"I'm in. So when do we leave?"
"No rush," Rubick said. "Let's wait a little longer."
Rubick opened a Portal and returned straight to Enies Lobby, then went aboard Whitebeard's ship.
"Rubick, I thought you'd gotten cold feet."
"I was about to fly all the way to Alabasta," Marco grumbled.
"Don't worry. I went to find allies," Rubick said.
"What, you think the Whitebeard Pirates aren't strong enough?" Jozu asked bluntly.
"I was just finding myself some backup."
"By the way," Rubick said suddenly, "do you have a battle plan?"
The dozen or so Division Commanders fell silent. Rubick's eyes widened. Don't tell me they hadn't made a battle plan at all?
"We use your Portal to drop straight into Marineford," Whitebeard said. "Fight our way in, rescue Ace, and withdraw."
Rubick sucked in a breath.
His head throbbed. What the hell kind of battle plan is that? His disgust was written all over his face, and Whitebeard explained a little sheepishly, "Sengoku's known as a brilliant strategist. He's bound to have plenty of traps waiting for us. So we figured we'd charge straight in and break through his schemes the most direct way. Brute force works miracles."
Rubick could hardly believe those words had come out of Whitebeard's mouth.
"Okay. First, bring me a model of Marineford," Rubick said.
Rubick held out his hand. The Division Commanders fell silent again. They didn't have one.
Rubick pressed a hand to his forehead, opened a Portal, and dragged a bewildered Dino over from Alabasta.
"Huh? Whitebeard!"
Dino's legs began to shake. Even without unleashing his Haki, Whitebeard was not someone an ordinary person dared meet in the eye.
Rubick took out a photo of Marineford. "Stop gawking and get to work. Make a model based on this. It doesn't have to