Always Thinking About Running Away!

The ash from the bombardment had yet to settle.

Along Elbaf's coast, shattered ice and gunsmoke had churned into a gray sludge. Three warships with carved white whale bones set into their prows plowed through the last stretch of floating ice. Their hulls scraped over sunken Marine wrecks with a metallic shriek that set teeth on edge.

The ships had not even reached shore.

A burst of blue flame erupted from a deck.

Marco did not wait.

His flaming wings spread in the wind, and the fire of regeneration engulfed him. Like a firebird trailing a long tail of flame, he flew straight inland. Scorching air skimmed the sea and raised a vast bank of white mist.

"Move it!"

Beckman jumped off the ship with a cigarette butt between his lips. His boots crushed a floe, and his rifle was already at his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes at the ice field ahead, overrun by Blackwater Monsters, and blew a smoke ring.

"Marco clears the way. We follow and hit their flank."

Sabo was the last to land, his outfit billowing in the wind. He glanced back. Behind him stood captains of the Whitebeard Pirates, elite Revolutionary Army fighters, Red Hair Pirates gunmen, and even a few old faces from Roger's ship.

The same light shone in all their eyes.

"Go!"

Sabo gave the low command.

Fire burst around his fist, and he charged first.

Hundreds followed behind him.

Their footsteps rolled like muffled thunder.

Marco hit the monsters first.

One sweep of his blue flaming wings sent their twisted black bodies flying like scraps of paper. They burned to charcoal before they hit the ground.

He did not slow down.

A streak of blue shot deep into the ice field.

On the ground.

Beckman blew the head off the