Chapter 557

Chapter 557 is called "Luffy and Whitebeard".

Coverstory Summary
The Longarm Tribe steals a girl from the religious cult, to Brook's surprise.

Previously Before
Luffy and his escapee crew find themselves on top of a frozen wave, all surprised. Someone states that the wave had picked them up and suddenly froze, due to Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi and Aokiji's Hie Hie no Mi powers respectfully. Crocodile looks down and so does the others, where Jinbei notices Whitebeard's men while Iva notices that the war had already begun. Soon Luffy gets an idea to get the group off the wave and tells them to hurry as they only had three hours. Luffy's idea is to push the ship down the wave into the water. Mr. 3 and Buggy oppose the plan but Luffy persuades them and Buggy suddenly feels that he could do it, supported by his loyal followers. A Den Den Mushi rings, giving a Marine report, all in code words. However, one thing could be made clear, that Ace was to be executed before the original time. They all shout that they had to hurry, when the wave collapses, forcing the Marine warship down.

Present Time, Marineford
Ace and the Marines look on, bewildered as a Marine Warship crashes into the bay. Sengoku and Whitebeard notice the new addition to the war, while the escapee crew thank their luck as they miraculously managed to land themselves in a patch of water. Jinbei dives down to retrieve the fallen Devil Fruit users, complaining how annoying they were when they fell into the water. Ace shouts Luffy's name; Luffy replies back.

Around him, Marines begin to recognize the new force, starting with the former Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile. Sengoku recognizes Luffy, to Garp's horror; another group of Marines recognize Jinbei, the Revolutionary Iva and other infamous pirates from Impel Down.

Mihawk quietly comments about Luffy making head-turning scences, while Moria wails his former enemy's name. Jango and Fullbody also ponder Luffy's presence, while Hancock appears relieved that Luffy had managed to escape Impel Down safely. Helmeppo and Coby are surprised that Luffy had escaped Impel Down also, while Aokiji comments on the group as a whole. Kuma remains silent but Kizaru laughs that Luffy and him were to meet again so soon. Marco recognizes Luffy as Ace's brother. Doflamingo chuckles about the Shichibukai present and also at the "outrageous" rookie, Strawhat Luffy. Tashigi sees them also but Smoker tells her to remain focused while getting slashed, only to go straight through as a wisp of smoke. Akainu finally notes down Luffy as the grandson of Garp the "Hero of Marines" and son of Dragon the Revolutionary.

Sengoku shouts at Jinbei, asking if this was the Shichibukai's choice. Jinbei bellows back, saying that he was fine with this choice and he resigned as a Shichibukai. Garp comments about the group, saying that it was the most "screwed up" group and refused to accept that they all had one common objective. As if on cue, Iva notices Crocodile is gone. The former Shichibukai had appeared at Whitebeard, his hook at the Yonkou's neck. Buggy gets angry that Crocodile tried to "steal his glory" while the Whitebeard Pirates begin to react. Out of nowhere, Luffy, in Gear 2, kicks Crocodile across the face as his leg was coated in water which is the weakness of Suna Suna no Mi. Crocodile asks about their arrangement but Luffy refuses, saying that if the giant old man was indeed Whitebeard, no one was touching him as the Yonkou was the only person Ace truly cared about. As Whitebeard looks back, he notices the straw hat on Luffy's back, belonging to Shanks. He questions it, saying that it beared a strong resemblance to another. Luffy replies that he was borrowing it from Shanks. Whitebeard has flashback, when Ace was showing Luffy's wanted poster. Whitebeard asks if Luffy was here to save Ace, which Luffy replies that he was. The former states that Luffy would be throwing his life away if he entered the treacherous battlefield. Enraged, Luffy tells Whitebeard to stop telling him what to do, and that he had heard about Whitebeard becoming the Pirate King and states that he was to beat Whitebeard to the status of glory. Whitebeard stares at Luffy and chuckles, telling him to not to get in the way, while Luffy talks on saying that he could do whatever he wanted. Everyone is shocked at Luffy's attitude towards a Yonkou, that he would compete against such a pirate. Kizaru asks Sengoku if he was to execute any intruder, with Sengoku agreeing.

Chapter Notes

 * Brook starts his coverstory.
 * Jinbei officialy resigns as Shichibukai.
 * Luffy and Whitebeard meet face to face.