Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Inside the office, Fleet Admiral Sengoku pressed his forehead, clearly overwhelmed.
Beside him, a Marine colonel reported:
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the World Government has ordered us to immediately dispatch an Admiral to rescue the three kidnapped Celestial Dragons! According to intelligence, the main culprit is Xia Te, the unidentified prisoner who escaped Impel Down a month ago. His crew includes former Chief Guard 'Shiryu of the Rain.'
Additionally, the great pirate Weevil and a user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit have joined his crew. Three other pirate crews are also present: the Straw Hat Pirates, the Kid Pirates, and the Heart Pirates!"
Just Shiryu and someone who inherited the Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit were already troublesome enough.
Now add Weevil and a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user…
Sengoku gritted his teeth.
This level of power far surpassed the so-called Supernovas of Sabaody.
It was approaching the level of a Yonko threat.
"Weevil… he's the one who cut off Instructor Zephyr's arm. That man is undoubtedly powerful. Sending just one Admiral may not be enough, Sengoku-san~"
Kizaru, usually laid-back, showed rare seriousness.
"Besides, they have hostages. That complicates things."
Sengoku clenched his jaw, then barked:
"Kizaru! You and Akainu—both of you go!"
…
…
There's something about One Piece that's always worth questioning.
It tends to portray pirates in a positive light.
Take Roger, for example—many people see him as a great figure.
But they overlook that it was his final words before death that triggered the Great Pirate Era.
The number of pirates exploded, leading to countless nations collapsing.
Innocent people died at the hands of pirates.
Roger bears responsibility for that.
Whitebeard, at least, was more straightforward.
Though he protected many islands under his flag, he still lived off protection fees—and his subordinate crews still engaged in plundering.
As for Luffy and his crew—
many jokingly call them "adventurers."
But that label doesn't really hold after Impel Down.
To save Ace, Luffy broke into Impel Down and released countless dangerous criminals.
After the Summit War, the world fell into chaos again.
For that incident, Luffy and Blackbeard should each bear half the blame.
From that point on, Luffy couldn't really be called an "adventurer" anymore—
he was a true pirate.
In Xia Te's view, there wasn't much fundamental difference between Luffy and Blackbeard.
Both acted according to their own desires.
The only difference was that one looked more "heroic," while the other looked more "villainous."
So Xia Te didn't see Luffy as righteous or Blackbeard as despicable.
They were cut from the same cloth.
That included Xia Te himself.
He had no illusions about being a "good person."
So whether it was Luffy or Blackbeard—
if they stood in his way,
he wouldn't hesitate to cut them down.
"There are a large number of Blue Sea soldiers gathering nearby."
Enel suddenly said.
"The Marines?"
Shiryu immediately guessed.
"Well, we did make quite a scene. This trip's been very rewarding."
Xia Te smiled and glanced at Rayleigh before waving his hand.
"The Straw Hats—leave them to you."
"Hey, long-chin! Take care of these three trash 'gods'!"
Enel tossed the three Celestial Dragons off his trident toward Shiryu.
Shiryu frowned, drew his blade, and skewered Rosward, Charlos, and Shalria through their backs—
then stacked them like a pile and tossed them onto the ground.
Not a shred of respect for the so-called World Nobles.
At the same moment—
Weevil and Enel attacked simultaneously.
The naginata's sword pressure and the roaring lightning trident both surged toward the Straw Hat crew.
"Looks like we have no choice but to fight."
Rayleigh sighed, standing with his back to Luffy and the others.
"There's no time to talk now. You all go—I'll hold them off."
"I'll send them flying!"
Luffy shouted unwillingly.
"Calm down, Luffy!"
Sanji grabbed his shoulder and yelled:
"We're not strong enough to fight monsters like them yet!"
BOOM!!!
Weevil and Enel's attacks struck at the same time.
Rayleigh drew the sword hidden beneath his cloak, coating it in Armament Haki, and blocked.
The ground beneath his feet cracked rapidly.
Even his aged face showed strain.
"Go! Don't you still want to become Pirate King!?"
Even in his prime, facing these two together would be overwhelming—
let alone now, in his old age.
Feeling the terrifying shockwaves of battle, sweat dripped down Luffy's face.
No matter how carefree he usually was—
he could clearly sense the massive gap in strength.
Right now—
he had no chance of winning.
"Let's go!"
The Straw Hat crew turned and fled.
"But Camie—!"
Hatchan panicked. They hadn't saved her yet!
"It's fine! You all go first!"
Rayleigh shouted while holding off the attacks.
"Rayleigh… did you forget?"
At that moment, Xia Te suddenly spoke.
"I'm the captain of this pirate crew."