Luffy's Call: My Journey with the Straw Hats

"Let the old man handle this!"

Jinbe declared, stepping forward. He ripped a massive door panel from the wreckage and leaped into the sea. The sea was his world. Luffy, Moonlight, and Crocodile stood on the makeshift raft as Jinbe, like a torpedo, propelled them toward the naval battleships. He was so fast that the warships below couldn't even target him.

"As expected of the 'Knight of the Sea,' Jinbe," Ivankov admired from the shore. "No one can beat him in the water."

By now, Jinbe had reached the battleships. "Fire! Fire!" the Marines shouted, and eight warships opened fire simultaneously. A rain of cannonballs fell upon them. But against Moonlight, Luffy, and Crocodile, it was useless. A single flash of Moonlight's sword cleaved a battleship in two.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't destroy it! We have to capture a ship to get out of here!" Crocodile grumbled, but seeing Moonlight's glare, he quickly shut up and unleashed his own Desert Spada, creating a sandstorm that quickly dealt with the Marines on another ship. Luffy was much gentler, using his Gum-Gum Gatling to leave the Marines bruised and swollen but otherwise unharmed. Jinbe leaped onto a ship, and his Fish-Man Karate sent countless men flying into the sea with powerful shockwaves.

In a matter of moments, all eight battleships were under their control.

"Let's go!" Jinbe took the helm of one of the ships and steered it back toward the others.

"Amazing! I think these few are enough!" The crowd of prisoners at the entrance watched in awe as the ship approached.

"What are you talking about?! I am Buggy! I am the man who will be the next Pirate King!" Buggy suddenly stood up, his arms stretched high as he addressed the crowd. "Cheer up, men! We can't give up on ourselves! Think of it! When we have countless treasures and stand at the top of the world, what will they be then?"

"Yes! Lord Buggy is right! He was a member of the Pirate King's crew!"

"With Lord Buggy leading us, we can definitely become the Pirate King!"

"Master Buggy! Master Buggy!"

The prisoners erupted in cheers, looking at Buggy as if he were their savior.

Do these people have no brains? To become the Pirate King, you need at least the strength of someone like Moonlight, Mr. 2 and Mr. 3 thought, remaining silent.

Luffy and the others arrived, and everyone boarded the captured warship, heading for the Gates of Justice.

"You want to leave? Dream on!" In the surveillance room, Magellan gritted his teeth and pressed the button to close the Gates of Justice. This was Impel Down, the number one prison in the world! How could he allow these criminals to escape?

"No, the Gates of Justice are closing!"

"It's over! Once that door closes, we'll be trapped here to die!"

The massive gates in the distance began to close, and a wave of panic washed over the escapees. Even Luffy, Jinbe, and Crocodile's faces turned grim. No matter how fast they were, they couldn't outrun the closing gates.

"Luffy, you go first! I'll be there soon!" Moonlight leaped into the sea and, using Raptor's Air Rend, shot back toward the prison. He had to stop Magellan and reopen the gates.

"Moonlight!" Luffy shouted after him.

"He's running directly on the sea!" Ivankov and the others stared in disbelief.

"Let him go," Jinbe said, a flash of shock in his own eyes. "This is our last resort. If a man like him goes, there won't be a problem." He gave a thumbs-up and continued to steer the ship toward the gates.

"He broke back in by himself? He's looking for death!" Magellan sneered, ordering the doors to be closed faster. But at that moment, a burly man appeared in the surveillance room. He was more massive than Kuma, more majestic than a tiger, tougher than a leopard. The sheer presence of him was enough to make everyone in the room faint. Magellan's pupils shrank, and a chill ran down his spine. "It's you!" he gasped.

"Magellan," the man responded, his voice a low rumble. What answered Magellan next was a massive fist and a wave of darkness.

The next moment, the Gates of Justice miraculously opened, and Luffy and the others sailed through smoothly.

It's actually him! Moonlight had just reached the first level when he stopped abruptly. His Observation Haki had clearly shown him a man appearing in the surveillance room and defeating Magellan with a single punch. And he knew this man. Such strength, such overwhelming Haki... he only knew one person like that.

Douglas Bullet, the "Demon Heir" from the Roger Pirates, a man whose power was comparable to Rayleigh's. He had escaped from the Infinite Hell. Blackbeard had clearly reached the sixth level and released many terrifying criminals.

"Such powerful Haki. You must be the Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat crew, Moonlight." At that moment, Bullet seemed to look directly at where Moonlight was, as if he had sensed his presence.

He can detect my existence? His Observation Haki is no less than mine, Moonlight thought, surprised.

"Let's go," Moonlight said to himself. He ignored Bullet and left the prison. There were only two hours until Ace's execution. He had no time to waste on a conflict with Bullet.

"We will meet again," Bullet said, not stopping him.

At Marine Headquarters, on the plaza of Marineford, countless Marines stood at attention. Vice-Admirals, Rear Admirals, the three Admirals, and Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself were all present, waiting for the arrival of Whitebeard. Ace had been brought to the execution platform. Live Den Den Mushi were broadcasting the event to the entire world. This was meant to be a display of the Navy's power, a warning to all pirates.

Fifty warships, one hundred thousand elite naval forces, a large number of high-ranking officers, the Hero of the Marines Garp, and the three Admirals—Kizaru, Akainu, and Aokiji—were all gathered. This was the strongest military force in the world, ready to face Whitebeard head-on. But despite their numbers, no one dared to be careless. Because he was Whitebeard, the King of the Sea, the Strongest Man in the World, a man who possessed the power to destroy the world. And the Whitebeard Pirates were filled with powerful commanders.

"No news yet?" Sengoku asked, looking at the time. There was still an hour left.

"Not yet, Fleet Admiral," an intelligence officer reported. "There's no movement in the sea, and the scout teams we sent out have all lost contact."

Sengoku's eyes narrowed. This was not normal. Whitebeard would not stand by and do nothing. Not with Ace's life on the line. Because Ace was Roger's son.

"Heh, heh, don't tell me the old man isn't coming! I've been waiting here for a long time!" Doflamingo cackled.

"Even with this arrangement, Whitebeard shouldn't be taking such a big risk for just one of his commanders," Gecko Moria added. Kuma, Hancock, and Mihawk all looked at Sengoku, as did the three Admirals. They were all puzzled. Why would Whitebeard risk everything for a single division commander?

Only Garp remained silent. He knew something, but he just looked at Ace, his expression unreadable.

Sengoku's eyes flashed. He looked at Garp, then said in a deep voice, "He will definitely come. Not just because he is Whitebeard, but because Ace is the son of Gol D. Roger!" This was a top-secret piece of information, but he had to reveal it now to stabilize the morale of his troops.

"The son of the Pirate King, Roger?"

"He's really Roger's son?"

"Roger had a son?"

The words fell like a thunderclap, stunning everyone in the plaza. If it hadn't come from Sengoku's own mouth, who would have believed it?

"What?! That devil had a son?"

"No wonder he's also a pirate!"

"He's the son of a demon!"

The Marines all turned to look at Ace. In their eyes, Roger was a demon, and his son was no different. He was the one who had thrown the world into chaos with his final words.

Ace gritted his teeth and lowered his head in pain. This identity had caused him nothing but trouble. Garp's fists clenched. He had not raised Ace, but he was still his grandson, the son of an old rival.

"BOOM!"

At that moment, the sea in front of the port of Marineford suddenly erupted, and the patrolling warships were overturned. Four massive ships emerged from the depths, appearing before them like giants. At the prow of the lead ship stood a man of immense stature, with an upward-curving, crescent-shaped white mustache and a massive bisento in his hand. Everyone stared in shock. The Warlords, the Admirals, Garp, Sengoku—they all became solemn.

Because he was Whitebeard. Edward Newgate, the only man who could face the entire Navy and possessed the power to destroy the world, the Strongest Man in the World. Behind him stood his fourteen division commanders, led by Marco the Phoenix.

Whitebeard had arrived.

Seeing Sengoku and the others, and especially Ace on the execution platform, Whitebeard let out a low grumble, then laughed. "Ace!"

"Pops!" Ace cried, his eyes wet with tears.

"Attack!" Sengoku ordered. Whitebeard had appeared directly beneath them, a move that had caught them completely by surprise. With the enemy present, there was no room for pleasantries.

Fifty warships opened fire, a rain of cannonballs descending on Whitebeard and his crew. Under such a barrage, any other force would have been annihilated.

But Whitebeard just smiled contemptuously. He thrust his hands forward. "Crack!" The very air around his fists seemed to shatter. The void shook, and the cannonballs from the fifty warships immediately lost their momentum and fell harmlessly into the sea. Not only that, but the entire ten-mile stretch of sea around Marineford began to shake violently. A distant tsunami erupted, a wall of water ten times more violent than the Aqua Laguna of Water 7, surging toward them, threatening to submerge the entire fortress.

This was the strength of the world's strongest man. A single move could destroy the world.

"Kukukuku! What a monster!" Doflamingo laughed. The other Warlords said nothing, but their eyes widened in shock. The surrounding Marines panicked. In the face of such power, a disaster-level force, any existence seemed incredibly small.

"Hmph." Aokiji exhaled a breath of ice, then leaped into the sky. He shot two spears of ice into the sea. "Ice Age!"

"Crack!" The raging tsunami was instantly frozen solid. The ten-mile wave stood still, and the sea around Marineford immediately turned into a glacier world. The ships of the Whitebeard Pirates were frozen in place, trapped.

"You damn ice brat," Whitebeard grumbled, looking at Aokiji. The Admiral was already on the attack, sending three long ice swords shooting toward him. But Whitebeard just threw another punch, and the void around him cracked again. Before Aokiji's attack could even reach him, the ice swords shattered, and Aokiji himself turned into a pile of broken ice, falling to the ground.

"Admiral Kuzan!" the Marines cried out in shock.

But where Aokiji had fallen, the ice spread out, freezing the sea near the port and forming a massive ice barrier, blocking Whitebeard's path. Aokiji's body reformed. He had fallen into a disadvantage in that single exchange. The Strongest Man in the World was indeed worthy of his title.