Luffy turned his head to look at the red‑nosed man flailing on the ship. "Buggy, what are you doing at Marineford?"
Luffy's disbelief was almost audible. Rolan's unexpected move to free prisoners from the first through fourth levels of Impel Down had released a flood of captives, and Buggy had been one of them. What was even stranger was that the others who appeared seemed to follow Buggy as though he were their leader, fanatic and loyal.
Bang!
A powerful wave of air from the surge hit Buggy, flinging him backward where he crashed against the ship's rail.
"I'm heading to Marineford to take Whitebeard's head!" Buggy boasted loudly.
Jinbe heard the red‑nosed man's claim and suppressed a snicker. Take Whitebeard's head? What a ludicrous boast. In this world, there was only one being who might even attempt such a feat, and everyone else might as well be dreaming.
"Hey Jinbe, think of something, we're drifting so far back," Luffy gripped Jinbe's sleeve, anxiety creeping into his voice. He feared they'd miss the execution. If it weren't for pacing himself, he would have already used Moonwalk to push toward Marineford.
Jinbe released the rudder and spread his arms. "There's nothing I can do, the wind and current aren't pushing us toward Marineford."
Luffy began pacing anxiously, "What do we do? We only have one hour until the execution."
Jinbe tilted his head toward the sky with unwavering confidence, "Don't worry, Luffy‑kun, we'll make it in time."
A prisoner overheard this and raised an eyebrow, unsure where Jinbe's confidence came from.
"Blue fatty, what are you talking about? This ship is still drifting backward! Who are you to boast about anything? Even Buggy‑sama wouldn't dare say that, right? Right, Buggy‑sama?"
All the prisoners shifted their eyes toward Buggy, all with the same adoring expressions.
Buggy saw their gazes and his heart thumped nervously, Don't drag me into this. Rumor was Jinbe killed without hesitation, and Buggy didn't relish being a target. He nodded quickly toward Jinbe. "Th‑that's right, I have a feeling we'll arrive on time, right, Jinbe?"
Jinbe glanced at Buggy still clinging to the ship's rail, but offered no reply. It was obvious to those who knew him that Buggy relished the flattery far more than he deserved.
"Ah? Buggy‑sama, will you make a move?" the prisoners' eyes gleamed with excitement.
They believed that if Buggy did anything, he would send them straight to Marineford.
Buggy cleared his throat several times, "Cough, cough, if destiny wills it, and if the heavens want me to take Whitebeard's head, then surely a miracle will occur."
At that moment, the wind shifted abruptly, and the ocean current changed direction. The warship that had been drifting backward came to a halt as though struck by an invisible force.
Then it surged forward at incredible speed.
"All right, let's head to Marineford at this speed!" Luffy's excitement broke free as he felt the ship surge ahead. At this pace, they could definitely make it in time.
The prisoners, filled with joy, hoisted Buggy high into the air, cheering, "Buggy‑sama! Buggy‑sama!"
Marineford
On the battlefield, an eerie stillness had settled over the chaos.
"It's too quiet. None of Whitebeard's commanders are acting. Are they all waiting for his signal?" some of the weaker Marines murmured, breaths growing shallow with tension.
Suddenly, water on both sides of Crescent Bay began rising, towering into massive waves hundreds of meters high. Marines looked on in horror as the water threatened to swallow them whole.
"It's a tsunami!" one Marine shouted.
"We're finished, we're doomed!"
"This is Whitebeard's power? It's terrifying!"
The towering walls of water loomed above everyone, obscuring the sun like looming clouds about to unleash devastation.
Just then, an Admiral blinked from beneath the execution platform and appeared high above Crescent Bay. He extended his arms outward and enormous blades of ice shot forth from his palms, piercing the advancing tidal walls and instantly freezing them solid. In mere moments, the two monstrous waves had turned into walls of ice, trapping the battlefield in a frozen expanse.
"Phew," the Marines exhaled in relief.
"It's Admiral Aokiji! He saved us!" one called out.
"If it weren't for him, many of us would have died," another said, gratitude mixed with exhaustion.
Whitebeard watched as his seismic assault had been thwarted by ice, a deep rumbling laugh escaping him. "Gurarararara, so you dare interfere, Aokiji brat?"
Aokiji summoned two colossal ice spears in his hands and sent them rocketing toward Whitebeard.
Whitebeard merely laughed with genuine amusement, "Gurarararara, you want to dance too, are you?"
He extended his massive arm and unleashed a formidable Seaquake—a devastating shockwave capable of tearing through space itself and conjuring enormous tidal force.
Where the shockwave met the ice spears, the space around them seemed to splinter and crack like glass. The ice spears shattered under the force, and the shockwave continued in its momentum straight toward Aokiji.
Just as the powerful wave neared him, Aokiji transformed his body into ice, blunting the impact. But the force was immense, and the Admiral's form split, sending fragments of ice tumbling toward the sea. Moments later, Aokiji reconstituted himself on the bay's frozen surface and extended his freezing power outward until the entire bay became solid ice, immobilizing approaching ships and creating a battlefield beneath everyone's feet.
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Sorry for the late update.
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