"Third Gear—Giant's Gun!"
"Dragon Claw Fist!"
Naval Headquarters—atop the battlefield.
Facing the sudden appearance of a towering iceberg, Straw Hat Luffy bit into his thumb without hesitation.
"Third Gear—Bone Balloon!"
Air rushed into his arm, swelling it against the wind until it turned into an enormous giant's fist. He hurled it forward, striking the iceberg head-on.
On the other side, Sabo leapt high, his right hand morphing into a gleaming black dragon's claw. The Dragon Claw Fist, infused with powerful Armament Haki, erupted with force.
A deafening boom shook the air.
The colossal iceberg shattered instantly under the combined attack of the Straw Hat brothers.
But—
Before they could even take a breath of relief, another massive ice sphere hurtled toward them.
Clang!
A flash of steel sliced through the air.
Silvers Rayleigh—Dark King of the Seas—unsheathed his sword and cleaved the giant iceball clean in half.
"Wait—hold on! You over there, little girl! Are you from Fairy Tail?" Rayleigh called out hastily.
"Hmm?"
Brandish paused mid-action, her hand hovering as the dozens of icebergs she'd been preparing to throw suddenly halted in midair.
"That's Fairy Tail's powerboat!" someone shouted.
"So... could that mean this entire place has something to do with Fairy Tail?"
The Revolutionary Army commanders—Lindbergh, Morley, and Karas—all exchanged startled looks.
"The Guild Master said this area is off-limits," Brandish yawned lazily, rubbing her eyes. "If you can leave, that'd be great—it'd save me a lot of trouble."
"Leave? No way! We haven't saved Ace yet! How can we just walk away?"
Straw Hat Luffy's voice cracked with emotion, his tone defiant yet childlike. Because of the aftereffects of his Third Gear technique, his body had shrunken drastically, leaving him in his chibi form.
"Then there's no helping it," Brandish sighed, shaking her head. She had always been the type to avoid unnecessary hassle—never one to talk much when she could just act.
Without bothering to confirm who the Straw Hat crew were, she prepared to strike again.
But—
"Wait a second, Randy-chan!"
A voice rang out—clear and melodic.
The red-haired singer, Uta, hurriedly called out to Brandish.
Her gaze then fell upon the tiny, shrunken Luffy, and she froze.
"You… are you Luffy?" she asked in disbelief.
She stared at the little figure—his shrunken frame, his unmistakable straw hat—and suddenly, memories from ten years ago came flooding back.
Back when she was still traveling with the Red Hair Pirates.
In a small windmill village in East Blue—she had met a silly, energetic boy.
"Luffy, do you know that girl?" Sabo asked curiously.
"Umm…"
Luffy frowned, scratching his head.
A moment later—just as his body began to return to normal size—recognition lit up his eyes.
"Uta! You're Uta!"
"Mm-hm!" Uta nodded, smiling warmly.
"It really is you!" Luffy shouted happily, his grin stretching from ear to ear.
It was a turbulent time for him.
His crewmates had been scattered across the world.
His team torn apart.
But even so—his long-lost brother Sabo, once thought dead, had returned.
And his other brother, Ace, was captured by the Marines, awaiting public execution.
Now, amidst this chaos, he had reunited with his "sister" after so many years.
Watching Luffy and Uta chatting animatedly, Sabo, Rayleigh, and the others exchanged puzzled glances.
"Luffy," Sabo asked, "what's your relationship with this girl?"
Before Luffy could reply—
"Hi! I'm Luffy's sister—Uta!" she said cheerfully, introducing herself.
"Huh?"
Sabo, Rayleigh, and the Revolutionary commanders all blinked in disbelief.
They had never heard that Luffy had a sister.
"Uh, hello… I'm Sabo, Luffy's brother," Sabo said awkwardly after a moment.
"Brother?" Uta's eyes widened. "Luffy, how many siblings do you have?"
Well—truthfully, she and Luffy had only known each other for less than a year, so it wasn't that strange that she didn't know everything. She let it go with a soft laugh.
Her eyes then drifted to Luffy's straw hat.
"Luffy… that hat…"
"This?" Luffy touched the brim proudly. "It was entrusted to me by Shanks! Once I become a great pirate—one that can rival even him—I'll return it to him myself!"
"Shanks…" Uta's expression darkened slightly at the mention of the name.
"Wait, Luffy," Rayleigh interrupted. "What does Shanks have to do with this girl?"
"Of course it does! Uta's Shanks' daughter!"
Luffy's casual words dropped like a bomb.
Silence fell instantly.
Then—
"WHAT!?"
Rayleigh, Sabo, Karas, and even the Revolutionary commanders all shouted in disbelief.
"Shanks—the Red-Haired Emperor!? He has a daughter!?"
"I've never heard of such a thing!"
Rayleigh's eyes went wide, a mix of surprise and joy lighting his old face.
"Shanks! That kid actually has a daughter? That means she's my grandniece! And he never told me a thing!" he laughed incredulously.
Luffy frowned slightly, remembering something that had bothered him for years.
"Hey, Uta… why did you leave? You were the singer of the Red Hair Pirates, right? Didn't you like Shanks the most?"
Uta's eyes softened.
"People change, Luffy. Now, I'm the Diva of Fairy Tail—Rank 970!"
She held up her hand, showing the Fairy Tail guild mark on the back.
"Whoa! The same mark as Reijie!" Luffy exclaimed, recognizing the symbol but not pressing further.
"By the way," Uta said, "what are you doing here, anyway?"
"Ah—Ace! I almost forgot!" Luffy suddenly remembered, eyes going wide.
"Ace hasn't been rescued yet!"
"Ace? You mean the one up there?" Uta turned toward the execution platform towering over the Marineford square.
"That's right! Ace is also my brother! I'm here to save him!" Luffy declared firmly.
Uta blinked in astonishment.
"Just how many brothers do you have, Luffy?"
But Luffy didn't have time to answer.
"Anyway, now's not the time to chat! Uta, after I rescue Ace—we'll catch up then!"
With that, Luffy dashed forward, Sabo and the others close behind, racing toward the execution stand.
Since Uta was an old acquaintance of Luffy's, Brandish didn't stop them.
On the other side, Rayleigh's gaze shifted to Sugisawa Yuuto, still asleep aboard the Fairy Tail ship.
A complicated look crossed his face.
The situation at Marine Headquarters had spiraled far beyond anyone's expectations.
But seeing Yuuto there, Rayleigh suddenly felt that all of this chaos somehow made sense.
Because only that man—Sugisawa Yuuto—could make something like this possible.
He took a deep breath.
"Girls," Rayleigh said slowly, turning toward the Fairy Tail mages, "would you mind telling this old man exactly what's been happening on this battlefield?"