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The Whitebeard Pirates.
The Moby Dick.
"Father, this war is going to be troublesome."
"Ikki didn't just agree to fight alongside us."
"He brought his own people with him too."
"Not all of them, but the ones he's using are trouble enough on their own."
Marco, first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, walked to Whitebeard's side as he spoke, concern plain on his face.
They were all resolved to tear Ace out of the Marines' hands. But this was Marine Headquarters, the place where nearly the entirety of the Marines' fighting strength had gathered. Even with full confidence in his own power, Marco couldn't shake the doubt of whether they could actually pull Ace free.
He wasn't alone in that silence. The rest of the Whitebeard Pirates said nothing either, the same worry taking root in each of them. But with a war this size bearing down on them, none of them wanted their doubts spilling out and dragging on the crew's morale before the fighting even began.
"Ikki?"
Whitebeard frowned. Among the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Ikki's presence was one that genuinely troubled him. This was the man who had brought down the Golden Lion. And word had reached him recently that Ikki hadn't so much as lifted a finger against Jack the Drought of the Beasts Pirates, letting his companions handle the man entirely on their own.
That alone told Whitebeard how dangerous Ikki's people were. Even he, an Emperor of the sea, couldn't help but worry about what was coming. He was old now, frail in ways he once wasn't, no longer the unstoppable force he used to be.
Before Whitebeard could say more, a flash of red crossed his eyes and his head snapped upward.
'Who is it?'
He rose from his seat, gaze fixed on the sky, his expression hard. His muscles tensed, every line of him ready for a fight.
Marco and the other division commanders arrived a beat late, but the moment they saw Whitebeard's reaction, they threw out their Observation Haki toward the sky as well. What they found there, a powerful presence hanging in the air above the ship, put the whole crew on edge at once.
The Whitebeard Pirates assumed without thinking that whoever was up there had been sent by the Marines to scout them out. That someone could slip so close to the Moby Dick unnoticed was enough to set Marco and the others on a knife's edge.
Just as they were bracing to strike first and test the waters, the figure above them spoke.
"Wait, please. I mean you no harm."
A whirlwind carried the speaker down, and a moment later the figure landed on the deck of the Moby Dick.
"Who are you?"
Whitebeard studied the man now standing before him, brow furrowed. There was something oddly familiar about him.
"I am Dragon, of the Revolutionary Army."
He gave his name plainly, without ceremony.
"The Revolutionary Army?"
"You're joking. Why would they send someone here?"
"That's their leader. The leader himself."
"Wait, it really might be him. Look at what he's wearing, it matches the stories exactly."
"But the Revolutionary Army has nothing to do with us. What's he doing on this ship?"
The crew broke into confused murmuring as they took in Dragon's introduction.
"Revolutionary Army. What brings you here?"
Marco stepped forward to face him directly. The Whitebeard Pirates were on the verge of all out war with Marine Headquarters, and the last thing Marco wanted was one more complication added to the pile. Dragon's sudden appearance had already put him on edge.
"There's no need to worry, Marco, captain of the First Division."
"I meant what I said. I have no hostile intentions toward any of you."
"I'm here today only to pass along a message."
"Nothing more," Dragon said.
"A message?"
"Who could possibly have enough pull to send the leader of the Revolutionary Army as their messenger?"
Marco's frown deepened.
'Is he serious?'
The leader of the Revolutionary Army stood on a level with the Four Emperors themselves. That such a man would carry a message in person, delivered with his own hands, was almost impossible for Marco to accept.
"Wait, Marco. Let him speak."
Whitebeard raised a hand, and though Marco clearly didn't like it, he stepped back at his captain's word.
"Speak, then, leader of the Revolutionary Army. What do you want from us? What message have you brought?"
"And who sent you to bring it?"
"Tell us everything," Whitebeard said.
"Very well. Here's what happened."
"Ikki asked me to deliver this to you personally."
"He can help you rescue Ace."
Dragon let the words settle.
"What? Ikki, one of the Seven Warlords, wants to help us?"
"Are you serious? How is that man supposed to help us at all?"
"He's a Warlord. He's supposed to be our enemy. Him helping us is the funniest thing I've heard all year."
"Dragon of the Revolutionary Army, if you came here to mock us, don't expect us to be polite about it."
"Why are we still talking? Just take him down."
The crew's voices rose together, sharp with disbelief. Nothing Dragon had said matched the world any of them knew, and not a single revolutionary standing on that deck believed a word of it. Weapons were already coming out, hands waiting only for Whitebeard's order to strike. Even some of the division commanders had gone tense and ready.
"Hold."
"Nobody moves."
Whitebeard stepped forward again, cutting through the rising tension.
"Dad?"
The crew turned to him, confusion plain on their faces. Why would Whitebeard still be holding them back now, after everything?
"Not yet. Let's hear him out first."
He raised a hand, his expression grave and unreadable. Unlike the rest of his crew, Whitebeard's Observation Haki was sharp enough to feel exactly what kind of presence Dragon carried, and there was no mistaking it. This was the aura of an Emperor, no weaker than any Marine Admiral or any of the Four Emperors themselves.
Had this happened in his younger days, Whitebeard would have attacked without a second thought. But now he still had Ace to save, and he had no interest in courting a fight he didn't need. Age had caught up to him at last.
'If I still had the strength I once carried.'
'The moment I learned Kozuki Oden had died at Kaido's hands, I'd already have taken up my blade and led my men to teach that man a lesson.'