A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"What...is that?!"

Everyone who looked up, including Den Den Mushi (snail phone), everyone with eyes, suddenly had this question on their minds.

Garp looked up at the sky, paused for a moment, then his gaze immediately turned serious, clearly recognizing what was floating above him: "Hey, Sengoku! Am I seeing things? That thing looks like..."

Sengoku clenched his fists, his eyes wide with rage, and gritted his teeth. The Den Den Mushi in his hand trembled under his aura. "Damn it!! Such a huge thing has happened, why hasn't any news come out?!"

Lieutenant General Tsuru below opened one eye, and only after she clearly saw the three figures in the sky did she say calmly, "It's those three guys. It's normal that the guards couldn't get the message out..."

High above the plaza, the Golden Lion hovered in the air, his golden down cloak billowing in the wind behind him; Kaido transformed into a blue dragon, with clouds swirling beneath his claws; Big Mom stood on Zeus, her bloated and enormous body resembling that of a female giant.

After the three, there were all the criminals imprisoned in Impel!

Those were thousands, even tens of thousands, of vicious pirates with bounties ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions. They stood on the horizontal Impel Down prison, chatting and laughing as they looked down at the 100,000 marines on the ground.

Although these people were still wearing black and white striped prison uniforms, the sea stone shackles on their hands and feet had been removed, and each of them was holding a weapon, with arrogant faces and fierce eyes.

There was also a sailboat in the air, and standing on it was the pirate alliance that had previously reached an agreement with Shiki. It mainly consisted of Rayleigh, Buggy, and the Straw Hat Pirates, who were the members of the "Ace rescue team," as well as Crocodile, Law, Killer, and other mages who had come to join in the fun.

Further on, there were pirate ships flying the flags of the Beasts Pirates or the Big Mom Pirates, all crowded with pirates whose bounties were listed on their bounties.

Higher and farther away, there are several islands that look quite large floating in the air. If you have excellent Observation Haki, you can even feel faint vibrations coming from them.

Whether it was the Marines in the square, the Whitebeard Pirates who were just about to make a desperate move, or the viewers watching the live broadcast, they were all dumbfounded, staring at the scene before them, speechless for a long time.

The whole world seemed to have been paused, falling into a long silence.

Chapter 977 The War Begins

Maringjoia, Between Powers.

The Five Elders, who rarely leave their homes but are always in meetings, were also watching the live broadcast. When they saw the Golden Lion and others appear, the five old men fell silent at the same time.

They never expected that what was originally a good thing would escalate to such a huge extent, and they immediately felt a headache coming on.

"They actually chose to show up at this time..."

"Hmph! Those restless fellows really weren't going to let this opportunity slip by!"

"Whitebeard, Shiki, Kaido, Big Mom... Have the crew members of the Rocks Pirates gathered together again?"

"After so much time, there probably aren't many people in the world who still remember that person, right?"

"It seems they're planning to use this opportunity of Whitebeard and the Navy going to war to cause a huge uproar and turn the world upside down!"

In Marineford, on the square, the 100,000-strong navy were all speechless, sweating profusely.

One Whitebeard was already enough for them to handle, but now there's another legend, two Yonko, and a group of the world's most notorious criminals?!

How can we fight? There's no way!

Every sailor in the navy cried out in their hearts—a cry of near despair.

Is the world about to end?

Is justice about to be defeated?

Are we going to die?

Unlike the navy, the pirates cheered and howled, their fierce eyes fixed on the flock of sheep, ready to devour the navy on the ground alive.

"Look, those sailors' faces have turned green!"

"It's normal to show fear when facing an enemy of this level, isn't it?"

"At this point, besides shouting 'Justice will prevail' and then bravely charging forward with 200 times the effort, I can't think of any other way they can overcome this difficulty..."

"I never imagined that I would one day fight alongside one of the Four Emperors!"

"Originally, I really intended to quit my job, go home, and marry an honest woman, but the legendary Golden Lion extended an invitation to me, and I couldn't bear to refuse the request of an elderly man!"

"I bet you're just too scared to refuse...?"

Cold sweat dripped down Zhan Guo's forehead, and a crack appeared in the radio microphone in his hand from the force he couldn't control.

Although he had considered the possibility that these people might cause trouble in Marineford when they gathered in the Sabaody Archipelago two days ago, he did not expect that they would actually attack Impel. What he did not expect was that these lawless and arrogant people could actually get along peacefully!

"Golden Lion! Kaido! Big Mom!...Are these the helpers you've recruited, Whitebeard?"

Whitebeard: "Huh??"

"I never imagined that you would stoop so low as to ask an old friend you haven't seen in decades for help just to protect 'Fire Fist' Ace. Do you really want Roger's son to become the 'future Pirate King'?!"

In order to preserve the most complete fighting force, the Warring States period decided to divide them, so they began to use sarcastic and insinuating tactics to sow discord. Although this method was a bit underhanded, if they had ignored it and fought head-on, it would have only caused greater casualties!

As it turned out, the Warring States period's method was very effective; Whitebeard truly could not tolerate the slightest provocation.

"Stop joking, Sengoku!"

Whitebeard gripped the Murakumogiri tightly in his right hand and shouted at Sengoku on the execution platform, "I'm not so old that I need to ask others for help!!"

"I'm Whitebeard!!"

Sengoku: Alright! That's exactly what I wanted to hear! Now we can fight!!

Whitebeard: Let's fight! But whether they interfere or not is none of my business!

On a small boat floating in the air, Kira and his group of mages quietly watched the show with Rayleigh, Buggy, and the others.

"Sengoku is getting impatient!" Rayleigh couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Sengoku and Whitebeard's conversation below, looking like a rascal.

"It's impossible not to panic when facing so many enemies at the same time!" Crocodile shook his head. Now that he was the king of the Sand Kingdom, even his aura while smoking a cigar had changed.

Given the current situation, the Navy has almost no chance of winning this war. The only way to potentially reverse the situation is to, as they are doing now, first use words to stir up Whitebeard's arrogance, sow discord between him and Shiki and the others, cut off any possibility of cooperation among the pirates, and then defeat them one by one.

This trick is actually very easy to spot, and anyone with a brain wouldn't fall for it. It's also useless against those with low moral standards. However, it's effective against Whitebeard, who has his own pride.

After a brief exchange, Sengoku and Whitebeard tacitly ignored the pirates eyeing them from above and launched an attack on each other.

As long-time rivals, they knew very well that this war belonged to them, and no matter what others planned, they could only stand aside.

Whitebeard took the lead, slamming his fists into the air, shattering the space and unleashing a massive tsunami that swept across the battlefield. Aokiji leaped up, releasing ice from his hands that extended into the tsunami, instantly freezing the two massive waves into ice.

"Double-spined spear!!"

The Ice-Ice Fruit froze the air, and Aokiji created a bunch of ice spears out of thin air to attack Whitebeard, but Whitebeard shattered them with a single punch from a distance, and Aokiji himself also turned into ice fragments and fell into the seawater of the harbor.

However, the moment it touched the seawater, the harbor was frozen solid by the cold air. The ice fragments coalesced, and when a hand was gently placed on the ice, the ice began to spread outwards—

Ice Age!

With a loud shout, the entire port and the sea outside the port froze into solid ice, jamming all ships and rendering them unable to sail. However, this also allowed the pirates to use the ice to attack the land.

With that, the battlefield was created, and the two sides began their real confrontation.

"Sons, get Ace back!!"

"Justice will prevail!!"

In an instant, shouts filled the air and the earth shook.

From the air, the navy and pirates looked like two opposing groups of ants, charging forward and fighting relentlessly, the sounds of swords, guns, and cannons chilling to behold.

"Is this what war is? It looks really unsettling!"

Having never experienced the 'Alvares Empire's invasion of the Fiore Kingdom', Natsu, Gray, Erza, and the other mages were witnessing a real war for the first time, and they all felt a chill run down their spines.

This was the second time Lucy and the others had witnessed such a scene. The first time was when they saw the rebels attacking Albana in Alabasta, but that war never actually took place.

Although they had just experienced the 'War of Whole Cake Island', they were all safely hidden in the castle because of Kira's plan. They watched Kira operate as if it were a tower defense game, without feeling any sense of war.

Moreover, most of the people didn't even make a move in the end, and even when they did, it was a one-on-one arena battle, which is completely different from the close-quarters combat involving more than 100,000 people.

"Kira, what are you planning to do? Help the Marines or the pirates?" Erza suddenly looked at Kira.

These words caused Rayleigh, Buggy, Crocodile, Law, Zoro, Sanji, and others around them to turn around and stare at Killer with wide eyes.

"Wait...wait a minute!!!"

Bucky, being rather outspoken, couldn't help but ask, "Aren't we on the same side? Why is there an option to help the Navy?"

Usopp, Nami, and Chopper nodded vigorously in agreement: "Yeah! Yeah! We're in this together! We should help Whitebeard and rescue Brother Ace, right?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I was the only one who wanted to save Ace, it has nothing to do with them."

Gildas, who was standing to the side, suddenly scratched his head and burst into laughter: "Although we are partners in the same guild, I can't control what they want to do!"

In fact, Gildas knew perfectly well what was right and wrong.

Ace and Gildarts had only spent a few days together. Although they shared similar interests, Gildarts was ultimately a mage from Fairy Tail, an alien from another world; while Ace was a pirate from the Whitebeard Pirates.

Pirates, no matter how they're whitewashed, are ultimately not good people!

The current situation is like encountering a mage from a dark guild with whom you get along. While you might emotionally want to save him, rationally you hope that he can accept judgment and then repent.

Just like in the Oración Seis arc of the original work, even though the Magic Alliance had become 'friends' with Jellal, Erza still chose to let him accept the Council's punishment.

As a semi-parent, Gildarts is naturally more mature and composed than Erza in this regard.

This is the kind of upbringing from 'Fairy Tail'!

Chapter 978 The Chaotic Battlefield

"So... what are your plans, Kira?"

When Gildarts asked him a question, Kira simply smiled and waved his hand, saying, "No rush, let the battle rage on for a while."

As he spoke, he pointed to the Golden Lion trio not far away: "These things have nothing to do with us. They haven't made a move yet. We can just watch the show."

"Speaking of which, there's something else."

Erza stared blankly at Kaido and Big Mom for a while, then suddenly said, "A few days ago on Whole Cake Island, you seemed to have mentioned defeating them and then asking the Marines for money..."

Kira fell silent: "...Why have you become so greedy for money? This is not good!"

"That's 150 billion!"

Gray and the others nearby chimed in, "Yeah! That's 150 billion!!"

"Then... how about we talk to the Navy?" Kira narrowed his eyes, revealing his usual cunning, fox-like gaze, typical of a businessman.