Any Last Words?

Splash!

Bubbles surged, blurring his vision.

The seawater was icy cold, like a curse clinging to his bones, sapping Baby-5 of all her strength. Her hair floated around her, and the blood in it dissolved into the water.

Her limp arm lifted, groping aimlessly, but it didn't grasp at nothing. Someone seized her wrist and pulled her deeper, heading in a direction she couldn't make out.

Conrad's name was not on the water.

Behind Conrad, flames exploded across the sea, churning the waves. Under a rocky fist, the patrol ship was as fragile as paper, its shattered planks and scraps of iron scattering into the water.

Fortunately, a week of trying to survive had taught him, an inland man who couldn't swim, the bare basics.

He didn't bother with proper form. He filled his lungs with air and held his breath, relaxed his body, and let the current carry him with the help of his buoyancy.

But his lungs were probably bleeding, and he was using up oxygen too fast. Before long, his head began to spin.

Conrad's thinking was always simple and direct. He never liked to overcomplicate things. The Donquixote Family were mostly Devil Fruit Users, so they couldn't follow him underwater.

All he had to do was hold on a little longer, and he could wait for Vice Admiral Tsuru to arrive and drive them off.

Baby-5 had never swum before. She was so waterlogged she couldn't open her eyes, but she struggled to lift her eyelids and glanced at the person pulling her underwater for a second before closing them again. Yet instead of pain, her face wore a secret smile.

To her left, a large iron cage sank heavily. Inside, the imprisoned Drake rolled his eyes, opened his mouth to blow bubbles, and clawed upward with both hands like a dinosaur calling for daylight.

Baby-5 gave the cage a push with her foot to help Conrad along, then surged forward a little farther.

By the sea cliff, beside the burning wreckage of the patrol ship, Doflamingo led his officers out of the Birdcage, stitching up Vergo's throat with his left hand.

He glanced behind him. Of the nine people there, seven were Devil Fruit Users. The other two were a man and a woman.

The woman was named Queen, and she was as round as a ball. She probably couldn't even sink if she jumped into the water.

Doflamingo scratched his scalp. "Lao G, you're up. Bring those two brats back."

"No problem! G!" The burly old man, wearing a rabbit-eared hat and sporting a face full of stubble, tore off his fur coat and revealed a blue-and-white striped bodysuit.

He plunged into the sea, sending up a towering splash, and powered forward with a breaststroke like a cannonball.

"No one escapes my grasp." Doflamingo flexed his fingers and lifted Rosinante before his eyes.

"The fruit isn't with you, and you're still so stubborn. Is it with Luo? Is he waiting for you somewhere on the island? Heh..."

Buffalo flew over from the sea and hovered by the island.

"Bad news, Young Master! Tsuru's battleships are here!"

"Damn it! How did they get here so fast?" Doflamingo scratched his head furiously. The Navy had been pursuing him nonstop.

Vice Admiral Tsuru, comrade-in-arms of Garp the Hero and the Marine Admiral, was now a Navy staff officer.

A Wash-Wash Fruit User, she could wash people like clothes, cleansing away the evil in their hearts and leaving only purity and goodness.

Hoo~!

A loud horn blared. Two battleships appeared at the far end of the sea. A huge character reading "Tsuru" was painted on the sail of the ship to the left.

At the bow stood an old woman with silver hair tied in a tight ponytail and sharp eyes.

Two stars marked her Vice Admiral rank on her shoulder. She wore a pure-white coat of justice and stood with her arms folded, gazing across the sea at the Donquixote Family.

Four tall female officers stood behind her. On deck, the female sailors stood at attention, saluted, and waited for battle in their knee-high boots.

Doflamingo had no desire to fight Tsuru. He estimated the distance across the water and shouted with Haki, "Lao G! Hurry up! Bring them back, then we're leaving!"

Splash!

In the middle of the sea, the waves rose and fell as Conrad surfaced with Baby-5 in his arms, gasping for air.

Out of the water, Baby-5's face was pale and wrinkled. Her eyes reddened as she finally spoke. "If we surface, they'll kill you. Just dive back down! I can die with you!"

Conrad was already losing consciousness. His legs kicked by instinct alone, keeping him afloat.

Splash!

Lao G, in his battle suit, leaped high out of the sea like a dolphin, bounding through the air as he reached for them.

Just as Lao G tensed to leap and pounce on them,

a thick plume of white smoke shot from a battleship. Something burst through it and slammed into his chest, knocking him back into the sea.

It was a jitte, fired from a cannon on the other battleship beside Tsuru's.

Vroom!

An engine roared.

A large three-wheeled beach buggy spewed thick white smoke as it raced off the deck and launched into a long arc.

Its driver was a tough-looking young man with white hair and a mouthful of cigars.

"Smoker! You've disobeyed orders again!"

A booming shout came from a muscular man with short purple hair and a square face, three stars marking his Marine Admiral rank.

His Haki surged. The muscular man planted his feet on the battleship's figurehead and leaped after them.

He landed on the buggy's headlight, his coat billowing as he looked toward Minion Island.

"Sorry, Teacher Zephyr!" Smoker's body spewed clouds of smoke to slow the buggy's impact as it struck the sea and raced across it.

He twisted the handlebars all the way, pushing the buggy to full speed as seawater sprayed from either side of its broad, turning tires.

Black Arm Zephyr, a Marine Admiral and instructor aboard the elite officer training ship, was the Navy representative responsible for negotiating with the Barrels Pirates over the Op-Op Fruit.

As soon as the distress report arrived, he had set out with Vice Admiral Tsuru.

Smoker held the rank of lieutenant and was undergoing training aboard the ship. He was about to graduate as a major.

The three-wheeled buggy was a special vehicle powered by Smoker's Smoke-Smoke Fruit.

Now it raced far faster than a battleship, barreling straight to Conrad and Baby-5. Thick white smoke curled around them, lifted them up, and dropped them into Zephyr's hands.

Zephyr's expression hardened. "Smoker, you know what the punishment is for acting without orders, right?"

"Huh? How could I possibly know that?" Smoker furrowed his brows. The row of cigars clenched between his teeth shook as he spoke, scattering ash. "Saving lives is what matters most. Isn't that what you taught me?"

Zephyr grinned, showing all his teeth. "Looks like I didn't teach you well enough. Prepare for a delayed graduation."

"What a pain." Smoker scratched his head and pointed at the Donquixote Family on the island. "Let's catch the pirates first!"

"Haha! Then why aren't you speeding up?" Zephyr slapped Smoker on the back of the head.

Boom!

The buggy sped ashore, amphibious and all.

The Donquixote Family were already struggling to deal with Vice Admiral Tsuru alone. With Zephyr and the many elite officers joining the fight, they had no choice but to flee.

Zephyr set Baby-5 and Conrad down on the shore. "We're going after the pirates. Stay here and wait for the Marines to rescue you."

"Look at him... he can barely breathe!" Baby-5 pointed at Conrad anxiously. Only then did she realize she still didn't know his name.

Zephyr checked Conrad's breathing, frowned, and felt lower. His broad fingers pressed against Conrad's chest and found it strangely soft, without the support of his ribs.

His chest rose and fell with difficulty. His insides were full of fluid, either blood or seawater.

Zephyr covered his right hand in black Haki and pressed down. Conrad's eyes flew open, and he vomited a mouthful of murky liquid.

"Cough, cough... Doffy's... younger brother! A spy!"

Zephyr nodded. "I know. Sengoku told me over the phone. I'll get him back."

Conrad urgently pointed east. "Ship! Flamingo! East shore!"

"Don't worry." Zephyr's expression softened with pity. His wife and child had also died at the hands of pirates. "If you have any last words, hurry up and say them..."

Conrad breathed in and out, then shouted at the top of his lungs, "I'M HUNGRY!!!"

With that, his head lolled to the side, and he fainted, mouth agape.