Journey to One Piece

238. Why did you chose this path?

Meanwhile, Ken and Jinbe had already appeared on the deck of the Merry with Jinbe being 'vomited' out from Ken's eye. He was a little disoriented, but he was fine after a couple of minutes.

"Ken, where have you been? Everyone was waiting for you," Sabo said.

"You're late," Luffy said as he chewed meat with vigor.

Yes, Sabo and others had all been taken to the Merry after they made their escape. This was the greatest escape ever in the history of Impel Down, shadowing the feat of Golden Lion Shiki. The Merry could fly in the air, so going in and out of places was never a problem for them.

"Sorry, got held up with something," Ken replied while eyeing Jinbe. Jinbe could already tell that Ken didn't want to talk about what he had just done in Impel Down, so he too promptly shut his mouth. As Jinbe appeared, everyone was curious about who this huge guy was that Ken had brought.

"You... You are Son of the Sea, Jinbe," Nami said, her pupils dilated as she looked at Jinbe. Jinbe, who was ready to introduce himself, turned and looked at Nami. Seeing Nami, Jinbe stiffened.

There was sudden silence. Buggy and others, who were ready to cause a ruckus, could feel the tension between Jinbe and Nami, so they too shut their mouths and got curious. After a few seconds, Jinbe fell to his knees and bowed down to Nami.

"I have heard about what Arlong had done to you, and whatever happened at your home is completely my responsibility. If you want to kill me, I will be happy to bow down my head and accept the punishment, but I hope that you can allow me to save Ace first. After that, I am at your disposal."

Many people here were confused as they didn't know the whole story, and nobody had educated them about it, but the Straw Hats knew what had gone down. Buggy had done his research on the Straw Hats, so he had a general idea of what they were talking about. But it wasn't the same for the prisoners.

Nami flinched as she heard what Jinbe said and clenched her fists.

"I have met Hachi a few days ago," Nami said. This made Jinbe raise his head and look at Nami, awaiting what she wanted to say.

"I have forgiven him, but not forgotten what I had faced. But let's not talk about my personal problems when Ace's life is at stake. We are going to have a talk after this is over," Nami said. This relieved Jinbe a lot and brought a small smile to his face.

"One question," Luffy raised his hand.

"Yes," Sabo replied.

"Who is he?" Luffy asked. This made everyone embarrassed. Sabo went on to explain who Jinbe was, and Ken joined in and spoke of how Jinbe was a great friend of Ace. This made Luffy remember Arlong, as he had almost forgotten about him. Arlong was taken care of very easily, so it was all the more reason for him not to remember.

In fact, Ken was pretty sure that Lucci, the man who was supposed to be his long-time enemy, had slipped from his mind entirely. With everyone on board, Franky was asked to take the ship slowly to Marineford. According to the news, the execution was happening in 14 hours, so there was still time.

Until then, they could take their time and rest. Chopper came forward with medicines for everyone who had just escaped, and Sanji made food. There were too many people, so Nami and Robin helped him, which of course he loved and was almost drooling as they joined.

Meanwhile, Jabra called, saying that even the CP agents had been dispatched to Marineford. Apparently, Ace was considered too dangerous, and they had ramped up the security. This didn't matter to Ken anyway. CP agents could be taken care of easily.

Luffy actually wanted to go and free Ace instead of waiting for the execution time, but Sabo explained that they didn't even know where he was, and thus it was better to attack when they were in the open.

"Sabo, have you contacted the Whitebeard Pirates?" Ken asked.

"Yes, they will attack during the execution time too," Sabo replied.

"Alright, everyone. This is war. So you can go wherever you want and take care of the things around," Ken said. Of course, not everyone was happy to be in the war.

For example, Buggy was begging to be let go and not have to participate, but nobody paid attention, and there were some Buggy fanatics who thought Buggy was trying to save Ace from the beginning itself.

After the Sabaody incident, the Straw Hats had already returned to the Merry, so everything was in place from the beginning itself.

And thus, the waiting began.

14 hours later

Marineford Headquarters

A separate high-rise deck was built right in the center of the huge open platform of Marineford. The deck had two floors, with the middle floor much broader than the upper one. On the middle floor, three huge chairs were placed, and on those chairs sat three very tall men.

Each of them had a very serious expression. Those three were the Admirals of the Marines - Kuzan Aokiji, Sakazuki Akainu, and Borsalino Kizaru. On the top deck, there was a long steel plate that looked red with some dried blood. On the steel plate, two hands were crucified with chains around the man's neck and legs. The blood seemed to have dried up a lot, but one could still see the glisten of red from time to time, indicating that it hadn't fully healed.

The man who was tied up was Portgas D. Ace.

Beside him sat an elderly man with a white beard. This was Monkey D. Garp.

"Normally, I hate criminals with my heart and soul and would bring them down with my entire force, but family... family is where I get weak... Why, Ace? Why did you and your brothers choose this path?" Garp muttered with a heavy heart.