thefictionvixens Chapter 223 What are the Four Emperors!
Chapter 223 What are the Four Emperors!
Chapter 223 What are the Four Emperors!
"Hey, west Yan!"
"We can already see the Gate of Justice!" Luffy, standing at the bow of the ship, looked excitedly at the Gate of Justice in the distance and said, "Once we pass through here, we'll reach Marine Headquarters, right?"
west Yan, who was chatting with Ivankov, turned to look at the Gate of Justice in the distance and said, "That should be true."
The Gate of Justice at Impel Down and the Gate of Justice at Enies Lobby are not far from the buildings, so... the Gate of Justice at Marine Headquarters should be the same!
"Hahaha."
Hearing west Yan's words, Luffy burst into laughter and said, "Ace!"
"I'm here to save you!"
Seeing Luffy's excited expression, Ivankov shook his head helplessly, then looked at Xiyan and said, "Xiyan boy,
"It's up to you now."
Only the water escape technique of the Western Flame Sect can allow them to escape this basin of ocean currents.
"Ah, I know, don't worry about leaving it to me," west Yan said with a smile.
Then, the man went to the bow of the ship, stared at the Gate of Justice in the distance, and said, "I wonder how such a huge Gate of Justice was built."
After shaking his head, west Yan activated the Water Escape Technique.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!!"
As west Yan finished speaking, the seawater below suddenly trembled.
Then, an enormous water dragon rose from below, supporting the massive warship!
"Flying...flying!!"
"No, that's the ninja's Water Release technique!"
Leaning over the side of the boat and looking down at the prisoners, he excitedly exclaimed, "That's ninjutsu!"
"So cool!!"
Upon hearing this, everyone ran to the edge and glanced down, then began to shout.
"profound!"
"As expected of the ninja leader!"
"Ninja brother, lead us out of this damned basin-like current!"
"What an amazing man," Ivankov said. "He actually lifted up the warship."
From this perspective, with Xi Yan's strength, there's absolutely no need to fear the weather in any sea area!
"The ninja's water release techniques... I really envy them!"
"Hahaha, charge!"
Standing next to Xiyan, Luffy excitedly exclaimed, "Let's charge to Marine Headquarters!"
west Yan smiled upon hearing this, then squinted and surveyed the situation in the distance, saying, "Let me see, the edge of the Gate of Justice is...:..."
Before west Yan could finish speaking, he heard a faint sound coming from the Gate of Justice in the distance.
"Um?"
"This voice is...."
As if realizing something, west Yan's pupils contracted, and he said, "Could it be that someone has opened the gates of justice?"
Perhaps it was to prove west Yan's words true, the gates of justice were indeed slowly opening!
"Huh?!?!"
"Why did the Gates of Justice open by themselves?" Mr. 3 asked in shock.
"Didn't that navy officer just say the Gates of Justice wouldn't open? How come now...?"
"That's really strange," Jinbe said, looking puzzled. "Logically, the control room should be in Marineford, so why did they open the door for us?"
"Maybe it's a trap?" Lightning guessed.
"Who cares what's going on?" Crocodile grinned. "Anyway, the opening of the Gates of Justice is to our advantage."
In this way, they can successfully pass through the Gates of Justice and reach Marine Headquarters!
"Whitebeard, I'm coming!"
This time, he was determined to take Whitebeard's head off himself!
"west Yan".
Luffy pointed to the opened Gate of Justice ahead and asked, "Did you do this?"
"No, that's not it." west Yan shook his head and said, "I didn't do anything unnecessary."
He merely used water escape techniques to lift the ship up; that was all.
As for the Gate of Justice... he didn't know what was going on either.
Could it really be a trap, just as Lightning said?
west Yan pondered for a moment, wondering if it was because the Navy knew he possessed water-based techniques and understood that the Gate of Justice couldn't stop him, so they proactively opened the gate.
Then, defeat them head-on?
It's not impossible.
"You didn't do it," Luffy scratched his head and said, "Then what happened?"
"I don't know." west Yan shook his head and said, "But since the Gate of Justice has been opened, we don't need to take a detour. We can just go in through the Gate of Justice."
As he spoke, west Yan canceled the water escape technique and placed the huge warship back onto the sea.
"boom!!"
The massive warship landed smoothly on the sea surface and then continued to move forward along the basin current.
"That's true."
Luffy nodded, and then followed west Yan back to Ivankov and the others.
"Um?"
west Yan glanced at Bucky, who was standing on a high place with his hands raised, and a question mark appeared above his head.
What is this guy up to now?
"Hahaha!" Bucky, raising his hands, laughed loudly, "Just as I predicted!"
"Could it be... could it be that you did this?" the prisoner asked Bucky in disbelief.
"As expected of Captain Bucky!"
"You must be a messenger sent by God!"
"Really?!"
Luffy stared at Buggy in shock and exclaimed, "You're actually a messenger sent by God?!"
"How could it be real?!" Mr. 3 roared, opening his shark mouth.
How could such a clumsy lie fool so many people?
This is outrageous, you bastard!
"What on earth is this guy up to?" Funcray said speechlessly.
west Yan looked at Bucky speechlessly. This guy never misses an opportunity to show off in front of others.
The key point is that those idiots below actually fall for it.
After shaking his head, west Yan stopped looking at the guy and turned to look at the Gate of Justice in front of him.
Soon, the Gates of Justice opened a huge gap, allowing them to pass through.
"Everyone, hold on tight!!" Jinbe said.
As he finished speaking, the current noticeably accelerated, causing the warship to rock violently, almost throwing its crew overboard!
"What's going on?" Luffy, held in Ivankov's grasp, looked at the scene in the distance with a puzzled expression and said, "Why did the speed suddenly increase?"
"Because the ocean current has been carried into the Gate of Justice," Jinbe explained. "The speed is naturally faster than before."
Luffy: ? ? ?
What are you saying?
After thinking for a while and realizing he couldn't figure it out, Luffy gave up trying.
Then the man said, "Never mind, we're almost there anyway, everyone get ready to go!"
"profound!!"
"Boom!"
Under Jinbe's control, the warship safely passed through the Gate of Justice and headed towards the distant Marine Headquarters.
"We've finally made it through safely." Bon Clay breathed a sigh of relief, then said seriously, "We'll be arriving at Marine Headquarters soon. Everyone, prepare for battle."
"Don't worry, I'm all ready!" Luffy grinned.
"Hopefully, that old white-bearded fellow has arrived by now."
Crocodile wore an arrogant smile, clearly looking forward to the upcoming battle.
"Whitebeard, huh?" Ivankov muttered, then turned to Luffy and said, "I wonder if your father will come here."
"Our father?"
"Hmm." Ivankov leaned closer to Luffy and whispered, "If Dragon knew his own son was going to be executed, he would never stand idly by."
I just don't know where that guy is now.
With Dragon's strength, if he teamed up with Whitebeard...
Perhaps as if a certain image had come to mind, Ivankov suddenly grinned.
"Ah, you mean that?" Luffy said, "My father and Ace's father are not the same person."
"Huh?"
Ivankov was stunned for a moment. So it turned out he had made a mistake?
Is Ace Boy not Dragon's son?
Why does the boy in the straw hat call the other person "brother"?
Thinking of this, Ivankov looked at Luffy with a puzzled expression, wanting to figure out what was going on.
"My father is Dragon, but Ace's father is Gol D. Roger," Luffy said.
"ha?"
Mrs. Ivanko was stunned by the answer.
The man who is about to be publicly executed... is actually the son of the Pirate King?
The surrounding pirates stared at Luffy in shock, clearly not expecting that Fire Fist Ace would be the son of Pirate King Roger.
"This... is this something we could possibly know?!"
"This is absolutely shocking!"
"Oh, right, you guys have to keep this a secret~" Luffy said.
"He's the captain's son?"
Buggy, who had just finished his public display of divine power, immediately changed his expression upon hearing Luffy's words.
He never imagined that his captain would have any descendants left in this world.
After a moment of silence, Bucky turned to look in the direction of Marine Headquarters, revealing a somewhat complicated expression.
"Ace was Roger's son?" west Yan frowned as he looked at Luffy and said, "How come I've never heard you mention that before?"
If Rayleigh had known earlier that Ace was Roger's son, he might have come to join the battle.
That's a powerful figure who can hold off a Marine Admiral!
"Ace wouldn't let me say," Luffy said, scratching his head.
west Yan: ...
I told you not to say it, but you still said it. I'm speechless.
Just then, Ivankov looked enlightened and said, "I see, I understand what happened!"
Seeing that everyone else was looking at him, Ivankov said, "The Navy did this because they knew that Ace was Roger's son."
That's why they chose to execute him publicly.
Why do you say that?
There are two reasons.
"Firstly, we can lure the Whitebeard Pirates to Marine Headquarters, allowing us to use our existing forces to deal with Whitebeard."
"With Ace Boy as a bargaining chip, Whitebeard wouldn't dare to easily use his power to sink Marineford, since that would harm Ace Boy!"
After saying that, Ivankov paused for a moment, then continued, "In this way, if we use all our forces, it's possible to keep Whitebeard at Marine Headquarters forever!!"
"This will effectively curb the arrogance of the pirates."
Secondly: By leveraging his status as the son of the Pirate King, we can further dampen the arrogance of the pirates!
"Publicly executing the son of the Pirate King Roger will definitely shock many ambitious people!"
After all... even Roger's son couldn't escape being killed by the World Government, so what about the other pirates?
"That's true." Jinbe nodded in agreement, then said seriously, "But I won't let them succeed!"
'
Although Whitebeard is a pirate, he is indeed a renowned hero!
And it was precisely because of this man that Fishman Island did not become a paradise for pirates.
It's safe to say that if it weren't for that flag, Fishman Island would be a hundred times worse off than it is now!
After all, Fishman Island is really weak!
As for Ace... the other party was a very good friend of his, so he wouldn't allow the Navy to kill that man.
"You really do idolize Whitebeard," Crocodile said, glancing at Jinbe.
"You wouldn't understand, Crocodile," Jinbe said, giving Crocodile a wary look. "A pirate like you has no idea what the flags of the Four Emperors signify."
"Oh."
Crocodile sneered, too lazy to argue with this guy about such a topic.
"The Four Emperors'... flags?" west Yan looked at Jinbe curiously and asked, "What does that mean?"
"Let me explain, ninja boy," Ivankov said. "In the New World, there are four great pirates who rule the world; these four pirates are known as the Four Emperors."
"Each of the Four Emperors occupies some territory and uses their reputation to protect the islands within their territory from other pirates."
"And the way they protect themselves is by planting their flag on the island." Ivankov paused after saying this, then looked at Jinbe and said, "I think Fishman Island is protected by the Whitebeard Pirates."
Based on what Jinbe said, and considering the situation on Fishman Island, the probability of this is very high.
"That's right, that's exactly it." Jinbe readily admitted, "If it weren't for Father, Fishman Island would never be as peaceful as it is now."
It could be said that Whitebeard gave them a chance to live a peaceful life, which is why he didn't want that man to die in battle.
"So the Four Emperors do things like this?" west Yan said with some surprise.
Is this... a kind of order amidst chaos?
"Yes," Ivankov nodded, "but in return, we need to collect some protection money."
"Yes, that makes sense," west Yan nodded.
None of the Four Emperors are philanthropists; they can't just lend their flags to others for free. They always have to collect some compensation.
I just don't know how much this money is.
"How much money would that cost?!" Foncray exclaimed.
He didn't know how big the New World was, but if there were only four great pirates collecting money in the entire New World, then... wouldn't they make a fortune?
Upon hearing this, Ivankov considered the intelligence he had gathered in the past before replying, "In short... it's cheaper than gold from the heavens."
"Gold from the heavens?"
west Yan is a bit strange; why does it still have such an odd name?
It's as if this money is offered to the gods in heaven.
Wait... in the sky?
Could it be referring to those Celestial Dragons?
Thinking of this, west Yan frowned.
"Ah, it's the money given to the Celestial Dragons," Ivankov said. "Each year, member states have to pay a large sum of money to the Celestial Dragons in exchange for their membership."
"It's this money..."
Ivankov paused for a moment, then his expression darkened as he said, "It will make it impossible for many civilians to even afford to eat."
This is one of the reasons why they hate the Celestial Dragons so much.
"Unimaginable taxes," west Yan murmured.
At that moment, he finally understood why there were so many pirates in the world.
The existence of the Celestial Dragons is definitely one of the most important reasons!