Magellan turned the corner on level three and stopped.
Two things he had never seen before were standing in the corridor between him and Luffy.
They were tall. They were armed in ways that Impel Down's architects had not planned for. And they were looking at him with the specific quality of attention that suggested they had already run seventeen different assessments of the situation and found all of them acceptable.
Luffy was behind them eating something he had found somewhere. Nobody knew where. Nobody asked.
"Statement," Haku said, to Magellan specifically, in a voice that was polite the way the ocean is polite before a storm. "You are the Warden of this facility. You have a poison Devil Fruit ability. You have used this ability against Captain Luffy. This was a mistake."
Magellan's Hydra poison was already forming around his hands.
Hemmy leaned toward Haku.
"He's doing the poison thing," Hemmy said.
"I see that," Haku said.
"Should we be concerned."
Haku ran a scan.
"Negative," Haku said. "Our plating is rated for chemical and biological hazard. Observation: his poison cannot melt what it cannot penetrate. Additional observation: he does not know this yet."
Luffy looked up from his food.
"Haku," he said.
"Captain Luffy."
"That's the guy that got me before," Luffy said, pointing at Magellan with whatever he was eating. "His poison is really bad. Can you just—" he made a vague explosive gesture with his hand.
Haku straightened.
"Request for clarification," Haku said formally. "Captain Luffy. This unit requests permission to liberate this meat bag of his life force."
Luffy blinked.
Hemmy leaned toward Haku again. "You need to explain what that means when you say it to him."
"Retraction," Haku said. "Captain Luffy. This unit requests permission to end the Warden."
Luffy frowned. "No. No killing."
"Acknowledged," Haku said, without any detectable disappointment, which meant a great deal of detectable disappointment. "This unit notes for the record that the no killing policy significantly limits optimal outcome scenarios."
"Haku," Luffy said.
"Captain Luffy."
"Can you at least kick his butt."
Haku turned back to Magellan.
"Yes," Haku said. "This I can do."
Hemmy was already moving.
"Hemmy," Haku said.
"Already on it," Hemmy said.
Magellan released the Hydra.
Three heads of concentrated poison surged down the corridor with the force of a Warden who had never once lost a fight in his own prison.
Haku walked through it.
Not around it.
Through it.
The poison rolled off the plating like water off something that had decided to have opinions about water.
Haku stopped directly in front of Magellan and looked up at him.
"Observation," Haku said pleasantly. "Your ability is very impressive against organic targets."
Magellan stared.
"We are not organic targets," Haku said.
What followed was not a long fight.
It was thorough. It was efficient. It was the kind of fight that HK units conducted when they had been told no killing and had therefore redirected all of that energy into the next best available category.
Magellan hit the corridor wall.
Then the floor.
Then a wall on the other side.
Then the floor again.
Luffy watched with his arms crossed and a deeply satisfied expression.
"Wow," he said.
Hemmy appeared beside him. "Are you well Captain Luffy. Your poison levels from the previous encounter are still elevated."
"I'm fine," Luffy said.
"You are not fine," Hemmy said. "You are Luffy, which is a different category than fine, but which we have been briefed on and have accepted as a baseline."
Haku walked back from the direction of Magellan.
"Warden is subdued," Haku reported. "Not dead. As requested. He is however going to have opinions about this encounter for some time."
"Good," Luffy said. He was already moving. "Come on we gotta get Ace."
"Confirmed," Haku said, falling into step behind him. "We are aware of the objective. Jeremy has briefed us."
Luffy stopped.
Turned around.
"Who's Jeremy," he said.
Hemmy and Haku looked at each other.
"Statement," Haku said. "Jeremy is the reason we are here. He is currently positioned above Marineford in a starship named after a dead pirate. He has a tractor beam locked on Admiral Sakazuki. He sends his regards."
Luffy stared at them for a long moment.
"Cool," he said, and kept walking.
Hemmy watched him go.
"I like him," Hemmy said.
"He is acceptable," Haku agreed.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdD26bGDraD
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Jeremy was standing in the galley of the Edward Newgate looking out through the panoramic windows at the cloud cover below when his phone buzzed.
He typed quickly.
Hey Shuri. Might be a day late. Situation occurred. Ship was needed. Will explain when I get there. Tell T'Challa I said sorry and also that it was worth it.
He hit send.
Shuri's response came back in forty five seconds.
What kind of situation.
Jeremy looked out the windows at the clouds hiding Marineford below.
The Marineford kind.
A longer pause this time.
Jeremy.
I know.
You went back in time and got involved in a canonical One Piece arc.
I prefer the word helped.
How many people have you deployed.
Two HK units into Impel Down and also the whole ship is hovering over the battle ready to go full ham.
The pause this time was very long.
Does Whitebeard know.
He's in the cargo hold.
JEREMY.
He put the phone face down on the galley table and looked at the clouds and felt at peace with his decisions.
Down in Impel Down, moving fast through level two, Luffy was running with the particular focus of someone who had one destination in mind and was treating everything between him and that destination as a minor inconvenience.
Haku and Hemmy kept pace on either side.
Hemmy dispatched a guard with the efficient economy of a unit that had been told no killing and had developed a comprehensive philosophy around what exactly that meant in practice.
Luffy was moving fast but his brain was also moving, which for Luffy meant something had caught in it and was rattling around looking for a connection.
He slowed fractionally.
"Wait," he said.
"Captain Luffy we should maintain pace," Haku said.
"Wait wait wait," Luffy said, the way he said things when the thought was almost there. He looked at Haku. Then at Hemmy. Then at Haku again. "Is he—" he pointed upward in the vague direction of the sky, "—is he the dude? With all the cool tech?"
Haku waited.
"The flying ship," Luffy said, the memory arriving fully now. "The one that came by a few months ago. With all the— the stuff. The weapons and the robots and the windows." He made a shape with his hands that was not quite ship-shaped but was clearly trying to be. "The OG Naftali."
Hemmy looked at Haku.
Haku looked at Hemmy.
Something passed between two HK units that might have been the droid equivalent of a smile if HK units had been built with that particular capability.
"Statement," Haku said, turning back to Luffy with the full formal weight of an official confirmation. "Yes. He is."
Luffy's face split into the grin. The full one. The one that had convinced several hundred people across multiple seas to follow him into situations that any reasonable person would have declined.
"I KNEW IT," he said, at a volume that was not tactically advisable in a prison they were trying to escape from. "I KNEW THAT WAS HIM."
"Captain Luffy," Hemmy said. "Volume."
"Sorry sorry," Luffy said, not quietly. "But that guy is so COOL. He came by on the OG Naftali and he had all this stuff and Rose was there and he gave us all food from the galley—" he stopped. "Wait the ship got upgraded?"
"Significantly," Haku said.
"How upgraded."
"Statement," Haku said. "The vessel formerly known as the OG Naftali is now the Edward Newgate. It is currently hovering above Marineford with two hundred and forty seven active weapon placements, a vibranium composite hull, three independent drive systems including an Infinite Improbability Drive, and a tractor beam locked onto Admiral Sakazuki."
Luffy stopped walking entirely.
Stared at Haku.
"He locked a tractor beam on Akainu," Luffy said.
"Confirmed," Haku said. "The Admiral will not reach Ace."
Something moved across Luffy's face that wasn't the grin and wasn't the serious face and wasn't anything that had a name but that anyone who knew him would have recognized as the moment Monkey D. Luffy understood something deeply and completely and filed it in the category of things that mattered.
"He's trying to save Ace," Luffy said quietly.
"Confirmed," Hemmy said gently.
Luffy looked at the ceiling of Impel Down. Through it. Through the ocean above it. Through the sky above that. At a ship hovering in clouds he couldn't see with a tractor beam pointed at the man who—
"We gotta go," Luffy said.
He was already running.
Faster than before.
"Captain Luffy," Haku said, matching pace effortlessly. "We are in agreement."
"Tell Jeremy—" Luffy started.
"We have no direct communication link currently," Hemmy said.
"Then tell him when we get up there," Luffy said. "Tell him thanks."
"Acknowledged," Haku said.
"And tell him the OG Naftali was cool but the Edward Newgate sounds cooler."
"Also acknowledged," Haku said.
They ran.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4tEASD70P
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Luffy processed this while running which for Luffy meant he asked follow up questions at full sprint.
"Wait the first ship got destroyed?"
"Confirmed," Hemmy said, not even slightly out of breath because HK units did not have breath to be out of. "The OG Naftali was lost. Jeremy built a replacement."
"That's so sad," Luffy said.
"He did not appear sad about it," Haku observed. "He appeared to have used it as an opportunity."
"The replacement," Hemmy continued, "is the Edward Newgate. Based on a Star Wars vessel designation called the Conqueror-class attack ship. Jeremy took the base design and increased its scale by sixty percent."
"It's huge," Luffy said. He had seen it briefly through a gap in the clouds before descending into Impel Down and huge was accurate.
"Additionally," Hemmy said, "he installed an AI crew."
Luffy glanced at Hemmy sideways while running. "Like you guys?"
"Different category," Haku said. "We are mobile combat units. The AI crew of the Edward Newgate are integrated ship systems. Navigation. Weapons. Sensors. Ship management. They handle everything."
"Why?" Luffy said.
Hemmy paused for exactly one second.
"Because Jeremy's primary crew," Hemmy said, "are visually impaired."
Luffy's running didn't slow but something shifted in his expression.
"Jeremy himself is visually impaired," Hemmy continued, in the straightforward way that HK units delivered information, which was without judgment and without softening because HK units understood that facts were facts and the most respectful thing you could do with a fact was state it clearly. "His crew — including Rose, who will be aboard — they cannot navigate a star system they have never been to by conventional means. They cannot read star charts in the traditional sense. They cannot operate manual weapon systems effectively in combat."
"So he built a ship," Luffy said slowly.
"He built a ship," Hemmy confirmed, "where none of that is required. The AI crew navigates. The AI crew manages weapons. The AI crew monitors every system. Jeremy's crew gives instructions in plain language—"
"And the ship does the rest," Luffy finished.
"Confirmed," Haku said. "You say we want to go to Naboo. The ship takes you to Naboo. You say fire on that target. The ship fires on that target. No one aboard needs to see a control panel or read a coordinate or manually operate anything."
Luffy was quiet for a moment. Running, but quiet.
"And after he leaves here," Hemmy said, "he is heading to the Star Wars galaxy. Which none of his crew has been to. Which is why the AI crew is especially important. They will be navigating a completely unfamiliar universe."
"In a ship nobody in that universe has ever seen," Haku added. "With a hull that cannot be conventionally damaged. And three drive systems that cannot all be simultaneously countered."
Luffy thought about this for a few more steps.
Then he said, "So he built a ship that works for HIM."
"Yes," Hemmy said.
"Not a ship that he had to figure out how to use," Luffy said. "A ship that figured out how to work for him."
Hemmy looked at Haku.
Haku looked at Hemmy.
"That," Hemmy said, "is a more elegant way of stating it than anything in our briefing documents."
"Jeremy would agree with that summary," Haku said.
Luffy grinned.
Not the full grin. Something quieter than that. The grin he got when something made sense in a way that went deeper than logic.
"He sounds like someone who'd be on my crew," Luffy said.
"He has his own crew," Haku said.
"I know," Luffy said. "I'm just saying."
They rounded a corner and level one opened up ahead of them, the surface access points visible, pale light coming down from above.
"We're close," Hemmy said.
"Yeah," Luffy said, already accelerating. "Hey Hemmy."
"Captain Luffy."
"When we get up there," Luffy said, "I want to see the Edward Newgate up close."
"We will convey the request," Haku said.
"And tell Jeremy—" Luffy said, "—tell him that's a good reason to build a ship. That's a really good reason."
Haku and Hemmy ran on either side of Monkey D. Luffy toward the surface and said nothing because sometimes the correct response to something true was just to let it be true.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyR3BKHgR6u
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Hemmy received the message mid-stride.
"Haku."
"I received it," Haku said.
They both looked up.
The Edward Newgate descended through the ceiling of the sky above Impel Down like it had decided that subtlety was someone else's problem. The netherite dark hull caught what light there was. The orange nodes glowed. The gangplank extended from the lower deck with the smooth mechanical certainty of a ship that had been asked to do something and was doing it.
Luffy stopped running and looked up.
"Is that—"
"Yes," Hemmy said.
"Is he—"
"Yes," Haku said.
"HE'S PICKING US UP," Luffy said, at the volume he used for things that made him extremely happy.
Behind him the crowd of escaped prisoners had accumulated into something significant. Buggy was in the front because Buggy was always somehow in the front of things despite his best efforts at self preservation. Bon Clay was beside him with an expression of theatrical wonder that was also completely genuine. Mr. Three. Crocodile, who was looking at the Edward Newgate with the specific expression of someone who had seen many things and was recategorizing this one. Jinbe, steady and quiet, assessing.
And behind them a considerable number of other prisoners who had been following Luffy because that was what you did when Luffy was going somewhere.
Jeremy's voice came through speakers on the hull.
"Alright," he said. "Gangplank's down. Everybody on. We're going to Marineford and we are not taking the scenic route."
Buggy looked at the ship.
Looked at the gangplank.
Looked at the ship again.
"This," Buggy said, "is either the best thing that has ever happened to me or the worst."
"Get on the ship Buggy," Bon Clay said, already moving toward the gangplank with the decisive energy of someone who had committed to the bit.
"I'm getting on the ship," Buggy said, following despite himself. "I'm absolutely getting on the ship. I just want it noted that I had concerns."
"Noted," Haku said, appearing beside him from nowhere in the way that HK units did.
Buggy made a sound and levitated approximately six inches from pure surprise before getting himself together.
"STOP DOING THAT," Buggy said.
"Negative," Haku said pleasantly, and gestured toward the gangplank.
Crocodile walked past both of them without a word, hook clicking on the gangplank as he boarded, looking straight ahead with the expression of a man who had decided this was happening and had moved on to thinking about what came next.
Jinbe paused at the gangplank and looked up at the hull of the Edward Newgate with a long careful look. A fishman who had seen oceans and fought marines and served time in Impel Down looking at a starship with vibranium composite hull plating and two hundred and forty seven hidden gun ports.
"Jeremy," Jinbe said.
Jeremy's voice came through the hull speakers. "Hey Jinbe."
"You are aware," Jinbe said carefully, "that what you are doing here has implications."
"Several," Jeremy confirmed. "Get on the ship."
Jinbe got on the ship.
Luffy was last up the gangplank because Luffy was always last when everyone else needed to go first. He stopped at the top and turned around and looked at Impel Down one more time.
Then he turned back and walked into the Edward Newgate.
The gangplank retracted.
"Gemini," Jeremy said from the galley where he was watching Marineford through the panoramic windows. "How many aboard."
"Significantly more than twenty six," Gemini said, with the tone of someone who had done the math and accepted the result. "The cargo hold is going to be interesting."
"That's fine," Jeremy said. "Grok, how long to Marineford at full speed."
"Four minutes," Grok said. "Possibly less if we take the direct line."
"Take the direct line," Jeremy said.
The Edward Newgate rose.
Straightened.
Pointed her nose at the horizon where Marineford was waiting with the entire Marine force and three Admirals and a war that history had already written the ending of.
History was about to have opinions about that.
"Claude," Jeremy said.
"Ready," Claude said in the British accent.
"When we get there," Jeremy said, "I need you on comms. Coordinate between our people, the Whitebeard Pirates, and whoever Luffy decides to talk to in the next four minutes."
"Understood," Claude said. "I'll manage the chaos."
"There's going to be a lot of it."
"I'm aware," Claude said. "I've met Luffy."
From somewhere in the cargo hold, Buggy's voice traveled up through the ship at considerable volume.
"WHY IS THERE A FROG DOWN HERE."
Jeremy looked at the ceiling.
"That's Jeremiah," he said to no one in particular. "He's a Frogport. He's friendly."
A pause.
Then Bon Clay's voice, full of delight.
"IT'S ADORABLE."
The Edward Newgate accelerated toward Marineford.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4C2WSuTBM
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Buggy had found his way from the cargo hold to the galley in approximately three minutes which was frankly impressive navigation for someone who had never been on the ship before.
He stood in the entrance to the galley looking at the panoramic windows and the stars and the ocean far below and the distant shape of Marineford on the horizon and something happened behind his eyes that Jeremy recognized as the specific calculation of a man who believed opportunity was knocking.
Buggy straightened up.
Puffed out his chest.
Adjusted his hat.
"ALRIGHT," Buggy announced, to the galley, to the ship, to the concept of ambition itself. "I am taking over this ship. Buggy the Clown is now the captain of the—"
"The hell you are."
Jeremy said it flat and fast and with the particular energy of someone who had not come this far, built this ship, gone back in time, broken into Impel Down, and hovered over Marineford to have Buggy the Clown declare himself captain of the Edward Newgate.
He stepped forward and pushed Buggy back. One firm two handed push. Buggy stumbled, opened his mouth, separated his hands from his body in the automatic reflex of someone about to use their Devil Fruit—
"Gemini," Jeremy said.
"Already done," Gemini said.
The Level Five forcefield snapped into place around Buggy like it had been waiting for exactly this moment, which it had, because Gemini had flagged Buggy as a potential problem approximately ninety seconds after he boarded.
Buggy's disembodied hands hit the inside of the forcefield and bounced back.
He stared at them.
Tried again.
Bounced back again.
"What," Buggy said. "WHAT. What is this. WHAT IS THIS."
"Level Five forcefield," Jeremy said calmly. "Your Chop Chop Fruit doesn't work against me. Your pieces can't get out and nothing from outside gets in." He crossed his arms. "You are going to stand in that bubble and think about what you just tried to do."
Buggy's face cycled through approximately eleven emotions in four seconds.
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS," Buggy said. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM. I SAILED WITH ROGER. I—"
"I know exactly who you are Buggy," Jeremy said. "And I also know that you just tried to take over a ship named after Edward Newgate on the way to Marineford to save Ace." He tilted his head. "Really. Really think about what you just did."
Buggy opened his mouth.
Closed it.
His hands pressed against the inside of the forcefield from different angles looking for a gap that wasn't there.
Crocodile appeared in the galley doorway behind Buggy's bubble, looked at the situation, looked at Jeremy, and said nothing. Just leaned against the doorframe with the expression of a man who was finding this mildly entertaining.
Jinbe appeared beside Crocodile. Assessed the situation in approximately one second. Nodded once in Jeremy's direction with the quiet respect of someone who approved of how this had been handled.
Luffy appeared under Jinbe's arm, looked at Buggy in the bubble, looked at Jeremy, and started laughing.
"BUGGY," Luffy said.
"DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME," Buggy said.
"YOU TRIED TO TAKE OVER HIS SHIP," Luffy said, laughing harder.
"IT'S A REALLY GOOD SHIP," Buggy said, with a dignity that the situation did not support.
Jeremy turned back to the panoramic windows.
Marineford was getting closer.
"Gemini," he said.
"Sakazuki lock is holding," Gemini said. "Tractor beam charged. Whitebeard Pirates are positioned in the cargo hold. We are four minutes out."
"Keep Buggy in the bubble until after the battle," Jeremy said.
"Confirmed," Gemini said. "Though I should note he is already trying to pick the lock with his nose."
Jeremy didn't turn around.
"Does he know his nose can't pick a Level Five forcefield."
"He is learning that now," Gemini said.
"Good," Jeremy said.
Crocodile pushed off the doorframe and came to stand beside Jeremy at the panoramic windows, looking at Marineford on the horizon with his hook resting against the glass.
"Interesting ship," Crocodile said.
"Thanks," Jeremy said.
"Interesting crew," Crocodile said, with a sideways glance at Buggy's bubble.
"Don't start," Jeremy said.
Crocodile almost smiled.
Almost.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AQ9lOehiw
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"Gemini," Jeremy said.
"Yes."
"As soon as we're over Marineford," Jeremy said, "teleport Buggy off the ship."
A pause.
"Destination?" Gemini asked.
"Furthest point from us on the battlefield," Jeremy said. "Drop him right in the middle of the marines if you have to. I don't care. Just off my ship."
"Confirmed," Gemini said. "I have identified an optimal drop point. He will land approximately eight hundred meters from our position. Near a marine supply depot."
"Perfect," Jeremy said.
Buggy had been pressing his face against the forcefield bubble listening to this exchange with growing alarm.
"WAIT," Buggy said.
"Thirty seconds to Marineford," Grok said.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT," Buggy said. "YOU NEED ME. I'M BUGGY THE CLOWN. I SAILED WITH ROGER. I—"
"Gemini," Jeremy said.
"Ready," Gemini said.
"NOW HOLD ON JUST A—"
The forcefield dissolved.
And Buggy was gone.
Just gone.
One moment a bubble containing an increasingly frantic clown pirate. Next moment an empty patch of galley floor.
Somewhere eight hundred meters away on the battlefield of Marineford, Buggy the Clown materialized out of thin air at approximately head height and dropped onto a marine supply crate with a sound that carried even over the noise of the gathering war.
The marines around him stared.
Buggy looked around.
Looked at his hands.
Looked at the sky where the Edward Newgate was descending through the clouds above the battlefield like a very large very dark very armed opinion.
"HOW DOES HE KEEP DOING THIS TO ME," Buggy said.
Nobody answered because the battle was starting.
Back in the galley Luffy was still laughing.
"He just," Luffy said. "He just got rid of him."
"He tried to take over my ship," Jeremy said simply, watching through the panoramic windows as Marineford spread out below them. The full scope of it. The marines assembled in their formations. The execution platform. The Warlords. The three Admirals.
Gemini's voice came through quietly.
"Sakazuki lock confirmed and holding," she said. "He cannot move more than three feet in any direction."
"Does he know yet," Jeremy asked.
"He is currently attempting to walk toward the platform," Gemini said. "He has tried four times. He appears confused."
"Good," Jeremy said. "Keep him confused."
The Edward Newgate broke through the clouds.
Two hundred and forty seven gunports slid open simultaneously.
The orange nodes along the dorsal spine pulsed once, warm and steady, like a heartbeat.
The Whitebeard Pirates in the cargo hold felt the ship level out and knew.
Marco was first up the stairs.
He came into the galley and looked through the panoramic windows at Marineford laid out below them and said nothing for a long moment.
Then he said, "Pops is down there."
"Cargo hold," Jeremy said. "He wanted to see it from the windows when we arrived."
Marco turned and went back down the stairs.
Jeremy heard him say something quiet that wasn't meant to carry.
It carried anyway.
"Pops. We're here."29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfIrgXLPtr
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Edward Newgate stood at the panoramic windows of the galley and looked at Marineford spread out below him.
The whole bay. The execution platform. The assembled forces of the World Government. The sea beyond. The sky above. All of it visible in one unbroken view through glass that went from floor to nearly ceiling.
He was quiet for a long time.
"This is beautiful," he said.
Not the battle. Not the spectacle of it. The window. The view. The simple fact of standing in a room with his crew around him and being able to see everything that was coming without having to go up on deck to find it.
The way a crew should live.
He put one enormous hand against the glass.
Then he turned and walked toward the gangplank because Edward Newgate had not come to Marineford to stand at a window.
The marines saw the ship first.
It was hard to miss. The Edward Newgate descended through the cloud cover like a verdict and hung above the battlefield with the particular stillness of something that had already decided how this was going to go and was waiting for everyone else to catch up.
Two hundred and forty seven gunports open.
Orange nodes glowing along the spine.
Netherite dark hull that seemed to absorb the morning light rather than reflect it.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku stood on the execution platform and looked up at it with the expression of a man whose morning had already been complicated and was now becoming something else entirely.
"What," Sengoku said, "is that thing."
Nobody answered immediately because nobody had an answer that felt adequate.
"And why," Sengoku continued, his voice getting a specific quality to it, "did it just disgorge the entire Whitebeard Pirates onto my battlefield. Along with Straw Hat. And what appears to be half of Impel Down."
Still no adequate answer.
Kizaru floated up beside him.
Or tried to.
Kizaru was holding his head.
Sengoku looked at him.
Kizaru was Borsalino. Admiral. Logia type. Light speed attacks. One of the three most powerful marines alive. He did not typically hold his head.
"Kisaru," Sengoku said carefully. "What happened to you."
"I attacked it," Kizaru said.
"The ship."
"The ship," Kizaru confirmed, in the mild conversational tone he used for everything including apparently having his bell rung. "I thought I would assess its defensive capabilities."
"And?"
Kizaru was quiet for a moment.
"It reflected my attack back at me," he said. "With vibrational force." He paused. "My own photon energy. Came back. With vibrations added to it." Another pause. "That has never happened before."
Sengoku stared at him.
"Your light speed attack," Sengoku said slowly.
"Came back," Kizaru said.
"At you."
"With extra steps," Kizaru said.
Sengoku looked back up at the Edward Newgate. The hull sat there saying nothing, doing nothing, simply existing in the way of something that had already made its point and didn't feel the need to repeat it.
"The vibrational force," Sengoku said. "That's not a standard reflective coating."
"No," Kizaru agreed. "It felt like—" he searched for the word, "—like hitting a bell. A very large bell. And then the bell hit back."
From inside the Edward Newgate Jeremy watched this exchange through the panoramic windows on the tactical display Gemini had pulled up alongside the main view.
"Gemini," Jeremy said.
"Yes."
"Did Kizaru just learn something."
"He learned several things," Gemini said. "He is currently revising his threat assessment of this vessel upward significantly."
"Good," Jeremy said.
"Akainu is still attempting to walk toward the platform," Gemini added. "He has now tried eleven times. He appears to have moved from confused to frustrated."
"Perfect," Jeremy said.
"Shall I open a channel so he can ask what's happening."
Jeremy thought about it.
"Yeah," he said. "Let him ask."
A moment later Akainu's voice came through the hull speakers, low and dangerous and currently about three degrees away from volcanic.
"What," Akainu said, "is holding me."
Jeremy leaned toward the comm.
"Tractor beam," he said pleasantly. "Hi Admiral. You're going to stay right there today."
Silence.
"Who are you," Akainu said.
"I'm the guy," Jeremy said, "who decided Ace makes it home."
The silence that followed had magma in it.
From the execution platform Sengoku watched Akainu standing perfectly still in the middle of the battlefield trying to move and not moving and looked back up at the dark ship hanging in the sky above everything.
"Garp," Sengoku said.
Garp had been standing beside him very quietly for the last several minutes.
"I see it," Garp said.
"Do you know what it is."
"No," Garp said.
"Do you know whose side it's on."
Garp watched the Whitebeard Pirates assembling below. Watched Luffy running across the ice already. Watched Akainu standing frozen in place like something had decided he was done moving for the day.
"I have a guess," Garp said.
ns216.73.217.39da2
and then Add to home screen.