Chapter 191

In the blink of an eye, he severed Doflamingo's head and casually tricked not only the Revolutionary Army, the Marines, and the World Government, but also the other three of the Four Emperors' crews!

That man was terrifying in both strength and cunning!

Kira drew a sharp breath and said:

"Why did that man try to kill Luffy? Compared to someone of his stature, Luffy is just a fledgling pirate."

Sabo growled:

"Kuma's goal is to become Pirate King, and so is Luffy's. That guy is Kuma's son-in-law—what's strange about targeting Luffy?"

"No, it's not that simple."

Dragon shook his head, his eyes deep and piercing:

"There are countless pirates on this sea who seek to become Pirate King, too many to count—Kuma's crew can't possibly kill them all."

"That man is targeting Luffy because of his straw hat and the Nika Fruit."

Sabo and Kira looked puzzled.

The straw hat was understandable—it was given by Red-Haired Shanks and carries the will of the former Pirate King, Luo Jie.

But what about the Nika Fruit? Isn't Luffy's fruit the Paramecia-type Rubber Fruit?

Dragon explained:

"The true name of the Rubber Fruit is the Zoan-type: Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Beast Variant, Nika Form—it is also called the Sun God, hailed as the fruit that will ultimately change the world."

"For eight hundred years, the World Government has been searching for this fruit."

"They once found it, but Red-Haired Shanks stole it, and later it was accidentally eaten by Luffy."

"To be honest, Luffy has been sailing for some time now—why has the World Government not moved against him until now? Why did Kuma's crew get there first? I find that strange."

This point.

Not only Dragon found it strange, but Luo Xing did too.

Those five old immortals—the Five Elders—since they long knew Luffy's Rubber Fruit was the Nika Fruit, why didn't they crush him in the cradle?

Let him rampage at Enies Lobby, then at Impel Down and the Marineford War?

Why not just send CP0 or a Marine Admiral to kill him back then?

Instead, they gave him a measly few hundred million bounty and let Straw Hat Luffy grow stronger, until the Wano incident, when they finally realized something was terribly wrong.

All you can say is that the Five Elders are five absolute idiots, brain-dead fools who spend their days playing riddles and never do a single serious thing.

Including recruiting White Beard II into the Seven Warlords, forcing out the Highly Respected former Admiral Zephyr.

Then, not long after, they abolished the Warlord system and ordered the arrest of the Warlords.

This maneuver is utterly mind-numbing!

Luo Xing had zero respect for those damn Five Elders—those five old immortals, just like the Celestial Dragons, might as well die and be done with it.

…

While the Revolutionary Army tended to the unconscious Straw Hat Luffy,

Luffy's grandfather, the hero Karp, arrived at Impel Down.

With Admiral Sakazuki's approval, Karp passed unimpeded to the Sixth Floor of the City, the Infinite Hell.

Ace the Fire Fist was bound there by Seastone chains, head drooping, looking battered and broken.

Not far from Ace, another blue-fat man was chained—none other than the Sea God Jinbe.

Ace heard the noise, looked up, saw Karp, and trembled inwardly, whispering sadly:

"Old bastard, why are you coming to see me now?"

Karp sat before Ace, his aged face filled with sorrow:

"Won't you still call me Grandpa? Though you're Luo Jie's son, I raised you myself—you're just like Luffy, my own blood grandson."

"I wanted to train you two brothers into mighty Marines—but you both chose to become pirates!"

"Ace, do you know how much pain it causes me to see you here?"

Karp wept openly.

Ace was overcome with grief, silent for a long while before saying:

"This is the fate of my reviled bloodline…"

Ace deeply hated his lineage as the Pirate King's son—he even carried psychological trauma from it.

That trauma was only redeemed when he met his father, Bai Huzi.

Karp said:

"Tomorrow is the Execution Date. The White Beard Pirates plan to launch a full-scale assault to save you."

"The Marines have gathered a hundred thousand troops to face off against the White Beard Pirates!"

"This will be an unprecedented Marineford War—no matter the outcome, the era will change, the world will go mad, and no one can control it…"

Karp had many more words he didn't speak.

Like how the Kuma Pirates were growing increasingly aggressive, seemingly aiming to encroach on White Beard's territory.

Like how Luffy was nearly killed by Kuma's son-in-law in Sabaody…

Karp's heart was heavy with grief and dread.

He had brought Ace back to Marine Headquarters.

A grand Marineford War, a war whose smoke would Permeating the World, had already begun!

165. White Beard's Private Motives, Excited Kuma, the Four Emperors Mobilize!

Below ten thousand meters of ocean, Fish-Man Island.

The White Beard Pirates, having evaded the Marines' surveillance in the New World, had silently arrived here.

Fish-Man Island is White Beard's territory, protected by him.

The King of Fish-Man Island, Neptune, along with Whitebeard and the long-dead Pirate King Luo Jie, were all old friends for many years.

After Whitebeard arrived here, he met with Neptune once and learned that Jinbe, because he was unwilling to make an enemy of him, had been imprisoned by the Marines in the great prison Impel Down.

Whitebeard sighed:

"Jinbe is also my son. If possible, I would rescue him as well…"

But Whitebeard himself didn't even believe those words.

For this all-out war against the Marines, Whitebeard had long since made his preparations for death~

Although the Senzu Beans Ma Erke had brought back earlier healed most of his internal and external injuries, his chronic illness—heart disease—still remained.

Whitebeard had long sensed that his end was drawing near.

Rather than lingering on in a wretched state, it was better to die on the battlefield!

However, the fact that Whitebeard launched this Summit War actually involved a great deal of selfish motive.

Although he claimed that no matter which son was to be executed, he would go to rescue them, Fire Fist Ace still held a place in his heart that no other son could compare to.

Whitebeard wanted to push Ace onto the throne of Pirate King—this was something Ma Erke and all the other Whitebeard division commanders, as well as the 43 captains under the Whitebeard crew, all knew perfectly well.

Therefore.

Although these people willingly followed Whitebeard to attack Marine Headquarters, those captains who weren't particularly close to Ace harbored some degree of resentment in their hearts.

They felt Whitebeard was playing favorites, disregarding their lives and deaths for the sake of saving Ace.

The typical example was the Great Whirlpool Spider Squard.

This planted a hidden danger for Admiral Akainu's later scheme to drive a wedge into the Whitebeard crew.

In the final analysis,

It was also because Whitebeard was truly old, his energy in all aspects greatly diminished, and he failed to detect his sons' psychological states in time.

Neptune said: "This was Jinbe's own choice."

After a moment of silence, Whitebeard said:

"Neptune, after this war, for the future of Fish-Man Island, if some other Emperor's crew wishes to shelter you, you may as well agree to it."

Neptune was startled.

What did Whitebeard mean by this?

Could it be that Whitebeard had already foreseen that the Whitebeard crew would lose this war?

Telling Fish-Man Island to make preparations in advance?

Neptune's expression couldn't help but darken somewhat.

Luo Jie, Whitebeard—were there really still pirates like them, so good and willing to shelter Fish-Man Island?

Speaking of which, Fish-Man Island was also one of the Fudejia Alliance of the World Government; logically speaking, they shouldn't be seeking shelter from pirates.

But alas.