Five hours.
That was how long the war for Thriller Bark had raged without a single moment of pause. The massive island-ship, once a quiet graveyard hiding in the fog of the Florian Triangle, had been reduced to a fractured wasteland.
The heavy mist had been burned away by the heat of the combatants, replaced by a lingering haze of gray smoke and falling ash. The stone walls were shattered, the dead forests were flattened, and the earth itself was scarred with deep craters.
The battle had taken a heavy toll on everyone standing on the island. The initial rush of adrenaline had long since faded, leaving behind raw exhaustion and aching muscles.
In the central courtyard, a massive cloud of dust slowly began to settle over the rubble. Lying in the center of the destruction, completely motionless, was the towering form of Oars. The ancient giant had finally fallen.
Standing near the creature's head was Dory the Blue Ogre. He was breathing heavily, resting his heavy Uru-metal sword on his shoulder. The battle against the zombie giant had been a brutal test of endurance, but the true strength of Elbaf had prevailed. With a final, perfectly placed strike coated in dense Armament Haki, Dory had shattered the creature's defense and knocked it unconscious, sending the massive beast crashing into the courtyard walls.
As Oars lay defeated. The massive, dark shadow that Moria had stuffed into the corpse began to stretch and warp, separating from the giant's feet.
Suddenly, the shadow broke apart into hundreds of smaller, individual shadows. Like a flock of black birds, they shot into the sky, scattering in every direction as they flew to return to their original owners.
From the sky above, Ben slowly descended, floating down to the ruined courtyard using his magic. His unbuttoned floral shirt was dusted with ash, and his dark trousers were scuffed from the long battle.
"A fine victory, Dory," Ben said, landing softly on the broken cobblestones.
"He had size, but he fought like a puppet," Dory rumbled, his deep voice tired but proud. "The dead cannot match the spirit of a living warrior. They lack the will to push past their limits."
"We need you back on the front line," Ben told him, looking toward the eastern docks where the sounds of fighting were still intense. "The Marines are pushing hard, and the Vice Admirals are trying to flank the rest of the crew."
"Understood," Dory nodded, hoisting his heavy shield.
Ben waved his hand.
Command T: Reduce
A pulse of violet magic washed over Dory. In the blink of an eye, the towering giant compressed down to the size of a tall human. Dory gripped his sword and shield and rushed toward the eastern perimeter to rejoin Oimo and Kashii.
Within minutes, Dory arrived at the docks. He took his place in the defensive line. Oimo and Kashii were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, forming an impenetrable wall of human-sized giants. They were holding the line against Vice Admirals Bastille, Momonga, and Dalmatian.
The Marines were skilled and fast, utilizing their trained footwork and sharp blades, but the sheer physical toughness and unbreakable Uru-metal weapons of the four Elbaf warriors made passing them an impossible task.
The Vice Admirals slashed and kicked, but their attacks bounced off the heavy shields, leaving them frustrated and exhausted. Dory's arrival solidified their defense, ensuring that no Marine reinforcements could slip past to interfere with the main fights.
Further down the ruined coastline, the environment was a bubbling, hostile nightmare.
Monkey D. Luffy stood in the center of a melted crater, his chest heaving. For five straight hours, he had engaged in a relentless, high-speed brawl with Admiral Sakazuki.
Maintaining his Haki for this long had pushed Luffy's body to its absolute breaking point. His punches were slowing down.
"You are reaching your limit, Straw Hat," Akainu stated, his voice a harsh rumble. He stood thirty feet away, magma dripping from his right arm. His white Marine coat was gone, and he sported deep bruises across his chest and jaw from Luffy's strikes, but his killing intent remained undiminished. "Your spirit is stubborn, but your body is failing. You will not leave this island alive."
Akainu took a heavy step forward, raising his magma-transformed fist. A thick mass of volcanic rock and liquid fire gathered around his arm, glowing with intense heat.
Luffy planted his feet, pulling his right arm back to meet the strike, forcing his waning Haki to the surface even as his muscles screamed in protest. He refused to step back.
Before Akainu could throw his punch, a blinding pillar of white-hot fire dropped from the sky, crashing directly into the space between them.
The clash of magma and white fire sent a heavy blast of steam rolling across the ruined courtyard. The lava cooled and hardened into brittle rock under the intense heat of the new flame.
Luffy blinked, lowering his fist slightly.
Standing right in front of him, his back straight and his fists smoking, was Portgas D. Ace.
Ace was heavily injured. His chest and arms were covered in dirt and bruises. A deep gash ran down his shoulder, and his breathing was labored. But as he looked over his shoulder at Luffy, a wide, confident grin spread across his face.
"Need a hand, Luffy?" Ace asked, wiping a smear of blood from his chin.
Luffy's tired eyes lit up with relief. "Ace! You're back!"
"I couldn't let you have all the fun," Ace replied, turning his attention back to Akainu. He raised his fists, coating them in a thick layer of Armament Haki, weaving the invisible armor directly into his white flames. "Take a breath. We'll handle him together."
Akainu narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased by the sudden reinforcement. "Fire Fist Ace. Today you will die beside your brother. Your fire cannot burn hotter than my magma."
"We'll see about that," Ace retorted.
The two brothers moved simultaneously, standing side-by-side to push back the relentless assault of the Marine Admiral. They moved with perfect teamwork, Ace using his flames to create openings while Luffy followed up with heavy, Haki-coated strikes, forcing the Admiral onto the defensive.
A short distance away, taking cover behind a large chunk of shattered masonry, Nami and Chopper were catching their breath.
Nami was checking her Clima-Tact, her hands shaking slightly from fatigue. Chopper, currently in his small Brain Point form, was wrapping a fresh bandage around a cut on his own arm after returning from the northern front.
Just then, Princess Vivi landed nearby, accompanied by Usopp and Brogy. She retracted her golden, feathered wings, looking exhausted but unhurt, her Vibranium spear resting on her shoulder.
Nami quickly stepped forward and turned to Vivi.
"Vivi," Nami asked, keeping her voice low as she kept an eye on the distant Marines. "What happened with the Blackbeard Pirates? Ace looks like he took a serious beating. Did your group defeat them?"
Vivi nodded, leaning heavily on her spear. She looked serious as she recounted the events.
"It was a really tough fight," Vivi explained quietly. "Blackbeard's darkness power is incredibly dangerous. It put out Ace's fire every time they got close, and Blackbeard had his own heavy Haki. They were trading brutal blows for hours. The rest of us kept his crew busy, but Ace insisted on fighting Blackbeard alone."
"So how did it end?" Nami pressed.
"Ace used his strongest move," Vivi said, her eyes widening slightly as she recalled the attack. "He backed Blackbeard up toward the edge of the ruined northern cliffs. Ace gathered all of his white fire, but instead of just throwing it, he compressed it. He packed his Haki tightly into the center of the flames so the darkness couldn't pull it apart. It looked like a miniature, blinding sun."
"Blackbeard tried to pull it in with his darkness," Vivi continued. "But the Haki inside the fire was too dense. The blast blew the entire northern cliff face straight into the ocean."
Nami gulped. "And Blackbeard?"
"He took a direct hit," Vivi said. "The blast threw him completely off the island. He flew hundreds of yards out and crashed into the ocean. We waited and watched the water, but he never resurfaced."
"He's a Devil Fruit user," Nami realized. "If he fell into the sea, and no one pulled him out..."
"He sank," Vivi nodded firmly. "His crew panicked. When they saw their captain go into the water and not come up, they lost their coordination. They took their boat and fled into the fog. We didn't chase them. Ace was too injured, and we needed to get back here to help Luffy."
Nami let out a long, shaky breath and nodded. "Good. Let the ocean have him."
High above the chaotic battlefield, in the thin, cold air of the sky, the fight between Ben and Admiral Kizaru was reaching a stalemate.
For five hours, they had engaged in a high-speed game of cat and mouse. Kizaru, made of light, moved with incredible speed, constantly firing beams of yellow energy. Ben utilized his magic and physical traits to warp the space around himself, dodging the light and occasionally landing heavy strikes that kept the Admiral on his toes.
Ben hovered in the air, looking down at the island below. The battle had gone on long enough. The crew was running on fumes. It was time to conclude the war.
Kizaru materialized fifty feet away, his yellow striped suit perfectly clean, though he looked slightly out of breath.
"You have excellent stamina, Magician," Kizaru drawled lazily, crossing his arms. "But light never tires. How long can you keep dodging?"
"Long enough," Ben smiled, dropping his hands to his sides. "But you're right, Admiral. This is getting repetitive. Let's try a different tactic."
Ben snapped his fingers.
POOF.
A thick cloud of pink, shimmering smoke erupted around Kizaru.
"Arara?" Kizaru paused, blinking through his tinted glasses as the smoke expanded. "A smoke screen?"
It wasn't a smoke screen. As the pink mist settled slightly, Kizaru found himself entirely surrounded. Floating in the air, sitting on invisible platforms of light, and pressing in close were dozens of hyper-realistic, magical illusions of breathtakingly beautiful women. They were entirely nude, their modesty conveniently and comically obscured only by strategically placed wisps of glowing magical steam and dazzling light.
"Oh my..." Kizaru murmured, his lazy drawl catching in his throat.
The illusions giggled, a chorus of sweet, melodic voices echoing in the thin air. They crowded around the Admiral, draping their phantom arms over his shoulders, running soft hands down his yellow striped suit, and whispering affectionately into his ears.
"Admiral-san," one of the illusions cooed, leaning her face inches from his, her spectral fingers tracing his jawline. "You work so hard. Don't you want to take a break with us?"
"Moving at the speed of light must make your poor muscles so terribly stiff," another whispered, pressing her soft, glowing form against his back and gently massaging his shoulders. "Let us slow things down for you..."
"You're always chasing after those scary pirates," a third illusion pouted playfully, trailing a delicate finger down his chest and tugging at his tie. "Stay here. We promise to be much more entertaining than a battlefield."
"Come on, Borsalino-kun," a chorus of them giggled, pressing their cheeks against his arms and running their hands through his hair. "Take off that heavy coat. The Fleet Admiral doesn't need to know you took a little vacation..."
Miles below, the battlefield was a chaotic clash of ice, fire, and steel. Zoro and Sanji stood side-by-side on the frozen ground of the eastern docks, preparing to face the encroaching, freezing aura of Admiral Aokiji.
Zoro drew Sandai Kitetsu, his breath pluming in the cold air. "Don't fall asleep, Cook. This ice block isn't going to melt himself."
But Sanji didn't answer.
Sanji was standing completely rigid. His cigarette dropped from his lips, his mouth hanging open. The freezing temperature around them meant nothing. Deep within the cook's soul, a biological tracking system—his unparalleled, highly sensitive 'Woman Radar' or Lady-dar—was going absolutely berserk.
No one else on the ground could see what was happening in the stratosphere. The clouds and the sheer distance made the pink smoke and the illusions completely invisible to the naked eye.
But Sanji didn't need to see them. He felt them.
He heard the faint, melodic giggling echoing from the very edge of the atmosphere. His radar processed the unmistakable signatures of female voices high above.
"Women..." Sanji whispered, his visible eye widening until it took up half his face. "Beautiful... unburdened by clothing... dozens of them... up there..."
Zoro blinked, turning his head to look at his crewmate. "What the hell are you talking about? You pervert."
"MELLORIIIIINE!"
Sanji didn't jump. He didn't use Geppo.
A literal geyser of bright red blood burst from his nose with the force of a high-pressure fire hose. The sheer pressure of the nosebleed acted as a pair of twin rocket boosters. Sanji was launched vertically into the sky at supersonic speeds, leaving a trail of red mist as he flew directly toward the stratosphere.
"I'M COMING MY GODDESSES! YOUR KNIGHT IS ON HIS WAY!" Sanji's voice faded rapidly into the clouds.
Zoro stood there in the freezing mist, staring at the space where the cook had just been standing. A thick vein throbbed on his forehead.
"That idiot..." Zoro groaned, shaking his head. He turned back to face Admiral Aokiji alone, drawing his second sword. "Guess I'm carving this ice up by myself."
Back in the sky, Kizaru was completely frozen. His brain short-circuited. For a man who moved at the speed of light, his mind came to a screeching halt. A massive, comical blush spread rapidly across his cheeks, turning his usually relaxed face bright red. His jaw went slack, and his sunglasses slid slightly down his nose. The sheer, concentrated absurdity and overwhelming sensory overload entirely bypassed his tactical defenses.
"Arara..." Kizaru stammered, staring blankly at the swarm of beautiful phantoms as they placed their hands all over him. "This is... quite the distraction, Magician-kun... I didn't know you had this kind of... hospitality..."
As Kizaru stood paralyzed by the comedic illusion, completely dropping his guard, Ben appeared directly beside him. Ben didn't punch him. He simply placed a firm hand on Kizaru's shoulder.
"Enjoy the company," Ben whispered.
Ben channeled his magic, focusing entirely on the location of a specific island halfway across the world. The intent flowed straight from his mind to his hand.
A sharp, deafening crack of displaced air echoed in the sky.
Both Ben and Kizaru vanished, leaving the pink smoke and the illusions to dissipate into nothingness just as a screaming, nosebleed-propelled Sanji broke through the cloud layer, only to find absolutely nothing there.
The shift was immediate. Kizaru felt his body being pulled through a tight, invisible space, the sudden movement jarring his senses.
Another sharp crack sounded as they materialized in a new location. The biting cold of the Florian Triangle was gone, replaced instantly by the warm, humid, tropical breeze of the East Blue. The smell of salt and tangerines filled the air.
They landed on a pristine, sandy beach of a deserted Island in East Blue.
Kizaru blinked, looking around at the palm trees and the peaceful ocean. His mind was still reeling from the sudden onslaught of phantom women. "Where... are we?"
"About six thousand miles away from Thriller Bark," Ben answered calmly, standing beside him.
Kizaru felt a sudden, cool breeze against his skin.
He looked down. His pristine, yellow-striped suit was gone. His dress shirt was gone. His tie, his shoes, and his trousers were completely missing. Admiral Borsalino was currently standing on a sunny beach wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of yellow, polka-dotted boxer shorts.
The Vivre Card, which had been securely tucked into his jacket pocket, was safely stored inside Ben's pocket dimension.
"Oh," Kizaru murmured, his face still slightly flushed as he maintained his slow drawl despite standing in his underwear. "You stole my clothes."
"I confiscated your tracking device," Ben corrected politely. "Without the Vivre Card, you have no way to navigate back to the Florian Triangle in the thick fog. Your involvement in this war is over, Admiral."
Kizaru looked at Ben, mildly impressed. "A tactical removal. Very efficient. But leaving me here in my underwear is a bit rude."
Kizaru raised his finger, a bright yellow light gathering at the tip to fire a laser.
Ben didn't wait. He locked the location of Thriller Bark back into his mind.
With a final crack of displaced air, Ben vanished, leaving the half-naked Admiral standing completely alone on the quiet beach.
Ben materialized back on the roof of a ruined mausoleum near the western wall of Thriller Bark.
"Sonorus."
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!" Ben's voice boomed across the entire island, carrying clearly over the explosions with magical resonance. "The battle has gone on long enough! The Blackbeard Pirates are defeated. We have achieved our goals!"
Down in the molten crater, Luffy and Ace paused their assault, stepping back.
"We are leaving this island," Ben announced. "If we continue fighting, another wave of Marine galleons will arrive. Supernova, fall back to your ships!"
Ben leaped down from the mausoleum, landing gracefully on the ground near the western wall. He placed himself directly in front of the exhausted Supernovas, who had been fighting the Marines.
Trafalgar Law, Capone Bege, X-Drake, Basil Hawkins, Scratchmen Apoo, and Jewelry Bonney looked at the Magician. They were battered, bruised, and bleeding.
Ben reached into his coat pocket. He pulled out six heavy leather pouches and tossed them gently to the remaining captains.
Law caught his smoothly. The others grabbed theirs as they landed in their hands. The pouches clinked heavily.
"As agreed," Ben said, his voice calm. "That is your payment for helping with the vanguard today. One hundred million berries in each pouch. And a manual detailing the basics of Haki. The deal is done. You can escape now while our crew holds the Marines back."
He turned his gaze specifically to the pink-haired captain. "Bonney. Escape with your crew. I will find you once we all get out of here safely."
Bonney paused, looking at the heavy pouch in her hand, then up at the Magician. She gave a firm, serious nod. "Okay. Don't die before then."
Bege pocketed his pouch with a smirk. "You're paying us to leave?"
"I'm concluding our transaction," Ben corrected. "The perimeter is clear. Take your men and go."
Nearby, Admiral Akainu heard the booming announcement and the exchange. The magma on his arms flared violently, burning with an intense yellow heat. The sheer disrespect of pirates conducting financial transactions and escaping in the middle of his battlefield pushed his anger past its breaking point.
"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!" Akainu roared, his voice echoing like thunder across the ruins. "NO CRIMINAL LEAVES THIS ISLAND ALIVE!"
Akainu bypassed Luffy and Ace entirely. He turned his attention to the western wall, toward Ben and the fleeing Supernovas.
As he turned, his furious gaze swept over the Straw Hat crew falling back. He locked eyes with the sniper standing near the rear guard.
"God Usopp," Akainu growled, recognizing the face from the wanted posters. "The 450 million berry man. The second-highest bounty on this wretched crew."
Akainu didn't hesitate. He thrust his magma-coated arm forward, launching a massive, super-heated hound of lava directly at Usopp, intent on melting the high-value target where he stood.
Usopp saw the attack coming. He didn't scream, and he didn't run. He stood his ground, his Future Sight giving him complete clarity on the path of the attack.
Usopp drew his Transforming Bow-Rifle. He notched a specialized arrow with a pale blue, crystalline tip. He fired.
The arrow shot through the air, perfectly intercepting the massive magma hound. It didn't aim for the center; it struck the very base of the attack, right where the magma connected to Akainu's shoulder joint.
The moment the arrow hit, it shattered. A sudden, extreme burst of localized frost erupted. The heat of the magma melted the ice fast, but the sudden cold hardened the molten rock. For a single second, the magma around Akainu's shoulder turned into solid, brittle stone.
Akainu's arm stalled, locked in place by the sudden cooling effect.
"What?!" Akainu grunted, trying to force his arm to move, glaring at the hardened stone on his shoulder.
"You left yourself open!" Usopp boasted loudly, pushing his sunglasses up his nose.
Before Akainu could melt the stone, Usopp fired a second arrow into the air. Mid-flight, the arrow split into dozens of smaller, metallic projectiles that rained down around the Admiral.
"Scatter Star!" Usopp yelled.
The tiny projectiles didn't pierce Akainu; they embedded themselves in the ground in a perfect circle around him and simultaneously detonated. The synchronized explosions created a deafening, sensory-overloading shockwave that temporarily scrambled Akainu's Observation Haki.
Akainu roared, his body liquefying into magma to absorb the blast, but as he stepped forward out of the smoke, his boot hit a third arrow that had been planted seamlessly in the dirt.
SPLAT.
A massive amount of high-density, fire-retardant industrial foam expanded instantly from the arrowhead, rapidly hardening and gluing Akainu's left boot firmly to the bedrock.
"A foam trap?!" Akainu snarled, looking down in disbelief as he tried to lift his leg. The foam sizzled under his intense heat, but it was designed to resist extreme temperatures, buying precious seconds.
"I am God Usopp!" the sniper struck a majestic pose, resting his bow on his shoulder. "Know your place when you fight the Vanguard! My aim is flawless, and my arsenal is infinite!"
"You insolent bug!" Akainu roared, furious that he was being stalled by a mere sniper. He thrust his free arm forward, launching three more magma hounds.
Usopp didn't flinch. He switched his bow-rifle into its rapid-fire rifle configuration. He pulled the trigger, unleashing a barrage of specialized sonic-pulse rounds. The sonic vibrations collided with the magma hounds mid-air, violently disrupting the fluid dynamics of the molten rock and causing them to splatter harmlessly into the ground before they could reach him.
Akainu finally melted through the foam trap, his face contorted in absolute, unadulterated frustration. He had intended to melt the sniper in a single strike, but instead, he was being juggled by party tricks and tactical gadgets. The pristine white Marine uniform he wore was now ruined, covered in ash, frost, and chemical foam.
"I will incinerate you and your cheap toys!" Akainu bellowed, the magma on his body flaring into a blinding, volatile yellow out of sheer rage.
He unleashed his ultimate attack. Massive, building-sized fists of bubbling, super-heated magma erupted from his arms, shooting high into the air. Dozens of molten meteors began to rain down, arcing directly toward the retreating Supernovas, Ben, and the western harbor.
"Incoming!" Law yelled, gripping his sword tight.
"Keep moving!" Ben ordered sharply, stepping in front of the rookies. "Go to your ships!"
Ben didn't draw a weapon. He simply raised his bare hands toward the falling sky of fire.
He tapped into his transfiguration magic, focusing entirely on the first meteor plummeting toward them. He leaped lightly into the air, extending his hand, and firmly tapped the bottom of the lowest magma rock.
A pulse of brilliant, pink magical energy surged from his fingertips into the molten stone.
The magic didn't just stop at the first meteor. It triggered a chain reaction. The pink energy bounced from the first rock, arcing like a web of light to the second meteor, then the third, spreading rapidly through the entire falling barrage.
As the magic touched each meteor, the blazing, orange-red liquid rock instantly lost its heat and its heavy mass. The meteors dissolved.
In their place, millions of soft, delicate, bright pink cherry blossom petals materialized in the air.
The deadly meteor shower was transformed into a beautiful rain of flower petals. They fluttered down softly, catching the wind and drifting lazily over the battlefield, smelling faintly of sweet spring air instead of burning rock.
Akainu stood frozen, his raised fists smoking, his eyes wide as he watched his lethal attack turn into a gentle floral shower through a continuous chain reaction. The absolute destruction he intended had been wiped away with a single touch.
Ben landed smoothly back on his feet, a single pink petal resting on his shoulder. He turned back to the stunned Supernovas.
"I said," Ben repeated, his voice calm and polite amidst the falling blossoms. "Go."
Without another word, the rookie captains broke into a run, sprinting toward their ships to make their escape. Ben turned his back on them, facing the remaining Marine forces, ready to ensure his own crew made a clean escape from the island.