The war that was supposed to change the global landscape was gradually falling apart, developing in an inexplicable direction.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's face was as black as the bottom of a pot as he roared, "Quiet!"
After regaining control of the situation, he looked back at Dragon.
"Have you finished your nonsense? Since you dared to show yourself at Marineford, you should know what that means!"
Sengoku's words were thick with the intent to start the battle, but Dragon remained unmoved; his poise alone was admirable.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, we haven't seen each other in years. What's wrong with reminiscing?"
Dragon gave a light chuckle. "Look at the young people today."
He looked at Luffy. "One aspires to become the Pirate King."
Then he looked at Ace kneeling on the Execution Platform. "The other wants to make the man he respects the Pirate King."
"How much to look forward to—this era full of vitality and hope."
Finally, remembering there was another young man beside him, he turned to Taro.
"And what about you? What is your dream?"
Taro's mouth twitched. Damn, why does everything have to involve me!
I don't have a damn dream; I just want to be a salted fish.
They're pirates, so they want to be the Pirate King. I'm a Marine; am I supposed to become the Marine King?
Shit, 'Marine King'—that name is way too low-rent!
Taro finally curled his lip and rolled his eyes at him. "My dream is to be a Sea King!"
Dammit, are you satisfied now that I've said it?
Taro was quite annoyed by these guys; no matter what it was, they dragged him into it. I'm just a transmigrator taking a break, acting as a cheater.
There are so many transmigrators and even more cheaters out there; why do they have to screw over only me?
"Sea King?" Dragon pondered for a long while before saying softly, "King of the Four Seas?"
Taro was already irritated, and hearing this guy misinterpret his meaning again made him even more frustrated.
"What 'King of the Four Seas'? You guys are always like this, recklessly speculating on other people's intentions."
"There are as many beauties in this world as there are in the sea. The 'Sea King' I want to be is that kind!"
The logic of these natives of the Pirate World almost made Taro explode on the spot.
It wasn't until after he finished his rant that he realized something was wrong and thought to himself, 'Oh no!'
Dammit, I got so angry I let the truth slip out.
"Brat, what nonsense are you talking?" Vice Admiral Tsuru stepped onto the Execution Platform at this moment.
"When have you ever been interested in that many women?"
Thinking about how her little sister looked when she was angry and Taro's reaction upon seeing the Empress, Vice Admiral Tsuru didn't believe Taro's nonsense at all.
Taro was stunned. He looked blankly at Vice Admiral Tsuru, then at the tens of thousands of Marines in the plaza.
Whether it was female Marines like Hina and Tashigi or the other Marine Soldiers, they all had looks of disbelief. Taro even saw Boa Hancock reacting the same way.
"I'm telling the truth," Taro struggled weakly.
"Vice Admiral Taro, stop denying it. We all know you're not that kind of person."
The Marine Soldiers responded loudly. Clearly, they all knew about Taro's performance when he welcomed Boa Hancock at the pier that day.
Fine, just let everything be destroyed!
There really was no way to communicate with these natives of the Pirate World.
Taro completely gave up hope.
On the other side, Fleet Admiral Sengoku was also about to explode with rage.
He was trying hard to pull things back to the right track, but a few simple sentences from Taro had led everyone astray again.
A war was literally turning into a farce.
He glared hatefully at Taro, his Aura imposing.
"Tsuru, you've come at the right time. Let's take this guy down together."
"Taro, execute Ace immediately!"
Taro's heart was as dead as ashes. He was lowering his eyelids, giving up on everything, but when he heard Sengoku's order, his heart tightened, and he subconsciously looked at Garp beside him.
This glance infuriated Sengoku even more. Sengoku suddenly transformed into his Great Buddha Form.
His massive body took up half the Execution Platform as he threw a powerful punch down toward Ace.
"A...ce...!"
Luffy cried out heart-wrenchingly, and the members of the Whitebeard Pirates also looked over in shock and anger.
Rumble!
The Execution Platform couldn't withstand the immense power of the strike and collapsed instantly, with billowing smoke rising into the air.
The entire battlefield fell silent as everyone waited for the outcome.
A gust of wild wind blew, dispersing the thick pillar of smoke. Dragon was seen with his arms raised and palms open; from his palms, an endless stream of air gushed out, forcefully blocking Sengoku's heavy punch.
Hiss!
Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.
"You really are in league with the pirates!" Sengoku said in a booming voice, then shouted, "Taro, why haven't you carried out the execution?"
Taro sighed and slowly drew thunderstorm, raising it high. However, he was anxious inside.
Someone come quickly! Don't you see me holding the sword?
Don't just watch, do something! Dammit!
Taro's Observation Haki had been operating continuously for a long time, and its perception range had expanded several times over.
Within his perception, everyone was just staring blankly; not a single person had any intention of intervening.
Dammit, when Kizaru was charging up, someone came out to interrupt his skill cast. When it's my turn, not even a seagull flies by! Shit!
No one is interrupting; what should I do? I can't keep acting.
Taro was extremely anxious.
He wrapped Armament Haki around the blade to stall for a second.
No one.
He let his Internal Energy flow out of his body. After compressing and condensing it, he attached vibration energy to the blade to stall for another second.
Still no one.
Screw this, I'm done!
Giving up on himself, Taro swung the heavy blade down. He planned to sever his own Meridians and spit out a mouthful of blood right before the blade hit Ace, pretending his old injuries had flared up.
"Didn't I say... STOP! IT!"
Just then, in the plaza, Straw Hat Luffy suddenly gave a loud shout, and a sharp Aura abruptly erupted.
A powerful wave of air swept through. Wherever it passed, the weaker Marines and pirates all collapsed unconscious.
The remaining people all looked at Luffy in surprise.
Taro had already written his script, but Luffy's sudden outburst almost made him cough up blood for real.
However, he reacted quickly. He shifted the thunderstorm in his hand, changing the vertical slash into a horizontal sweep, and swung the blade.
Just as everyone was shocked by the 'Haoshoku' Luffy had unleashed, a thunderous roar echoed through the air.
The horizontal sweep Taro swung sliced straight into the Main Fortress of Marineford, cleanly cutting off a small portion of it.
Then, the vibration energy attached to the blade suddenly exploded. The sliced-off portion of the Main Fortress shattered into debris and came crashing down.
This seemingly ordinary swing was none other than 'Mihawk' Mihawk's basic attack technique—Mihawk Slash: Swing!
Taro was dumbfounded. In the end, the one who destroyed Marineford wasn't Whitebeard or Blackbeard!
Was I the clown all along?
Oh no, my undercover identity is exposed!
Taro looked at Mihawk with grief and indignation.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.