Sanji stared at the newspaper, his jaw slack. "That's *Kuzan* and *Borsalino*! Two *Admirals*!"
Robin elegantly folded her paper. "Big Mom and Kaido joining forces to occupy the Admirals, while others move in to take rubbings... It's a brutally efficient strategy."
Nami nodded in agreement. "Right. Two Emperors tie up the Marines' top brass, leaving the Poneglyphs vulnerable. Simple, but effective."
Robin's gaze then swept over the crew. "However, I have already committed the contents of those Poneglyphs to memory. If you wish to know, I can recite them now."
Luffy tilted his head, utterly disinterested. "Nah."
"The real issue," Robin continued, "is that we are still missing one Road Poneglyph. Without the fourth, we cannot triangulate the final location of Laugh Tale."
"It's already a tremendous boon to know the locations of three," Ron said, folding his own newspaper. His eyes met each of theirs. "As for the last one... we'll find it in due time."
Nami nodded, her finger tracing a route on her nautical chart. "According to the Log Pose, our next island should be—"
Before she could finish, the News Coo circled back, dropping a fresh, special edition. Usopp caught it lazily, but a single glance made him yelp. "H-Hey! Something huge!"
"What now?" Zoro cracked open a weary eye.
"That smoke-addict, Smoker..." Usopp's voice trembled, "He went to intercept the Whitebeard Pirates *by himself* and got captured! Now the Whitebeard Pirates are sailing at full speed for Marineford!"
A stunned silence fell over the deck.
Robin's coffee cup halted midway to her lips. "It seems the Marines are in for significant trouble."
Sanji lit a fresh cigarette, his brow furrowed. "Whitebeard? That's one of the Four Emperors. That old man is not someone to be taken lightly."
The reason was simple: the Marines had captured "Fire Fist" Ace, the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
And the captured Ace had already been transported to the impregnable fortress of Marineford.
"Wait a minute!"
All eyes swiveled to Ron. After all, back in Alabasta, it was Ron who had spoken privately with Ace, right before Ace allowed himself to be captured.
"Ron..." Nami looked at him, her curiosity piqued. "What exactly did you say to Ace back then?"
Ron spread his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I just told him that Marineford has a great check-in spot."
Seeing their bewildered expressions, he elaborated. "Have you forgotten? Ace's system is based on location check-ins. He gets rewards for visiting new places. I merely suggested he try Marineford, hinting he might check-in something like advanced Armament Haki or even Conqueror's Haki."
"And he actually *went*?!" Usopp's jaw practically hit the deck. "That's playing with fire! What if the Marines actually execute him...?"
Luffy suddenly chimed in, his mouth full of meat. "It's fine. Gramps is there."
"Gramps?" the crew echoed in unison.
Luffy swallowed. "My grandpa is Garp. He's a big shot in the Marines. He won't let anything happen to Ace."
The deck fell into a profound, stunned silence.
"Wait, hold on a second!" Robin, usually the picture of composure, was visibly taken aback. "Luffy, are you telling us that the 'Hero of the Marines,' Monkey D. Garp, is your *grandfather*?!"
Luffy nodded. "Yep."
"How come we never knew this?!"
"You never asked."
"..."
Nami massaged her temples. "I'm suddenly beginning to understand why the Marines have such a hard time dealing with you brothers..."
Ron cleared his throat, steering the conversation back on course. "The point is, Ace allowed himself to be captured. He'll be fine. The Whitebeard Pirates moving on Marineford is just to apply pressure."
"...."
...
Marineford, Interrogation Room B
The harsh glare of the fluorescent light bleached all color from Ace's face. He lounged in the metal chair, the Seastone cuffs clinking dully on his wrists, a lazy, almost insolent smirk playing on his lips.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku sat rigidly across from him. Beside him, Vice Admiral Tsuru and a contingent of high-ranking officers stood, their expressions a uniform mixture of disbelief and profound irritation, as if they'd all collectively swallowed something sour.
"I want to turn over a new leaf," Ace announced suddenly, his tone dripping with a sincerity that felt utterly alien coming from him. "I want to become a Warlord of the Sea again—and if possible, I'd even be willing to enlist in the Marines."
*SNAP!*
The steel pen in Sengoku's hand broke clean in two, ink splattering across the official documents before him. Tsuru's glasses slid to the very tip of her nose. The Vice Admirals behind them stood frozen, a gallery of statues.
An eerie, heavy silence swallowed the interrogation room.
After a full ten seconds, Sengoku finally managed to grind out a few words through clenched teeth. "You... say that again?"
Ace shrugged, the chains rattling. "I said, I want to be a Shichibukai. Haven't you been trying to recruit me for a while?"
A throbbing vein bulged on Sengoku's temple. He vividly remembered his last attempt to recruit "Fire Fist" Ace into the Warlords—the brat had responded by incinerating a Marine battleship. And now he was bringing it up *himself*?
"Do you have any conception of what you are saying?" Tsuru asked, pushing her glasses back into place. "The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates wishes to defect to the Marines?"
Ace looked the picture of innocence. "People can change. I've suddenly realized that the pirate's life... lacks a certain future."
*BANG!*
Sengoku's fist slammed onto the metal table, making everything on it jump. "Do you think Marineford is some kind of amusement park?!" His goatee seemed to bristle with his fury. "Just last month you launched an assault on G-5 Branch!"
"That was merely the impulsiveness of youth," Ace said, his cheeky grin unwavering. "I've done some deep soul-searching since then."
Sengoku: "....Your application for Warlord status will be... *reviewed*."
In the Observation Room,
Garp was bent double, howling with laughter, his fists pounding the reinforced glass with dull *thuds*. "PUHAHAHA! Sengoku's face! It's greener than sea moss!"
The junior officers flanking him exchanged nervous glances, not daring to so much as chuckle.
After Sengoku and his entourage stormed out of the interrogation room in a cloud of rage, Garp wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes and swaggered toward the detention block. The heavy security doors opened for him without question; no one dared to impede the "Hero of the Marines."
Inside the cell, Ace was idly fiddling with his cuffs. Hearing the familiar, heavy footsteps, he looked up and grinned. "Hey, old man."
"Brat!" Garp plopped himself down on the edge of the bunk, making the frame groan in protest. "What kind of scheme are you cooking up now? Suddenly wanting to be a Warlord? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Ace rotated his wrist, the Seastone links clinking. "It's stuffy in here. I just want to go for a walk."
Garp's boisterous smile faded slightly. His sharp, knowing gaze locked onto his grandson's. "This is *Marineford*, boy. Don't you dare cause any real trouble here." He lowered his voice to a gravelly whisper. "If you truly break the rules here, even I won't be able to shield you."
Ace blinked, the picture of feigned innocence. "I promise, I'll just be taking a little stroll. I won't cause any trouble at all."
....
The journey continues right now for our Jade Dragons! 🐉
For just $6/month, you can step into the advanced chapters and never face a cliffhanger again. Gain instant access to 50+ chapters immediately, support the story you love, and help decide its course.
🔗 Become a Jade Dragon:https://patreon.com/J_Dragon