Chapter 55: A Sword at the Gates
Summon? Forced summons?
"Understood," Levi said into the Den Den Mushi, his mind already working through the implications. With Straw Hat Luffy imprisoned, the dynamic had changed. Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress, was infamous for her hatred of men and her absolute loyalty to her people. Without Luffy's accidental charm to sway her, her refusal of a Marine summons was almost a given. Her likely stance would be to protect Amazon Lily at any cost, even if it meant defying the World Government.
Forced… Levi turned the word over. The implication was clear: get her to Marineford by any means necessary. Once there, surrounded by Admirals and the full might of Headquarters, her options would shrink to compliance or annihilation. It was a dirty job, but a straightforward one.
Sengoku's personal call underlined its importance. It also gave Levi the perfect excuse to leave Impel Down for his true objective: Mary Geoise. More power was the priority. Everything else was secondary.
"Sakazuki," Levi called out to the other Admiral, who stood like a brooding statue near the main gate. "Impel Down is yours for now. Ensure none of the Level Six specimens… escape." He chose the word carefully. They weren't just prisoners anymore; they were his future resources.
"Do not worry, Admiral Black Crow," Magellan rumbled, sounding almost cheerful. "With you gone, I fear they may grow restless again, but we shall manage. In some ways, you are a more… effective warden than I."
Levi gave a noncommittal grunt. That was not a compliment he wanted.
Akainu merely nodded, his expression grim. His observations had shown Levi to be unpredictable but not actively destructive to Marine property. With the Red Hair Pirates still missing, maintaining a strong presence at the prison was prudent. He would hold the line.
As Levi boarded a warship, setting course for the coordinates of Hancock's last sighting, he had no idea that the careful balance of the world was already being violently upset.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
The air thrummed with organized chaos. Over twenty battleships crowded the bay. The fortress city was a hive of activity as Marines from nearby bases poured in, setting up defenses, stocking armories, and preparing for the war everyone knew was coming. The mood was a tense mix of dread and burgeoning confidence as more familiar, powerful faces arrived.
Then, the world went silent for a split second before it screamed.
BUZZ—ZZZZZ—CRACK!
A deafening, metallic roar tore across the sky. Marines looked up, confusion turning to horror. A vertical slash of golden light, brighter than the sun, screamed across the sea's surface towards the bay. It wasn't an energy beam; it was sword energy, condensed to a reality-rending edge, moving faster than sound.
"MOVE!" a Vice Admiral bellowed, his instincts saving lives as he used the flat of his blade to blast a dozen Marines off the deck of their ship.
BOOM-CRUNCH!
The golden slash hit the battleship. It didn't cut; it erased. The massive warship was severed cleanly in two as if it were made of paper, the halves already starting to sink as the energy continued its apocalyptic path. It plowed through the bay, splitting the water in a permanent-looking trench, smashed through the undefended section of the bay wall, and screamed into the central square of Marineford.
The ground itself seemed to cry out. A canyon of molten stone and shattered pavement ripped open across the vast square, heading straight for the towering edifice of the Marine Headquarters building. The sonic boom finally caught up, a physical wall of sound that shattered windows and knocked men off their feet.
Panic erupted. "ENEMY ATTACK!" Klaxons began to wail, a mournful, too-late siren.
The sword energy showed no sign of dissipating. It was aimed to bisect the very heart of Marine justice.
"WHO THE HELL DARES?!" The roar was pure, unfiltered fury. A section of the headquarters wall exploded outward, not from the sword, but from a human projectile.
Monkey D. Garp landed in the sword's path, his simple shirt straining over muscles coiled like steel springs. His fists, sheathed in Haki so dense it smoked with black and crimson energy, met the golden slash head-on.
KABOOOOOM!!!
The impact was cataclysmic. The sword energy shattered into a million dissipating shards of light, the force of the explosion flattening the surrounding area and sending a visible shockwave rippling back out to sea. Garp skidded back a foot, leaving trenches in the stone, but he stood firm.
As the light and dust cleared, a figure stood calmly in the center of the newly carved ravine in the square. He wore a simple straw hat, a black cloak flapping in the self-generated wind, and a scarred, calm face. In his hand was a single, sleek sword.
"Vice Admiral Garp," Red-Haired Shanks said, a faint smile on his lips. "It seems the years have been kind to your fists."
The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by the crackle of dying energy and the distant, panicked shouts.
From his office window, Fleet Admiral Sengoku stared, his face pale with a mixture of shock and dawning comprehension. This was the move. The disappearance, the evasion… it wasn't to attack Impel Down or ally with Whitebeard.
Shanks had come straight for the heart.
"RED HAIR!" Sengoku's voice, amplified by his Devil Fruit, boomed across the plaza. "SHANKS!"
The cry was taken up by a thousand voices, a wave of pure terror and awe. "It's Red Hair! The Red Hair Pirates!"
The Fourth Emperor had not come to parley. He had come to war. And he had brought his sword to Marineford's doorstep a full ten days early.
The Summit War had just found its shocking, violent prologue.
(End of Chapter)
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