Merry's Aid and the Straw Hat Pirates' Successful Escape

Comments celebrating Luffy's victory immediately popped up on the screen. {Nice! Awesome! Straw Hat Luffy finally won!}

{He finally won! All that cheering I did for you wasn't for nothing, Straw Hat Luffy.}

{Nicely done, Straw Hat Luffy. Hey! Wait, why am I happy for a pirate again? Oh, forget it! As long as I'm happy.}

{Hahaha, I'm happy whenever I get to see the Marines and the World Government take a beating. Thanks, Straw Hat Luffy!}

{...}

{...}

New World, aboard the Red Force.

"Yeah! Luffy!"

"You finally won, Luffy!"

"That was amazing, Luffy!"

"..."

"..."

Watching his crew's excitement, Shanks said nothing more this time. After all, as Benn Beckman had said earlier, with the mood as it was, his emotions naturally had to keep up.

"Good job, Luffy," Shanks murmured, a faint smile on his face.

East Blue, Goa Kingdom, Foosha Village, Makino's bar.

"To Luffy's victory, cheers!" the villagers exclaimed, raising their glasses.

For once, the mayor, Woop Slap, didn't lose his temper with the villagers. Instead, he asked Makino to pour him a drink. Swirling the amber liquid in his glass, he said leisurely, "Well done, Luffy."

Mount Colubo, the mountain bandits' home.

"Hahaha, Luffy won! Luffy won!" the bandits cheered.

"To celebrate Luffy's victory, we're having extra food tonight!" Dadan announced.

"Yes, boss!"

Grand Line, inside the royal palace of the Alabasta Kingdom.

"That's wonderful, Luffy, everyone," Vivi said with a happy smile.

While most of the people in the world of pirates were still celebrating Luffy's victory, things took a turn.

In the video, Luffy and the others had found themselves in a desperate situation. Although Lucci had been defeated, the Marine warships carrying out the Buster Call remained, and they aimed their cannons at the group and opened fire.

In moments, cannon fire engulfed the already battered Bridge of Hesitation. After a short bombardment, only the second support pillar remained.

Zoro and the others were forced onto the second support pillar. The ship they had seized for their escape had also been reduced to ashes by the warships' bombardment, and Kokoro, Chopper, and the others who had stayed aboard were nearly killed. Fortunately, Sanji risked his life to save them at the last moment.

It seemed everything was about to end there!

Just then, the low voice Usopp had heard earlier suddenly rang in the ears of Luffy and the others.

Then, as though answering some summons, they all jumped into the sea with smiles on their faces. Even Luffy, who couldn't move, rolled toward the sea with Robin's help.

At first, the Marines had no idea what they were doing. They thought the group had gone mad and were jumping into the sea to kill themselves.

Soon, however, they realized something was amiss. A pirate ship with a sheep's head for a figurehead had appeared at some point on the turbulent sea below, flying a flag bearing a skull in a hat.

Any reasonable person there could tell who the ship belonged to: Straw Hat Luffy and his crew.

The low voice that only Luffy and the others had been able to hear before now rang out in the video. "Come back, everyone! Let's return to that sea of adventure!"

"Merry!" Luffy and the others cried excitedly.

Comments expressing shock at Merry's voice immediately appeared on the screen. {Wh-what's going on? Why did a voice suddenly come from the sea?!}

{Hey! Did I hear that right? Was that voice coming from the ship?!}

{A g-ghost! That ship must be haunted!}

{It's... it's a ship spirit! I never thought those things actually existed!}

{...}

{...}

East Blue, Syrup Village, Kaya's home.

"M-Merry, it's wonderful to see you again!" Merry, Kaya's butler and the designer of the Going Merry, looked overjoyed. Soon, though, his excitement turned into a complicated sigh, filled with pride and heartache, but more than anything, regret. "But you're covered in scars! Looks like you've been through a lot of adventures! I'm so jealous of you, Merry!"

Grand Line, inside the royal palace of the Alabasta Kingdom.

"Merry, thank goodness! So you were the one who came to get everyone!" Vivi covered her mouth as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. Her mind filled with memories of the time and adventures she had spent aboard the Going Merry, and she spoke happily.

Grand Line, somewhere at sea, aboard the Thousand Sunny.

"Merry, it's so good to see you again! We've missed you so much! Have you been doing well over there?!" Luffy and the others said excitedly.

Even Zoro and Sanji, who were usually good at keeping their emotions in check, looked a little moved.

"Yohohoho, so this is Merry! What a great ship she is!" Brook praised.

In the video, the Going Merry slowly sailed out from among the Marine warships surrounding her.

Because Sanji had closed the Gate of Justice beforehand, the sea currents had been blocked, creating whirlpools across the surface.

This made it difficult for the Going Merry to sail, but thanks to Nami's superb navigation skills, they still found a route that allowed them to avoid every whirlpool and escape the cluster.

The Marine warships, on the other hand, were not only unable to sail, but were also pulled into one another by the whirlpools, colliding with varying force.

They could only stand aboard their warships and fire cannonballs at Luffy and the others, trying to sink the Going Merry, but Luffy and the others blocked them all with various moves.

During this, Spandam stood on the bow of a Marine warship and raged impotently at Luffy and the others. Robin used her ability to break his spine, knocking him unconscious.

At last, with the help of Franky's Coup de Vent, Luffy and the others successfully escaped Enies Lobby.

They became the only pirate crew in eight hundred years to successfully break into Enies Lobby and get away unscathed.

Not long after Luffy and the others left, Enies Lobby was still burning fiercely, and the sea had returned to normal after the Gate of Justice was reopened. The surviving Marine warships received a visitor: Aokiji, one of the current Three Admirals of the Marines.

"We didn't expect you to come in person. We'll continue the pursuit. We won't let this end here."

"Even if we have to stake the authority of the Marines—no, the World Government—on it, we'll destroy the Straw Hat Pirates. We'll definitely capture the most important criminal, Nico Robin."

"Please authorize a support fleet and reinforcements!"

Listening to the slightly panicked but determined voice coming from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Aokiji shook his head gently. "Enough. We've already deployed a national-level fighting force, the Buster Call."

"Besides, the fleet's defeat this time and the sorry state of Enies Lobby, the symbol of law, make everything perfectly clear!"

"We suffered a total defeat in this incident!"