Translator: PapaSmurf0700
"...After all," Bai Ye said, his voice carrying across the silent auction house, "the entire history of the world before the Government's rise was ruthlessly and systematically erased."
As the weight of his words settled, the Den Den Mushi in Admiral Kizaru's pocket began to shriek.
Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru!
It wasn't just ringing; it was screaming. As if channeling the caller's sheer urgency, the snail's face was contorted in a mask of panic. Kizaru's lazy demeanor evaporated, replaced by a grim seriousness as he answered.
"Accept his terms, Borsalino."
The voice was ancient, cold, and absolute. A simple command, yet it sent a shockwave through everyone present.
"Oh?" Bai Ye's lips curled into a predatory smirk. He wasn't surprised in the slightest. "It seems someone is in a hurry. I wonder which one of the Five Elders from Mary Geoise I have the pleasure of speaking with?"
"End this farce at once, child," the voice ground out, heavy with centuries of authority. "The justice of the World Government is absolute. All of your pathetic little tricks will be exposed for the world to see within a month."
"My, my, that sounds terrifying," Bai Ye mocked, his tone dripping with the same infuriating nonchalance as Kizaru's. "Did I perhaps strike a nerve, Your Excellency? You try so desperately to hide the Void Century. Is it to maintain peace... or to bury the mountains of corpses you created to seize power?"
There was no outburst, no furious denial. The voice on the other end remained as cold and unyielding as a glacier. Bai Ye was disappointed, but not surprised.
"You think you can discredit an 800-year reign with baseless accusations, boy?" the Elder sneered. "You're just another pirate, spewing ignorant nonsense. If it weren't for that accursed fog, you wouldn't even have the right to breathe the same air as me."
That one line confirmed it for Kizaru and Vice-Admiral Tokikake. The question that had been nagging at them finally had an answer: Why has no backup arrived?
-----
Before ever setting foot on Sabaody, the Priest had prepared. He'd carved a complex formation into the keel of the Sunshine Merry, a relic of an ancient art. Once he knew Kizaru was on the island, he activated it remotely, using the ship's energy to draw the impenetrable, otherworldly fog from the sea and wrap it around the entire archipelago.
It was a masterstroke, a plan laid long in advance. His live broadcast needed time, and with Marineford and Mary Geoise so close, he couldn't afford a parade of top-tier fighters interrupting the show. The fog was his shield, and it infuriated the Five Elders. They had no way to analyze it, no way to breach it quickly. It even blocked their attempts to remotely shut down the live Den Den Mushi. They could force local stations to cut the feed, but the broadcast was already out in the world, spreading like wildfire.
At first, they'd wanted to laugh at the Priest's childish provocations. The World Government had stood for eight centuries; it couldn't be toppled by a few inconvenient truths. The death of a Celestial Dragon or two was utterly meaningless. But when Bai Ye mentioned the Void Century, they realized their mistake. This boy wasn't just another reckless fool like Roger. He was methodical. He was insane. He was rational.
If they let him keep talking, he wouldn't just inspire a new age of piracy. He would inspire a global revolution. The blond-haired Elder hadn't even wasted time contacting Fleet Admiral Sengoku. He'd dialed Kizaru directly.
-----
"If it weren't for the fog, a nobody like me would never get the chance to chat with a big shot like you," Bai Ye chuckled. "But since you've so graciously agreed to my terms, please ensure the world sees the full broadcast. Have the Admiral himself lead the team to rescue those poor souls your precious Celestial Dragons tormented. Wouldn't want to tarnish that 'Absolute Justice' you're so proud of."
The sarcasm was thick enough to cut with a knife, but it washed over the Elder without effect.
"It will all be over in one month," the voice stated, a final, chilling promise before the line went dead.
Rayleigh and Bai Ye both understood the threat perfectly. It didn't matter how eloquent the Priest was, or how many people he turned against the Government. The entire premise of his revolution rested on one thing: the Straw Hat Pirates had to survive the coming war. If they fell, the World Government had a thousand ways to bury this incident, to erase it from history just like they had done a hundred times before. That was the source of the Elder's confidence.
"The end?" Bai Ye murmured to himself, the corner of his mouth ticking upward. "This isn't the end. This is the goddamn overture."
He turned and looked directly into the lens of the live Den Den Mushi for the first time.
"There you have it, folks," he announced, his voice ringing with clarity and purpose. "The first clash between the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government will take place in one month. This concludes our broadcast... for now."
He said it to reinforce one, critical message. The Summit War was not about pirates versus the navy. It was not justice versus evil. It was a clash of titans—the response of one superpower, Whitebeard, to a provocation by another, the World Government. This was the core of his plan. He wasn't trying to make pirates look like heroes. He was trying to drag the World Government down from their holy altar and into the same filthy mud as the rest of them.
He wanted the world to see that the Government was just the biggest, most successful pirate crew in history. Only then would people have a real choice. The war would be a turning point, not the start of another pirate era, but the day the World Government fell from grace.
Besides, Luffy wanted to be the Pirate King. As his Vice-Captain, wasn't it his duty to thin the competition a little?
Bai Ye let the thought pass and looked up at the assembled Marines. "Well, this has been fun. I'll see you all in a month."
He pressed his hand down, and the shimmering Rainbow Mist swirled, enveloping him, the Straw Hats, and all the freed slaves.
Kizaru acted instantly, his leg flashing with light. "Yasakani Sacred Jewel!"
A piercing beam of energy shot through the fog, obliterating the ruins of the auction house behind where they had just stood.
"Oooh," Kizaru drawled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "They sure run fast."
"You weren't really trying to hit them, were you, Borsalino?" Tokikake asked, a knowing look on his face.
Kizaru just shrugged. "Who knows?"
He turned to leave. "Let's head back, Tokikake. Something tells me an unprecedented war is about to begin."