Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and Marine Headquarters at Marineford formed the three points of an interconnected triangle. At their center lay an enormous, dangerous whirlpool.
At that moment, a streak of white spray whipped up fierce winds along the whirlpool's edge, carving a brilliant, unmistakable white line across the sea as it raced toward the Gate of Justice.
When the Marines on watch spotted that white line, their shock was beyond words.
Every Marine who had passed through that enormous swirling current knew all too well how terrifying its suction and pull were, and feared its dangers deeply.
Yet now, someone was sprinting across the sea just like that, running on the water.
"Quick, get Colonel Promi!"
His face filled with shock, a Marine immediately shouted.
A short while later, a burly officer with a stern face and a scar on his forehead climbed onto the wall and took the binoculars. A coat bearing the word "Justice" hung over his shoulders.
A long sword hung at his waist, and a powerful, dangerous aura radiated from him.
A Marine Headquarters Colonel was stronger than a branch officer of equivalent rank. Promi, moreover, was a battle-hardened veteran who had served in the Marines for nearly twenty years.
"What's going on?"
Colonel Promi raised the binoculars as he asked.
"We spotted an unidentified person running across the sea toward Headquarters!"
The Marine beside him hurriedly explained.
"Running across the sea?"
Promi froze at those words, his pupils suddenly contracting.
"Such a distinctive way of traveling..."
He suddenly thought of a man-someone whom his younger self had sworn to follow to the death, someone he had feared, admired, and revered.
That man had been immensely powerful, yet he had treated his subordinates with the warmth of a spring breeze. He had nurtured Promi and