Chapter 140: Tower of Justice – The Buster Call Begins & the Great Escape
Just as Vivi and Robin breathed a sigh of relief for Sol, Luffy finally arrived late. He had searched Lucci's body for a long time looking for the key, but in the end it was Lucci's pet pigeon Hattori who flew down and dropped the key into his hand.
"Vivi, check if any of these work! I'm going to help Sol!" Luffy shoved the keys into Vivi's hands, immediately entered Second Gear, and shot off like a red streak toward the distant battlefield.
On the other side, Vice Admiral Onigumo caught his breath. A resolute, ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He quickly pulled out a Den Den Mushi from his coat and issued a stern order: "Sol is too powerful! We absolutely cannot let him escape and become a great evil that threatens the seas! Since we can't beat him… then let him disappear along with this entire island of Enies Lobby and become history!"
The moment the order was given, the warships surrounding Enies Lobby immediately began to move. The already prepared cannons roared in unison. Countless shells rained down like a storm, instantly engulfing the entire island in explosions and flames!
Zanbay and the others, who had already retreated to the first gate, were stunned by the sudden destructive bombardment.
"Cannon fire! Has the Navy gone mad?!" Pauly turned back, his face full of disbelief.
"That's… a Buster Call." Vice Admiral T-Bone, awakened by the explosions, clutched his wounds and explained with difficulty: "Authorized by the World Government and executed by Navy Headquarters… it is an indiscriminate, destructive attack on the target area, meant to completely erase everything and everyone that poses a threat to the government's rule."
"Navy!" Zanbay and the others immediately became alert and took defensive stances. However, to their surprise, T-Bone suddenly dropped to one knee before this group of former enemies:
"Although it is extremely shameful… I beg you all! Please help me rescue the guards on this island!"
"Have you lost your mind? Asking us—your enemies—for help? Get out of the way, we still need to evacuate quickly!" Zanbay, who had been a seasoned江湖 figure before following Franky, was not easily swayed.
"Give me one reason," Pauly, however, remained relatively calm and asked in a deep voice.
"My justice… cannot sit by and watch the people on this island die meaningless deaths under cannon fire!" T-Bone raised his head, his tone resolute. "Even if it means disobeying military orders and lowering my head to the enemy… compared to saving lives, these things are insignificant!"
Pauly stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly turned and shouted to the two giants behind him: "Hey! You two giants—are you called Kashii and Oimo? Can you carry that 'Rocketman' over there?"
Then he looked back at T-Bone: "I didn't expect a Marine who looks so scary to have such a kind heart inside. What are you still standing there for? Go save people! Gather at the front island! Two sea trains crammed together should be enough to take everyone!"
Upon hearing this, T-Bone immediately straightened his back, saluted solemnly, then endured his injuries and ordered the already awakened Marine soldiers to immediately join the rescue effort.
Soon, with the cooperation of these two originally hostile groups, they braved the continuous falling cannon fire and managed to rescue nearly five thousand guards from the sea of flames. As for the other half who couldn't be rescued in time, they unfortunately perished in the bombardment or under collapsing buildings.
Kashii and Oimo worked together to lift the heavy "Rocketman" onto the tracks. Everyone quickly boarded the two sea trains and, amid the deafening roar of cannon fire, urgently departed from Enies Lobby, which had already turned into a blazing inferno.
Zanbay stood at the rear of the train, looking back at the island swallowed by flames and thick smoke, silently praying in his heart: "Big bro… you have to be safe!"
"Do you guys hear something?" Chopper, in his reindeer form and carrying Chimney on his back as he sprinted forward, suddenly twitched his ears, sensing something unusual.
"How could that be… you must have misheard, Chopper! We need to hurry and meet up with Luffy and the others!" Usopp replied while running.
"Wait, something really does feel off… I think I hear the sound of rushing water!" Nami felt the humidity in the air suddenly spike. She immediately stopped, pressed her ear to the ground, and listened. The next second, she stood up abruptly and shouted to everyone: "Run! The seawater is rushing in from behind!"
It turned out a cannonball had struck the foundation of the Tower of Justice, causing a large amount of seawater to pour in and rapidly flood the entire underground passage.
Before long, Nami and the others saw the surging seawater rushing toward them. "This is bad! Run! Almost all of us are landlubbers—if it catches us, we're finished!" After shouting, Nami immediately transformed into her beast form, grabbed Granny Kokoro, Karoo, Chopper, and Chimney, and flew forward at low altitude.
Zoro and Sanji glanced back and immediately used "Shave" to accelerate into a mad dash, leaving only Usopp and Franky far behind. "Wait for me!" In this life-or-death moment, Usopp's potential exploded. He surprisingly used "Shave" skillfully and overtook Zoro and Sanji in one breath.
"Hey!" Before Franky could even finish speaking, he watched Usopp shoot ahead like a bolt of lightning.
However, it wasn't just from behind—the front of the passage was also flooding with seawater. Nami was caught in the torrent; her ability was forcibly canceled. Back in human form, she was powerless and passed out from swallowing water. Immediately after, Sanji and the others were also swallowed by the raging current.
"No good… the current is too strong… if this continues we'll really die here. I need to think of something!" Sanji gritted his teeth, desperately holding his breath.
Just when everyone was about to reach their limit, they suddenly felt their bodies being pulled forward by a powerful force. At the same time, a voice reached everyone's ears: "Hold your breath. I won't let you die."
Even the unconscious Nami heard the voice and woke up. When they opened their eyes, they saw that Granny Kokoro had taken off her outer clothes and pants, tied them into a makeshift rescue rope, and was dragging them forward through the sea with all her strength.
"A sea… sea cow?!" Sanji had originally thought he was meeting a legendary mermaid, but what greeted his eyes was Granny Kokoro in a swimsuit… The visual shock was too intense. The whole group finally couldn't take it anymore and collectively passed out.
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