Charles held the Transponder Snail's receiver. From the voice alone, he could feel Luffy's resolve.
"I see. Then wait for me to get back and we'll discuss it properly."
With that, Charles hung up and began to think.
After learning Charles hadn't managed to rescue Ace, it would have been impossible for Luffy not to feel disappointed.
But after Charles left, Luffy figured out what would happen next from Shakky.
The Marines would publicly execute Ace at Marineford, drawing in the Whitebeard Pirates. It would be an unimaginably brutal war.
And it was the last and only chance to save Ace. Luffy wanted to save his brother—and save him himself.
But after seeing Charles fight Crocodile and Kuma, Luffy knew that with his own strength, he'd have trouble even protecting himself in that war.
So the new commission he gave Charles was to help the Straw Hat crew train and get stronger.
According to Shakky's intel, there was only about half a month until the execution.
Growing strong enough in a bit over ten days to participate in the Summit War was practically impossible.
But the Straw Hat crew did have a protagonist's aura about them, and Charles wanted to see whether they could truly work a miracle.
…
Half a month later, a huge screen appeared over the Sabaody Archipelago, broadcasting an image of Marineford.
Days earlier, the Marines had announced in the papers that they would execute Fire Fist Ace, second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Anyone who knew Whitebeard's name knew the man's greatest taboo.
Were the Marines declaring open war on the world's strongest man?
Everyone understood this was an unavoidable war, and one that would decide the world's future course.
If the Marines won, they would prove their might to the entire sea. Riding the momentum, they could press into the New World where a Yonko's power had crumbled, and none of the other Emperors would be able to stop them.
If they lost, their authority would plummet, and the Great Pirate Era would become utterly unmanageable.
And obviously, the Marines were fully prepared.
On the Transponder Snail projection, everyone could see the Marine lineup.
One hundred thousand elite soldiers gathered from the Four Seas, and an array of top officers—just looking at them made one marvel at the Marines' martial splendor.
The true pillars shone even brighter: the famed Marine Vice Admirals, the giant Vice Admirals stationed at HQ, and the Seven Warlords called in for the fight.
Seated directly below the execution platform were the three Marine Admirals, and atop it stood Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Marine hero Garp—that alone inspired confidence that the Marines could defeat any foe.
Before the battle even began, Sengoku dropped a bombshell: the condemned Ace carried the Pirate King's bloodline, which he used to justify the execution's necessity.
After that, the war's other protagonist—the Whitebeard Pirates—appeared.
Using coating, they sent their forces up from beneath the sea straight inside the Marines' encirclement, truly catching them off guard.
Sengoku then made clear to the Whitebeard side what "home-field advantage" meant.
Once Ace was captured, the initiative in this war lay in Marine hands. Marineford had long since been remade into a trap targeting the Whitebeard Pirates.
Whitebeard knew that well. He'd never imagined winning this war would be easy. In the end, only the stronger side on the battlefield could claim victory.
Ace's friend, Little Oars Jr., descendant of the continent-puller giant Oars, advanced step by step toward the scaffold under a barrage of Marine attacks.
Members of his Ancient Giant lineage were truly favored by nature; their colossal bodies meant power and destructive force that surpassed even normal giants. But on this battlefield, he was just a bigger target.
Another barrage of shells hammered him, making him stagger, but he still put one foot forward.
On a high platform, Doflamingo's mouth curled. He twitched his fingers, and a thread whipped out.
A razor thread could deal damage no less than a great swordsman's slash. As it was about to slice through Little Oars Jr.'s lower leg, a figure appeared and blocked the thread with a bare palm.
Doflamingo's fingertips strained, the thread at his tips shimmering in and out, but all it produced was a tooth-aching screech—it wouldn't budge.
"This is a moving reunion between friends. Don't get in the way."
Flame sparked in Charles's palm, and a streak of fire ran out, burning Doflamingo's thread to nothing.
Doflamingo severed the threads at his fingers to avoid catching fire, then looked at Charles. "Who are you?"
The question wasn't just his—it was on the minds of both Marines and Whitebeard's men.
It was a chaotic battlefield, yet none of these powerhouses had noticed how Charles had appeared.
"Who I am doesn't matter," Charles said with a smile. "I'm just here to help on commission. The real protagonist is only just making his entrance."
He raised a hand and pointed skyward. Everyone followed his finger to see a fiery red bird circling above—and a shadow leaping down from it.
"Ace!!! I'm here to save you!"
On the scaffold, Ace's jaw dropped. Beside him, Garp wore the same stunned look.
"Luffy?!!"
Luffy pressed a hand to his hat, flashed his trademark grin, and fell straight toward the platform.
Sengoku recognized his old partner's vexation, his troublesome grandson, but there was no time to think about it. He barked, "Stop him!"
A yellow line formed a corridor through the air and then a man-shaped silhouette in front of Luffy.
"To show up here—how scary. Speed is power. Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
There had been no scene on Sabaody of Luffy beating a Celestial Dragon this time, so there'd been no spectacle of Kizaru punting Supernovas one by one. Even so, Luffy now faced Kizaru's light-speed kick.
Midair, Luffy clenched his fist and punched up.
Boom!
Luffy was kicked away like a rubber ball, slamming into Marineford's plaza-turned-battleground.
Surprisingly, Kizaru was also forced to retreat, landing atop the scaffold. Looking at the wrinkles on his clothes, his expression was the same, but his tone had changed.
"How scary. You can use Armament Haki!"
Luffy, too, climbed out of the crater he'd made and didn't look particularly hurt.
His fruit power already gave him high immunity to anything but slashing damage, and on top of that he had Armament Haki for defense.
That's right—Charles hadn't expected that, under Rayleigh and Jinbe's guidance, Luffy had actually learned Haki early.
Though Luffy's three-color Haki was hit-or-miss, he had undoubtedly unearthed his potential—and had the strength to take part in the war.
"Gurararara! So that's the little brother Ace kept talking about? What a lively brat!"
Aboard the Moby Dick in the bay, Whitebeard threw his head back and laughed. That familiar hat brought to mind many familiar faces.
"Boys, cover Ace's little brother—get Ace out of there!"
That an Admiral like Kizaru hadn't broken a rookie already sent the Whitebeard Pirates' morale soaring.
Even Charles couldn't help but sigh. As expected of the protagonist—just his entrance had swayed the war.
______
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