Morgans was utterly pleased with the grand world war he had helped set in motion.
He'd tricked Big Mom's pirate crew into joining, though Souta Kiryuu—damn that man—still hadn't shown up.
That disappointed him. If Souta had arrived in person, this war would have been even grander, madder, and more explosive.
All across the world, powers who tuned into the sudden live broadcast were stunned.
They knew that under Souta Kiryuu's lead, the New World had erupted into a massive conflict—pirates hunting down the navy.
But none had imagined it would spark a brutal clash between the Four Emperors themselves.
Didn't they fear that if both sides tore each other apart, the World Government and the Navy Headquarters would swoop in to pick the bones clean?
—The Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago—
"How could this happen?!"
The Dark King, Rayleigh, and Shakky watched in disbelief as the Four Emperors, the Navy, and Souta's Dragon Crew clashed in an all-out war.
They even saw Whitebeard and Iron Fist Garp teaming up against Kaido and Big Mom.
Red-Haired Shanks and Whitebeard's division captains were hunting down members of Souta's crew.
Had the world finally gone insane?
"Are these navy idiots not worried the Four Emperors might unite and crush them?"
Across the seas, countless pirates and shadowy underworld figures gaped in disbelief.
If the Four Emperors merely joined forces, they could devastate the navy—fulfilling Souta Kiryuu's call to drive them completely out of the New World.
Instead, the Red-Haired Pirates and Whitebeard's men were going for Souta's throat, while Whitebeard himself fought side by side with a navy hero.
Were these two even pirates anymore?
"It's chaos—utter chaos!"
The world was spinning off its axis, and no one could tell friend from foe.
···
Not long before this, at the Revolutionary Army's headquarters, the leadership had just arrived in the Kingdom of Lulusia.
When the sudden world-spanning war broke out, they too were shocked.
Dragon didn't even have time to care about Straw Hat Luffy stirring trouble at the Navy's Grand Line-2 fortress.
The Revolutionary leader sensed both danger and opportunity in the same heartbeat.
If the Four Emperors crippled each other, would the Five Elders step in to clean up the mess?
If they did, the Holy Land of Mariejois would be left vulnerable.
And Lulusia, conveniently, was close to both Sabaody and Mariejois.
This could be their best chance to storm the Red Line itself.
With Morley's "Push-Push" fruit, they could burrow straight through the Red Line and invade Mariejois in secret—
—to shove their way into the Holy Land, slap the Celestial Dragons in the face, and openly declare war on the World Government.
It would etch the Revolutionary Army's name into history.
"Get in touch with Souta Kiryuu—warn him to stay sharp. The Five Elders might try to take him out."
Dragon's sharp eyes glinted. He ordered Belo Betty to reach out to Souta's crew immediately.
The Four Emperors could be battered by the Government, but Souta Kiryuu had to survive.
He was the shield they needed. As long as the Dragon Crew absorbed the World Government's fury, the Revolutionaries could keep growing safely and fast.
"We can't let the Government and the Navy focus all their attention on the New World."
"Crows, Lindbergh—make a scene in Lulusia!"
"We'll make them realize we're causing chaos right under their noses on the Red Line. That'll keep the Five Elders and Im from sending their full might to the New World."
Dragon stroked his chin with a faint smile. He was a leader with vision and grit.
The Four Emperors—brute fools that they were—had no sense of the bigger picture, still tearing at each other like rabid dogs.
If the World Government took advantage of that, the balance of the world would shatter.
"Understood! And maybe we'll bump into Straw Hat Luffy while we're at it!"
Belo Betty's eyes lit up, and the others followed her lead.
If their leader wanted a spectacle, then so be it. They'd drop their usual restraint and topple Lulusia's king in broad daylight.
Meanwhile, the Straw Hats had already wreaked havoc at the Navy's Grand Line-2 fortress, humiliating Vice Admiral Gumeel—
even worse than Vice Admiral Jonathan from Grand Line-8.
Straw Hat Luffy had defeated the 95-million-Berry ex-navy renegade, the Candy Man Gaspardi, pushing his bounty past 100 million and earning the title of Supernova.
After wrecking two fortresses, outsmarting and injuring two vice admirals, and escaping both times, his strength and luck were impossible to ignore.
His bounty skyrocketed toward 300 million Berries, surpassing Hawkins the Magician and Apoo the Roaring Sea—
making him the new front-runner among the Supernovas.
X Drake and Urouge, in contrast, kept a lower profile.
···
The Revolutionaries' chaos in Lulusia and the Straw Hats' rampage at the Navy fortresses spread quickly.
News from the fierce battles at Fort G18 and Fort G14 reached the World Government and Navy Headquarters.
The Five Elders, poised to teleport to G18, were forced to pause—the Revolutionaries' sudden strike had thrown off their rhythm.
Lulusia was dangerously close to the Red Line.
If the Elders all left, Mariejois' defenses could fall wide open to a Revolutionary assault.
At Navy Headquarters, Marineford, Vice Admiral Tsuru—already sick with worry for her granddaughter, Peacock—received an urgent order from Saint Saturn himself.
She and Admiral Kizaru were to head straight for Lulusia's waters and monitor the Revolutionaries.
"Do not, under any circumstance, allow them to invade Sabaody or the Red Line."
The order left Tsuru bitter and exhausted.
Her granddaughter was fighting for her life at Fort G14.
Her sworn sister, Vice Admiral Gion, was trapped in the deadly chaos of G18.
And now she, an old woman, was being sent to face the Revolutionaries' main force?
This Navy was bleeding her family dry for the sake of the Celestial Dragons.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku understood her pain. He hated it too.
If he could, he would've led the charge himself. But as commander-in-chief, he had to stay behind to coordinate everything.
In the end, after much persuasion, Tsuru departed with a heavy heart.
To ensure her and Kizaru's safety, Sengoku dispatched the dark horse of the Navy's Criminal Investigation Bureau—Director Tenmasa.
If Dragon went all out, Tenmasa's presence might make the difference.
···
While the Five Elders, the Revolutionaries, and Sengoku all made their moves, the battle at Fort G14 neared its end.
The old, one-armed Black Arm Zephyr, despite his seastone prosthetic and seastone bullets, was no match for Souta Kiryuu.
"Zephyr, old man, that's enough. Unless you want your students to die for nothing, surrender.
I'll keep my word—you'll live.
I'll even let you watch as I overthrow the Celestial Dragons and build a new world—
one of stability and peace."
As Zephyr panted heavily, his will flickering, Souta grew bored.
He clenched his fist, black lightning crackling around it with the power of his Conqueror's aura—
and struck from afar.
The invisible punch shattered Zephyr's seastone arm and sent him crashing through the ship's deck, revealing the stump beneath.
A shockwave tore through the warship as the once-mighty veteran lay broken in the wreckage.