United by Constraint

"Squard, hurry and arrange for everyone to retreat as much as possible. He's trying to use our brothers to hold back Marco and Pops!"

Ace stood on Little Oars's shoulder, using Fire Fist to blast apart the ice far out in the bay harbor. With Oz's help, he threw several of the pirate ships at the very edge of the frozen waters out of the frozen sea.

He had already seen through Sengoku's plan. What made Whitebeard and Gu Sheng choose to fight were the pirates who had come to rescue him.

The current great battle was a battle of aftershocks. Sengoku had Aokiji and Garp enter the water to restrain Azure Spirit precisely to prevent Whitebeard and Azure Spirit from joining forces to raise waves. Freezing the pirate ships was meant to stop them from escaping.

Gu Sheng and Whitebeard were far too powerful. If the two of them, or even the other commanders, only wanted to flee, the Marines might not be able to stop them even if they deployed all their forces.

However, the Whitebeard Pirates valued loyalty. Since they had brought people to rescue him, they could not possibly abandon their brothers. Only the higher-ups could escape, so they had to stay behind and send away the ordinary pirates who had taken part in the battle first.

That was the foundation of Sengoku's strategy. Everyone knew that the Whitebeard Pirates valued their bonds, and that they had come this time to save someone. They could not abandon so many ordinary pirates. He intended to delay and hold them back so that Gu Sheng and the other higher-ups could not escape.

Ace was now choosing to break through the deadlock. As long as he melted the seawater, Whitebeard, who could control seaquakes, would be able to swiftly