Translator: PapaSmurf0700
On the isle of Amazon Lily, inside the Kuja palace, three women stared, hands covering their mouths, at the live broadcast shimmering before them.
"NO ONE IN THIS WORLD IS A SLAVE!"
The voice from the screen was followed by an even more audacious declaration from the boy in the straw hat.
"ON BEHALF OF THE STRAW HAT PIRATES, I OFFICIALLY DECLARE WAR ON THE WORLD GOVERNMENT!"
A deep, unnerving silence fell over the palace.
"Sister... he... in front of the entire world, he's speaking for them... for the slaves," one of the younger women stammered.
"A declaration of war! That man just declared war on the gods of this world! Sister!"
The woman they addressed, their empress, stood motionless. She was a vision of impossible beauty, tall and statuesque, her form accentuated by a perfectly tailored cheongsam(one-piece dress). Her long, black hair cascaded down her back, and her deep blue eyes, usually filled with cold disdain, were now clouded with something unreadable. She was one of the Seven Warlords, the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock.
She heard her sisters' frantic cries, but she couldn't form a response. The world before her had gone blurry.
Does such a man truly exist in this world?
Hancock's life on this island of women had given her no context for men. Her only other experience was being dragged from her home by traffickers, sold into slavery under the Celestial Dragons, and subjected to years of torment. In her heart, men were disgusting, hateful, pathetic creatures. All of them.
But now, these pirates were shattering her entire reality. A man named Bai Ye, the one they called the Priest, had captured the very monsters who had scarred her soul and was now making them pay. And this other man, Monkey D. Luffy, had just obliterated the human auction house—a symbol of her deepest trauma—with a single kick. Now he stood before the world, not for treasure or fame, but for the forgotten and the damned, the very people the Marines wouldn't dare to defend.
"I must meet them," she whispered, her voice trembling with a resolve she hadn't felt in years.
-----
"My, my... you've certainly said something incredible, Straw Hat Luffy." Kizaru's lazy, drawn-out voice dripped with condescending amusement. He turned his gaze to the old man sipping his drink. "Is this why you finally decided to step out of the shadows, Dark King Rayleigh?"
"Hahahaha! I simply ran into some interesting young men," Rayleigh chuckled, though the immense pride in his eyes as he looked at Luffy was impossible to conceal. "Since the Roger Pirates disbanded, I'm just a simple, retired old coater."
Vice-Admiral Tokikake ignored the old legend, his sharp gaze fixed on Bai Ye. "How could you agree to such a reckless declaration? That is not your style, Priest. You are a man of calculation."
"I have never found fault with my captain's decisions," Bai Ye replied with a simple shrug, offering no further explanation.
As Luffy rejoined him, Bai Ye gestured, and the images of the two captive Celestial Dragons appeared once more for all the reporters' cameras to see.
"Now that the press conference is concluded," Bai Ye announced, his tone shifting to business, "let's discuss terms." He looked directly at Kizaru and Tokikake, a placid, almost benevolent smile on his face. "You want your precious World Nobles back. The condition is simple."
"Two Celestial Dragons in exchange for two thousand slaves. That's a fair trade, wouldn't you agree?"
He let that sink in before continuing. "The exchange will happen one month from today. The Navy will broadcast the event live. A Marine Admiral will personally lead a detachment to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and oversee the release of the slaves. Once that is done, these two... supremely noble individuals will be returned to you, unharmed."
He paused for dramatic effect. "And to show our sincerity, the handover point for the Celestial Dragons will be Marineford."
The only sound was the frantic clicking of Den Den Mushi cameras. The world was frozen. After a long moment, Tokikake finally looked up, his expression grim.
"Your target was never the slaves, was it? It's Ace." His voice was low, accusatory. "This grand spectacle, kidnapping World Nobles, championing the enslaved... it's all an elaborate smokescreen to save your captain's brother. A pirate will always be a pirate."
He pressed his advantage. "You create a crisis to draw the Navy's top forces away from the execution, then use the Celestial Dragons as leverage. Is that your endgame? You severely underestimate our resolve. Executing the criminal Portgas D. Ace is a matter of absolute justice. We will see it through to the end."
Tokikake had landed a solid blow. Across the world, those watching the broadcast began to murmur. The narrative was shifting. No matter what good they had just done, the Straw Hats flew a skull and crossbones. Tokikake's words were turning them from righteous crusaders into manipulative criminals. The grand gesture to free the slaves was now being painted as a selfish ploy. Some even began to question if the horrors of the auction house were real at all.
"Saving Ace is, of course, one of our objectives," Bai Ye admitted without a hint of distress. He even gave Tokikake a look of gratitude. "I was wondering how to bring it up, but you've saved me the trouble."
He seized the moment. "This is because the Straw Hat Pirates have already formed an alliance with the Whitebeard Government. It is only natural that we would rescue a ranking member of an allied nation who has been taken hostage by the World Government."
"Don't be absurd!" Kizaru interjected, a flicker of annoyance breaking through his lazy demeanor. "Whitebeard is a pirate, one of the Four Emperors, with a bounty of over five billion. What 'government' are you talking about? Ace is a wanted criminal. His execution is justice, not a hostage situation. It seems your little conspiracy being exposed has addled your mind, Priest."
Kizaru, in his haste to dismiss the claim, had yet to realize the trap he'd just walked into.
"Is that so?" Bai Ye asked, his expression one of genuine curiosity. "Let's examine that. Whitebeard commands a powerful military force. In the New World, he controls a territory spanning dozens of islands. Those islands fly his flag. They pay him fees, and in exchange, his forces protect them from other pirates."
He leaned forward, his voice dropping but carrying across the silent plaza.
"Tell me, Admiral. How is that system any different from the World Government using the Navy to 'protect' its member nations in exchange for the Heavenly Tribute?"
The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by the furious clicking of cameras. Every reporter there knew, with absolute certainty, that this was the story of a lifetime. Bob, the cameraman, could barely hold his Den Den Mushi steady.
Kizaru and Tokikake finally understood. Their faces paled.
This man wasn't just trying to disrupt an execution.
He was putting the entire World Government on trial.