East Blue.
The heavy atmosphere was like a rising tide, gradually drowning the entire tavern.
The voices and clinking glasses that normally filled it with noise could no longer be heard.
Everyone sat in their seats, drinking in silence.
"Ace... why did this happen?" At the bar, Makino's tears fell one after another, wetting the counter before her.
When she learned that Ace would be publicly executed at Marine Headquarters in Marineford, her first reaction was to doubt whether the news was true.
But an official newspaper lay right in front of her, leaving her no room for doubt.
Whether it was Ace, Luffy, or Sabo, she had always treated them like her own little brothers.
Sabo had already perished in the World Government's sea of flames.
Now Ace was going to be sent to the execution platform too.
There was nothing she could do!
"We can only hope the Whitebeard Pirates win. Then Ace can be saved," a villager said.
His words drew plenty of agreement.
"Yeah, as the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, he'll definitely have Whitebeard coming to rescue him," said a villager wearing overalls, his hair parted down the middle, as he took a gulp of his drink.
Another man with a scar on his face nodded. "If Whitebeard wins, we won't have to worry about Ace's safety."
"But that's Marine Headquarters. Even Whitebeard can't be sure of winning!" said a man only 1.2 meters tall.
Thud!
A sharp-faced man wearing a green hat slammed his glass onto the table, his face flushed with drink. "Idiot! Whitebeard is the World's Strongest Man. How could he lose?"
"That's in the past. Lott is the strongest now," the man in overalls replied with a sigh.
The scarred man's face lit up in realization at those words.