Chapter 25: The Battle Begins
Su Xiao wasn’t sure if other contractors had also received four main quests simultaneously. Perhaps this was one of the benefits of joining the Revolutionary Army faction.
It could be said that the most unique faction on the Summit War battlefield was the Revolutionary Army. Originally, they had nothing to do with the war, but if the plot developed without deviation, Emporio Ivankov was rushing over alongside Luffy, representing the Revolutionary Army’s forces—even if Dragon hadn’t given permission.
Now, Su Xiao was participating in the Summit War as part of the Revolutionary Army faction. This meant he would receive almost no military reinforcements, but it wasn’t without its advantages. Being able to activate four main quests at once was likely due to this very reason.
Inside the submarine, Su Xiao observed the battle situation through the footage transmitted by Bubu Wang. On the plaza in front of Marine Headquarters, the area was packed with Marines. On the execution platform, Sengoku was announcing a piece of news to the entire world: Portgas D. Ace was Roger’s son—the son of the Pirate King.
Sengoku’s voice echoed across the plaza. A slightly salty sea breeze blew through, and the plaza fell into dead silence. Every Marine soldier stared up at Sengoku in shock.
Gulp. A Marine soldier swallowed hard. He had never heard that Portgas D. Ace was Roger’s son. If those words had come from an outsider, he would have just listened for entertainment. But now, their Fleet Admiral was publicly announcing this information.
On the execution platform, Ace lowered his head. If one observed closely, they would notice his body trembling slightly, and he muttered under his breath, “My only father is Whitebeard.”
“Wrong!”
As if hearing Ace’s muttering, Sengoku roared and said, “Your father is Roger!”
Ace gritted his teeth so hard they creaked. Of course, he knew his biological father was Roger, but his childhood experiences made him unwilling to acknowledge it.
Ace lowered his head and said nothing more. However, Sengoku’s shout had startled Bubu Wang, who was nearby. The dog raised its paw and flipped Sengoku off, as if to say, “Wrong is wrong, why do you have to yell so loud? You almost scared this Wang into jumping off the execution platform.”
“Bubu, stay away from Sengoku. The audio signal is too strong.”
Inside the submarine, Su Xiao removed his headphones and rubbed the area in front of his ears. Just then, he felt the submarine begin to shake. And this was dozens of meters underwater.
Below the submarine, three large ships were rapidly ascending. These three ships looked similar, and one of them was the Moby Dick—the Whitebeard Pirates had arrived.
On a ship of the same size as the Moby Dick, but with a slightly different bow, the vessel was covered by a thin membrane—a special coating unique to the Sabaody Archipelago.
“That is…”
A pirate on the ship looked puzzled, peering out through the coating into the sea.
“That looks like… Kukulin’s submarine?”
Marco wasn’t too surprised. Before this, he had already anticipated that Su Xiao would participate in the war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines. Whether as friend or foe remained unknown.
Although Marco wanted to greet Su Xiao and probe his purpose here, time didn’t allow it. He needed to surface quickly at Marineford’s U-shaped inner harbor. According to the previously arranged tactics, the allied crews under Whitebeard had already begun approaching the outer harbor—43 ships in total. These ships would approach Marineford from the outer sea, coordinating with the Whitebeard Pirates’ three ships from within.
Whoosh~
A blue afterimage streaked through the seawater. This figure pierced through the coating and boarded the Moby Dick.
Seawater soaked the deck of the Moby Dick. The pirates on the ship looked at each other, momentarily unsure what to do.
“Doctor White Night, hello.”
A somewhat dull-looking pirate scratched his head and smiled. Another pirate behind him slapped him on the back of the head.
“Hello.”
Su Xiao’s gaze swept around. At least several hundred pirates had surrounded him, their expressions conflicted.
It was no wonder these pirates were so conflicted. They were about to surface at Marineford’s inner harbor, essentially walking into a Marine encirclement. Although the risk was high, it spared them from the Marines’ cannon fire. In a contest of firearms, even fifty Whitebeard Pirate crews combined wouldn’t stand a chance against the Marines’ bombardment. So they had to start with close-quarters combat from the very beginning—that was what pirates excelled at.
At this critical moment, an outsider had boarded the ship. If it were a complete stranger, the pirates would have already cut him down. But this outsider was familiar to them, and he was very strong—reportedly able to fight on par with a Marine Admiral.
“Boy, have you come to kill me?”
Whitebeard sat on the deck steps, one hand resting on his knee, the other holding his long-handled naginata.
“I had that intention before.”
Su Xiao’s hand rested on his sword hilt, making the surrounding pirates even more conflicted. Should they attack? If they did, it would be ingratitude. If they didn’t, he was now an enemy.
“Kurarara.”
Whitebeard laughed loudly as he stood up and walked toward Su Xiao. As the Moby Dick surfaced, light streamed down from above, illuminating both Su Xiao and Whitebeard’s faces.
Whitebeard brushed past Su Xiao without much caution. If Su Xiao wanted to kill him, he would have done so when Whitebeard was severely ill and under anesthesia.
With a splash, the Moby Dick surfaced. The surrounding U-shaped harbor was packed with Marines. The five Warlords of the Sea were all at the harbor’s edge, only a few dozen meters from the Moby Dick in the water. Some looked slightly surprised, while others were smiling.
On the distant, towering execution platform, Sengoku clenched the Den Den Mushi in his hand. He had anticipated that Whitebeard might emerge from underwater. Someone had even sent him intelligence outlining the Whitebeard Pirates’ attack route. Yet Sengoku had still set up his defenses as if Whitebeard would attack from the outer harbor. In truth, he wanted Whitebeard to break into the inner harbor—only then could his subsequent plans unfold.
The Marines on the harbor were somewhat flustered, but the presence of the three Admirals behind them and Sengoku on the execution platform gave them the courage to face the Whitebeard Pirates.
Clang, clang, clang…
Footsteps and the sound of striking came from the Moby Dick. Whitebeard was slowly walking toward the bow, his steps steady and powerful. Su Xiao glanced at Whitebeard’s back, then went to sit by the mast. He would wait until the battle was chaotic enough before revealing himself; otherwise, he would likely be swarmed by the Marines.
If Sengoku’s hatred for the Whitebeard Pirates was a 10, then his hatred for Su Xiao would be over 90. Because of Su Xiao’s prison break and assassination of a Celestial Dragon, the Marines’ military budget for the year had been cut by 10%, mainly due to the Celestial Dragon incident.
Whitebeard stood at the bow, locking eyes with Sengoku on the execution platform.
“Sengoku, it’s been decades, hasn’t it? Is my dear son alright?”
Whitebeard’s voice echoed across half the harbor. On the execution platform, Sengoku looked puzzled. Something about Whitebeard felt very wrong to him—extremely wrong.