Chapter LXVI: Revolution

Disco, proud owner and manager of the Grove 1 Human Auctioning House, was currently cowering before the fury of a Celestial Dragon. That was not a good situation to be in for anyone, much less someone in his line of business, but he couldn't just hold his tongue right now. His business would be ruined at this rate!

"Coward!" Saint Shalria spat at the man groveling before her. "How could you even consider calling off the auction!?"

"Please, Saint Shalria!" Disco tried to reason. "With all the chaos happening on the island right now, don't you think it would be too dangerous to host the auction?"

"No, I don't," Shalria said with a snort. "You just have weak constitution. The pirates are none of your concern. The Marine will handle it! Now, this auction will continue. My family and I have been looking forward to it, and I won't see it cancelled because you decided to cave at the slightest pressure from some pirates who are as good as dead!"

"Y–yes, of course! My apologies!" Disco said. He still thought this was a terrible idea, but he knew better than to disagree with a World Noble outright.

I just have to hope that my business doesn't fall apart because of this woman's stubbornness.

Donquixote Doflamingo himself could not have fathomed a more cruel and unusual death to that hope than what happened next. As Shalria turned away in a huff, a crash was heard from behind the Celestial Dragons and slave traders. They all turned to see that the doors to the Auction House had been smashed open.

In the doorway stood Straw Hat Luffy. Behind him stood his crew, as well as Fire Fist Ace, the Heart Pirates, the Bonney Pirates, and the Revolutionaries.

Disco paled.

Shalria snarled. "Who do you think you are!?" she shouted, as Luffy descended the stairs to the Auction House.

Luffy ignored her, walking up to Disco, who stumbled back at the dangerous gleam in the pirate captain's eye.

"Where's Camie?" he asked, voice deathly quiet.

Incensed, Shalria pulled out a flintlock and pointed it straight at Luffy's head. "You dare ignore me!? Do you know who I am!?"

"Nope. Don't know you," Luffy replied.

Enraged, Shalria pulled the trigger, firing three times.

Not many people watching understood what happened next. The loud crack of the gun firing was drowned out by an even louder crack that split the air around them. The bullets that had exited the barrel of the gun stopped halfway to Luffy, before falling to the ground.

Shalria followed suit, foaming at the mouth.

After a few tense moments of shocked silence, her guards scrambled to call Marine HQ, but they too fell to the ground, unconscious.

Zoro walked up to the still cowering Disco and unsheathed one sword.

"The mermaid. Now."

Disco hurried to obey, leading them to where the slaves were being kept.

Camie was being kept inside a giantbowl, filled with water but with no openings in the glass.

"There! Sh-She's all yours, so p-p-please don't kill me!" Disco begged.

"Oh, we won't," Sanji said menacingly. "But I can't promise the same mercy from your boss."

It was hard to tell if Disco fainted before or after Sanji kicked him in the face and sent him flying into the wall.

Zoro walked up to the bowl and made three cuts in the blink of an eye. The glass slid apart seamlessly, water spilling out, and Luffy caught Camie before she could fall to the floor.

"Luffy-chin…Everyone…You came!" she said through a cascade of tears.

Luffy gave her a smile. "Sorry we weren't there. We were a little busy. But thanks for hanging tough until we arrived."

Camie just nodded her head and hiccupped.

Law walked up to the cells, where the rest of the slaves were being held. They stared at him warily.

"Room," he whispered, and a blue bubble enveloped the auction house. Emotionless, he unsheathed his sword, causing some of them to stiffen. But when he began swinging it through the air, none of them were injured. Instead, the locks to the doors came undone, and their chains and collars were cut open, freeing them all.

The collars began ticking, but with a mutter of, "Shambles," they all disappeared, replaced by an assortment of random objects. Several explosions could be heard in the area, and the former slaves watched, stunned.

Law nodded to the door, and wasting no time, they all rushed out, including the giant that had been shackled to the wall.

Next, the surgeon walked up to a slave that Shalria had brought with her. He had been silent throughout the whole ordeal.

"I'm gonna get you out of here," Law said. "Care to join my crew, pirate captain Jean Bart?"

"I always repay my debts," was all the pirate said.

Law swung his sword again, and Jean Bart was freed.

Sabo turned to Luffy. "I assume you know what we're going to do next," the revolutionary said.

Luffy nodded. "It'll just save us the trouble."

On that day, the Revolutionary Army struck Sabaody. With Marine HQ in disarray, they took their chance, storming across the archipelago. They raided every Auction House, freed every slave, and killed every slave trader on the island. In the aftermath of the incident that would rock the Grand Line, their message was all too clear.

As Koala and Mavric tore apart the last auction house, Sabo pulled out a Transponder Snail.

Dragon will want to know about this.

The Straw Hats, Heart Pirates, and Bonney Pirates gathered around in intrigue as Ace dialed Whitebeard's number in the Transponder Snail.

It wasn't long before they heard a click.

"Didn't expect to get another call from you so soon, Ace,"Edward Newgate's voice intoned without preamble.

Luffy blinked in confusion. "You called him earlier?"

"As soon as I woke up from my fight with Teach," Ace confirmed.

"Straw Hat, is that you?" Almost as soon as the question left the snail's mouth, its expression turned sterner. "Has something happened?"

"We just finished beating Kizaru, who may or may not still be alive depending on how fast they fished him out of the ocean," Luffy responded with his characteristic bluntness.

A silence that was downright tumultuous greeted that revelation, and Luffy sighed. "That's not enough, is it?"

"You already know the answer to that question, brat. You know full well what's going to happen now."

"Of course I do. That doesn't mean I like it; you shouldn't have to go to war for me or my crew."

"My promise to anyone who allies with me is nothing less for anyone who hurts them, Monkey D. Luffy. What makes you think you're any different?"

A tense silence fell again, and it may have been a full minute before Luffy brought himself to reply, his face splitting into a dangerous crescent-shaped grin.

"In that case, we'll join the rest of your allies for the attack."

The old man snorted. "Gurarara…heh. Telling you to hold off would end the same way as you telling me…fine. But at least take the rest of the day to relax. Mustering all my forces to charge Marineford will take a while anyway."

Luffy winced, noting his crew's state out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah…we'll do that. Thanks. See you on the other side, Pops."

"Don't be late, brat," the old man chuckled.

With that, the call ended, and what was arguably the Navy's worst nightmare was set in motion.

There were blatant advantages to having an alliance with someone empowered by a Devil Fruit specifically designed to preserve life in or after situations that would otherwise be impossible to survive. The blatant one here was that while the aftermath of such a grueling battle would normally have the Straw Hat Pirates helpless and recovering for at least a couple of days, the help Law granted Chopper meant that the worst of the damage was already undone by the time morning arrived.

As the pirate alliance occupied themselves with nursing the last of their injuries, Bonney barged in with a newspaper. Mouth full of pizza despite the fact that it was breakfast time, she threw the article into the middle of the room, with the headline on full display.

Carnage on Sabaody Archipelago and Whitebeard on a Warpath! Marines Prepare for Battle!

The Straw Hat Pirates, who previously shocked the world by overpowering Admiral Aokiji, have exceeded all expectations. The exact details of the battle that they waged on Sabaody Archipelago yesterday are jumbled, but this much is certain: the Navy mobilized an unprecedented force against the Straw Hat Pirates including two of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, six Vice Admirals, ten battleships, and Admiral Kizaru. The Navy's defeat in this battle is due to the unexpected intervention of the other Supernovas present on the island as well as two unexpected powerhouses: 'Fire Fist' Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff, Sabo.

From the few reports we have gathered, we can confirm that 'Straw Hat' Luffy defeated 'Pirate Empress' Boa Hancock, and 'Demon Wind' Zoro defeated 'The Tyrant' Bartholomew Kuma; most of the remaining forces met their demise at the hands of the aforementioned reinforcements, and it took the full effort of the Straw Hats' three strongest fighters along with Fire Fist and Sabo to defeat Kizaru. In the aftermath, the Supernovas confirmed that their alliance was a one-time occurrence, but while Ace's connection to the Straw Hats is obvious through their alliance with Whitebeard, Sabo's remains unknown.

On the subject of Whitebeard, news of the Navy's attempted slaughter of the Straw Hat Pirates has clearly reached his ears already. Since last night, news has surfaced of various ships flying the Whitebeard Pirates' flag attacking and subsequently devastating Marine bases across the New World. But the destruction is far from random; every base destroyed follows a linear path through the ocean… straight to the Red Line.

If it wasn't clear before that Whitebeard does not tolerate attacks on his allies, it is now. The World's Strongest Man is on his way to Marine Headquarters, and he's not in a merciful mood.

"We need to leave soon if we're going to make it there on time," Zoro grunted, draining the last of a sizable sake jug.

"About that. I'm going to have to catch up to you guys," Ace said.

Luffy was bewildered. "Why?"

Ace showed them an article on the next page of the newspaper. It read:

Royal Warlord Arrested! Knight of the Sea Jinbe Sent to Impel Down!

"Seems like he spoke out against the World Government's actions," Law said. "That would do it. They hate losing face."

The dark frown that Luffy donned as he read the page was all the three crews needed to know their next move.

"Change of plans, guys. We need to call Pops again."

In the middle of the New World, two pirate fleets faced off against each other in neutral waters.

Red-Haired Shanks stared up at Kaido's towering form as they stood face to face across the water.

"Kaido...what is your motive in pursuing Whitebeard? Why get involved in a war that doesn't concern you?"

"That doesn't concern me!?" Kaido shouted in outrage. "I've been fighting that bastard Whitebeard since you were in diapers, red-haired brat! I have an old score to settle, now move your fleet before I crush it!"

Shanks smiled benignly. "I won't move," he said. "But you're welcome to try and crush me."

Kaido leapt from his ship, brandishing his club, and Shanks met him halfway, saber in hand.

The heavens split as the two clashed.

I'll buy you some time, old man, but I sure hope you know what you're doing. And Luffy...you really have grown. Perhaps too much to be natural. Maybe one day soon we can share a cup of sake and speak as equals.

Marine Headquarters had most of its forces gathered for the upcoming war against the Whitebeard Pirates. Among those present were Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, Admiral Akainu, Admiral Aokiji, Vice Admiral Issho, Dracule Mihawk, Donquixote Doflamingo, Gecko Moria, a platoon of Pacifistas, and an army of Marines over 10,000 strong.

Sengoku's blood pressure was rising steadily but surely. As he received report after report of bad news, he grinded his teeth harder and harder.

"Fleet Admiral! Boa Hancock has stated that she can't make it back to Marineford! She claims to have been injured by Straw Hat Luffy!"

"Sir! Bartholmew Kuma is in no condition to join the battle! He says he was nearly killed by Roronoa Zoro, and we confirmed as much when he dropped off Dracule Mihawk!"

"With Jinbe and Crocodile in Impel Down, the Warlords present number at a mere three!"

"Enough!" Sengoku roared. "Is Admiral Kizaru healed yet!?"

"Sir! Kizaru-san is still in a coma due to his injuries! We don't believe he'll recover in time to participate!"

Sengoku was getting ready to explode when Commodore Brannew entered the room, looking nervous.

"Fleet Admiral…" he began. "...We're receiving reports that Whitebeard is getting ready to submerge beneath the Red Line."

As Sengoku gathered his wits, Garp looked at him with an uncharacteristic grimness.

"Sengoku...I don't think we're going to get out of this unscathed."