One piece :Nox ( Before Dawn)

Seeing that Sal turned around and was about to leave, Smoker took a deep breath. Regardless of his status as a Marine or Hina's friend, he had to intervene, even if he realized he wasn't his equal.

— White Paw! — shouted Smoker, launching his fists, which transformed into smoke and flew towards the enemy. Even with his back turned, Sal sensed the attack with his Observation Haki and easily dodged it.

Smoker relied too much on his Devil Fruit. Worse was that the Smoke Fruit was merely a lower-level Nature Fruit, incomparable to the top-level Fruits eaten by the three admirals.

Sal quickly approached Smoker and, under the astonished gazes of the enemies, punched him with a fist full of Armament Haki, knocking him a hundred meters away into an ice boulder with a single blow.

Smoker clutched his chest. The elemental was easily defeated once again. Now, not only was he overcome with depression, but he was also lost in thought.

— Damn, such strong Armament Haki. Looks like I need to improve my Haki too, — he muttered.

Sal retreated back into the pirate formation. He hesitated to take unnecessary risks. The fleet's hatred for him might even be stronger than for Whitebeard.

Rayleigh dealt with several marines who had overestimated themselves and came at him with questions.

— Sal, Whitebeard... his health is not promising. What do you intend to do?

"It's not time yet, we still have reinforcements that haven't arrived," Sal replied.

We overcame significant challenges to capture Impel Down, and we need not only practice but also more allies.

Sal didn't want to attack the execution platform with Rayleigh now. Whitebeard is old, and so is Rayleigh. Even if his strength isn't as impressive as Whitebeard's, his physical endurance won't allow for a long fight. This old man is no longer 50 years old.

Sal looked up and saw that Sengoku on the execution platform was also watching him.

Suddenly, the cries of many people came from the sky, interrupting secret calculations. Looking up, they saw a fleet ship falling from several hundred meters above. Many pirates dressed in prison clothes were falling from above like flowers from the sky.

Except for a few unfortunate ones who fell straight onto the ice, the rest, along with the ship, landed in a pool dug by Jozu. What incredible luck! It's unknown whether this was a coincidence or the work of Luffy and Buggy.

Soon, new figures appeared on the ships floating on the water's surface. Most were dressed in prison attire, and some in flashy stockings. At the head of the group were all familiar faces to Sal — those he met in Impel Down.

The fleet's alarm sounded once again.

An experienced vice admiral quickly identified the escaped prisoners.

"World Destroyer Bondi, King of the Hermaphrodites Ivankov, Sir Crocodile , First son of the Sea Jinbe, and Supernova Monkey D. Luffy with a 300,000,000 Beli bounty!"

First Dark king Rayleigh and Roger's Clone, and now four strong individuals at the level of the Shichibukai... Sengoku felt that the situation was spiraling out of control. The legendary pirate Rayleigh, four strong individuals comparable to the Shichibukai... Just thinking about it gave him a headache. He roared:

"Garp, damn it, it's your grandson again!"

"Don't blame me, I can't control them," Garp replied indifferently, picking his nose. He expected Luffy to come to rescue Ace. It would be strange if he hadn't shown up.

By the way, the escaped prisoners also noticed Sal with Rayleigh. Crocodile was displeased by this. Due to the agreement with Sal, he couldn't attack Whitebeard.

Luffy shouted to Sal:

"Thanks, Sal! I will definitely save Ace!"

"Luffy, don't die," Sal said, smiling and shaking his head. In the original story, this guy paid a heavy price. He used two hormone injections, spending 20 years of his life.

Whitebeard stood on the flagship, observing the entire battle. Luffy's familiar straw hat, Shanks's words about betting on the future... That's the brother Ace often talked about. He dared to come to the battlefield to save people; that's truly impressive.

Another pirate ship with four top-tier fighters... This unexpected twist is no less impactful than the fate involving Rayleigh.

Suddenly, Whitebeard noticed a red nose. Upon closer inspection, he smirked and spoke to Buggy, who was trying to sneak away unnoticed:

"Oh, is that the red-nosed kid who sailed with Shanks on Roger's ship? You're here too, huh? Planning to take my head?"

Buggy was startled by the unexpected voice. When he saw Whitebeard looking at him, his hair stood on end. Yet, his words were quite brazen.

"That's right, I'm here to take your head," Buggy declared.

The pirates under Buggy's command, especially Mr. 3, were nearly scared to death. Can they leave the group now? After all, they were casually talking with the most powerful man in the world!

Whitebeard's smile widened even further.

"Red-nosed kid, we have a common enemy—the fleet. How about a temporary alliance? Later, you can have my head on your shoulders. Come and take it if you dare."

"Of course, I had the same idea," replied Buggy with a smug smile, placing his hands on his hips. His confidence was nothing less than Whitebeard's.

Their conversation bolstered Buggy's crew, making them a little delirious. Their boss was a legendary figure capable of speaking to Whitebeard as an equal.

Marco flew over to Whitebeard. As the captain of the first division, he was responsible for putting out fires and protecting his command. Now, he was full of doubt.

"Pops, why are you being so polite with Buggy?"

"Marco, don't you notice that the pirates behind Buggy aren't ordinary people? We need more troops right now."

"That's true. Buggy, who has been unknown all these years, has managed to gather so many elite pirates," Marco remarked.

Buggy didn't realize Whitebeard was deceiving him. He felt as if he were walking on clouds. Suddenly, someone patted him on the shoulder, and he heard a voice he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Buggy, I didn't expect you to achieve so much over the years. I heard from Shanks that you were busy treasure hunting, but it seems I was mistaken."

"Vice-Captain Rayleigh..." Buggy whispered.

The gray hair and aged appearance made Buggy feel as if he had been ravaged by time. The vice-captain who had taught him and Shanks since childhood was like a mentor to him.

The legendary pirate Captain Buggy was still in shock. Why was he meeting either Whitebeard or the vice-captain today? If he were to meet Captain Roger resurrected from the dead, that would make everything possible too.

"Vice-Captain..." Buggy whispered again.

"It's been so many years since we parted, just call me Rayleigh. I was quite fond of you when you were little," Rayleigh said.

"...Rayleigh, why are you here?" Buggy asked.

Rayleigh pointed to Sal, who was discussing something with Brynnidi .

"I came with him."

A familiar face prompted Buggy to ask the question that intrigued him. He had been thinking about it as he made his way to the city.

"Rayleigh, is August D. Sal the son of Captain Roger?" Buggy asked.

"Uh, uh..." was all Rayleigh could respond, pointing his finger at Ace: "There's Roger's son, Portgas D. Ace." Ace.

Buggy's eyes immediately widened. He didn't know that Ace was the captain's son when he was in prison.

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