The Summit War

Back to the matter at hand. Du Yang was about to reach Marine Headquarters, the site of the Summit War.

But there was a problem. Everyone had been calculating the time, and the Summit War was about to begin. At the speed of their warship, they would never make it in time.

Luffy was frantic. After all, his brother Ace was about to be executed.

Du Yang, however, knew they would definitely make it.

Luffy had plot armor. How could a grand stage like the Summit War possibly go without the protagonist making his presence felt?

Buggy, meanwhile, kept bragging that with him around, they would definitely make it in time.

The pirates continued to gaze at Buggy with admiration.

Sure enough, Whitebeard unleashed the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit at Marine Headquarters, and the resulting tremors created monstrous waves.

The warship carrying Luffy and the others was caught right at the crest of one of those huge waves.

The enormous wave surged toward Marine Headquarters at incredible speed.

Then Aokiji unleashed the power of his Devil Fruit and froze the wave solid.

Their warship was awkwardly stuck on top of the frozen wave. With just a slight shift, everyone tumbled off the icy crest.

No—Luffy had simply been too impatient and stomped the ice loose with a whole group of people.

As they plummeted, Du Yang couldn't help turning to look back at the bright blue sky. It seemed so beautiful.

Crocodile, Ivankov, Jinbe, Buggy, and the others all fell freely through the air.

Fortunately, they all landed in the sea. Pirates in this world were known for their physical strength, but they were nowhere near superhuman.

A fall from that height would have left them smashed to pieces.

However, Du Yang's relief didn't last long. The moment he sank beneath the surface, he suddenly felt as if some force had bound him. His strength gradually drained away, and he began sinking of his own accord.

Like a non-swimmer, all he could do was flail helplessly in the water.

"?? Are you kidding me? I'm a great swimmer!"

Then he realized what had happened: somehow, he must have become a Devil Fruit User too.

Aside from the Advanced Conqueror's Haki he had awakened himself, his Mangekyō Sharingan, Triple Inverse Life, and the Purification Power of a Level 5 Omega Mutant had all become Devil Fruit powers.

What kind of fruit was it?

The Inverse Life Fruit?

The Purification Fruit?

The Eye-Eye Fruit?

If he ever got the chance, he would definitely overcome the weakness that left Devil Fruit Users unable to swim.

But being unable to swim wasn't such a big deal. After all, Luffy had plot armor and couldn't swim either, and plenty of Devil Fruit Users were non-swimmers.

Though Du Yang could no longer swim, their group was united, and many of them could swim just fine.

Jinbe rescued them one by one, and finally hauled Du Yang out of the water.

Du Yang coughed violently, spitting out the water he'd swallowed. "Thank you so much."

Jinbe even apologized. "Sorry, Luffy was just too reckless. Oh, and you're a Devil Fruit User, so you couldn't swim anyway."

Du Yang coughed a couple of times and didn't answer.

Actually, Jinbe had noticed Du Yang back on the warship. He seemed different from the other pirates who had been released—calm and composed.

And during the whole journey, Jinbe had gathered that no one seemed to have ever seen Du Yang fight.

That made him seem mysterious.

At the same time, Jinbe exchanged a glance with Crocodile, a former Shichibukai. They both seemed to have noticed something unusual about Du Yang.

They had once been powerful figures in their own right, and their powers of observation were exceptionally sharp.

Du Yang couldn't hide what he was thinking from them.

Du Yang let out a breath. The feeling of nearly drowning after falling into the sea had been awful. Now that he had come around, he realized he was at Marine Headquarters, on the battlefield of the Summit War.

This was such a massive spectacle that it seemed like no single person could decide anything.

After trading barbs, Whitebeard's side and the Marines began fighting.

All around Du Yang, people shouted as the two sides charged at each other. Cannons boomed, and cold weapons clashed.

The two armies launched into a full-scale battle. Everyone seemed to be giving it their all, trading blows at close quarters as blood splattered through the air.

Whitebeard's side wanted to break through the various defensive lines as quickly as possible and rescue Ace.

The Marines, for the sake of their reputation, had to stop them from rescuing Ace in front of the world and protect their authority.

Everywhere Du Yang looked, people were locked in battle. The atmosphere had his blood racing.

Compared to the massive scale of the Summit War, his earlier life as a pirate had been little more than child's play.

In truth, Du Yang knew perfectly well that Whitebeard was the only one on his side with the strength of a Four Emperor or an Admiral.

Judging from the latest God Valley battle storyline, Whitebeard at his peak could reach the Pirate King level. But now, ravaged by illness and in poor condition, he could only be considered Four Emperor- or Admiral-level at best.

On the Marines' side, there were the Three Admirals, plus Garp and Sengoku—at least five fighters at the Four Emperor or Admiral level.

Just look at Garp. In his prime, he had been at the Pirate King level. Working together with Roger, he had defeated the corrupted Rocks and chased around a group of Four Emperors and even Four Emperors who were still children.

Honestly, Whitebeard's side had no hope of winning.

Of course, that was without even taking the Five Elders and Imu into account.

Imu was a god-level powerhouse who could face six legendary fighters head-on without fear.

And aside from Rocks, she didn't take anyone else seriously.

That showed just how deep the World Government's reserves ran. They were terrifyingly powerful.

As for the Four Emperor- and Admiral-level fighters on the Marines' side...

But with him there, the situation was completely different.

People were always arguing over whether the Four Emperors or the Admirals were stronger. Well, wasn't he a fighter at the Four Emperor or Admiral level himself?

Luffy stood at the bow of the warship and shouted with all his might:

"Ace!!!"

"I'm here to save you!!!"

Luffy's shout was deafening, but to both Whitebeard's side and the Marines, it sounded like:

"Don't get in my way. My grandpa is Garp the Hero!"

Received. All personnel, switch to actor mode.

Oh, right. Admiral Akainu probably hadn't heard him.

He seemed not to care about Four Emperors or Admirals at all. On such a dangerous battlefield, he was drawing everyone's attention like crazy, and he was utterly ferocious.

The people around them were badly startled by Luffy's shout.

Du Yang wasn't surprised. Luffy had plot armor. No matter how recklessly he acted, nothing would happen to him.

If an ordinary pirate without connections like Du Yang tried that, he'd be taken down in three seconds.