Chapter 76: Chapter 76 Inviting a Calamity
Chapter 76 Inviting a Calamity
Seeing her Sword-wielding opponent's obvious power boost made the Gojo-Player falter for a moment. Such a moment was long enough for her to be killed many times over, but said opponent was in the mood to play with his food, so he kindly allowed her to regain her mental faculties before raising his sword into the air.
Crystal's danger sense told her she was absolutely about to die, so she used her Trump Card again. The requirements were for the target to be looking her in the eyes, have injured her while she was going all out, and have remained within her En Field for longer than five minutes. Her Hatsu did not require the conditions to be met once per usage, so as long as the target who injured her remained in her En Field and continued eye contact, she could use the skill endlessly as long as she had the Aura to do so.
Rayleigh had guessed as much as well, but confidently kept his eyes locked on Crystal's own. When his mind received the mental assault, it had no effect.
Even before using the Sword of Babylon, her mental attack only had a slight effect. While using it, the effect could not even be noticed. Sword of Babylon completely abandoned physical defenses, so while using it, he could be easily injured by a normal attack. However, having all his defenses retract into his body heavily supercharged every other form of defense he possessed. His defense against things like Poison, Mental Attacks, Elemental Attacks, and Spiritual Attacks became completely ridiculous. This meant that the only way to beat him was to use physical attacks. No trick would work. To beat him, you had to outfight him as a Swordsman.
Rayleigh swung his sword and Crystal teleported away. The ice around the space she had stood was diced into tens of thousands of ice cube-sized fragments. Rayleigh's Sword of Babylon could release countless lines of transformed sharpened sword aura thinner than silk with a single, casual swing. Crystal might have been able to block it by going all out, but that would have shifted her aura to the front, allowing Rayleigh to easily slice through her aura after getting behind her.
Not that teleporting saved her. If teleporting were enough to counter his speed, then all his training would have been for nothing.
Sword of Babylon also supercharged the sense-enhancing field of Babylon, granting greater insight into Crystal's movements and flows. Her calculation Hatsu could predict the best location to teleport, but Rayleigh could move after her prediction and arrive at her destination as fast as she did.
Blood flowed as Rayleigh's red sword cut across her back. He didn't use the vibration trick, he simply cut her faster than her aura could expand. Using Sword of Babylon meant using Heart of the Sword and One with the Sword at the same time, so his reaction speed was simply faster than her Automated Hatsu's reaction speed. His attack outsped the processing speed of her mental boosting Hatsu.
Rayleigh was only slightly surprised to see the inflicted wound rapidly heal. Gojo had a similar ability and Rayleigh sensed that Crystal was using Dark Transfer and her Aura.
If he had to guess, Rayleigh figured that her main Hatsu turned her brain into a Computer that automatically used various Programs under certain conditions. Under the condition of a physical attack approaching her, her aura would automatically expand, with the degree of expansion being determined by the distance from the attack. Under the condition of receiving a crippling injury, her aura would absorb the Cosmic Force in the world, convert it into Living Force, and directly apply it to her wounds.
The latter was dangerous though. Rayleigh could easily nudge some extra Force into such a process. If Dark Transfer applied too much Force into a wound, it would thoroughly destroy it, not mend it. Even Rayleigh would not be bold enough to make an Automated Dark Transfer program.
Rayleigh waited for her wound to finish healing before he struck out again. Crystal tried dodging but her opponent could outpace her predictions, preventing her from running and leaving her injured again and again.
She was both anxious and pissed off. She could not use Auto-Healing and her knock-off Infinity at the same time, so she was completely defenseless while healing. It was obvious that Rayleigh knew this because he stopped pursuing her and allowed her to heal after each injury, all the while wearing the most irritating smirk. He was toying with her.
Crystal's normal Aura usage within her En was essentially unlimited because she could recycle it at around the same rate she used it, but this was no longer enough, so she had to abandon efficiency and go all out. The smile Swordman wore upon seeing this only made her frown deeper.
Crystal's Aura expanded like a metal pillar being shot from a ship's cannon, but Rayleigh either dodged it, deflected it, or split the attack in half around him. Crystal's blood scattered around the ice as each wound healed after another. Rayleigh was kind enough not to aim for her chest and slash her clothes completely to pieces, but everything was shredded and bloodied.
Their match was temporarily interrupted when Whitebeard started shouting. "This is my Final Order. Listen well, Whitebeard Pirates! You will all part with me here! You will all Live! You will safely return to the New World! Now, GO!"
Whitebeard twisted his body and smashed his fist forward. The monolithic building at the back of Marineford bearing the word Justice on its side cracked. Blood began dripping from Whitebeard's mouth since he couldn't swallow any more of the blood that he'd been coughing from his lungs.
Titan, Crow, and Stoner stood next to him. Whitebeard told the brats to get out of his way and Titan replied, "We aren't a part of your crew and don't take orders from you. You're welcome to go back and take a nap if you're not feeling well, Old Man."
Whitebeard smiled, "Cheeky brats."
The Marines tried to chase after the fleeing pirates, but Whitebeard turned back and swung his Naginata at the ground, creating a massive gorge behind him, separating the Marines from his crew.
Ace and the rest were behind him and said their tear-filled goodbyes. Kizaru and Aokiji tried to take cheap shots at Ace and Luffy, but were literally stunned when a massive thunderbolt descended on them from the sky.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's eyes widened in shock at the new Player. Lightning Lord had arrived.
Or at least, that was what he and the other Marines thought.
Rayleigh had noticed the Lightning Player's Force presence from the beginning. He had been hiding nearby to protect Ace in case Kizaru tried a high-speed assassination attempt. Titan and the other Players had planned for just about everything to ensure that Ace would be protected. Sengoku was the type to change his plan to account for new variables, so if the new variables were introduced too late, he would not be able to plan for them.
Outside, Fire Queen had outlasted Goddess of Ice. The Icy Marine Player did not have access to the Hunter Class to grant the Aura needed for high-intensity, prolonged fights. Goddess of Ice had retreated and Fire Queen melted a path to escape while setting the surrounding Marine ships on fire. Wild King stood ready to command his Sea King Army to assist in the evacuation while harassing the remaining Marine Ships.
With Whitebeard, Titan, Crow, Stoner, and Lightning Lord standing before the Marines, the Pirate's escape seemed guaranteed.
Akainu started trash-talking Whitebeard, but Crystal also used that moment to shout, "Hey guys! I'll pay you if you help me kill Swordsman!"
Some of the Players looked over. Dyna Might, someone who was trying to thaw out because he had no resistance to the cold also shouted, "Yeah! Kill this Bastard and I'll give you whatever you want! Wild King! You want to kill him too, right?!"
Although Rayleigh's aura had been completely taken into his body, he did not look weak in the eyes of these Players. They all had sense-enhancing abilities like Observation Haki and could feel a bit of the depths of Rayleigh's strength. Most of them didn't even know Crystal. Dyna Might told her where to find Swordsman and Wild King gave her a ride to Marineford, but the other Players had never seen her before. They obviously saw the fight between these two, but none of them were interested in interfering.
Stoner actually shouted back, "Whatever I want?" Considering where his eyes were leering, it did not take a genius to guess what he was thinking.
Rayleigh actually stopped attacking and asked Crystal, "Yeah, are you gonna give Stoner whatever he wants?" His own cheeky smile infuriated her to the point that she almost considered it.
This actually made Rayleigh feel a bit bad for her. It wasn't right to force a girl to the point she would have to consider such a thing. Yes, it was obviously far better just to kill her on the spot.
Sensing Rayleigh's intention, Crystal shouted, "WAIT!"
Which was promptly ignored.
Rayleigh had vanished from in front of her and reappeared a few steps behind her. Crystal was stunned when she felt herself fall to the ground. Her shock doubled when she saw her legs were still standing upright. She had been bisected.
Rayleigh looked back and asked, "Yes, you wanted to say something?" You can't talk without lungs so he didn't lop off her head to check if she had any last words.
A few of the watching Players laughed at the familiar scene. That was when everything went to shit.
Everyone had ignored the trash-talking Akainu, but Ace had not. When he was safe and sound, when his freedom was guaranteed, he turned back to argue with Akainu. The pair even took potshots at each other, but they did so from a distance so the Players had not care that much. That was when Akainu launched himself forward like an erupting volcano.
Lightning Lord shot him with hundreds of millions of volts of current. Lightning was dozens of times hotter than Magma, but Akainu ignored the damage and plowed through.
Crow launched multiple crows at the incoming wave of lava, causing miniature explosions. Crow was actually a user of a Logia Devil Fruit that let him turn to Ash. Ash can ignite and explode if the temperature is high enough, allowing him to use Akainu's heat against him. Had Akainu used his standard attacks, this would have worked, but Akainu's standard attack took into account that he was holding back nearly all the time to prevent himself from killing the nearby Marines. Now, it was different. Every Marine at the point he launched himself and in the path between himself and Ace ignited and screamed, but Akainu didn't care.
The stone around Ace and Akainu was glowing with heat and Stoner could not manipulate it without getting permanent burns that ate at the bone.
Still, Ace was not defenseless. He grit his teeth and launched his strongest fire, determined to burn even magma to nothing. At this point, none of the Players were particularly worried. Ace and Akainu had exchanged blows numerous times in the last few minutes. Akainu may not have been holding back anymore, but the assist from Lightning Lord and Crow weakened his attack to the point that Ace could still defend himself, so it wasn't a problem.
And that was when the World fell silent. Rayleigh, someone especially attuned to the world, felt it first. He looked away from his fallen opponent and his eyes moved directly to the source, to Monkey D Luffy. The favored child of the world had stayed near Ace, unwilling to run when everyone else had already started boarding the ships. Luffy, who had been moving around for the past few minutes as if he were on drugs, suddenly fell. It was not an attack or injury. He had used 300% of his energy to free Ace, and now that Ace was free and Luffy was not fighting, his long overdraft body could no longer hold the endlessly compounded tension he had been baring and he simply collapsed.
None of the Players noticed. Ace did not notice. Whitebeard did not notice. They were all facing Akainu and he was facing them. Because of this, Akainu was the first to notice.
Before Luffy even hit the ground, Akainu's eyes narrowed and he expended every bit of energy he had to change directions and burn Luffy to dust.
Lightning Lord was the only one capable of attacking fast enough after noticing the problem but Kizaru had already blocked him before he could interrupt the attack at the new target. Aokiji blocked Whitebeard and Sengoku blocked Titan. They didn't know that Akainu would change directions, they only thought that he was attacking Ace and moved to back him up.
The only one who moved fast enough was Ace. He seemed to flash from his position and reform right in front of his brother.
It only took an instant. From the moment that Akainu launched himself forward with the power of an erupting volcano to the moment he landed with his magma fist through Ace's torso was only a duration matched by the time it took to blink.
Even Rayleigh could not have done anything. His skills did not grant him the ability to protect others. He could have sliced off Akainu's arm or head, but the magma fist still would have pierced Ace through. Rayleigh did not have any means to block such an attack on another person. He could still use telekinesis to defend while using Sword of Babylon, but Akainu's fist was saturated with Haki and would have broken through any defense Rayleigh formed like paper.
A ripple moved throughout Marineford. Rayleigh looked back and saw a pirate holding the Video Snail that had been taken from the Marines. Aokiji had frozen him earlier, but apparently, he thawed out quickly. The scene of Ace getting skewered had been seen throughout the world, and the world had been changed forever.
Like all the other Player's Rayleigh's mood had gone sour. He no longer paid attention to the bisected Player and slowly walked forward. The Players around Whitebeard radiated rage as they pushed Akainu back and let Ace say his final words to his brother. The son of the Pirate King died with a smile in the arms of his closest family. When Luffy sensed that his brother had completely gone, he seemed to release a soundless cry before passing out.
Titan shouted, "You were fucking warned! What happens next is on your head!" He raised his fist in the air and opened and closed it three times, obviously signaling someone.
Rayleigh was probably the only one who noticed the familiar presence of Captain Jack snatching the stolen Video Snail and moving closer, unnoticed by others.
Whitebeard could feel the Player's rage as it matched his own. But the old man's grief gave him enough sense to ask, "What will you do?"
Titan replied, "Don't worry about your crew Old Man. I'll wait for them to leave before we start."
The finality of the statement allowed the grief-stricken old man to let slip a small smirk of schadenfreude.
Whitebeard replied with, "Then leave the dog to me."
The Players agreed. Stoner merged into the ground before creating a massive wall that separated the Marines from the retreating Pirates, allowing them to escape unimpeded. Lighting Lord held Kizaru's attention while Crow kept Aokiji busy. Ash could burn but it could not freeze, making him a strong counter to the ice-empowered Admiral. Titan stood where he was and stared down Sengoku. The Fleet Admiral had been forced back to stop Vice Admiral Garp from killing Akainu himself.
The Shark Fishman and large-headed pervert grabbed Luffy and made a run for it with the others. Akainu tried to stop him but Whitebeard had no intention of allowing Luffy to come to harm. Ace's brother would carry his will.
Whitebeard no longer held back. He smashed Akainu and the towering structure behind him cracked as if it had been struck by a meteor and collapsed in on itself.
With each attack, more and more blood was coughed from Whitebeard's body. He wasn't even able to speak without coughing blood and had no means of breathing. The only thing he could do was smash Akainu with everything he had in the hopes of taking the Admiral down with him.
Still, Akainu gave as good as he got. The only reason Rayleigh hadn't taken the Admiral's head yet was that he had no intention of denying a dying Old Man his final request. He'd let the old man either kill Akainu or die trying before he finished him off.
Whitebeard's body had multiple sections burnt out, but this did not stop him from trying to sink the whole of Marineford with every attack.
That was when something weird showed up.
If the being called Oars Jr could be referred to as a Giant Giant, then Rayleigh had no idea what to call this guy. He was twice as tall as some versions of Godzilla and Rayleigh felt that devil fruit shenanigans had to be involved to make that possible.
The towering colossus peaked from behind the wrecked building of Marineford and feigned a guilty look for being spotted.
More uninvited guests walked through the empty streets of Marineford from the Marine's side and stopped at the remains of the Execution Platform.
Sengoku looked back and recognized them, "YOU! How did you get here?!"
Whitebeard coughed out, "You..."
Shouting from the remainder of the Marines gave away the identities of the newcomers. The Blackbeard Pirates.
The tubby fellow with bad teeth, a black beard, a black hat, and insane eyes that stood before the others shouted back after a laugh, "It's been too long! It's good to see you at death's door Old Man!"
Several Marines shouted in shock and fear at the presence of a few who stood at Blackbeard's side. It seemed that these were prisoners who had escaped Impel Down. One of them was even a former warden.
If they came from Impel Down, then someone had to have opened the Gates of Justice to let them show up, something Sengoku didn't understand.
A skinny fellow next to Blackbeard happily told him, "My apologies, it's a simple story. Before we left for Impel Down, I hypnotized the control room Marines to allow all ships through the Gates. It seems even some other people were able to take advantage of this."
Blackbeard bragged, "If the Government saw me as an enemy while I was a Pirate, I wouldn't have been able to open the Gates and break into Impel Down. That's why I needed the title of Warlord. But I don't need it anymore!" He laughed even louder.
A few Players exchanged glances, but seeing Whitebeard walk toward Blackbeard, they decided to let the old man have the first punch.
Sengoku shouted in outrage at being deceived but this distracted Blackbeard from Whitebeard's attack. The old man smashed half the building next to Blackbeard, causing it to collapse right on top of him. The Admirals fighting the Players paused to watch this new fight of Pirates against Pirates, hoping to pick off the winner once it was decided.
Rayleigh's eyes shined at what he saw next. Blackbeard turned the ground to darkness which absorbed the rubble, allowing him to get out from under it.
No one but the Players noticed Rayleigh walking over. Thanks to a subtle use of Force Muffle, only the Players heard when Rayleigh said, "I call dibs on Blackbeard."
Titan answered back, "Why should I let you have him? Killing him will help me recruit the Whitebeard Pirates after everything is over."
Rayleigh replied, "You all owe me a favor. Let me have Blackbeard and the debt is repaid."
This surprised the Players. They knew from private conversations with All Seeing Prophet and Wild King what a debt to Rayleigh truly meant. Reputation with these Pirates could be obtained through other means, but releasing themselves from the debt they owed Rayleigh was almost priceless.
Titan nodded, "Deal. Are you gonna stick around for the after-party?"
Rayleigh recognized that Titan was referring to whatever plan they hatched up for the Marines as punishment for Ace's death. "Will it be any good?"
Titan smirked, "Best show you'll ever see."
"Count me in then," Rayleigh replied with a nod before he continued walking forward, past the Players and Marines to where Blackbeard was getting smacked down by Whitebeard. From the perspective of a casual observer, it looked like Whitebeard would kill Blackbeard at any moment, but the former was running on fumes and guts while the latter seemed capable of absorbing all the damage he was dealt.
The dark power of Blackbeard's Devil Fruit seemed to allow him to negate the power of Whitebeard's Devil Fruit, but doing so was mostly pointless as Whitebeard proved that his Naginata was not just for display and slashed into Blackbeard's shoulder, causing the man with the insane eyes to jump back in pain.
Whitebeard's Devil Fruit was not being negated at that point so he grabbed Blackbeard's face and seismically smashed it into the ground, forming a massive crater.
Somehow, the traitorous Pirate survived. Rayleigh guessed that he had some means of absorbing damage, but from the man's expletives when he was hit, it did not negate the pain. In fact, it seemed to amplify it.
Blackbeard shouted, "Get Him!"
At the same time, Rayleigh said, "Pay no attention to me."
The members of Blackbeard's crew heard both lines but since one came from a nobody and the other from their captain, it made perfect sense to ignore the nobody. They had just arrived and didn't see Rayleigh's fight with Crystal.
Rayleigh could use In to hide the presence of his Aura which replicated the effect of Zetsu, so to those not in the know, he did not feel like a threat.
Another aspect of the Sword of Babylon was that it boosted all Force skills. He could only use Damaging Force Skills through his sword, but Non-Damaging Force Skills like Mind Trick could be used at any time.
This amplification, along with the timing of speaking at the moment Blackbeard also shouted his order, allowed for the heavily strengthened suggestion to pass fully into their minds. Combined with Force Stealth, something that had also been strengthened, the Blackbeard Pirates just about forgot Rayleigh's existence at that moment.
Under the order of Blackbeard, the Blackbeard Pirates rushed Whitebeard with all manner of weapons and attacks. Had the old man been capable of using a fraction of his Haki skill, it would never have broken the skin, but the old man was using all his Willpower to stay conscious and had none left to armor his body.
The fearful Blackbeard pointed his pistol at Whitebeard and continued pulling the trigger until it started clicking. Only then did he remark, "Out of ammo?"
Rayleigh felt the heartbeat of the world again. He was about to move to kill Blackbeard, but the world apparently wanted something to happen first. Whitebeard, the man who stood using willpower alone, seemed to have been granted something. Captain Jack, the Player who had taken the Video Snail had coincidentally come a lot closer and was showing Whitebeard's last moments.
Whitebeard, the man whose lungs should have been so full of blood that he should not have been able to speak, started talking. His weak voice somehow carried easily.
"It's not you."
Blackbeard was also quite shocked at the fact that he was not dead, "You're still alive?!"
As if in a trance, Whitebeard continued, "The man Roger is waiting for is definitely not you, Teach. There are those who inherited Roger's Will. And one day, someone will appear who will inherit Ace's Will. As long as that 'Bloodline' survives, their flames will never die."
Whitebeard somehow took in a clear, deep breath. His voice became louder and louder with each word. "That Will has been passed down from long ago! And in the future, someday, a man will appear, bearing the weight of centuries on his shoulders, to challenge the World! Sengoku. Your World Government is afraid. Afraid of the coming war that will engulf the world! The world will be shaken to its core."
Somehow, no one was fighting. The Admirals were no longer fighting the Players but seemed incapable of moving, of interrupting Whitebeard's final words.
Echoing throughout Marineford and beyond, Whitebeard called out, "Somebody will find it. That day will certainly come. One Piece is Real!"
Rayleigh and just about everyone else felt goosebumps from the weight of those words, spoken through Whitebeard that carried the Will of the entire world.
Sengoku screamed in frustration. He was already told that someone had turned one of the Video Snails back on but he didn't mind before since it meant Ace's death was televised, showing the power of the Marines. Now, this came back to bite him in the ass.
Moments later, Whitebeard's heart stopped. The tension in the man's unbreathing body kept him upright, unwilling to fall even in the face of death.
That was when the members of the Blackbeard Pirates got a ridiculously large black sheet from somewhere and threw it over Blackbeard and Whitebeard.
Rayleigh saw it. A shatterpoint. If left alone, Blackbeard would somehow become far stronger and escape. Too bad for him.
Unnoticed by the Blackbeard Pirates, Rayleigh quickly moved beneath the same sheet right before it came down, right behind Blackbeard.
Beneath the sheet, Blackbeard pressed his right hand to the deceased Whitebeard's chest while taking out a pineapple with his other hand.
(The Gura Gura No Mi looks like a blue pineapple.)
Rayleigh aimed his blood-red sword right at the shatterpoint on Blackbeard's back and thrust forward.
Blackbeard was not someone who mastered Observation Haki, and although he was an ambitious man, his Willpower was not strong enough to counter the Enhanced Mind Trick that Rayleigh had used.
The moment that Rayleigh's sword pierced Blackbeard's heart from behind, Rayleigh did something he had never done before.
Rayleigh wanted Blackbeard's understanding of the Darkness Devil Fruit, and stabbing him in the heart would not help with that. Normally.
Every Force skill was heavily enhanced while using Sword of Babylon and just about every Force skill could be used through his sword. So the moment Rayleigh stabbed through Blackbeard's heart, Rayleigh used Psychometry through his sword.
Psychometry was Rayleigh's strongest Force skill due to its nature as an Instant Mastery. This was the first time that Rayleigh used it through his sword under the enhancing effect of the Sword of Babylon.
Rayleigh connected to his sword through the Kyber Crystal embedded within and felt the aspects of Darkness within Blackbeard's body. Using the circulating lines of aura around the blade as a conduit, Rayleigh instinctively used Psychometry to draw in the Flow of Darkness through his aura and into his Kyber Crystal.
Honestly, Rayleigh did not know that this would work when he tried it, but thanks to a long series of coincidences, not only did it work, but he got an extra.
Somehow, Rayleigh felt the essence of space vibrations that had been Whitebeard's Devil Fruit. He recognized it thanks to his earlier testing and he felt he could pull the flow of it through his sword and into his Kyber Crystal as well.
Blackbeard was obviously shocked that he had been stabbed through the heart from the back. Were his body normal, that would have killed him. He intended to use his Devil Fruit to kill the bastard who tried a sneak attack and then retreat so he could recover, but his Devil Fruit was not responding. Even his body did not seem to be responding. He had been using his Devil Fruit to draw the old man's power into the pineapple so he could eat it. His unique physiology should let him survive. But his body was frozen in the act of drawing out Whitebeard's power and it wasn't going into the Pineapple.
Rayleigh noticed that Blackbeard wasn't dead somehow, but he already happened upon the method to use Psychometry to Hijack and draw in the flow of Darkness and Space, so he used a dozen Wills to use Force Stasis on Blackbeard while using the Force within Blackbeard's body to freeze him up until he was done. With his body frozen and his Devil Fruit Hijacked, he could do nothing but feel everything he worked for be taken away.
Blackbeard tried to cry out, shout, or even just complain. He risked everything on the biggest bet anyone had ever made and was about to win it all, only for it to come up short at the last minute.
Too bad no one cared for his complaints. Once Rayleigh felt that there was nothing left to take of the flow of Space and Darkness, he removed his sword and lopped off Blackbeard's head. He didn't even bother to look at the man's aggrieved face before walking out of the sheet. Rayleigh wasn't entirely sure why he drew the flows of Darkness and Space into his Kyber Crystal. After he felt it was possible, he just felt that he should do it and didn't question that feeling. Now that he was out in the open, he saw that the once light blue color of his Kyber Crystal had become dark purple. His Sword of Babylon still worked though, so it wasn't a problem.
"Did Blackbeard come out?"
"Who is that?"
The Blackbeard, or former Blackbeard Pirates saw Rayleigh exit the sheet and pulled it away, leaving only two corpses, one of which was headless.
"Eh? When did he get there?!"
"You killed Blackbeard!"
"You Bastard!"
Rayleigh casually walked out and a few Marines recognized him. They knew him as Mihawk's apprentice and were surprised that he had somehow assassinated Blackbeard.
The Blackbeard Pirates didn't attack him since they didn't have a reason to do so after their captain was killed. Instead, they scattered, running away.
The Admirals were kept busy by the Players so the remains of the Whitebeard Pirates had already boarded their ships and sailed out. Sengoku ordered the Admirals to capture Blackbeard's crew since that would still be a big win for the Marines. Taking credit for killing Blackbeard and recapturing his crew of escaped Impel Down inmates would soften the blow of allowing the defeated Whitebeard Pirates to escape.
Sengoku then ordered the Warlords to fight the Players. Mihawk refused, stating that he only agreed to fight members of the Whitebeard Pirates, which these guys were not. The rest of the Warlords didn't bother doing anything either but were willing to at least surround the Players, despite the fact that they were not trying to escape.
After a few minutes, much of Marineford was burning from the lava and Akainu and the rest returned with several dead and dying members of the Blackbeard Pirates.
Seeing the Whitebeard Pirates sail off into the sunset, Akainu asked permission to chase and sink their fleet. Just about every living Pirate was taken. Even the pile of injured Pirates Rayleigh made had been tossed into one of the ships before they retreated. They even got Ace's body and most of the other bodies.
To Akainu's suggestion, Kizaru pointed out, "With what ships? All of the Warships had their sails burned down by that other Fire girl."
Akainu growled, "Then get some from the warehouse! I'm not letting Dragon's son get away so easily."
Another Marine ran up to Sengoku and shouted, "Fleet Admiral! The Red-Haired Pirates have joined up with the retreating Whitebeard Pirates and are helping them escape!"
Akainu shouted, "WHAT?!"
Titan pointed out, "Hey! Aren't you forgetting something?"
Sengoku looked over at the Players and sneered. "Surrender now and you'll only be locked up for the rest of your lives. Even with your help, Ace was executed and Whitebeard was killed. With Blackbeard's death, this is a complete victory for the Marines and there is nothing you can do."
Titan raised his fist into the air and opened it.
The speakers of Marineford sounded out, "Ah of course. The good guys win. The bad guys lose. And as always, England prevails. I mean, Justice prevails."
Sengoku looked around with his Haki but was unable to find where the person with the transmission Snail was located.
Rayleigh recognized the voice as Captain Jack's, though he was using a very thick accent to perfectly mimic Jack Sparrow.
The speakers continued, "This is being broadcast on frequencies Zero and Twenty-three by the way. The video and radio feed have been cut, so only those present and the guys in That place can hear us now."
That caused Sengoku and the Admirals to freeze up for a moment. Frequency Zero was just the in-base communication. Every Base had its own frequency zero. But Frequency Twenty-three was only accessible to Marineford and broadcast right to the room of the Five Elders. Sengoku had no idea if this Pirate was lying or not, but he could not understand why he would try to draw the attention of those beings.
Sengoku shouted for everyone to search for the source of the transmission while ordering the Admirals to kill the Pirate Players if they moved. The Vice Admirals and below were commanded to bring in the injured Marines.
Captain Jack continued, uninterrupted, "Do you guys like stories? Let me tell you a good one. A thousand years ago, there were hundreds of Kingdoms around the world, each ruled by a foolish King. Generation after generation, one foolish king was replaced by his son, who was often an even more foolish King. One day, several exceedingly foolish Kings caused the complete collapse of their Kingdoms. This wasn't uncommon, and usually, the territory would be taken by the second son of a nearby foolish King who became the land's next foolish King."
Sengoku's pupils dilated in fear as he started recognizing the details of this story. "SHUT OFF THE SPEAKERS NOW!"
"But this time, before the foolish Princes could take the land of the fallen Kingdoms, a group of commoners decided to take it first. Instead of a single person ruling the land, they decided to rule it together and formed a Clan. They decided to debate each decision together and choose how their land would be run using the majority consensus of the clan. They called this, Democracy."
Sengoku shouted, "DESTROY THE SPEAKERS!"
Kizaru used his lasers to fire at every speaker in visual range, but the audio continued as there were many speakers inside the buildings, inside the hallways, and even some that had been hidden away.
"Over the next two hundred years, this land prospered. The geniuses of other lands who had been forced to serve their land's foolish Kings gathered in this land without Kings where their opinions would be heard. By listening to these geniuses, the land grew even more prosperous which then attracted more geniuses which then caused it to grow even more in an endless cycle until one day, it was the most powerful land in the world."
Sengoku ordered the Marines to find the broadcast station that sent signals to the speakers and destroy it but the audio continued. They had no idea that Captain Jack had brought a private system that could hack into the primary system, so destroying their own stuff would not end the transmission.
"The remaining foolish Kings of this time decided to work together to destroy this country. It began when they were able to steal one of the land's great weapons, the Lord of the Skies, Uranus. The Lord of the Skies was able to destroy entire islands and was used to tear down the heart of this land. When it was obvious that they would lose, the leading clan decided to play the long game. They knew that the alliance of foolish Kings would try to erase their legacy, so they used their remaining great weapon, Pluton, Lord of the Earth. Through unimaginable means, Pluton reshaped the world, forming the Red Line and the Grand Line. That's right, the Grand Line and Red Line are completely artificial."
"Now, I'm sure you're wondering, why go through all the effort to make the Grand Line? Well, it was to protect their Legacy. The Grand Line is a trial that only those unrestricted by the laws of the world can traverse. Reach its end and the legacy of that land can be found. I'm sure you're wondering, what is that Legacy? Well, that land left their entire history in that place, from start to finish, in one piece. Hehe. A giant mural carved into an indestructible stone tells their story. Even though they lost the war, they knew that as long as the belief of their clan, the belief in Democracy survived, they would have the last laugh."
"Ah, did you know that Gol D Roger was the one who named the last island Laugh Tale? Why'd he do it? It's because that's where those who knew what freedom truly was left their tale and would have the last laugh. And the story I'm telling you? It's the very story that was carved into that mural. Though I am leaving out a few things about a Prophecy, but that's the boring part. Roger knew he was not the one in the Prophecy, so he didn't spread the tale. Only when a member of the D Clan, the descendants of those who ruled using Democracy, fulfilled certain conditions could the prophecy be fulfilled. Instead of spreading the tale, Roger left everything he had, his entire story, on that island and then he made a deal with the World Government for him and his crew to keep quiet, in exchange, he'd turn himself in and the World Government would not hunt down his crew."
"Of course, the World Government doesn't like to be told what to do. Roger didn't include his son in the deal to keep him a secret, but since he was not a part of the deal, the World Government did everything they could to kill the son of the man they were forced to make a deal with. So the reason that all those pregnant women and babies were killed? It's because the World Government is a sore loser."
"And since they made a deal with Roger, to keep quiet, I wonder if they will make a deal with me? I'm not a member of the D Clan that descended from the leaders of that land. I'm sure the World Government can come up with something good to give me to keep me quiet too. Of course, every Marine in Marineford now knows this tale as well. Will you make a deal with them too? I look forward to your decision."
There were no more speakers and yet the voice still carried through Marineford until the last word was spoken. Sengoku grit his teeth furiously and closed his eyes, praying that the worst would not come. He would be disappointed.
Rayleigh felt it first. A wicked feeling that resembled the flow of a spider's web. It flowed from the outside into the center of Marineford where a pitch-black pentagram started to form from darkness and shadow.
Sengoku spotted it and his head dropped down in shame. What had he done?
*Author's Note*
Well, Warm-Up is over. Now for the Main Event. I like to end at a good cliffhanger to keep interest up, but it took a while to get to one here so this chapter is a bit longer than average. I don't like doing what others have done, so I thought, what's left to do? I know, let's Spoil the entire series and force the Elders to kill everyone in Marineford for knowing what should be forbidden to know. It's the nature of Players to want to spoil everything after all.
Sorry about Ace, but it's not their fault, it is his. Even in canon, Ace was home free. He was the one who decided to go back and play with Akainu. Then Luffy was attacked and Luffy should have been able to dodge, but he did not which forced Ace to take the hit. I think Luffy couldn't dodge because that was where he ran out of steam. So Ace died because he fell for Akainu's taunts and because Luffy ran out of steam at the worst possible moment. If you know what is going to happen ahead of time, it is really easy to prevent this. But if you don't, it is impossible to stop, no matter what plan you have. Even if the Players went all out earlier, that would have caused the Admirals and Fleet Admiral to go all out earlier. You can tell what All-out looks like for an Admiral based on Punk Hazard.
Captain Jack has a simple Hatsu that uses Force GPS and Manipulation Aura to manipulate a Compass needle to point wherever he wants. It can only be used for one hour, once a week, and only while sailing on a ship, but given enough time, he can use it to find Laugh Tale very easily. He would not be able to read the murals, but it wouldn't be hard to use the same Hatsu to find someone who Could read them which would have led him to Vega Punk.
Roger said he left everything he had in that place. Everything he had was just his story, so if he carved his own story while he was there, it would match what he said. Not sure if I'm right, but this is my best guess using the available information. It's cringe, but I'm assuming that D stands for Democracy and that the idea that the lost kingdom had which caused it to be erased from history is Democracy. I'm probably wrong, but with the information given so far, it's not a bad guess.
Now it is time to fight some Elders and the Swordmasters of Mary Geoise. The Five Elders seem to have the ability to teleport to magic circles, but there are conditions. The Magic Circles have to be placed there in advance by the Demon Spider, Elder Saturn. He can also place ones close to him. He had to teleport using it first, and after teleporting himself there, he could teleport others to his location. I'm guessing that the teleportation works using Spider Web Magic, which explains why he has to be the first to show up and is responsible for assisting the others in showing up afterward. And I may be wrong, but I'm going to say that becoming an Elder means having used the Ope Ope Fruit to become Immortal. After 800 Years, there should be more Immortals than just Imu, so I'm gonna say that each Elder is also Immortal. I also spared Akainu up to this point just so we can have a scene of the Elders ordering him to kill every Marine in Marineford.
Weekly Power Status
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