boom...
A group of people screamed as they plunged into the water at the center of the ice floe that Jozu had blasted open, creating huge waves that drew the attention of everyone present.
What is that?
Everyone on the field turned their gaze in unison to the small lake that Jozu had forcefully created with his wrist, where a warship, broken by the powerful recoil, lay quietly.
"It looks like a warship, but how could that be? How could a warship fall from the sky? And where did it come from?"
People are speculating about the purpose behind the warship's crash and whether it will affect the outcome of the war.
Wow...
"It's the ocean! We're saved! But why isn't there ice here?"
"I don't know, but not having ice is a good thing for us, isn't it?"
"Hurry up and climb out to sea. Compared to the scalding water in the prison, what is this temperature?"
On the ice near the shore, the prisoners swam ashore again from the cold sea, celebrating their ordeal while also feeling a lingering fear of what had just happened.
Wow...
"It's really tough being a superhuman!!"
With his Fish-Man Race bloodline, Jinbe quickly swam through the icy waters and rescued several Devil Fruit users who had fallen into the water and were unable to sink.
Huff... Huff...
"Great, I finally saw it... Ace!"
On the broken warship, Luffy, with a few water droplets on his clothes, strained his eyes to look ahead and finally saw the figure of his beloved Ace on the Execution Platform. He cried out loudly.
" Luffy ~ How could you do this?! Didn't I tell you not to come, you idiot!!"
Ace responded loudly, but then couldn't help but worry about him. This was not a place he could be in right now. He was both happy and worried that Ace had risked his life to come here to save his failed brother.
"What's going on with that group? He didn't arrive here alone; aren't those people surrounding him vicious prisoners from Impel Down?"
"No way, could it be that they were also brought here by Straw Hat Luffy to fight against the Navy?"
Nearby, several sharp-eyed sailors recognized them from their prison uniforms and the faces they had seen in the newspapers, and couldn't help but feel worried.
"Prisoners from Impel Down? How interesting. Did they come with that brat to rescue Ace too?"
Whitebeard was surprised to see that the prisoners were all renowned pirates he had read about in the newspapers, including many he had personally defeated and who had been taken in by the Navy. He was astonished that they were now suddenly Luffy.
"Damn it, Garp! This is all your grandson's doing again! Look what he's done, releasing all those vicious pirates! Now even the Navy is struggling to handle this. You're jointly responsible for this!!"
Sengoku also saw the Impel Down prisoners who had come with Luffy. Although most of them were pirates from the first or second level with little strength, their combined strength would be difficult even for the Marines. Sengoku couldn't help but curse his old comrade beside him.
" Luffy, you little brat!!"
Garp was already fed up with Ace's situation, but then his other grandson Luffy came along and caused even more trouble, making things even more difficult for him and giving him a real headache.
" Knight of the Sea Jinbe, Crocodile the Sand Crocodile, Okama King Ivankov, and the pirates standing behind him are all notorious pirates from the past. Now they're actually fighting alongside the Straw Hat Luffy..."
Hmm, no, look up there, on the observation deck, that person is...
The Navy pointed out the named pirates standing next to Luffy one by one, but in the end, their attention was drawn to a proud figure standing on the observation platform, looking down at everyone below.
"That person... is it really him? The legendary pirate who was once on par with the three great pirates, the Red the Aloof..."
Several experienced naval officers, upon seeing the man's face clearly on the lookout tower, exclaimed in disbelief with expressions of fear on their faces.
"Hahaha, I never expected that after being imprisoned for over twenty years, there would still be people who could recognize me. Marines, especially the Garp the Hero, this time I'll let you taste the hatred I've accumulated over decades, and make you pay with your lowly, disgusting blood..."
After being recognized by the people in the Navy, Red, the man who had briefly interacted with Luo Chen on the sixth level of Impel Down, laughed heartily, and anyone could feel the intense resentment emanating from his laughter.
"Damn it, it's that guy Red! Garp, look what kind of scourge your grandson has unleashed! Although he's no longer as strong as before, you should understand the enormous impact this will have on the world if we let him leave!"
Sengoku recognized Red's face and immediately shouted angrily at Garp.
"Damn it!! Luffy, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into...?"
Garp was deeply critical of Luffy's actions and felt heartbroken, but it was all in vain. As Luffy's grandfather, he had no choice but to take full responsibility for Luffy's sins.
"Don't worry, Sengoku. I'll handle Red. You should be concerned about something else right now..."
Garp, with a grim face, took the blame for capturing Red, then seemed to realize something and reminded Sengoku.
"What?"
Sengoku was confused by what Garp was saying and asked in bewilderment.
"We also have an old friend here, probably for Ace too. Otherwise, I can't understand why he, who has long since retired from the Navy, would turn against them again and come here once more."
Garp didn't explicitly state his identity, but he did reveal it in a general way. Hearing Garp's explicit words, how could the highly intelligent Sengoku not know who he was referring to?
To be hailed as an old friend by Garp, one must be someone from that era. From his words, we know that he doesn't belong to the Navy but to the opposing side, and he has a great connection with Ace. The only person who would come to save him is Dark King Rayleigh, the man once known as the Pirate King's right-hand man.
"... It really is him. Why doesn't Rayleigh just stay peacefully in Sabaody Archipelago and retire? Why did he have to get involved in this mess?"
After Garp hinted at identifying Rayleigh's identity from all the people of the old era, Sengoku personally used Observation Haki to capture the man's presence. Sure enough, in a relatively secluded corner, he sensed that familiar aura. The moment he located Rayleigh, Rayleigh seemed to know who had released this Observation Haki to sense his presence. He no longer hid, his eyes, framed by his glasses, meeting Sengoku's gaze on the Execution Platform.
"Hehehe, as expected, you can't hide it from me after all, Garp, Sengoku. No matter how you try to stop me this time, I will do everything in my power to rescue Roger's child. Just you wait and see!!"
The moment Rayleigh's eyes met Sengoku's, he uttered his innermost thoughts directly. Although it was lip reading, Sengoku, who had already guessed his thoughts, couldn't possibly not know what he was saying.