Meanwhile, high atop the frozen Ice Wave, Luffy and his ragtag crew were in the middle of a heated debate.
"Listen up!" Luffy said with rare seriousness. "Now that we've made it this far, we need to move fast. You saw it yourselves—the battle's already begun! If we work together and break the ice, we can slide straight down into the fight!"
"Tch! Are you crazy?" Buggy immediately objected, waving his hands. He had just escaped from Impel Down, and the last thing he wanted was to dive headfirst into a war between titans.
To Buggy, both the Navy and Whitebeard were way out of his league—and the farther away from them he stayed, the better.
"If we all pitch in, we can break through!" Luffy insisted, his eyes burning with determination.
Before Buggy could protest again, a loud chorus rang out from behind him:
"That's right! With the mighty Captain Buggy leading us, we can do anything!"
The escaped prisoners who had followed Buggy from the depths of the sea prison were now hailing him as a legendary leader. Whether it was due to desperation or delusion, they truly believed Buggy was destined to rule the world.
Buggy blinked, stunned—and then puffed up proudly, swept away by the unexpected praise.
In truth, he had no idea why these lunatics had latched onto him in the first place. Had they not tied him up and dragged him along, he would've bolted at the first sign of trouble. But now, thanks to their misguided worship, he was stuck playing the hero.
"Boom!!"
With a combined effort from Luffy, Jinbe, Crocodile, Ivankov, and the rest of the group, the thick ice layer shattered at last. But—as always when Luffy's involved—things didn't go exactly as planned.
"You morons! I told you this was a bad idea! Now look what you've done!" Buggy screamed as he plummeted through the air. "I'm gonna die from a stupid fall!"
And then—chaos.
In the middle of the raging war between the Navy and the Whitebeard Pirates, a warship suddenly came crashing down from above like a divine prank. Marines and pirates alike could only gape in confusion.
From his post on the execution platform, Sengoku snapped to attention the moment he saw a familiar figure tumbling out of the sky.
"DAMN IT, GARP! It's your family again!"
Garp looked up just in time to see Luffy hurtling toward the battlefield.
"Ugh… Luffy, you reckless little brat… Why are you always like this?" He groaned, burying his face in one hand.
Meanwhile, Luffy and the others miraculously landed in the only place that wasn't frozen solid—the massive pit that Little Oars had carved out earlier.
"Hahaha! We made it! We actually landed in the sea! That was pure luck!" Luffy cheered, bobbing in the water as Jinbe helped him to safety.
And then his eyes locked on the platform.
"ACE!!! I finally found you!" he shouted, pure emotion bursting from his chest.
"Luffy..." Ace stared back, stunned. "He actually made it..." Though Jack had told him Luffy was on his way, Ace never imagined he'd arrive with such wild flair.
"Wait a second—is that the former Warlord Crocodile??" One of the Marines exclaimed, eyes wide with disbelief as he spotted Crocodile calmly standing behind Luffy, cape fluttering, eyes sharp.
"It's not just Crocodile—Shichibukai Jinbe is with them too!" A navy officer growled, clenching his fists in disbelief.
"And that's not all," a vice admiral muttered, eyes narrowing. "Ivankov of the Revolutionary Army... and those infamous pirates—they were all supposed to be locked away in Impel Down. How the hell did they end up allied with the Straw Hat kid?"
On the other side of the battlefield, Marco, having just forced his opponent back, glanced toward the commotion and chuckled.
"So that's the little brother Ace was always going on about?"
Mihawk narrowed his eyes at Luffy, murmuring to himself,
"What an intriguing man… full of surprises."
Doflamingo couldn't hold back his grin, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Fufufufu… now this is getting fun. The old and new Shichibukai are finally sharing the same stage. And leading them… is the infamous upstart himself—Straw Hat Luffy."
The arrival of Luffy and his crew sent waves through the battlefield. Not just the navy, but even the pirates under Whitebeard, who knew Ace personally, were staring at the young man in awe and curiosity.
"So that's Ace's little brother?" they whispered among themselves, intrigued by the fiery-eyed newcomer who had just shaken the whole battlefield with his entrance.
High above, Sengoku's voice thundered through the square.
"Jinbe! Is this your answer?!"
"That's right!" Jinbe shouted back, his voice full of defiance. "You want a Shichibukai? Find someone else. I'm done with it!"
With Fishman Island now under Whitebeard's protection, Jinbe had no more need for the title. Besides, he'd been captured by the navy despite Jack's warning—a failure he hadn't yet forgiven himself for.
Meanwhile, Akainu stared at Luffy with a cold glint in his eye.
"So that's Garp's grandson... and the son of Dragon. We must Eliminate him. He's too dangerous to let live."
After all, this was a battlefield—and even if someone killed Luffy, Garp couldn't openly retaliate. Not here. Not now.
Suddenly, Ivankov looked around and frowned.
"Eh? Where's Croco-boy?" he asked, eyes scanning the area. Just moments ago, the sand-wielding warlord had been right next to him.
"Over there!" shouted a flamboyant pirate from the Impel Down escapees, pointing toward the rear of Whitebeard.
Sure enough, Crocodile had vanished from his position and reappeared behind Whitebeard, having transformed into a swirl of sand.
"Heh… Long time no see, Whitebeard!" He sneered, poised to strike with a deadly sneak attack.
"You bastard, Crocodile! How dare you!" shouted Whitebeard's men, rushing toward their captain in alarm, weapons drawn and fury blazing.
From across the field, Buggy gaped in disbelief.
"That lunatic! Is he trying to steal all the credit?!"
As someone who'd once sailed under Roger, Buggy knew better than anyone how dangerous and respected Whitebeard truly was.
Then—Bang!
In a flash, Luffy appeared and kicked Crocodile's attack away midair, blocking it before it could reach Whitebeard.
"We've already fulfilled our agreement, haven't we? So why are you protecting Whitebeard?" Crocodile asked, scowling at Luffy, who stood there dripping wet.
Crocodile's frustration was clear. He knew that when sand meets water, his Logia powers are weakened—he can't transform or manipulate his body as freely. It was a clever trick, one Luffy had used back during their first battle in Alabasta.
"So this guy's Whitebeard, huh? Then don't attack him!" Luffy said firmly. "Ace really likes him!"
His tone was serious, but he didn't seem to realize something important—Whitebeard didn't need protection.
"Heh, as expected of Ace's little brother. You've got guts," Marco said, shooting Luffy a quick glance and a smirk.
Whitebeard, who had been silently observing the scene, turned his head slightly. His gaze landed on Luffy—and more specifically, on the worn straw hat perched on his head.
"That straw hat… It looks familiar. Just like Red-Hair's," he said thoughtfully, a flicker of curiosity flashing in his eyes.
"Oh? You know Shanks, Uncle?" Luffy grinned, lifting the hat with both hands. "He gave me this. Told me to keep it safe!"
At that moment, Whitebeard recalled a story: how Shanks had lost his arm in the East Blue. And then there was Ace, proudly showing off a wanted poster of his brother—the same straw-hatted boy who now stood on the battlefield, as bold and reckless as ever.
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