Chapter 22

The sea didn't just move; it screamed.

Kurumi stood on the frozen ice of the bay, her boots crunching on the surface that, seconds ago, had been liquid ocean. High above, two frozen tsunamis—waves taller than mountains—loomed like suspended guillotines, held in place only by Admiral Aokiji’s Ice Age.

"So this is the power of the strongest," Kurumi whispered, her breath misting in the freezing air. The vibration of Whitebeard’s Gura Gura no Mi still hummed in her bones. It wasn't just an earthquake; it was a rejection of stability.

Around her, a hundred thousand men roared. The Battle of Marineford had begun.

"CHARGE!"

The Whitebeard Pirates, led by the Division Commanders, poured off the Moby Dick and the fleet of allied ships. They hit the ice like a landslide.

"Don't let them reach the plaza!" a Vice Admiral bellowed.

Kurumi drew her new weapons—the black, Haki-conductive flintlocks given to her by Doflamingo. They felt heavy, cold, and hungry.

"Let’s see what you can do," she murmured.

The First Shot

A group of New World pirates—veterans of the second half of the Grand Line—rushed her sector.

"It's just a little girl!" a pirate with a chainsaw for an arm laughed. "Tear her apart!"

Kurumi raised her right pistol. She didn't aim with her eye; she aimed with her intent. She pushed a pulse of Armament Haki into the grip. The black metal drank it greedily. The barrel hummed, turning a dull, obsidian shade.

Bang.

There was no smoke. Only a streak of black lightning.

The pirate’s chainsaw—and the arm holding it—evaporated. The bullet didn't stop; it pierced the chest of the man behind him, and the man behind him. Three kills, one shot.

"Oh?" Kurumi’s red eye widened. "Efficient."

In the East Blue, she had to rely on hitting soft spots. Now, she could simply punch through steel.

She broke into a run, her twin tails trailing behind her like ink. She wove through the battlefield, a dancer in a mosh pit.

Left. Duck. Shoot.

A pirate lunged with a spear. She sidestepped, the spear grazing her coat, and fired point-blank into his knee.

Right. Spin. Kick.

She used the momentum to deliver a Haki-infused heel drop onto another pirate’s helmet, crumpling it like tin foil.

She was efficient. She was lethal. But she was also invisible. amidst the chaos of giants, laser beams, and earthquakes, a single Commander killing a dozen men was nothing.

And that was exactly how she wanted it.

The Slash

Suddenly, the air pressure changed.

To her left, the World’s Strongest Swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, stepped forward. He drew Yoru, the black blade that was taller than he was.

"I wish to measure it," Mihawk said, his voice cutting through the din. "The true distance between us and that man."

He swung.

It was a casual swing, yet it released a green shockwave of compressed air that tore the ice apart. The slash was massive, a skyscraper of death hurtling toward the Moby Dick.

Kurumi watched, her Clock Eye tracking the speed. I can't dodge that. Even with Aleph, the surface area is too large.

CLANG.

The sound was deafening. The slash stopped.

Jozu, the Diamond Commander of the 3rd Division, had intercepted it. His body had turned into brilliant, indestructible diamond. He threw the slash upward, sending it harmlessly into the sky.

"Diamond Jozu," Kurumi noted, reloading her flintlocks. "Physical immunity to cutting. High defense. Weakness: Doflamingo’s strings."

She was cataloging them. Analyzing them. Every Commander here was a potential obstacle for her future goals.

The Giant's Tragedy

"ACE-KUN! I'M COMING!"

The ground shook rhythmically. Thump. Thump. Thump.

From the mist, a behemoth emerged. Little Oars Jr., a descendant of the continent-puller she had seen at Thriller Bark (and whose zombie had nearly killed her), charged the bay. He was massive, dwarfing the giants of the Marine Giant Squad.

He wasn't fighting for glory. He was fighting for his friend.

"Don't let him through!" the Giant Squad roared, attacking him.

Oars Jr. ignored the swords stabbing into his legs. He ignored the cannonballs bouncing off his chest. He smashed a battleship with a single swing.

"So tragic," Kurumi whispered from atop a frozen wave. She watched as Kuma—the real Kuma—began charging an Ursus Shock. She watched Doflamingo laughing as he cut off the giant’s leg.

She aimed her pistol at Oars Jr.'s head. She could take the shot. It would be a mercy kill. It would save him the pain of being riddled with bullets and lasers.

But she lowered the gun.

No. His body needs to fall there. His corpse becomes the bridge for the pirates to invade the plaza later. If I kill him here, he falls backward, and Whitebeard loses his path.

She gritted her teeth. "Die well, giant."

Oars Jr. collapsed, reaching out toward the execution platform. "Ace…"

The Sky Falls

The battle raged on. Moria was summoning zombies from the corpses. Hancock was turning both pirates and Marines to stone indiscriminately. Marco the Phoenix was kicking Admiral Kizaru out of the sky.

Kurumi was holding her ground near the bay's edge, conserving her stamina. She had used Aleph only twice to dodge stray cannonballs.

Then, she heard it. A screaming voice coming from the heavens.

"ACCCCCCEEEEE!"

Every head on the battlefield looked up.

Falling from the sky, along with a broken battleship and huge chunks of ice, was a motley crew of escapees.

Ivanokov. Crocodile. Buggy the Clown. Mr. 3.

And Monkey D. Luffy.

They plummeted toward the frozen bay.

"He's here," Kurumi smirked, holstering her guns.

Crash!

The ice shattered. Luffy emerged from the smoke, striking a pose that would become legendary. He stood before the three Admirals, before the Warlords, before the strongest man in the world.

"I'M GONNA SAVE YOU, ACE!"

Whitebeard looked down at the tiny rubber boy. "Brat… do you know what you're facing?"

Kurumi watched the interaction, her heart racing. This was the turning point.

"Go on, Luffy," she whispered, her voice lost in the roar of the crowd. "Show them the will of D."

She tapped her earpiece.

"Perona," she spoke into the transponder snail hidden in her collar. "Stay below deck. The lightning is about to start."

"Why?" Perona’s shaky voice came back.

"Because," Kurumi looked at Luffy charging straight into the chaos. "The Idiot has arrived. And he brings the storm with him."