At the same time—
On the main ship of the G-5 Branch.
Leaning against the railing, a female Vice Admiral in a Justice cloak puffed on a cigar while watching the fleeing pirate ship ahead through her telescope.
She looked to be just past thirty. Her figure was tall and voluptuous, her silver hair smooth as moonlight, and her well-defined features carried a natural, heroic sharpness.
"Vice Admiral Molly, this trick of ours really never fails, huh?"
Her adjutant twirled his telescope in hand, chuckling:
"We must've played this same little game a hundred times by now, and yet there are always greedy idiots who take the bait and walk straight to their deaths. Though, credit where it's due—it's really thanks to your unmatched acting skills. At your age, to still be able to pull off a young girl's voice so…"
"…My age?"
The silver-haired Vice Admiral Molly turned her head, expression flat, and fixed him with a look.
Damn it, I said that out loud…
The adjutant froze, cold sweat trickling down his back under her icy gaze. He immediately straightened like a board, bowing stiffly:
"Forgive me, Vice Admiral! What I meant was—even the cutest of girls, at your age, their voices could never sound so sweet and pleasant… ahh!"
Before he could finish, Molly's boot slammed into him, sending him flying. The marines behind, used to this sort of thing, instinctively stepped aside. Only after he crashed to the deck, clutching his back and grimacing, did a couple men come over to haul him up.
"If you can't flatter properly, then shut up. No one's going to mistake you for mute."
Molly's irritated voice drifted over.
"No need to wait anymore. Looks like today's catch is just this one pack of fools."
Blowing out a ring of smoke, her tone went flat:
"I've had my fun. Pass my orders—full speed ahead. Time to close the net."
Using fake distress calls as bait—that was a trademark G-5 tactic.
On lucky days, they could reel in three or four pirate crews at once. But today's haul was pitiful. After waiting over half an hour, only this single pirate ship had bitten.
By now, the game had lost its novelty for her.
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
Her subordinates rushed off to relay the command.
Very soon, the two warships that had been trailing lazily behind began to surge forward, flanking the pirate ship from left and right.
The flagship itself also picked up speed, narrowing the distance in moments.
…
The unlucky crew that had taken the bait called themselves the Black Hawk Pirates.
They hailed from the Flower Country in West Blue—a nation infamous worldwide for producing pirates. Their captain, "Black Murder Hawk" Adu, was a former member of the Happo Navy.
Since entering the Grand Line two years ago, his bounty had steadily climbed, and he was now a great pirate with a bounty of 90 million berries. He had just entered the New World a few days ago.
Seeing the Marine warships suddenly speed up behind them, the deck of the Black Hawk descended into panic.
"Captain, those marines weren't even going full speed before! We're about to be surrounded! What do we do? Which side should we try to break through?"
The ship's lookout leaned out, shouting down to the deck with a terrified expression.
"Bunch of useless cowards! What are you panicking for!"
Black Hawk Adu stood over four meters tall, broad-shouldered and burly. His eyes were full of suppressed fury as he gritted his teeth and snarled:
"Before they close the circle—if those marines insist on chasing us to the death, then we'll just fight them to the very end! If it comes to it, we'll go down together in a blaze of glory!"
Fight to the very end?
The crew froze. Then, exchanging glances, they all saw the same bitter resignation in each other's eyes.
If the captain had no real plan… then odds were, today was the day their luck ran out.
As for going down in flames? How exactly were they supposed to take the marines with them?
It wasn't that they didn't trust their captain—it was simply that everyone knew.
The fleet chasing them wasn't some rabble of West Blue Marine or even Paradise-level marines.
This was the G-5 Branch.
A whole different league altogether.
The Marine maintained three major branches in the New World.
G-7 was still in the middle of reconstruction and its organization incomplete. But the other two—G-1 and G-5—were both notorious forces that no one wanted to cross.
G-1 needed little introduction. Under Akainu's command, it was disciplined and powerful—practically a stripped-down version of Marine Headquarters.
G-5, on the other hand, might not match G-1 in scale or strength, but the key was that this unit had always been an outlier among the marines.
In fact, apart from the uniforms they wore, they resembled pirates more than actual marines.
They were rebellious, unruly, ruthless in their methods, and frequently ignored direct orders from Headquarters. Many of the mid-ranking officers amused themselves by hunting and torturing pirates for sport.
The entire branch was like a pack of starving, vicious wolves—whoever they caught, they would tear a bloody chunk out of. Their misdeeds were infamous across the entire first half of the Grand Line.
Veterans of the New World were different—they'd seen far worse, and G-5 didn't particularly intimidate them.
But the Black Hawk Pirates? At the end of the day, they were nothing more than newcomers who had just crossed the first half of the Grand Line. How could they not tremble before these wolves?
What made it worse was that among the three marine ships chasing them, one was clearly larger—the flagship.
Which meant that one of G-5's two Vice Admirals, the Branch Commanders themselves, was most likely aboard.
That alone was enough to sap any will to resist.
On a hot day like this, if we get caught... we'll probably be hung from a tree, subjected to all sorts of torture, and then thrown out into the wilderness to be roasted to death in the sun?
Wahhh, that's so scary... The pirates' eyes were brimming with tears. And as if to add insult to injury, a panicked scream came from the lookout tower.
"Captain! Directly ahead—there are marine warships too!"
"What?"
The pirates froze. Captain Adu's face darkened. He snatched a telescope from a crewman and squinted toward the horizon.
Sure enough, far away on the surface of the sea, two white silhouettes of ships were drawing closer.
"They don't look like G-5 branch ship. Then which marines are they?"
A nearby officer scratched his head in confusion.
"G-1? Or G-7?"
"If I'm not mistaken, this sea is close to G-7's jurisdiction."
Another officer hesitated.
"Could it be that G-7 marines saw G-5 capturing pirates in their waters, and couldn't resist stepping in to steal the credit?"
"Considering they were only just rebuilt, and are starving for military achievements—that's damn well possible."
A cold glint flashed in Adu's narrowed eyes. He swung his head back and barked orders viciously:
"Doesn't matter. G-5's already got us boxed in from behind and the sides. This is our only path left. Compared to those bastards, our best shot is to break through this way!"
"Get ready for battle, boys—head straight for them!"
"Aye, Captain!"
The pirates on deck gritted their teeth and roared in response. At this point, there was no other route to take but this one.
Even taking the worst-case scenario—if they failed to break through and ended up captured by another branch—it would still be a hundred times better than falling into the hands of the starving wolves of G-5!
Perhaps it was the overwhelming will to survive, but the entire Black Hawk Pirate crew united as one, and miraculously managed to squeeze out just a bit more speed, even though their ship was already being pushed to its limits.
Before they knew it, they had passed the massive, ancient rock formation that had stood for who knew how many years. The two approaching marine warships ahead also became increasingly clear in their sight.
But by this point, Adu and the other pirates finally noticed something was off.
Marine standard warships had a far greater firing range than pirate ships. By now, they were well within cannon range of those two vessels.
Yet the warships made no move to fire.
Even the marines on deck hadn't assumed battle positions. They simply leaned casually against the railings. Though their faces couldn't be seen clearly from a distance, Adu couldn't shake the feeling that these marines were staring back at them with the same expression one would give to idiots.
"Give me the telescope."
Adu could no longer sit still. He snatched the monocular telescope again, narrowed his eyes, and strained to make out the figure in the center—the tallest one, draped in a white cloak of justice.
And then—
Adu's pupils shrank. His breathing grew ragged. His face drained of all color, and his hands shook so violently he could barely hold the telescope, trembling as if stricken by Parkinson's disease.
"What is it?"
The officers around him were baffled by his reaction, so they each raised their own telescope to look.
Moments later, every single one of them went stiff as if they'd seen a ghost. Their jaws nearly hit the deck, mouths gaping wide enough to fit ten eggs inside.
"H-hey, I'm not seeing things, right…?"
A bald officer stammered, his voice trembling. "That—that's—"
"It's Vice Admiral Natsuya Nao of Headquarters!"
That quivering voice poured over the deck like a bucket of ice water, instantly chilling every pirate to the bone. For the first time, they truly understood what despair meant.
Natsuya Nao.
To every pirate across the Grand Line, that name was a nightmare. From battles against the Warlords of the Sea to clashes with the Three Calamities, from the world-shaking battle at G-1 Branch to the recent incident involving the Poneglyphs…
This was the man who had fought Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, to a standstill—known throughout the world as the strongest Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters!
Running into him was no different than personally placing their necks under the reaper's scythe.
And what was worse…
His ruthlessness toward pirates was no less than that of G-5—no, it was far more terrifying!
Falling into G-5's hands, one might at least, if lucky, survive after enduring torture and humiliation.
But Natsuya Nao?
This man almost never left survivors.
At that moment—
On the pirate ship, hundreds of crew members were filled with regret and despair, wishing they could turn back time.
Meanwhile, on the deck of the Thunder Hawk, the atmosphere was completely different…
"Ah la la, the scene froze just like that."
Aokiji leaned lazily against the railing, watching the pirates' expressions with great amusement:
"Say, Nao… is there a chance—I mean just a chance—that they weren't reacting to you at all, but actually got scared stiff the moment they saw me?"
…Could you not be so shameless?
At those words, not only Onigumo and Momonga, but even Aokiji's own Rear Admiral adjutant aboard his ship, all turned to look at him in silent disbelief.
"Hey, hey, what's with those looks?"
Aokiji spread his hands. "Come on, I am a Vice Admiral of Headquarters. Don't tell me I've got zero presence. Besides, I've already started learning from Nao—these days, when I catch pirates, I make sure to deal with them on the spot whenever possible. If they freak out at the sight of me, that's perfectly rea—huh? Wait… why are they turning around again?"
Everyone looked and saw that the pirate ship had indeed turned around, changing direction, and was charging back towards the G-5 branch at an even faster speed than before, as if their lives depended on it.
For some reason, the whole scene carried a strange air of tragic heroism.
"…Feels like we're the villains here."
Aokiji muttered to himself. Then he shook his head. Without anyone noticing him make a move, his figure blurred and reappeared high above, suspended in midair. Looking down at the pirate ship below, he crossed his arms slowly over his chest.
"But since you've already come this far… don't bother trying to go back."
Whoosh, whoosh!
In that instant, ten ice pillars shot out from his fingertips. They intertwined midair, spiraling into the form of a massive white ice wolf, roaring as it hurtled down upon the pirate ship.
BOOM!
The devastating impact obliterated the ship in an instant, the hull shattering into fragments. Hundreds of Black Hawk pirates were sent screaming into the sea like dumplings tossed into a pot, splashing down one after another.
It's the power of the Ice-Ice Fruit..."
Some pirates who were good swimmers surfaced, clinging to planks. Seeing the scattered ice fragments around, they realized something and screamed in terror: "It's Kuzan! Besides Nao, there's another Vice Admiral on that warship!"
"You see?"
Aokiji landed casually back on the deck. His Rear Admiral adjutant gave him a kindly reminder: "I told you, didn't I? They weren't paying attention to you at all in the first place."
Aokiji: "…"
Meanwhile, Black Hawk Captain Adu had reacted the instant the ice wolf struck, swiftly grabbing the mast and avoiding falling into the water.
At the same time, black wings grew from his back and flapped constantly, keeping him suspended a few meters above the sea.
"Two Headquarters Vice Admirals? Damn it, damn it..."
Adu glanced back towards where Norsha was, then looked around at his subordinates struggling desperately in the water. A struggle of pain flashed in his eyes. "Sorry, men… if there were even the slightest chance, I'd never do this. But at this point, I can only look out for myself…"
When disaster strikes, everyone flies for themselves—survival comes first!
Whoosh!
In the next instant, his black wings expanded to a massive size. With one powerful flap, Adu's entire body transformed into a giant black hawk.
"Captain Adu!"
"Captain, take us with you!"
Several officers floating on the sea waved frantically, screaming for help.
But the shadow never turned back. With rapid wingbeats, he soared toward the clouds, rising higher and higher, until he was nothing more than a tiny black dot against the sky…
How could he do this? They had grown up together in the Flower Country, sworn brothers for over a decade! Despair washed over the officers as bitterness, resentment, and anguish boiled inside them.
And then—
They suddenly noticed the clouds overhead rolling violently, as if boiling.
A heartbeat later, before all the stunned pirates' eyes, the heavens split open with a deafening thunderclap.
A blinding white lightning bolt, massive and terrifying, pierced the sky and came crashing down straight at the soaring black hawk—