Below deck on the Going Merry.
A faint ticking echoed from Nami's stopwatch as she spoke in a low voice, "Three minutes. Once the black smoke clears, we go full speed ahead."
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, and the others waited silently.
Only Shirogai wasn't there.
"Hey, Shirogai, I'm Luffy! Your Captain!" said 'Luffy,' slapping him on the shoulder with a cheeky grin.
Shirogai glanced sideways and smirked, "Bon-chan, so you finally got around to copying my face?"
'Luffy' placed his hands on his hips and laughed in a flamboyant voice, "Of course! Something told me I might need your face one day, Shirogai!"
Shirogai chuckled softly, "Just remember, wearing my face might bring you more trouble than you think."
He wasn't joking. One day, that face might provoke even the Three Admirals. Hopefully, Bon Clay wouldn't go that far.
Suddenly, Bon Clay—still in Luffy's form—turned serious. "Shirogai, time's nearly up! The Marines are all around us. Leave the rest to us!"
Behind the Swanda Express, Marine warships surged forward. Four had already cut in front and were boxing them in again.
Shirogai gave a crooked smile. "Then let's show them the magic of a disappearing act."
His right hand turned into smoke, absorbing all the surrounding black mist. Then, Shirogai dissolved into vapor and shot skyward, vanishing into the clouds.
The distant haze began to clear.
"The black smoke is gone!" Nami observed. "Let's move. Usopp, head to the crow's nest and report!"
"Everyone, row like hell!" Zoro shouted.
Zoro and Chopper on one side, Luffy and Sanji on the other—they rowed in unison.
"One-two, one-two!"
After lying dormant, the Going Merry suddenly sprang to life, racing toward East Port.
Only then did the Marines realize the deception.
"Report, Captain Hina! The sheep-headed ship has started moving—fast!" a soldier cried in disbelief.
"What?!"
Hina whipped around, her sharp eyes locking on the Going Merry bolting away like a startled hare.
"But... Straw Hat and the others were on that ship in front!"
"Wahahaha! Pull back the sails!" Bon Clay shouted. "My lovely fools, stop the ship!"
As the Marines caught up, Bon Clay posed grandly at the bow, his Luffy disguise vanishing into his dramatic Human-Swan form.
"Marines! Were you looking for Luffy?" he bellowed.
Behind him, the Swan's crew—all disguised as Straw Hat members—ripped off their costumes, shouting in unison:
"Idiots! You've been tricked!"
Bon Clay spun and struck a flamboyant pose. "We are impersonation masters!"
Hina clenched her teeth around her cigarette, her expression stormy.
"Hina is furious. You've disgraced Hina."
Bon Clay held a proud, idiotic pose. "We are also friends of the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Then, his face turned solemn.
"It doesn't matter if you stray from the path of man, or the path of woman. As long as you walk the path of righteousness… that's what makes us human."
He lifted his head toward the sky.
"Farewell, my friends. Under this open sky, I'll bloom for you one last time. The Human-Swan Path—Bon Clay."
The crew on the Swanda Express sobbed bitterly.
"Bon Clay, you're amazing!"
"We're gonna be captured, wahhh!"
Bon Clay stood tall, facing the encircling ships without flinching.
"Bring it on!"
Hina's cold voice rang out. "Fire. Sink them."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of black spears soared through the air, aimed at the Swanda Express.
Just before they struck—
A massive black smoke hand descended from the heavens, shielding the ship from all sides.
Boom!
The spears were deflected.
The hand then scooped up the Swanda Express like a toy.
"Gyaahh! We're caught by a giant!"
The pirates panicked, thinking it was some monstrous enemy.
Bon Clay assumed a fighting pose. "Who dares touch our ship?!"
A calm, familiar voice echoed from above.
"Heh heh… relax, it's me."
In the sky, clouds of smoke twisted and morphed into Shirogai's massive form.
Smoke Fruit: Modified Fourth Form – Smoke Giant
"It's Shirogai!" Bon Clay gasped.
Towering above the sea, the hundred-meter-tall Smoke Giant looked down with a booming laugh. "Straw Hats don't let their friends suffer."
With a gentle push, Shirogai sent the Swanda Express sailing over the Marine blockade.
"We're saved!"
Bon Clay waved furiously, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Shirogai, tell Straw Hat I said thank you! We'll always be friends!"
From afar, Hina stared in disbelief at the massive figure.
"That's… the Smoke Giant form of The Plunderer, Shirogai?"
The moment passed. Hina's calm returned.
"Shoot the smoke! Those with Armament Haki, aim to hit!"
Dozens of black spears laced with Armament Haki launched toward the sky.
But compared to Shirogai's giant body, they were no more than toothpicks.
"Hmph. This'll sting."
The Smoke Giant lifted his right arm to shield himself, while his left pulled back slowly, gathering dense smoke and pressure.
"For Smoker's sake, I'll only throw one punch."
Shirogai's voice rolled across the sky like thunder.
Mist Meteor.
A titanic fist crashed down from the sky.
Boom!!!
The explosion was deafening.
The sea exploded into a massive crater. Water blasted upward, then fell in torrents. In seconds, a vortex began to form.
"A whirlpool!"
The Marines' warships spun helplessly as the vortex dragged them closer.
"Stabilize the ship!" Hina commanded. "Maximum output! Hold on!"
More than ten minutes later, the sea finally calmed.
The battered warships limped toward Alabasta's port.
"Report! Straw Hat Luffy's ship spotted ahead!"
Hina narrowed her eyes.
"Follow it. But don't approach."
She watched the Going Merry sail away and no longer had the will to pursue.
Her fingers trembled slightly.
She had witnessed power on the level of the Four Emperors.
Smoker's warning echoed in her ears:"Don't try to capture The Plunderer, Shirogai. He's beyond our level. Only someone like an Admiral can match him."
She had once scoffed at that.
But now... she understood.
Shirogai Yamikuro, The Plunderer, was a true Emperor-class threat.