Chapter 218 — Ace the Reincarnator

The Grand Line, headquarters of the Revolutionary Army.

Haruno Sakura, Tenten, Sabo...

The Revolutionary Army's senior officers had all gathered, holding a round-table conference.

At the southern end of the table sat the revolutionary leader, Monkey D. Dragon, his expression blank, though his eyes were slightly downcast.

Sabo had brought back good news.

He had successfully rescued Fire Fist Ace.

But in this world, blessings never come in pairs, and misfortunes never come singly.

Dragon had barely had time to rejoice before the bad tidings arrived.

Acting on outdated intelligence, Luffy had charged headlong into Impel Down like a bull-headed fool to rescue Ace, only to be captured instead.

"Damn it!"

Sabo clenched both fists, grinding his teeth to splinters, his face full of self-reproach and chagrin: "It's all my fault for not thinking it through. If I hadn't left Ace's dummy body behind, Luffy wouldn't have been caught so easily!"

In the Scream Park, Luffy had received the Flame Emblem bestowed by Wang Xu; both of his Colors of Haki had reached considerable heights, and with Gear Four he even possessed combat power rivaling that of an Admiral.

If not for his clever little scheme of leaving a dummy body behind to cover the retreat, Luffy's strength—combined with the cunning foresight of Uzumaki Naruto of the Golden Legion—would have been more than enough for him to at least protect himself.

At those words, Haruno Sakura beside him knitted her delicate brows.

She cast a Power Word: Fortitude on Sabo to soothe his spirit, then spoke to console him: "You've done all you could. Don't blame yourself so harshly. No one could have predicted this."

Sakura, who had exchanged for the foresight of a Discipline Priest of Azeroth, had, after many missions, gradually exchanged for and advanced her secondary class—a Third Job Priest from the MapleStory plane.

With the bonuses of her dual classes, she had risen to the post of chief physician of the Revolutionary Army on the strength of her formidable support and healing foresight.

"Leader, are we going to act?"

Tenten stroked the enhanced +7 XE98A anti-materiel sniper rifle in her hands, a bloodthirsty gleam flickering in her beautiful eyes.

With this weapon in hand, she was confident she could hunt a legendary dragon without taking a scratch.

Having exchanged for the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception from the Type-Moon universe, she could perceive the existence of "death"—a power on the level of causality itself.

So long as she found the "point of death," a single shot would bring down even a god on the spot.

With this power, she had carved out a name for herself on the Grand Line: the Reaper Huntress.

No one Tenten set her sights on—pirate, Marine, or common criminal—ever escaped alive.

The bounty the World Government had placed on her head had already reached 460 million berries.

Dragon clenched his jaw, a look of unwillingness surfacing on his face.

He closed his eyes in pain: "We don't act."

It was not that he did not want to—he could not.

For all that the Revolutionary Army's high-end fighters now included many who could rival an Admiral, in terms of overall strength they were still far, far behind the World Government.

Sometimes, quantitative change can trigger qualitative change.

The Marines held an absolute advantage in numbers.

If Dragon were merely a father, he would have charged off to Marineford without hesitation to save Luffy.

But as a leader, he had to answer for the revolutionary soldiers under his command!

Sacrificing the public good for private ends is an error intolerable at any time.

A king must possess such magnanimity and such resolve!

Otherwise, this faction could never succeed, nor could it ever realize its vision.

...

Headquarters of the Whitebeard Pirates.

The safe return of Second Division Commander Fire Fist Ace and Third Division Commander Diamond Jozu had sent the entire crew into a day-long revelry.

What is lost and then regained is what people cherish most.

Yet this joy did not last long.

"What?"

Hearing the news reported by a crew member, Ace's pupils shrank in an instant to dangerous pinpoints, and every hair on his body stood on end.

The sake bowl in his hand fell to the ground; he seized the crewman by the shoulders, flames wreathing his face: "Don't joke about this with me!"

"I'm not joking! It's true!"

"Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy and Uzumaki Naruto of the Golden Legion broke into Impel Down to save you, and they've been captured!"

The messenger swallowed hard, feeling that their commander was rather terrifying right now.

On second thought, he steeled himself and said: "They're to be publicly executed at Marineford in three days. Saving them now is definitely too late."

Ace sank to the ground, staring blankly.

Powerlessness, rage, guilt, bewilderment...

"If only I had listened to Mr. Wang Xu back then..."

"If only... I could be a little stronger."

There is no "if only."

Sabo had braved untold danger to save him.

Luffy had landed himself in prison to save him.

Neither of his sworn brothers had let Ace down.

But Ace had let himself down.

He was even somewhat in despair.

After all these years at sea, he felt he was doing worse and worse.

The present scene reminded him of those days in the East Blue.

The Kingdom of Goa, Mt. Corvo, the Leo Workshop, the junkyard terminal...

That fire that consumed the city, those mountain bandits who preyed on the weak.

A sense of helplessness surged in his heart.

At that moment, a mechanical voice echoed deep in Ace's mind.

[Do you wish to possess the power to protect everything?]

[Yes / No]

Ace was silent for a moment, then whispered: "Yes."

[Your Reincarnator number is 170. Your novice mission will be issued within half an hour. Be sure to prepare in advance.]

[Special circumstances detected for Reincarnator 170. Plane transport is temporarily suspended.]

In the blink of an eye, all information regarding the Main God, Reincarnators, resource points, destiny gems, and missions appeared deep in Ace's mind.

He drew a deep breath, and the gloomy mist of despair in his heart finally dispersed.

As a Reincarnator, he had the chance to change everything.

Even if he could not rescue Luffy, Ace still had the means to bring him back to life.

But that was only a fallback.

Even if there was only the slightest chance, Ace wanted to fight for it and rescue Luffy.

Upon receiving the news, Whitebeard Edward Newgate immediately made his stance clear: "Save that brat called Luffy! Ace's little brother is our family too!"

This is what it means to bear the responsibility of an Emperor.

...

"Attacking the execution grounds?"

At Marine Headquarters, Marineford, Wang Xu observed everything that had happened today through the eyes of the Reincarnators.

The corners of his lips curved upward, and a look of keen interest spread across his face: "Outstanding people truly have splendid stories."

The clash of beliefs and ideals, the desperate struggle of intense lives.

For that alone, the million resource points spent unlocking the One Piece plane were well worth the price.

As for the million-odd points he had already harvested (including expenditures), Wang Xu did not take them too seriously.

After all, the Main God's space had now anchored five world channels; even doing nothing at all, resource points would pour in endlessly.

He had grown used to seeing resource points in the millions.

"Two leaders, two different choices..."

The Revolutionary Army is an army; Dragon's thoughts and decisions all fit the position he occupies.

Whitebeard Edward Newgate made the opposite choice, equally for that same reason.

Though the title of the Four Emperors contains the word "Emperor," at their core they remain violent gangs that put loyalty and brotherhood above all else.

Dragon and Whitebeard were both men Wang Xu admired, yet he would never recruit either of them as a Reincarnator.