Chapter 279: The Decision

"Um... well, Chopper, that guy is Bartolomeo—the one I told you about before! He's a huge fan of our Straw Hat crew," Usopp said, rubbing his nose with a look of sheepish embarrassment.

An expression like that was a rare sight on Usopp, proving that Bartolomeo's unbridled passion had delivered quite the psychological shock, pushing even his notoriously thick skin past its comfort zone.

"I see! So he's the Barto you were talking about. Does that mean..." Chopper's posture turned bashful and fidgety.

"Hm?" Usopp eyed Chopper's unusual behavior in confusion.

"Does that mean he... likes me too?"

"Of course he does!" Usopp declared with absolute confidence.

"A-Ah..." Chopper's heart rate spiked instantly, a bright flush painting his furry cheeks as he waved his little hooves frantically. "Even if you say you like me, it's not like it makes me happy, you bastard~!"

Usopp: "..."

Directly behind them, Drake, Sabo, and the others stepped out from the hatch.

"Sabo, Drake, let me introduce you guys! This is Rooster-Head, and over here is Cabbage... every single one of them is our friend!" Luffy announced, finally prying himself free from Bartolomeo's ironclad embrace with great effort.

"By the way, what are you guys even doing here?" Luffy suddenly remembered to ask.

"Ahem! Straw Hat Luffy, we came here explicitly to lend you our strength—there's no need to drown us in overflowing gratitude!" Cavendish declared, tossing his golden hair with an air of grandiose self-importance.

Under Luffy's astonished gaze, the captains of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet stepped forward one after another, warm, resolute smiles gracing their features. They had assembled on this sea explicitly for this war!

"You guys..." Luffy parted his lips to speak, but the words dissolved into a warm, silent grin shared among men.

"Hey, hey, hey... You guys do realize this is a world-ending war we're walking into, right?!" Usopp scrambled down, shouting at the assembled commanders in sheer disbelief.

"This conflict involves the entire World Government, the Revolutionary Army, and a massive gathering of the top-tier pirates ruling the New World! You lot..."

"God Usopp! Save your breath—our minds were made up long ago! Back then, we shared the sake cups of brotherhood to become the official subordinates of Straw Hat Luffy!"

"God?!" Chopper's eyes sparkled with awe as he stared at Usopp. He's so incredible!

"Exactly! We are the Straw Hat Grand Fleet! You can't just leave us sitting on the sidelines, or I, Don Sai, will be the absolute first to object!" Don Sai growled, snapping his eyes wide as his face contorted into a fierce, intimidating snarl.

Usopp swallowed hard, his heart hammering against his ribs as his thoughts spiraled into total chaos.

Prior to this moment, he had been paralyzed with sheer terror regarding the impending war, straining every fiber of his being just to preserve a calm facade.

Yet here were these men—ready to throw their lives onto the line and bleed to the absolute last drop for the sake of the Straw Hat crew. If he—the proud ace sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates—remained a coward in their shadow, wouldn't that be far too pathetic?!

"Eek..." Chopper watched the exchange with nervous intensity, thinking to himself: So this is what real pirates are like!

"CHOPPER-SENPAI!!" A sudden silhouette lunged forward, gathering Chopper into a tight, desperate hug.

"To think... to think I'd get to embrace the real Chopper-senpai in the flesh... Ahhh~ he's so insanely cute!!" Bartolomeo wept tears of pure, unadulterated joy.

Feeling the wet cascade falling flat onto his face, Chopper broke into a cold sweat. Driven by pure reflex, he shifted into his Kung Fu Point, driving a heavy kick squarely into Bartolomeo's face.

The impact twisted his jaw completely out of alignment.

"Gagh... Chopper-senpai is not only adorable beyond measure, but his physical combat output is so staggering..." Bartolomeo allocated absolute zero concern to the damage, his face radiating pure bliss instead.

In the next microsecond, Chopper softened completely, reverting back to his tiny, original form as he began dancing around in ecstatic joy.

"Even if you call me cute, it's not like it makes me happy, you jerk!" As Chopper spoke, his tiny hoof patted Bartolomeo's cheek as if rubbing away the soreness—a gentle gesture that caused Bartolomeo's mental state to explode on the spot.

Tears gushed from his eyes like twin waterfalls, endless and uncontrollable.

"Ahhh~ Chopper-senpai actually... touched me... Is this heaven?!"

"Ahem! That's enough out of you..." Zoro yanked Chopper back by his collar, before rotating his sharp gaze toward Luffy, who was currently catching up with the captains of the Grand Fleet.

"Luffy, we don't have the luxury to waste any more time here. The war has already initialized!"

Hearing those words, Luffy checked his cheerful mood. This was indeed no time for pleasantries; with the Revolutionary Army launching an all-out assault on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, the situational priority was critical.

Leaping high onto the ship's main mast, Luffy looked down at the assembly with an unusually grave expression: "Everyone! I've received your resolve loud and clear, and... I'm truly grateful to every single one of you! But this time, let us handle this battle alone. Hear me out first."

"Just a short while ago, we verified intelligence confirming that the war has already erupted. And the entities on that field extend far beyond the World Government, the Navy, and the Revolutionary Army. Both Yonko Kaido of the Beasts and Big Mom have stepped into the fray!"

Hearing this, a wave of profound shock washed across the faces of the commanders.

"Red-Haired Shanks is present as well—though Shanks is standing on our side. The sheer scale of this war is far too immense, so you guys should just..."

"STRAW HAT LUFFY!!" A furious roar cut him off as Cavendish unsheathed Durandal, driving the blade deep into the wooden deck with a sharp CLANG!

"How dare you flatly reject our assistance?! Let me tell you something—since we gathered at this coordinate today, not a single one of us had any intention of returning alive!"

"Cabbage..." Luffy's pupils contracted, his fists tightening...

"He's right, Straw Hat! Don't think for a second that just because you're a Yonko now, we have to follow your every command! How we choose to act is our own independent decision!" Ideo declared.

"Straw Hat, we are stepping onto that battlefield regardless. You lack the leverage to stop us," Hajrudin added in a booming voice.

Leo of the Tontatta tribe refused to be left out, shouting passionately: "Luffy, we're definitely coming along too!"

"That's right, Captain Straw Hat! It's just the Holy Land of Mary Geoise—we aren't afraid of a damn thing!" a chorus of thousands of Grand Fleet members roared in unison.

"You guys..." Luffy stood completely stunned, at an absolute loss for words.

The members of the Straw Hat crew kept silent, quietly awaiting Luffy's final call.

After a long pause, Luffy tightly clenched his fists and swept a single arm wide across the sky: "In that case, we march together! The World Government—we'll bring them down with our own hands!!"

"ROAR!!" The crowds below erupted into wild, fanatical cheers.

Zoro and the rest of the Straw Hat crew displayed varying expressions, though Luffy arriving at this specific decision fell well within their expectations.

Gazing down at the vast army massed below, a surge of wild ambition ignited within Luffy's chest. So what if it's the ultimate stronghold of the World Government?

As long as I'm here, not a single one of them is going to die!

Following a rapid strategic briefing, Drake, Sabo, and their contingent boarded the Going Guard to launch an immediate advance, while the Straw Hat crew disembarked to set sail alongside the fleets of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.

"Luffy, you're finally going to meet your old man today! Are you feeling a surge of excitement in your chest?" Usopp asked with a mischievous grin aboard the Barto Club's flagship.

"Old man..." Luffy repeated the words softly under his breath, only now realizing that he was about to meet the father he had never seen in his entire life.

"That's right! I'm finally meeting my dad!"

The members of the Straw Hat crew traded silent glances, completely speechless.

"I knew it!" Nami facepalmed in utter resignation. Luffy was fundamentally incapable of long-term reflection; he lived entirely in the moment.

He had never given the matter a single second of prior thought!

And so, the entire Straw Hat Grand Fleet advanced at absolute maximum speed toward the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, while the Going Guard had long since vanished beyond the horizon.

Far behind the trailing wake of the Grand Fleet, aboard a tiny, battered skiff, Crocodile was dragged up from the ocean depths half-dead, dripping wet as he roared frantically toward the sky: "STRAW HAT LUFFY!!"