Wano Country, the Shogun's residence.
Dragon came alone.
Accompanied by a gust of wind, he appeared out of thin air in front of Rowan.
Many people knew that Dragon could stir up fierce winds. Quite a few guessed that Dragon might have a Logia-type Wind-Wind Fruit or perhaps a Hurricane Fruit.
Of course, some people also guessed it was a Mythical Zoan.
After all, Mythical Zoans were the answer to the current version.
Rowan actually didn't care what Devil Fruit ability Dragon had. After seeing him appear, he smiled and pointed at the table and chairs prepared in front of him.
"Please sit."
"You are Miss Nico Robin's boss?"
Dragon looked at Rowan, somewhat surprised, because the person before him was simply too young.
Unimaginably young.
However, Dragon did not look down on Rowan because of his youth.
After all, the second-in-command of his Revolutionary Army was also a young man.
"That's right. It's me. I'm Rowan. First time meeting you, leader of the Revolutionary Army."
Rowan smiled and said to Nico Robin, who was sitting beside him, "Pour Lord Dragon a cup of tea."
Nico Robin stood and poured Dragon a cup of tea.
Dragon thanked her, then looked at Rowan with bright, focused eyes.
"May I ask why Lord Rowan asked to meet me this time?"
"Nothing major. I just wanted to tell you that I'm planning to start a team fight. I don't know whether you want to join or not."
"Huh?" Dragon looked completely confused.
Nico Robin explained from the side, "What Boss means is that he plans to attack the Holy Land Mary Geoise, eradicate the Celestial Dragons, and completely overthrow the World Government. He wants to know whether Lord Dragon is willing to join him."
Dragon was shocked.
"When?"
"Not long from now, Marine Headquarters will have an unprecedented conflict with the Whitebeard Pirates. We plan to take advantage of that moment to attack Mary Geoise."
Dragon calculated the time. Ace would be publicly executed in seven days.
In other words, seven days later, Rowan and his group planned to attack the World Government.
"Isn't that too rushed?" Dragon couldn't help frowning as he asked.
Although he also wanted to attack Mary Geoise and completely overthrow the World Government, seven days was far too short and far too hasty.
Rowan said calmly, "Whether it's rushed or not isn't up to you. I've already decided on this matter. I'm only notifying you. If you come, we welcome you. If you don't, it doesn't matter."
Hearing this, Dragon fell silent.
After a long while, he asked, "May I ask what chance of success you have in overthrowing the World Government?"
"Ten out of ten."
Dragon fell silent again.
A few minutes later, the meeting ended.
Dragon transformed into a gust of wind and left.
Rowan looked in the direction where Dragon had disappeared and asked Nico Robin with a smile, "Do you think the leader of the Revolutionary Army will come?"
Nico Robin did not answer, because she did not know either.
…
On the other side, after Dragon returned to the Revolutionary Army headquarters, he gathered the officers together.
He told them that Rowan's group planned to attack the Holy Land Mary Geoise.
This made all the Revolutionary Army officers look at each other in confusion.
"Seven days from now? That soon? Who exactly are these people?" Sabo was somewhat stunned.
Belo Betty, commander of the Eastern Army, asked curiously, "Leader, didn't you ask them why they dare to attack the World Government's base? Do they have some trump card?"
Dragon shook his head and said, "They only told us about this matter. They said nothing else. They simply asked whether we wanted to attack the World Government together."
Lindbergh, commander of the Southern Army, shook his head and said, "This is too risky. That is the World Government's headquarters. It has experts as numerous as clouds, and there is even the unfathomable Imu."
Sabo said, "They were the ones who told us this information. Their understanding of the World Government is far above ours. Even so, they still intend to attack the World Government's headquarters. That means…"
Belo Betty continued, "It means they have extreme confidence in their own strength and believe they can defeat the World Government."
Dragon said, "I asked them their chance of victory. They said ten out of ten."
Belo Betty was dumbfounded.
"Hey, hey, hey. Isn't that a bit too exaggerated? Ten out of ten? How exactly did those people calculate that result? That's the World Government that has ruled the world for eight hundred years."
Dragon nodded. "That's what I thought too. If they had said their chance of victory was sixty or seventy percent, I might have gambled with them. But ten out of ten…"
Morley, commander of the Western Army, said, "So the leader thinks these people are lying? Bluffing?"
Sabo said, "That doesn't make sense. Why would they do that?"
Belo Betty retorted, "But no matter how you look at it, a ten-out-of-ten chance of victory is far too exaggerated."
Sabo did not refute that, because he also felt that a ten-out-of-ten chance was not realistic.
Dragon said, "That is why I wanted to discuss this with you. Should our Revolutionary Army cooperate with them and attack Mary Geoise this time?"
The moment he finished speaking, everyone present began arguing.
"I think it's too exaggerated. We should be more cautious."
"I think so too."
"But what if what they said is true? If they really do have a ten-out-of-ten chance of winning, then our Revolutionary Army can cooperate with them to defeat the World Government and correct this twisted world."
"But what if they don't? What if they're just bragging?"
"We must be responsible for the lives of all our comrades."
For a time, no one could convince anyone else.
Hearing everyone argue, Sabo's mind turned quickly, and an idea suddenly came to him.
He slapped the table, producing a crisp sound.
"Everyone, I have an idea."
Hearing that, everyone turned their gazes toward him. Although Sabo was young, his hard work and achievements over the years were obvious to all.
Everyone wanted to hear his insight.
"We don't need to mobilize everyone. The leader and I will go to Mary Geoise together."
"If this battle has a chance of victory, we will cooperate with that group and help crush Mary Geoise. Meanwhile, all of you can launch major operations in your respective territories and overthrow several brutal and inhumane countries."
"If this battle has no chance of victory, the leader and I will leave."
"And all of you can still launch major operations in your respective territories. While the World Government is too occupied to deal with anything else, you can properly teach those cruel nobles and kings a lesson."
After hearing Sabo's words, everyone suddenly understood.
Dragon looked at Sabo approvingly. As expected of a young mind. It worked well.
"Then we'll do as Sabo says. This time, we must make the World Government suffer a huge loss."
Hearing this, everyone saw unprecedented excitement in each other's eyes.
Not long ago, because of the Egghead incident, they had been targeted by the World Government and suffered heavy losses.
Now, it was time to take it all back from the World Government with interest.
…
At the same time, as the Summit War drew closer, the entire world began to stir.
Countless people's eyes were drawn to this battle.
The World Government seemed completely confident about this battle. It placed Visual Den Den Mushi in many locations, such as Sabaody Archipelago, Loguetown, the City of the Spring Queen, Dressrosa, and more.
They intended to publicly execute Ace before the entire world and even exterminate the Whitebeard Pirates.
On the eve of the Summit War, Morgans secretly met with Rowan.
"Is everything that needs to be prepared ready?"
"Don't worry, Lord Rowan."
Facing Rowan's question, Morgans patted his own chest and said, "All preparations are complete. There absolutely won't be any mistakes."
Rowan was quite satisfied.
"Good. I'll trouble you with tomorrow's matter, Morgans."
Morgans laughed excitedly.
"I absolutely won't fail to meet Lord Rowan's expectations."
He was already starting to feel impatient.
…
At the same time, in Impel Down.
Garp sat with a gloomy expression in front of a prison cell. Inside the cell was his grandson, Ace.
"Tomorrow is the day of your execution."
Ace: "…"
"I'm sorry, Ace. Grandpa can't save you."
Garp's face was full of pain. With his strength, taking his grandson away from Impel Down was not difficult.
With Impel Down's current forces, they could not stop him at all.
But he could not do that.
Because he was Garp.
Ace raised his head and looked at the haggard-faced Garp. Guilt surged through his heart like a tide. He knew very well what kind of torment this old man, who had always been optimistic, was suffering because of him.
"I'm sorry, old man. It's my fault. I disappointed you."
Garp fell silent. Only after a long while did he say, "It's too late to say that now. Tomorrow, when you are publicly executed, Whitebeard will definitely come."
Hearing this, Ace's heart clenched.
On one side was the Pops he admired.
On the other was the old man who had raised him.
He truly did not want to see the two come into conflict, and he especially did not want the Whitebeard Pirates to come rescue him.
"Old man, can you…"
"I can't."
Before Ace could finish, Garp interrupted him.
"For this day, our Marines have already mobilized everything we have. I can't be that selfish. And…"
At this point, Garp paused before continuing, "And with Whitebeard's personality, do you think he would turn back just because I told him to?"
Ace froze.
Right. With Pops's temper, how could he possibly abandon him just because of a few words from someone else?
But sacrificing so many brothers and sisters because of him was far too unfair.
The moment he thought about that earth-shaking battle breaking out because of him, Ace could not help bursting into tears.
"Please, Pops. Be selfish for once. Just this once."
He couldn't help praying to the heavens.
Seeing his grandson crying, Garp let out a heavy sigh.
If only they had known this would happen, why had things come to this?
Unfortunately, everything was already too late.
Time passed bit by bit in silence, until the next morning arrived.
The day of Ace's execution had come.