The New World, aboard the Moby Dick.
Life on a pirate ship could be pretty boring. You couldn't throw a banquet every day, so sparring and brawling turned into the crew's usual way of killing time.
But today's match was different. This was a fight to decide who would take the position of division commander in the Whitebeard Pirates.
With the Marines and the World Government being driven back again and again, the Whitebeard Pirates' territory kept expanding, and their numbers grew with it. The old division structure was no longer enough, so they needed to reshuffle and choose new commanders. That was why this contest was happening.
The commanders of the First and Third Divisions had already been decided, both of them sons Whitebeard held in especially high regard. Today, they were settling the choice for the Fourth Division.
"Teach is incredible!"
"Thatch, you've gotta push harder! At this rate, Teach is going to beat you!"
In the end, the fight came to a close when Thatch sent Teach flying with a single punch.
"Teach, are you alright?"
Teach wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and grinned like it was nothing.
"I'm fine, Thatch… no, I should be saying Fourth Division Commander. Congratulations."
Thatch scratched his head with an awkward smile.
"Teach… you…"
He knew it. Teach had held back.
"It's fine," Teach said easily. "I never had any ambition to be commander anyway. I'm happy just being on Oyaji's ship."
Whitebeard sat at the bow, blond hair whipping in the sea breeze. Watching the scene, he laughed and made the announcement.
"Then it's decided. Starting today, Thatch will be the commander of our Fourth Division!"
"OHHH!!!"
With the appointment settled, the feast kicked off.
Just then, a familiar voice rang out from above.
"Oyaji!!!"
Everyone looked up. Marco, transformed into a blue flame bird, was beating his wings hard as he shot toward the ship. He dropped onto the deck and hurried over at a near jog, clearly in a rush.
"What is it, Marco? Did the Marines make a move?"
Marco looked so anxious that it left everyone startled.
He shook his head, then urgently pulled out a visual Den Den Mushi and set it in front of them.
With a press of a button, two figures appeared, along with a clear voice.
"Alright then. Tell our Marine friends… what's your name?"
"Ah… Aesop…!"
"Aesop, is it? Then who's your boss behind the scenes?"
"It's Feld-sama. He's one of the Dark Emperors of the New World, the one who controls all currency circulation in the underworld."
"Is that so? Then that's strange. If I remember right, human trafficking has been prohibited by World Government law for a long time now. You're running a human auction house on the Sabaody Archipelago. Aren't you afraid of the Marines?"
"Of course we're not. The World Government and the world nobles are part of this business. Even some people in the Navy take money from us every year…"
The moment they heard that, everyone aboard the Moby Dick turned to Marco, faces full of shock.
"Hey, what the hell is going on!?"
Marco didn't keep them in suspense. He quickly explained everything that had happened.
"This livestream suddenly appeared in the Dark World. As soon as I got word of it, I brought Oyaji over to watch. The red-haired guy in the footage is the captain of the Sky Pirates."
"Isn't that way too reckless? Hijacking so many Nobles in the Sabaody Archipelago and broadcasting it live? Aren't they afraid of the Marines and the World Government?"
"That's not the point. The point is what they're saying. They're exposing the Marines and the World Government in public…"
Whitebeard's brows slowly drew together.
For the first time, he studied the somewhat blurry figure on the screen with genuine focus.
Even though Yemu's crew had recently risen to prominence and forced their way into everyone's view, Whitebeard had never taken them seriously.
As one of the emperors of the New World, he had the pride to look down on anyone.
As for killing Celestial Dragons? Back when he sailed with Rocks, he had followed him into the assault on God Valley. The Celestial Dragons had never meant anything to him.
But this kind of boldness…
Either the man was insane, or he was something far more dangerous.
"Oyaji, do you think the Marines will storm in?" Marco asked.
Whitebeard thought for a moment.
"Who's at Marineford right now?"
"Admiral Zephyr. He's already returned to Marine Headquarters."
"I see. If it's Zephyr, he won't care about those Nobles' lives. In his eyes, wiping out pirates matters more."
"So you think the Marines will attack?"
"No. Quite the opposite…"
…
Island 1. The Human Auction House was in chaos.
From the sky, the venue was shrouded in thick purple poisonous clouds. Surrounding it were countless black dots packed tightly together.
Marines. Nearly ten thousand of them.
At the entrance to the auction house stood five figures.
At the front was a tall, broad-shouldered man with purple hair, wearing the Justice coat reserved for Admirals. His expression was calm and steady. He was Admiral Zephyr, known as "Black Arm."
Standing beside him were Kuzan, Borsalino, Gion, and Strawberry.
"What a lineup, Zephyr-sensei," Kuzan said, glancing around.
Aside from the five of them, there were countless Marines below the rank of Rear Admiral present.
To capture the Sky Pirates, Marine Headquarters had mobilized nearly every force it could spare.
This display far surpassed a Buster Call.
"Mm."
Zephyr stared at the auction house ahead, his brow tightly furrowed.
At that moment, a CP intelligence agent dressed in black hurried over, his tone urgent and edged with accusation.
"Admiral Zephyr, the Five Elders are asking why the Marines haven't launched an assault yet to rescue the Nobles inside—"
Zephyr didn't even look at him.
"The gas hasn't been analyzed yet. You want us to charge in and get the Marines killed? Or the Nobles?"
The CP agent stiffened, clearly embarrassed, but had no rebuttal.
"Understood. I'll report exactly that."
After the agent left, Borsalino spoke lazily from the side.
"Zephyr-sensei, is this really fine?"
"It's fine, Borsalino. Do you honestly think these pirates can escape Marine pursuit?"
Looking at the thousands of Marines surrounding the auction house, and the sheer combat power gathered here with Zephyr at the center, Borsalino didn't believe the Sky Pirates could possibly break out.
And yet, for some reason, he felt uneasy.
Kuzan shared that concern.
Unlike Zephyr, who had never fought the Sky Pirates before, Kuzan and Borsalino knew very well that this crew never entered a fight without confidence.
If they dared to brazenly take Nobles hostage here, they had already prepared their escape.
"We should stay cautious, Zephyr-sensei," Kuzan said.
Zephyr wasn't ignoring their concerns.
"Don't worry. I've reviewed all their intelligence. Their biggest problem is that Doa Doa no Mi ability. But under Observation Haki, it's useless. I won't give them a chance to escape."
He paused, then added,
"Besides, don't you think this is the perfect opportunity to cut out the rot within the Marines?"
As his words fell, two Commodores from Marine Headquarters were brought forward under the watchful eyes of nearly ten thousand Marines, their faces pale and defeated…
...
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