did you detect?"
"A familiar, yet decaying scent."
"Huh? What is that supposed to mean?"
Ray didn't bother to explain. Instead, he transformed into a brilliant streak of silver light, instantly shooting toward the distant Pangea Castle.
This maneuver required an extreme burst of Demonic Power, consuming his energy far faster than it could naturally recover—it was several times faster than his previous flight from Elbaf to the Red Line.
There was simply no other way.
Sustained flight required balancing his energy supply and demand, while short-distance bursts needed no such careful considerations.
Witnessing Ray's blistering departure speed, Gaban's eyes widened in utter shock.
Could that flashy kid Kizaru even move this fast?
But with the situation growing urgent, Gaban also charged toward Pangea Castle, his own speed remarkably swift.
...
Meanwhile, on the bloodstained battlefield of Marineford.
Ace had been rescued, and the dying ember within his heart had fiercely reignited.
With a single sweeping hand gesture, a massive, sphere of fire descended upon the plaza.
"Entei!"
A devastating fireball, hundreds of meters in diameter, erupted violently, sending the numerous Marines blocking his path flying into the air.
Ace wisely chose not to prolong the fight.
After swiftly evading attacks from two Vice Admirals, he immediately fled forward alongside Bon Clay and Galdino.
As they ran for their lives, he asked, "How did you guys even come up with the idea of replacing the executioners?"
Bon Clay chuckled warmly and replied, "According to Chouchou, this brilliant plan was provided by Ray-sama. Just in case all the other rescue plans failed, we could still serve as the final safeguard."
During their frantic conversation, Ace unleashed a Hiken, knocking back the relentless Marines pursuing them.
He asked curiously, "But what if the pirate alliance couldn't breach the walls at all, and my execution time actually arrived?"
Galdino pushed up his glasses and explained, "At the very least, we could have helped you fake your own death. Later on, we would have rescued you by posing as funeral attendants."
Bon Clay immediately agreed. "Actually, that method has a much higher success rate! My Clone-Clone Fruit ability has developed to the point where I can transform others into your appearance. And of course, I can also turn you into someone else entirely. Like this!"
Bon Clay was highly proactive—acting immediately without even waiting for Ace's consent.
With a soft poof... Ace was instantly transformed into Momousagi's appearance.
He stared down in sheer confusion at his newly swollen chest and slender legs, unconsciously swallowing hard.
"What the hell have you done?! Change me back right now! And when did you even touch this woman?!"
Ace had read the Devil Fruit encyclopedia long ago and knew full well that the Clone-Clone Fruit required direct physical contact to copy someone's appearance.
Bon Clay happily explained, "Momousagi and Chaton were both resting in the medical room. Galdino and I had already infiltrated it earlier today."
"That's exactly right," Galdino chimed in. "This guy literally touched every single Marine with any kind of reputation."
Hearing their explanation, Ace, still trapped in Momousagi's alluring form, finally understood.
But the most pressing problem still remained.
"Hurry up and change me back, or I swear I'll use my Haki to break this transformation myself!"
Bon Clay immediately waved his hands to explain. "Don't worry! Galdino and I will transform too. We'll seamlessly switch over to the Marine side during the chaos of the fight. From there, it'll be incredibly easy to rendezvous with Whitebeard and the Straw Hat Kid. Then, we can safely change you back later."
"Okay, that actually makes a lot of sense." Ace couldn't help but admire these two's cleverness—it truly was a brilliant strategy.
Complete deception through disguise!
"But why do I have to become a woman?!"
"Because Okama are the absolute most beautiful things in the entire world!" Bon Clay cheered.
"Uh..." Ace was left utterly speechless.
But after awkwardly glancing down at his chest and long legs, he sighed internally.
'Hmm, what a bizarrely strange feeling. I guess I'll just have to play along for now.'
Five minutes later, three highly unusual figures were seen fighting pirates together.
There was Ace in Momousagi's form, completely unable to use a sword and resorting to wildly punching his enemies.
There was Bon Clay in Tashigi's form, preferring to gracefully kick his opponents.
And there was Galdino in Hina's form, sporting an exceptionally sinister smile.
After hastily wrapping themselves in medical bandages and changing into fresh Marine uniforms, the three of them had perfectly integrated into the Marine ranks.
Their incredibly strange fighting styles did raise a few eyebrows and suspicions among the surrounding Marines.
But upon deeper reflection, it made perfect sense to the soldiers that their combat methods would change, especially since these three brave "women" were fighting despite their severe injuries.
In harsh comparison, the equally injured Smoker and Chaton seemed incredibly unreliable.
While these fierce women had valiantly returned to the bloody battle, those two grown men were still hiding inside recuperating. How shameful!
Yet, just as some of the Marines were mentally mocking Chaton, he actually appeared on the battlefield.
Covered head-to-toe in bandages, he rushed eagerly over to "Momousagi" and obsequiously offered to protect his precious "Momousagi".
However, deep within this Chaton's eyes lurked a hidden, chilling trace of cruelty.
Ace, stuck in Momousagi's body, grew incredibly tense seeing this total creep approach him.
'Damn it, in all my life I've never experienced anything remotely like this! And what the hell was Chaton's real name?'
He had absolutely no idea.
Desperate, Ace could only resort to the cringeworthy methods he had seen in comic books—acting cutesy and sickeningly sweet to win men over.
"Then I'll be counting on you! Big brother~" Ace cooed.
'Ewwww, I want to vomit. It is so disgusting that I could actually say such things. I'll definitely find a chance to kill you later!'
"Chaton" appeared absolutely delighted upon hearing this sweet response.
"Don't worry, Momousagi. I, Chaton, would rather die than let anything bad happen to you."
'God, this woman talks so disgustingly. Typical behavior of women from the red-light district. Later, I'm going to capture you and make you my personal slave to torture daily.'
This "Chaton"—who was actually the notorious Catarina Devon, disguised through her Nine-Tailed Fox Devil Fruit—also found the exchange utterly revolting.
Still, her twisted desire to possess Momousagi only grew stronger.
She absolutely loved tormenting beautiful women!
After silently infiltrating the medical room disguised as a nurse and touching the real Chaton, Catarina Devon had immediately set her predatory sights on Momousagi outside.
She didn't noticed that the real Momousagi had already been moved into the operating room, so she naturally mistook Ace in his disguised form for the actual Admiral Candidate herself.
Catarina Devon had two very simple, yet malicious objectives.
First, she desperately wanted to capture Momousagi to keep as her personal plaything.
Second, she had a crucial mission to complete.
This was her very first assignment since joining the Blackbeard Pirates: to manipulate the Marines and pirates into fighting as fiercely as possible, ideally pushing them to the point of mutual destruction.
To do this, she needed to impersonate important, highly respected figures from both sides, and then stage getting killed by the enemy right in front of everyone.
Only then could she escalate the bloody conflict to a completely irreconcilable level.
Thus, Catarina Devon cleverly decided to follow "Momousagi," quietly planning to find a way later to have both "Chaton" and "Momousagi" brutally die at the hands of a pirate.
Ace still hadn't noticed anything unusual about the overly affectionate man.
To avoid exposing his own disguise, he had no choice but to let this "Chaton" stay faithfully by his side for the time being.
Right beside Ace, Galdino—in his "Hina" form—seemed to have noticed something slightly off about the newcomer.
But he couldn't be entirely sure just yet.
And so, the bizarre group of three "women" and one "man"—who were, in reality, three men and one woman—drew closer and closer to the towering inner city wall.
Along the treacherous way, in order to protect the fleeing pirates from being killed by "Chaton," Ace had to occasionally pretend to be severely injured.
He would dramatically drop to one knee, tightly furrow his eyes and let out soft, pained sighs and groans.
Catarina Devon, to avoid exposing her own true identity prematurely, was forced to suppress her sadistic urges, pretending to be deeply concerned about her "sister's" well-being.
This frustrating act left her with very little opportunity to actually strike!
Twenty agonizing minutes later, the group finally arrived near the chaotic battlefield where Whitebeard and Admiral Akainu were locked in deadly combat.
'Isn't this the perfect opportunity?'
"Chaton" thought to herself with a wicked grin.
"Momousagi" anxiously glanced over at the clash—he absolutely had to lend a hand and help the old man!
"Hina" perked up, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
'Hmph, I'll see just who you really are.'