The scene at Udon froze under these circumstances, and another day passed just like that. Their “fake IDs” were about to expire. Although the places where they worked did not inspect their documents constantly, they still began to feel a sense of crisis.
They had already obtained some money and intelligence, so they planned to regroup. However, this operation could hardly have gotten off to a worse start.
“You’re saying… he went missing?”
“That’s right. The Sirfetch’d ran out of leek blades, so Zoro-kun said he would go get some, but he never came back. Since you’re his friends, you should know where he went, right?”
Faced with Hyogoro’s wife’s question, cold sweat poured down Nami’s and Franky’s foreheads. They hastily made up an excuse and fled.
“What do we do? Zoro got lost again. Now we’ve completely lost track of him.”
“What else can we do? Let’s return to the meeting point first. If everyone gets lost, then we’ll really be in trouble.”
Franky and Nami had no choice but to temporarily give up on Zoro. However, fate sometimes simply loved to toy with people.
“You’re too slow. I was the first one here. You guys sure know how to waste time.”
Inside the house, Zoro sat boldly off to one side, with a hint of… pride in his eyes.
The warehouse had temporarily run out of leek leaves, so Zoro had originally gone to Kuri to collect more supplies. Yet after changing his destination, he somehow inexplicably arrived at the correct location instead.
“You moss-head! You went missing for so many days, so what are you acting proud for?! I bet you got lost all the way here!”
Seeing Zoro’s smug tone and how he kept emphasizing that he had arrived first, Sanji could no longer stand it.
Before long, the others returned one after another. After some simple kindergarten-level arithmetic, they were shocked to discover that even though the missing Zoro had successfully returned, they were still short on people.
“Where’s Chopper? Where’s Law? Where’s Brook?!”
“I’m right here. I nearly died. No, wait, I’m already dead. Yohohohoho~”
A sandpit off to the side suddenly caved in, and Brook climbed out of it.
Thump!
Brook’s skeleton joke failed to make anyone laugh. Instead, Nami punched him on his afro. Even though he no longer had any skin and flesh, a huge bump still swelled up on Brook’s head.
Not long afterward, accompanied by the sound of hooves striking the ground, Chopper came running over from one side. However, he brought bad news with him.
Law really was missing.
The group exchanged glances, all of them feeling an ominous premonition.
“How did Law disappear?”
“He didn’t show up when work ended. I was afraid I’d be discovered, so I bit through the rope and escaped on my own. I don’t know what happened either.”
After briefly pooling their information, they confirmed four things.
No one knew how Law had disappeared.
Not only did no one know how Kin’emon and Kanjuro had disappeared, no one even cared.
Luffy had definitely been captured, and his current situation was unknown.
Hercules, who had once been their most reliable companion, might have run into a tiny bit of trouble.
Finding Law and rescuing Luffy and Hercules became their most urgent priorities. However, for the moment, they had no suitable leads.
While these people were still worried about their captain’s situation, an enormous uproar had already erupted across the seas outside.
In the first half of the Grand Line, near the Sabaody Archipelago, the sea appeared unusually calm. Only a few small sampans could be seen on the water. On the Grand Line, such tiny boats were undoubtedly conspicuous.
After all, ordinary people had no way of controlling such small vessels on these dangerous waters.
In the distance stood a solitary island. A crack resembling a sword slash split the middle of its mountain peak. When the moon reached roughly directly above the island, its silvery moonlight shone through the crack at the summit and fell upon the sea.
At that moment, it seemed as though a fissure had opened across the sea.
Dark silhouettes gradually approached the surface. In the end, dozens of Fish-Men emerged from the water. And that was only the beginning. More and more figures continued surfacing behind them.
They came in all different colors and shapes, bearing the traits of various species of fish, but today, they all shared the same goal.
“My brethren! We are the Fish-Men, a race that has lived in the sea since ancient times. We are the darlings of the ocean, yet throughout the long passage of history, we have endured endless humiliation.
Once, we were classified as fish and treated as tools. They even took pride in owning Merfolk slaves!”
The seawater churned, then rose upward under the surge of a mysterious power. Tiger stepped onto a pillar of water and ascended into the air. Beside him stood an anglerfish Fish-Man, the large light atop his head illuminating the symbol on Tiger’s chest.
“This is the mark of the Sun Pirates. On the day it first appeared, it was meant to conceal the humiliation of the past, so that our brethren who had once been enslaved could no longer be identified.
We yearned for peace, longed for it, and worked toward it. But in the end, Queen Otohime’s efforts came to nothing. In the very place where kings gathered, they brazenly tried to abduct our princess!
Our pleas went unanswered, but our great Lord showed me the light. If this sea is unjust, then we will defend our peace through force!
We do not fight to slaughter, nor do we fight for revenge. We fight so that our descendants may stand beneath the sun without fear or restraint!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Fish-Men below slapped the surface of the sea with their hands, sending splashes into the air as though giving voice to their feelings.
Tiger loudly proclaimed their objective, and his words struck deep into the hearts of the Fish-Men. As a hero of their race and the liberator of countless former slaves, Tiger’s prestige among the Fish-Men went without saying.
Jinbe had remained behind, while Tiger and Jack had brought all the Fish-Men capable of fighting here. Tiger had originally wanted Jack to say a few words as well, but Jack, who was not skilled with speeches, refused.
Compared to pre-battle rallying, he preferred taking the lead in a charge. The ordinary pirates had not accompanied them this time. Even Drake had been recalled to Onigashima. Allowing such an unstable factor to remain on the front lines during wartime would have been an enormous risk.
“Do not let hatred blind your hearts, and never forget our original purpose. The target is close. Move out!”
Tiger took the lead and plunged into the sea. Several white trails streaked toward the rising sun, while directly ahead of them, a fleet was also sailing toward Mariejois.
Four warships escorted from four separate directions, protecting a supply transport ship in the center that flew the flag of the World Government.
Because of the Fish-Men’s earlier probing attacks and harassment from the Revolutionary Army, Mariejois’s food supplies had begun to run dangerously low. To ensure the Celestial Dragons could maintain their way of life, the World Government had forcibly ordered the Marines to carry out the escort mission despite their shortage of manpower.
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