Thanks to Luffy playing bulldozer with the buildings and Buggy acting as a literal land-elevator, the impossible happened.
Everyone made it.
Just as the last child was hauled onto the highest plaza of the city, the world turned dark blue.
The tsunami arrived.
Nearly 30,000 people—Marines, pirates, shipwrights, and civilians—huddled together on the peak.
They looked up at the water blocking out the sun, clenched their teeth, and grabbed whatever was closest to them.
Marines grabbed pirates. Pirates grabbed trees. Civilians grabbed Marines.
In the face of nature, their proffesion didn't matter.
Everyone was just meat waiting to be crushed.
The only ones not shaking in their boots were the few elites capable of Geppo or flight.
They hovered anxiously, knowing they could escape, but watching the people below with heavy hearts.
From his vantage point on a rooftop, Zephyr gazed down at the huddled masses.
He saw a Marine captain shielding a pirate's kid. He saw a Galley-La foreman pulling a wounded soldier to safety.
The old man smiled warmly, his sunglasses reflecting the looming wave.
'Unity,' Zephyr thought. 'This... this is humanity's greatest beauty.'
It reminded him of the dreams of his youth, before the cynicism set in.
A world where people worked together to conquer the seas, not each other. No war, no slaughter, no Celestial Dragons.
Just people surviving.....
'I can't let this end here.'
Zephyr clenched his black fist. He resolved to punch through this tsunami.
Even if the pressure crushed his old bones, even if it cost him his life, he would carve a hole in that water for these people to breath!
He tensed his muscles, ready to die a hero.
But then, the light went out completely.
A massive shadow, darker and heavier than the water, engulfed Water 7.
Everyone looked up, past the curling lip of the tsunami.
An island—literally half the size of Water 7 itself—was plummeting from the sky.
"You have got to be kidding me," a Vice Admiral whispered, his face draining of color.
Instantly, every elite fighter sensed it.
Even the Geppo users froze.
In an instant, despair consumed everyone.
The screaming stopped... It was just silence.
Even Zephyr's shoulders slumped.
He wasn't afraid for himself—he was tough enough to survive the impact.
But the hope he had just glimpsed? The unity of the people below? They were about to be pasted into the pavement!
Zephyr was strong, a legend of the old era.
He excelled in one-on-one combat.
But he lacked the destructive power to delete an island or stop the ocean.
'I can't save them,' Zephyr realized, his heart breaking.
'If only...'
Just as he resigned himself to helplessness, two voices rang out from above.
They weren't loud, but they cut through the roar of the ocean like a knife.
"Ice Age."
"Dark Moon Slash."
SNAP.
The roar of the tsunami vanished instantly.
The terrifying wall of moving water turned into a silent, glittering glacier. The cold air rushed over the crowd, freezing their sweat.
Then, three streaks of silver light flashed across the sky.
SHING. SHING. SHING.
The falling island just... ceased to be a threat.
The massive rock was diced into dust and gravel instantly, turning into a harmless rain of pebbles that clattered onto the ice.
The sky cleared and the sun shone down again.
Floating there were two figures.
One in a white suit with silver hair, holding a sword. The other in a white vest with an ice pheasant on his shoulder.
Ray and Aokiji.
Seeing this, Luffy grinned, his face stretching wide.
Zephyr grinned, as a weight lifting off his soul.
The Marines grinned. The pirates grinned and the civilians wept with joy!
A few seconds of stunned silence passed, and then—
"YEAAAAAH!"
Cheers erupted across the land.
People were hugging strangers, jumping up and down, throwing hats in the air.
Having survived the apocalypse together, the pirates and Marines looked at each other.
They awkwardly let go of the "enemies" they had been hugging, cleared their throats, and stepped back.
But no one raised a weapon.
With so many civilians present, fighting was out of the question.
Besides, the battle earlier had been brief.
Thanks to the weird pacing of the day, casualties were minimal.
Any lingering hatred felt petty against the backdrop of what they had just survived.
Thus, an uneasy but genuine harmony settled over the peak.
Then, Luffy did what Luffy does best.
He leaped onto the top of the government clock tower, threw his arms wide, and shouted to the crowd below.
"HEY! WE'RE ALL ALIVE!"
He laughed. "Since we worked together, let's have a FEAST!"
The pirates and civilians roared in approval.
"Yeah! Food!"
But the Marines?
"Straw Hat Kid!" a Marine captain shouted, his face red. "What nonsense are you spouting?!"
"We are Marines!" another yelled, pointing an accusatory finger. "We represent Absolute Justice! We don't party with filthy pirates!"
"Yeah!" a young soldier chimed in. "My brother's leg was broken by a pirate in the East Blue!"
But as the young soldier said this, he glanced down.
Sitting next to him was his brother—the one with the broken leg.
A member of Buggy's crew was currently wrapping a bandage around it, sharing a bottle of water.
The soldier paused.
He looked at the pirate, then at his brother.
"...Though that same pirate carried him up the mountain just now," the soldier muttered, lowering his voice.
"I guess... I can't hate him that much today."
…
Luffy, atop the tower, picked his nose in annoyance.
He flicked a booger off the edge.
"You're so stiff," Luffy grumbled.
He turned as a shadow landed next to him.
"Old man," Luffy said to Zephyr. "Now that we've cooperated, shouldn't we celebrate? It's rude not to eat after working hard."
Zephyr stood there, baffled.
He blinked behind his sunglasses, looking at this rubber boy who treated a Buster Call like a playground scuffle.
"Why do you think we need a feast?" Zephyr asked, genuinely curious.
Luffy adjusted his straw hat, his eyes serious for a moment.
"People who cooperate are friends," Luffy stated simply. "And friends who overcome hardships... they have to feast. That's the rule of the sea!"
Zephyr's mind reeled.
It was such childish logic, yet it cut to the core of everything Zephyr used to believe in.
After a long pause, the old Admiral threw his head back.
"Bwahahaha! Kid, you continue to surprise me."
Zephyr looked at Luffy with a strange intensity. "It's a waste. A damn waste."
"Huh?"
"If only you weren't a pirate," Zephyr said softly. "How about it, kid? Join the Marines. I'm serious. I could make you at least a Vice Admiral like your grandfather Garp. With your talent and that heart of yours? Admiral position isn't out of reach. You could change things."
Luffy refused without a nanosecond of hesitation.
"Vice Admiral?" Luffy scrunched up his face in disgust. "Like those guys up there? No thanks."
He pointed a finger at the sky.
Zephyr followed his gaze.
Hovering high above the plaza using Geppo, the five Vice Admirals of the Buster Call—Momonga, Onigumo, and the rest—were watching silently.
They stood aloof in the air, arms crossed, capes fluttering.
They were coldly observing the situation, calculating their next move.
None of them had come down to the ground. None of them were checking on the wounded.
None of them were comforting the crying civilians.
"They're just watching," Luffy said flatly. "I don't wanna be like that. I wanna be down here where the meat is."
Zephyr felt a pang in his chest.
'He's right.'
The kid wasn't wrong.
Today's Marines—the "Justice" of the World Government—had grown too distant. They floated above the people they were supposed to protect, obsessed with orders and protocols.
'But look below,' Zephyr thought, glancing at the plaza. 'The young Marines, the grunts... they're mingling with the civilians. They're helping and act like they're human.'
The contrast between the "Justice" in the sky and the humanity on the ground couldn't be starker.
Another flaw in the system, Zephyr mused bitterly.
Following absolute orders has eroded their souls.
He gazed at his former students floating above, lost in thought.
'When did I fail you all?'
…
Later, reality set in.
Vice Admiral Momonga, realizing the mood had shifted, landed on a nearby roof.
He ordered all Marines to regroup at the shore, away from the pirates.
Feasting with the enemy? That was unthinkable.
Regardless of wavering loyalties in the heat of the moment, they were still soldiers.
Their allegiances differed.
As for fighting? Momonga wasn't stupid.
'Look at this mess,' Momonga thought, surveying the frozen bay.
'Our ships are locked in Aokiji's ice. The Buster Call has effectively failed.'
Against the combined strength of the Straw Hats, Buggy's surprisingly competent crew, and potentially a rogue Zephyr, continuing the fight would yield heavy losses with zero gain.
Plus, Admiral Aokiji was just standing there, chatting with Ray.
If the Admiral wasn't fighting, why should the Vice Admirals throw their lives away?
"Stand down," Momonga ordered into his Den Den Mushi. "Halt combat operations. Secure the wounded. We await orders from Headquarters."
He decided to consult Aokiji about salvaging the ships.
Just as he approached the ice where Aokiji and Zephyr were standing, the golden Den Den Mushi on his wrist rang.
Purupurupuru... Gatcha.
"Momonga."
The voice on the other end was heavy.
It was Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"It's Sengoku. Listen closely."
Momonga stiffened. "Sir!"
"The mission has changed," Sengoku said, his voice straining with suppressed anger.
"Enies Lobby... has been destroyed."
Momonga froze. "Sir? Destroyed?"
"The Gates of Justice are breached. The main island is in ruins. A third party attacked while we were focused on Water 7. Cease hostilities with the Straw Hats immediately. They are no longer the priority. Investigate the destruction of the Judicial Island. Move. Now."
Click.
Hearing this, Aokiji and Zephyr exchanged puzzled glances.
Enies Lobby..... Gone?
Even Ray, standing nearby and eavesdropping, fell into thought.
'Big Mom?' Ray wondered. 'Was this her plan?'
'But destroying Enies Lobby serves no purpose for her.'
'She wanted me, not a pile of government rubble. Unless... there's another player on the board I missed.'
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator