Calm Belt → Grand Line (en route to Marineford)
The Obsidian Ark sliced silently through air above the ocean, untraceable, gliding by the force of Rael's own gravity and spatial control.
Rael stood on its prow, cloak rippling in slow-motion — time warped subtly around him.
His crew, still small and elite, were at their stations:
Lysara, coordinating spy cells planted inside Mariejois
Shien, decoding Cipher Pol war signals
Vale, recording the world's chaos into coded songs for future generations
But none spoke. They all sensed it.
> The world was about to break
The public believed this was Whitebeard vs. the World Government.
They didn't know that Ace was Gol D. Roger's son.
They didn't know that Luffy was already on his way.
And no one — no one — knew that Rael D. Lior would also be there.
Not as a pirate.
Not as a rescuer.
But as the unseen catalyst who would break the very balance of power.
Rael didn't come to save Ace.
He came to test the world.
---
Shien projected a map using warped light. Cipher Pol units were fortifying all Marineford exits.
Rael pointed at the east wing — a shallow section beneath the fortress.
> "I'll enter through the seabed. Darkness will carry me.
Space will split the foundations.
And the dragon will rise in the smoke."
Vale raised an eyebrow. "And the Admirals?"
Rael's expression didn't change.
> "If they stand in my way...
They'll learn why the heavens feared the Trinity Soul."
---
🦴 Meanwhile: Marineford – Underground Command Chamber
Vice Admirals and CP0 agents scrambled through war plans.
One Cipher Pol director snapped at a Den Den Mushi:
> "Reconfirm! Is the 'Black Ark' myth still unverified?!"
A younger agent whispered:
> "We... we lost two squads that were monitoring unexplained gravitational flux. No traces."
The director froze.
> "Activate Protocol Shadowlock. Deploy Seraphim at Level 3.
If Rael D. Lior exists — he cannot be allowed to make it past this war unseen."
---
🧭 Meanwhile: Whitebeard's Fleet
Far from Marineford, aboard the Moby Dick, Marco spoke with Jozu and Vista.
> "We're headed straight into hell," Marco muttered. "We know that."
> "But we have to save Ace," said Jozu. "No matter what."
Then a breeze shifted — one none of them recognized.
An ancient sea gull landed on the railing. A note was tied to its leg.
Marco read it:
> "Don't look for help. Look for silence.
He is watching — not the war… but the world."
Marco's pupils narrowed.
> "Luffy?"
"No…" Vista muttered. "Someone worse."
---
🌀 Rael's Inner Monologue – Above the Warzone
From far above the battlefield, Rael watched Marineford as the war began. He could see it all through a warped lens of space: the execution stand, Sengoku's command, Garp's pain, and Ace's silence.
And then… Luffy arrived.
Rael saw his cousin blast through the gates, shouting Ace's name, fearless and loud.
> "That's right, Luffy. Run at the world with your heart on fire…"
But Rael?
Rael did not run.
He waited.
He watched Whitebeard rise like a titan, watched the Admirals reveal their true strength, watched the blood begin to pour.
And then — when the first tower collapsed from a quake — he moved.
---
🕳️ Into the Depths
The sea warped silently beneath Marineford's base.
No tremor. No quake. Just a perfect circular void, swallowing stone and steel, opening into silence.
Rael passed through the broken bedrock like a wraith.
He emerged inside the understructure — invisible to all. Guards blinked, and he was past them. He didn't kill. He didn't speak.
But wherever he stepped, gravity bent.
He was now under the execution stand.
He looked up. Above him: Ace. Garp. Sengoku. The world.
> "The stage is yours, brother," Rael whispered to himself.
> "Mine comes… when the world turns its eyes away — and I carve my name behind their backs."