Outside the steel fortress, the tremors of the earth grew more frequent.
In just one short hour, the once-empty highlands had been filled with a sea of dark figures.
To protect this batch of Heavenly Tribute, several warlords who had spent years locked in civil war had, for once, joined forces. More than ten thousand elite soldiers in full battle gear and dozens of steam-powered armored vehicles belching black smoke had completely sealed off the front of the fortress.
Inside the fortress.
Carina tied together several large backpacks stuffed with treasure. As she listened to the deafening sound of the army assembling outside, her brows furrowed tightly.
"Captain, I can carry the treasure and that Devil Fruit, but the batch of Starfall Black Steel Jeno recovered is just too heavy. The Eclipse's draft and cargo space simply can't handle that much metal."
"If we can't fit it, then we'll steal a ship that can."
Ace sat on a broken stone pillar, gazing past the fortress walls toward the town below.
"Once we're done fighting, we'll head straight to the harbor and take one of the warlords' heavy transport ships. We'll load the Black Steel onto it, then leave on two ships and find an uninhabited island where Jeno can upgrade the Eclipse without any interruptions."
"Great idea! Now that we've dealt with that concern, it's time to settle the score with those bastards who wrecked my workshop!"
Jeno rolled his thick neck. The heavy Mechanical Exoskeleton on his right arm roared as high-pressure steam surged through it. He drove his legs into the ground, and his towering frame charged out through the breach in the fortress like an iron-armored rhinoceros. He was the first to rush out.
He'd dared to stand up to the warlords even when he was on his own. Now he had powerful allies, too.
Outside the fortress, a one-eyed leader in a warlord's coat stood atop an armored vehicle, preparing to shout an order.
"Fire! Riddle that big bastard with bullets!"
The moment he saw someone charge out, the one-eyed leader slashed his command saber downward without hesitation.
A barrage of gunfire and artillery instantly shattered the silence of the highlands.
But Jeno didn't even try to dodge. The thick steel plates deflected ordinary lead bullets, and the thrust of his Steam Boots carried him across dozens of meters in an instant. He landed heavily at the very front of the army's formation.
"Get a taste of my hammer!"
Jeno roared. His thick mechanical arm swung the modified Hydraulic War Hammer down onto a steam-powered armored vehicle charging toward him.
"Boom!!"
The multi-ton vehicle's front end was smashed straight into the ground by the blow. The violent impact instantly caused the Steam Boiler inside to explode, and the blast hurled more than a dozen nearby soldiers into the air.
In Jeno's hands, raw industrial force was on full display.
"That big guy's a real lunatic!"
Buggy seized his chance and activated his Chop-Chop powers. He kept his feet behind the fortress's cover while his upper body, wearing a Seastone Knuckle, slipped into the enemy's flank like a phantom. He went straight for the gunners preparing to fire.
Leona charged into the crowd with a Bone-Cleaving Blade in each hand.
Facing the enormous army, she relied on the extraordinary physique she'd forged through years of hunting giant beasts and fought like a tiger among sheep. Her blades flashed through the enemy ranks, targeting gaps in the soldiers' armor and their joints.
But there were simply too many enemies.
Thousands of regular soldiers worked together with spears and a web of gunfire, forming an impenetrable net that held the three of them fast in the middle of the formation.
Behind the warlord army.
Several leaders watched the three of them struggle coldly, with no intention of joining the fight themselves.
"Keep sending the soldiers in. No matter how strong they are, their stamina is limited. Once those three idiots are worn down, we'll make our move."
At the breach in the fortress.
Sabo leaned against a shattered stone pillar, watching his companions get caught in the enemy's human-wave tactics below. He turned slightly toward Ace beside him.
"Should we help, Captain? Being surrounded by thousands is a serious test for them right now."
"If they can't handle this much pressure, how are they supposed to break through the door to Haki?"
Ace sat on a broken stretch of wall, his Observation Haki covering the entire battlefield. "I won't step in unless their lives are truly in danger. Besides, an army of several thousand makes for some decent free sparring partners."
Just as Ace finished speaking, his brow suddenly furrowed.
He closed his eyes. His innate Observation Haki, far stronger than an ordinary person's from birth, stretched from the fortress highlands toward the island's outer coastline.
The distance was too great for him to sense the newcomer's exact appearance. He could only faintly detect a sense of danger coming from the distant sea. The presence was as heavy as a lump of black iron, carrying the oppressive weight of someone seasoned by countless battles as it entered the island's magnetic field.
"What an astonishing presence. How could someone this powerful arrive so quickly? Is it a coincidence?"
Ace opened his eyes and looked toward the coastline. He knew the Marines summoned by that warlord's commander had arrived.
Meanwhile, in the waters outside the Iron Kingdom.
Five enormous warships flying seagull flags cut through the waves, speeding toward the harbor.
On the deck of the flagship, Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Momonga, with a mohawk and a horseshoe mustache, solemnly hung up the Den Den Mushi in his hand.
"Teacher Zephyr, we've confirmed the harbor up ahead. The warlord forces are holding them off in the highlands, but those pirates are powerful. The Heavenly Tribute may be in danger."
Momonga walked to the front of the warship and respectfully reported to a tall figure standing there.
The man at the bow was an imposing old man, built like an iron tower.
He wore a purple suit and a wide Marine Justice Coat. His short purple hair had turned somewhat gray. But the most striking thing about him was that where his right arm should have been, there was nothing but an empty sleeve flapping in the sea breeze.
The former Marine Admiral and current chief instructor of Marine recruits—Zephyr.
Four years earlier, the training ship he'd taken out with his recruits had encountered a monster of a Devil Fruit user. The young students aboard had been slaughtered, and only Ain and Binz had survived. Even Zephyr's own right arm had been brutally severed.
From that day onward, the famed "Admiral Who Doesn't Kill" had changed. He had yet to form the Shandian Guerrilla and still served within the Marines, but when it came to pirates, all he felt was a murderous hatred, repressed until it had turned cold.
This time, he had happened to be on a mission with Vice Admiral Momonga. After receiving a distress call from the Heavenly Tribute fortress in the Iron Kingdom, the fleet had changed course and headed for the smoking Steel Country.
"Heavenly Tribute?"
Zephyr stared at the smoke rising from the Steel Country in the distance and gave a cold snort. His weathered eyes revealed undisguised disgust. "I couldn't care less about the filthy money those Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise squeeze out of the people."
Vice Admiral Momonga lowered his head and said nothing. He knew the old veteran had long been dissatisfied with the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.
"But!"
Zephyr's voice suddenly grew low, and the ironclad killing intent of a veteran soldier pressed over the deck like a heavy curtain of iron.
"I will never allow a bunch of ignorant rookie pirates to use looting as an excuse to run wild across these seas and plunge them into war!"
Zephyr raised his one remaining left hand and clenched it into a fist. His knuckles cracked. Dense, jet-black Armament Haki instantly covered his entire left arm.
"Rookie pirates with a bounty of fifty million?"
Zephyr stared at the smoke in the distance, his gaze hard as iron.
"Let's see what gives him the right to act so arrogantly on these seas."
The sea breeze swept up his Justice Coat.
Zephyr's voice was ice-cold, without a trace of warmth.
"Relay the order to the entire fleet. Prepare to land."
"I'll capture them myself."
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