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Chapter 31: The Emperors Stir
The calm of the New World shattered under the weight of two earth-shattering announcements.
The first, rippling outward from Sabaody, was the capture of a generation's promise and a living legend. The second, a calculated declaration from Marine Headquarters, was a declaration of war against the strongest man alive.
At the isolated, storm-wreathed borders of Wano Country, a confrontation was reaching a fever pitch. The Red-Haired Pirates had not arrived by accident. Their formation was aggressive, their intent clear. They had seized two outposts of the Beasts Pirates on Wano's periphery and issued a challenge that echoed across the sea.
"Master Kaido! The red-hair's gone mad!" a battered Gifters scout cried, prostrating himself before the looming figure on Onigashima's skull balcony. "He took two islands! He's shouting for you to come out and die! He called you a worm hiding in Oden's castle!"
A low, tectonic growl emanated from Kaido. The air grew heavy, thick with menace. "WHAT?!" he boomed, his voice shaking the very foundations of the stronghold. "That red-haired BRAT! More and more domineering every year! Does he think killing that old fool made him invincible?!" The memory of his last clash with Shanks, a stalemate that had scarred the sky itself, flared in his eyes. This was not a challenge he could ignore—not without losing face before the entire New World.
With a roar that split the clouds, Kaido transformed. Scales erupted across his skin, his form elongating and coiling into the colossal, serpentine Azure Dragon. He snatched up his kanabo, Hassaikai. "King! Queen! Jack! With me!" he commanded. "We'll remind this upstart what a real Emperor is!"
He was furious, but not foolish. The Red-Haired Pirates' reputation was built on terrifyingly high average strength. Benn Beckman, in particular, was a variable even Kaido respected. He would not walk into a potential ambush alone. He launched into the sky, a dragon leading an aerial armada of Gifters and his three calamities, the very sky darkening with their passage toward the contested islands.
On the massive deck of the Moby Dick, a different kind of storm was brewing. The earlier urgency about Rayleigh and the red-haired-Kaido clash was instantly rendered trivial.
The newspaper in the hand of Izo, the 16th Division Commander, trembled slightly. His normally composed face had gone pale. "Oyaji…" he said, his voice tight. "Something… something bigger has happened."
The cheerful noise of the deck died. All eyes turned to him.
"What is it, Izo?" Marco asked, his usual lazy tone gone.
"It's Ace." Izo held up the paper, the front-page image crystal clear: Portgas D. Ace, kneeling in seastone cuffs, a Marine boot on his back. The headline was a brutal block of text:Â FIRE FIST ACE, CAPTURED! PUBLIC EXECUTION IN TWO WEEKS AT MARINEFORD!
Silence. A deafening, disbelieving silence.
Then, chaos erupted.
"THAT'S A LIE!" roared Haruta, drawing his swords.
"Ace would never… he could get away from anyone!"
"Blackbeard…! That traitor did this!"
The air crackled with panic and rage.
Edward Newgate, Whitebeard, slowly rose from his giant chair. The simple motion commanded instant quiet. His face, usually a mask of paternal calm, was a landscape of gathering thunder. He looked at the newspaper, then at Marco. No words were needed. The look conveyed a dreadful certainty.
"Oyaji, this…" Marco began, his mind racing.
"They're not after just Ace," Whitebeard's voice was a low rumble, like continents grinding together. "They announce it this early, this brazenly. They're laying a trap. For all of us." His grip tightened on his bisento, Murakumogiri. "They got their new weapon, their 'Black Crow,' and now they grow bold. They think they can take my head."
He took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, it was with the final, unshakeable authority of a father and a king. "Marco. Fly. Go to the New World's central hub. Confirm this with your own eyes. Vista, Jozu! Sound the call! In my name, summon every commander, every allied captain! Every ship that sails under my flag!"
The order hung in the air, absolute and irrevocable.
Marco nodded sharply, already transforming into his blue-flame phoenix form. "On it, Oyaji!"
As Marco took flight, Whitebeard turned his gaze south, as if he could see all the way to the red walls of Impel Down and the planned execution platform at Marineford. The grief and fury for a captured son warred with the strategic mind of a veteran of countless wars. This was a gauntlet thrown by the World Government itself.
He planted his bisento on the deck. The resulting shockwave was not of force, but of sheer, indomitable will. A wave of Conqueror's Haki, dense with protective fury, swept across the sea, flattening the waves around the Moby Dick for a mile.
"They have mistaken my kindness for weakness!" Whitebeard's voice boomed across the ocean. "They think they can take my family from me?! LET THEM TRY! If the Marines want a war… WE'LL GIVE THEM A WAR THEY WILL NEVER FORGET!"
On Wano's border, Shanks felt that distant, familiar Haki ripple across the sea—not aimed at him, but a declaration to the world. He stood on the prow of the Red Force, his expression grim. He had successfully baited Kaido out, tying up the Beast Pirates in a defensive engagement. But Whitebeard's eruption changed everything. The timeline had just collapsed.
"Beckman," Shanks said, not taking his eyes off the distant dragon form speeding toward them.
"I felt it," Benn Beckman replied, lighting a cigarette. His calm was a tactical asset. "The trap is sprung. Ace is the bait. Rayleigh is a bonus prize. They're forcing Whitebeard's hand, and they know we'll come for Rayleigh."
Shanks's hand rested on the hilt of Gryphon. His course was set, but now the waters were infinitely more dangerous. He had to break Kaido's momentum here, fast. Then, he had to reach Whitebeard. A rescue mission for Rayleigh was now inextricably linked to a full-scale war for Ace.
In the depths of Impel Down, Levi's ship descended through the gateway to hell. The prisoners, from the defiant Supernovas to the resigned Rayleigh, felt the temperature drop and the light fade. Above them, the gears of fate, set in motion by Levi's capture spree and Blackbeard's betrayal, were now spinning at a catastrophic speed.
The world held its breath. The Emperors were on the move. And Marineford waited.
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