Chapter 218: Hostage Exchange
Dark clouds covered the sky. Amidst the flashes of lightning and roars of thunder, a chaotic airflow swept through, kicking up layers of waves on the dark, deep sea.
In the storm, the lone dog-headed warship and the massive pirate fleet led by the Queen Mama Chanter began a standoff, separated by a nautical mile.
A loud female voice traveled against the storm, ringing directly in the ears of the Marines.
At the bow of the dog-headed ship, "Black Arm" Zephyr stood tall, letting the chaotic hurricane whip his light purple short hair and his Justice cape. This former Admiral, who had already retired to the sidelines but had been forced back to the front lines due to the injury of two active Admirals, now displayed a top-tier aura that was second to none.
"Stop trying to intimidate us with your numbers! If you don't hand over the hostages, you'll sink in this sea!"
On the deck of the distant Queen Mama Chanter, Big Mom, hearing this, laughed instead of getting angry. "It seems the Marines have really been beaten to the point of a generational gap by that brat Louis!" she said meaningfully. "That guy Sengoku actually sent out a retiree like you!"
"Ma~ma~mamama!"
Just then, Garp slowly stepped forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Zephyr, his arms crossed. "Cut the crap," he said bluntly. "Hurry up and bring out the Marine soldiers you've captured!"
With that, Garp gestured to the adjutant behind him, telling him to bring out the two prisoners from the small brig on the warship.
Behind the two of them, Ryokugyu heard this, stepped forward, and added against the storm, "Hey, Vice Admiral Garp, don't forget those two again! They're the priority of this mission!"
Garp heard him and gave a perfunctory wave of his hand. "Of course I know that!"
On the other side, Fujitora stood with his sword in both hands, his head lowered as he expanded his Observation Haki to its maximum, investigating everything around them. Soon, his brow furrowed slightly. The next moment, he turned his head and spoke to Aokiji, who had not made a move. "Mr. Kuzan, Big Mom has already discovered our arrangement at the bottom of the sea. She seems to have dispatched merfolk and fish-men to approach our fleet. It looks like they want to destroy our warships' coatings from underwater, to prevent them from surfacing."
"Merfolk and fish-men?" Aokiji raised an eyebrow, and his previously listless eyes regained their light. "I understand. By the way, keep an eye on this wind. That Archangel also has the ability to manipulate storms."
Then, Aokiji yawned, turned, and, after brushing past the two prisoners who were being escorted out by Marine soldiers, headed for the stern of the dog-headed ship.
In the distance, Big Mom looked at her two sons being led out by the Marines, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly in an imperceptible smile. Then, she turned and shouted behind her, "Smoothie, bring those warships out!"
"Yes, Mama—" Smoothie, with her long white hair and long legs, took out a Den Den Mushi and gave the order to her subordinates.
Soon, several dilapidated warships were sailed out by a group of pirates, coming to a stop beside the Queen Mama Chanter. On their decks, besides a group of pirates, were a group of ragged Marine soldiers, bound in chains.
Immediately after, at Big Mom's signal, Katakuri, carrying a mirror, leaped directly onto the lead warship.
From the crow's nest of the dog-headed ship, a captain who was wearing a Justice cape lowered his binoculars and shouted down, "Vice Admiral Garp, Admiral Zephyr! All the captured soldiers are there! But I don't see the two people described in the report!"
Zephyr heard this and frowned slightly. His gaze pierced through the sea and met Big Mom's in the distance. "Charlotte Linlin," he shouted in a deep voice, "did you forget something? There are still two more people!"
"Ma~ma~mamama."
"I'm not someone who's easily fooled! If I let them out, they'll just be summoned away!" Big Mom stated that she was evil, but not stupid. Although she didn't know what kind of fruit gave the God's Knights their summoning and teleportation abilities, they certainly couldn't teleport people out of a space created by another Devil Fruit ability. And she was certain that the moment the two most crucial people disappeared, the other side would turn on her without hesitation.
Zephyr and Garp heard her and exchanged glances. In the end, Garp turned his head and shouted behind him, "Kuzan, open up a path!"
The next moment, a frigid cold current spread out, directly freezing a bone-white path dozens of meters wide and thousands of meters long in front of the warship.
"Bring the people over," Garp said again.
Soon, Perospero, who had no injuries, and Oven, who was covered in wounds and had almost no intact skin, were brought over with their heads down. Zephyr took the two from Bogard's hands, leaped directly off the warship, and landed steadily. The two, who were bound in Seastone, crashed heavily onto the ice, making a dull thud.
Zephyr didn't wait for them to get up, but just dragged the two of them forward, preparing for the exchange.
On the other side, Katakuri saw this, and a subtle change came over his expression. He then also gave the order to move forward. Behind him, a light pirate ship slowly followed.
The two sides, from the Marines and the Big Mom Pirates, thus began the process of exchanging hostages.
As time passed, Katakuri and Zephyr met at the end of the ice path. Zephyr, carrying Oven and Perospero, leaped up and landed directly on the deck of the warship, facing off against Katakuri, who stood with his arms crossed.
Katakuri looked at his sibling, whose body had no intact skin, and his brow furrowed, his entire being becoming cold. "Marines, is this how you treat your prisoners?"
To this, Zephyr glanced at the Marines behind Katakuri and replied in a deep voice, "Charlotte Oven was already in this state when he appeared at G-1. It has nothing to do with the Marines."
Katakuri heard him, then glanced at Perospero, who had no injuries, and vaguely guessed the origin of Oven's injuries. In the end, he said nothing more.
"Let's exchange the hostages," Zephyr said, not intending to delay. He casually threw Charlotte Oven onto the deck. Several pirates saw this, quickly rushed forward, and carried the battered Oven back.
Then, Katakuri expressionlessly instructed, "Unlock all the Marines."
CLANG.
With a series of sounds of steel falling onto the deck, all the Marines on the decks of the several warships were released. The leading flag officer looked up at Zephyr, his face full of shame. "Instructor Zephyr—" he choked out. "We..."
"Whatever it is, we'll talk about it when we get back!" Zephyr looked at one of his students, and his voice gradually softened.
"Yes, sir!!" The teary-eyed officer swallowed the rest of his words, gave a standard military salute, and then, leading all the captives, abandoned the warship and rushed across the ice toward the dog-headed vessel.
And Katakuri gave the order for the remaining pirates to retreat via the rear warship.
Soon, only Katakuri, Perospero, and Zephyr were left on the several warships. Seeing that everyone had left the ships, Zephyr said in an emotionless voice, "Where are the two from the God's Knights?"
"Follow me."
Katakuri glanced at Perospero, whom Zephyr was holding, then turned and walked toward the mirror hanging on the side of the ship's island. He stepped into the mirror, which was rippling like the surface of water, and disappeared from everyone's sight.
Seeing this, Zephyr narrowed his eyes. He first looked at the bloated Big Mom in the distance, then felt the gazes from behind him. In the end, he strode forward and followed.
Soon, the two of them had disappeared from the warship. On the dark, boundless sea, only the two opposing sides remained.
What no one noticed was that, in the ever-more-chaotic hurricane, a small glass bottle was mixed in, swaying with an unpredictable trajectory as it flew straight toward the warship's position.
In the infinite Mirror-World.
Zephyr, carrying Perospero, strode forward and came before Katakuri. His gaze fell on the two old people on the ground, judging their identities.
As if hearing new footsteps, the two old people, who were tied together, looked up one after another. What entered their view was a tall old man in a black suit and a Justice cape, with a head of light purple short hair.
The old woman, in a dirty military uniform with her long, graying hair loose, had a hint of surprise in her eyes. "Zephyr? Why is it the Marines who have come?!"
To this, Zephyr said with a blank expression, "The person who was on the mission with you was seriously injured by the Red Hair Pirates and is currently being treated."
"..."
The other person's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is that possible! That Shanks—did he really try to kill Shamrock?"
The white-haired woman came back from her thoughts and looked at the man in Zephyr's hand, her brow slightly furrowed. "A hostage exchange? I didn't think you would be so irrational, Zephyr, to enter this space alone."
To this, Zephyr replied without emotion, "It doesn't matter. If they want to make a move, I'll just kill them all. If Charlotte Linlin dares to enter, the fleet outside will be sunk in an instant."
With that, Zephyr looked at Katakuri, who was standing quietly, as if in thought. "Charlotte Katakuri," he said in a deep voice, "do you want to fight, or do you want to continue the exchange?"
At this moment, Zephyr seemed not to care about the two Celestial Dragons here, showing a tough stance.
"..."
Just then, a red light flashed in Katakuri's eyes. A corner of the future was presented before him. Then, his expression became meaningful. A deep voice came from under his scarf. "Leave the person. You can take them and go."
The next moment, Zephyr casually tossed the Perospero in his hand aside and bent down to pick up the two people. Then, with his back to Katakuri, he stepped toward the mirror.
Just as he was stepping out of the mirror, a premonition of death came from in front of him. Immediately after, a light like the sun rose before his eyes.
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