Two Choices

At the point where sea and sky met, a black line appeared.

Time passed little by little.

When the Hell Battleship beneath Bullet's feet slowly passed through the enormous Gate of Justice.

The black line stretching endlessly across the sea finally revealed itself completely before Bullet.

It was a terrifying crest spanning the surface of the ocean.

A wave crest towering like a mountain range.

A tsunami.

An unprecedentedly terrifying tsunami.

And on these seas.

Only one man possessed the power to raise such a tsunami.

Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!

This terrifying tsunami had appeared here without warning.

That meant the grand war had officially begun.

The towering wave crests rose and fell, overturning the entire sea with their tremors.

Bullet stood on the deck at the bow, allowing the wave crest to lift the battleship beneath his feet high into the air.

Then the crest passed beneath the battleship and spread toward more distant waters.

Bullet knew.

When that mountain-like wave crest came rolling in again, it would be time for the battleship to accelerate and charge toward Marineford!

This was the momentum he needed to borrow.

Before that, he still needed to do something.

Turning around, Bullet raised a hand and swept it toward the empty deck.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

The pitch-black steel deck continuously split apart and contracted to either side.

Then, a massive platform rapidly rose from beneath the deck.

When the platform emerged from the deck, the prisoners standing on it stared at the boundless ocean around them and froze completely.

Some prisoners whose faces had been filled with anger, prepared to fight Bullet to the death, suddenly lost their rage as well.

The deck fell silent for several seconds.

Then a wave of excited, feverish cheers erupted.

Every one of these vicious prisoners who had escaped Infinite Hell had joy written across their faces.

"It's the sea!"

"Wahahahaha! We escaped! Look! It really is the sea!"

"Lohohoho! New World, I'm back!"

"Get back to Paradise! I want to drink myself silly, smoke cigars, and enjoy myself properly!"

"I want women! I'm going to the pleasure district and fight for ten days and ten nights!"

Some wept tears of joy, their expressions crazed.

Others paced back and forth across the spacious deck, occasionally slapping their own faces as if suspecting they were dreaming.

Only after a long, long time did the deck quiet down somewhat.

Only then did everyone notice the burly figure standing before them.

"Dou... Douglas Barrett!"

Bullet merely stood there, yet an overbearing pressure as vast as mountains and seas poured from him like an avalanche.

The deep majesty naturally emanating from him alone made everyone on the deck feel their throats tighten.

It was as though a mountain had suddenly been placed upon their shoulders.

"Step."

"Step."

Footsteps rang out.

Shiryu, with a cigar clenched between his teeth; Teach, looking dejected; and the excited Shot and Devon emerged from the crowd and came to stand beside Bullet.

"Trash of Infinite Hell..."

Bullet's cold voice rang out as he looked at the prisoners before him, each with a different expression.

"As you can see."

"You have left Impel Down, passed through the Gate of Justice, and reached the bright world outside."

"The direction this Hell Battleship is heading is Marine Headquarters, Marineford!"

The moment Bullet spoke, commotion immediately broke out across the deck.

"What? We're heading to Marine Headquarters? What kind of joke is that?!"

"I just got out. I don't want to go to that damned place!"

"Marine Headquarters is already the most dangerous place in the world for pirates and criminals. And now, they say the greatest war in the world is taking place there!"

"The Whitebeard Pirates and their allied grand fleet against Marine Headquarters and the Seven Warlords!"

"That kind of terrifying place is ten times scarier than Infinite Hell! I'm not going there to die!"

Bullet coldly watched the clamoring prisoners and continued.

"Now, I'm giving you two choices."

Bullet's voice was deep and resounding.

Like the beating of a muffled war drum, it echoed beside every prisoner's ears.

"First, submit to me and join the ranks of Douglas Barrett."

"I will take you to Marineford to take part in that grand war!"

"Those who survive that war, I will take to the New World!"

Many prisoners widened their eyes and stared at Bullet in disbelief.

"Y-you actually want to gather companions?"

They could scarcely believe their ears.

Douglas Barrett, the solitary battle-crazed demon, was actually beginning to gather companions!

Everyone knew that ever since Roger's death.

The Devil's Heir before them, who had inherited Roger's strength, had always been alone.

More than twenty years ago, this terrifying man already possessed combat power comparable to a Marine admiral.

He had rampaged alone across the seas of the New World, turning the entire New World upside down.

If they could follow such a man to the seas of the New World, they could imagine what kind of bright future would await them!

Perhaps a supreme emperor of the seas would rise in the New World!

At that thought, many of the bolder prisoners began breathing heavily.

"Second, if you refuse to submit to me..."

Bullet's icy gaze swept over the entire crowd. No one dared meet his eyes.

"Die!"

The moment the word "die" was spoken.

The deck instantly fell silent.

Only after a long while did someone suddenly shout.

"Bullet! Don't go too far!"

"We're all prisoners of Infinite Hell. We're equally dangerous, so don't think you're somehow superior to us!"

Bullet looked over.

The speaker was a six-meter-tall, muscular brute with a broad, burly build. His voice was thunderous and imposing.

When he saw Bullet look toward him, the brute showed no fear.

"Superior?"

Bullet moved his feet and strode directly toward the brute.

"Bullet!"

"If you want to go to Marine Headquarters, then go by yourself! No one will stop you!"

"But I have my own freedom, and you're not qualified to make me submit!"

As Bullet stepped toward him, a vicious glint flashed in the brute's eyes. He knew the battle-crazed man before him would not let him off easily.

Then he might as well strike first!

There were no weaklings among those imprisoned in Infinite Hell!

With that thought, the brute charged forward fiercely. The muscles all over his body swelled again, making him look frighteningly powerful.

"You're nothing but a brat defeated by a Buster Call! I don't know what you people are afraid of!"

"I am Rocky Thompson, with a bounty as high as 980 million berries!"

"Die, Devil's Heir!"

Thompson threw a punch at Bullet's head.

The terrifying force of his body compressed the air before him until it crackled and burst.

A violent gale swept across the deck.

Facing such a savage punch, Bullet slowly swung his right fist.

Boom!

Two fists of equal size collided, instantly blasting apart the air aboard the Hell Battleship.

Feeling the power coming from the other side, Rocky Thompson's lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Douglas Barrett, you're nothing but..."

Before he could finish.

A terrifying impact force like a volcanic eruption surged violently into his body, then exploded with a deafening blast!

Boom!!

Countless fragments of flesh and blood shot through the air above the deck.

This six-meter-tall muscular brute, whose build was close to Bullet's, instantly exploded and turned into a rain of blood!

Bullet withdrew his fist, his cold gaze intimidating the entire deck.

"I alone can kill every last one of you!"

"Now tell me: submit, or die?"