Chapter 12: The Admiral Arrives
"I wanted to go see the execution platform, but Nami wouldn't let me and even hit me! She hits so hard," said Luffy, a rubber man, whose mouth was swollen into sausage lips from the beating.
He wanted to become the Pirate King. If he didn't visit the place where the previous Pirate King was executed, Luffy felt like something was missing. He had no real concept of a Marine Admiral in his mind; the young man didn't understand the severity of the situation.
"Sanji, Zoro, you two weigh anchor! Usopp, you take the helm! We need to leave this hell place as soon as possible!"
Nami, the Cat Burglar, had stolen treasure from Marines, from pirates, and from kings. Saving up 100 million Beri was not that easy. Being worldly-wise, she well knew the destructive power of Marine Admirals; they were practically human-shaped natural disasters.
The navigator held the latest sea charts. To enter the Grand Line, Reverse Mountain was the inevitable route. Nami needed to make thorough preparations for the upcoming challenges.
Captain Luffy sat on the sheep's head, observing the sea ahead. Warships flying Marine flags gradually came into his view. "There are Marines on the sea! The Marines are here!"
Nami picked up her binoculars and looked in the direction Luffy was pointing. There was more than one Marine warship heading towards Loguetown's port. "There are three... no, at least five or more! Oh my god!"
It wasn't just the Straw Hat crew who saw the warships appear; others at Loguetown's port saw them too. At this moment, they couldn't afford to care about much else. As long as they could squeeze onto someone else's ship, they were willing to pay any price to leave this cursed place.
A few unlucky individuals were even pushed into the sea by the people behind them. In short, panic had completely engulfed the area. The Marines on shore struggled to maintain order and prevent unnecessary stampedes.
These Marines, reinforcements from Headquarters, were led by Marine Admiral Sakazuki, with Vice Admiral Onigumo providing support. This time, they were here to personally capture Buggy the Clown.
Akainu, a believer in Absolute Justice, didn't fully trust the information from the Sky Screen. Only after actually engaging the enemy would he assess the situation.
A Marine soldier in the watchtower reported to the officers below, "A pirate ship is sailing out of the port, mixed among civilian vessels! Judging by the pirate flag, it's the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Straw Hat Luffy had a bounty of 30 million Beri. Coupled with his future achievements shown on the Sky Screen—defeating Warlords and CP9—such a promising pirate was taken very seriously. His inheritance of the Pirate King's will was a major problem.
Sakazuki believed in Absolute Justice. He knew Straw Hat Luffy was Vice Admiral Garp's grandson. Since this Marine hero wasn't in the East Blue, Sakazuki couldn't be blamed. Scourges must be eradicated as early as possible.
"Move the warships in and sink the Straw Hat Pirates! Leave them in the East Blue forever!"
"Admiral Akainu, but Luffy is..." Onigumo hadn't finished speaking before he was interrupted.
"I know he's someone's grandson. Is he a Celestial Dragon? As long as a ship flies a pirate flag, it's a pirate that deserves to be killed! Marines don't need a reason to kill pirates!"
Onigumo knew Admiral Akainu was rather extreme, but he hadn't expected him to show no mercy at all. He figured he had followed the right person; he too believed in Absolute Justice. Any pirate killed deserved it.
The Marine warships sailed towards the Straw Hat crew. Nami's face turned pale when she saw this. "It's Marine Admiral Akainu! He actually came to the East Blue! We're done for, we're done for! I don't want to die yet!"
"Is it really an Admiral?!"
"And it's Akainu, that 'Killing Star'!" The cowardly Usopp was so frightened that his legs gave out, and he collapsed on the spot.
It was too late to take down their pirate flag now. The Marine warships had completely blockaded the exit to the sea. If they wanted to leave, they would have to ram head-on into the fleet of Marine warships, which was no different from suicide.
The sky suddenly turned gloomy, with lightning flashing and thunder rumbling. The sea wind whipped up waves. The Marines lamented how quickly the weather at sea could change.
Only Admiral Akainu understood what was happening. Just as the Sky Screen had said, Straw Hat Luffy truly had a powerful protector. This wind-manipulating fellow was even a former Marine.
"Gunners, take aim! Prepare to fire! Target: Straw Hat Pirates! Open fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!... All the warships immediately thundered with cannon fire, white smoke billowing. Dozens of cannonballs shot towards the Going Merry, completely disregarding the civilian ships near the target.
Luffy jumped into the air, opened his mouth wide, and inhaled. His rubber body immediately expanded rapidly, in an instant enveloping the entire Sunshine Merry. "Gomu Gomu no Balloon!"
Most of the cannonballs slammed into Luffy, but being a rubber man, he was naturally immune to blunt force trauma. He returned the cannonballs to their senders by bouncing them back.
"So, you're a rubber man and not afraid of cannonballs. But are you afraid of magma?"
Sakazuki leaped into mid-air, his hands infused with a large amount of magma. "Meteor Volcano!"
One giant fist of molten rock after another shot towards the Straw Hat Luffy crew. Each of these blows could destroy a warship, let alone the Merry's small frame. The destruction of the ship and death of its crew seemed imminent.
"To strike so heavily against a junior... his dream cannot end here."
A man in a deep green coat stood in mid-air, an invisible storm swirling around him. "Violent Winds!"
A storm erupted on the sea, colliding with the magma fists, altering the trajectory of the Meteor Volcano. Large amounts of magma fell into the sea, sending up clouds of steam. This mysterious protector had finally made his move.
"The Sky Screen was right again! There really is a strong person helping us set sail! Too bad I don't know who it is," Nami said, looking towards him with her binoculars. But this powerful individual who intervened had his face obscured, and she couldn't see her savior's appearance.
"Usopp, turn the rudder and charge through! Didn't you see the warships over there being blown aside? This is our chance!"
The violent storm tore open the Marine warships' encirclement, parting them down the middle and leaving an escape route. Furthermore, the storm was still behind the Going Merry, propelling it forward, more than doubling the small ship's speed.
"That was scary! I almost thought we were going to die! Let's charge through together!" Luffy stood on the sheep's head, laughing heartily, not yet realizing who had saved him.
"I won't let them pass so easily! Great Eruption!"
An enormous amount of magma, like a volcanic eruption, burst forth from Admiral Akainu's hands. The magma, obscuring the sky and sun, was meant to completely annihilate the Straw Hat crew.
"Sakazuki, have I offended you in the past? Eye of the Storm!"
A powerful blue storm formed around the Merry. The very center of the storm was extremely safe. This storm protected the ship from being harmed by the magma; the molten rock could not break through this wind wall-like presence.
Accelerated by the hurricane, the Going Merry instantly passed by the Marine warships head-on. By the time Akainu could strike again, the Straw Hat crew's ship had already covered some distance. The strong wind made it difficult for the warships to move an inch; to catch up, they would have to turn their ships around and pursue.
"Damned Dragon! I didn't expect your son to get away after all. Next time, he won't be so lucky!"
The Marine Admiral was not afraid of the Revolutionary Army's leader. Akainu didn't continue the pursuit to conserve stamina. If he wasted his energy on Dragon here, Buggy the Clown might escape. Currently, Buggy posed a greater threat than Luffy.
After the Straw Hat crew's ship had sailed far away, the sea near Loguetown returned to its former calmness, allowing the Marines on the warships to breathe a sigh of relief. If the storm earlier had been any stronger, perhaps most of the warships would have been capsized...