The arrival of Oars was something of a surprise to the Marines; they had expected every resistance, but they did not expect to be so big and powerful. Even the Warlords were taking notice now.

"How utterly repulsive," said Atali. "Men are bothersome enough at normal size."

Moria just looked as if he just opened a present on his birthday when he saw Oars. "Such a magnificent beast. If I can just get my hands on his dead body, I'll have another giant zombie that will hopefully last longer than the first one."

The Marine Giants had looked upon Oars and decided that now was the time to join the battle.

At the same time, the pirates were battling the Marines and were making their way close to the scaffold.

"Make your way to the scaffold!"

"Watch your backs?" a Marine warned as the Giants began to make their move. "The giant unit is moving out."

The Giants immediately began attacking the pirates, swinging their weapons, but that didn't deter them as they continued to charge.

"Show no fear!"

The Giants knocked back a few pirates, but their main focus was on Oars, so they ignored most of them.

"They're heading off, Oars Junior!"

The Giants resting towards Oars somewhat eagerly.

"Time to live up to our duty!"

"He can't defeat us all!"

Oars were already approaching one of the battleships stuck in the ice, and the Marines were firing everything they had at him. However, nothing they did slowed him down in the slightest.

"That thing is impossibly huge! He's at least twice as big as a common giant!"

"Keep shooting! He is a living creature! All starboard that ships stop him!"

Oars then grabbed hold of the master of the ship with one hand and grabbed the side of it with the other.

Sander watched the scene from the scaffold, looking deeply troubled.

"I can't say we were expecting such a powerful beast," he admitted.

Ace was horrified by what he was witnessing.

The Marines on the ship continue to fire all the good it did them.

"Keep shooting! Fill him with lead!"

"Oars, don't do this!" Ace cried as loudly as he could. "You're an easy target for them; please turn around!"

"Hang on, Ace," said Oars. He then firmly planted his feet on the ice and pulled with all his strength. "I'm coming for you!"

He then suddenly lifted the ship out of the ice, and the Marines on board began to fall off the deck as he began to lift the ship.

"Holy crap," said one of the giant Marines.

"Kill that beast!"

Sadly, before any of them could do anything, Oars tossed the ship straight into them. Three of the Giants tried to hold back the shipment, which was bigger than they were, and the momentum was too strong, resulting in them crashing straight for the battlements, where they crashed into the remaining Giants. The ship continued, skimming the icy bay's surface until they finally crashed into the wall.

Oars then jumped over the ruined battlements, which had a massive hole and landed in the bay.

"Oars opened up a path for us to get into the bay."

The pirates cheered as they rushed towards the opening.

"Take the baby and then the Plaza!"

The Marines were now on the defensive as most of them had to reinforce the opening that Oars had made.

"Damn it all! Fall back and tighten the defensive line! Do not let them get into the Plaza!"

Once again, the battle intensified, and Gustav felt his legs shaking uncontrollably. When he looked around the battlefield, all he could see was the colour red.

"I want to run, but I don't know where to go!" Sven panicked.

There was so much chaos that it was hard to tell which way was north, and suddenly, jumping out of the smoke, a pirate was swinging his blade towards Gustav.

"Stand down or die, Navy!" he yelled.

Gustav backed away and tripped, but suddenly, a Marine officer moved in, cutting the pirate down.

"Nobody needs you getting in the way," he said to Gustav.

Gustav stared at him. 'Rear-Admiral Fardie? Slayer of 1000 men.'

"I swear," said Fardie, with his back towards him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Gustav looked at him, confused.

"We're at war here; we don't have any use for the weak," he said plainly.

Gustav just sat there shaking.

Fardie shook his head and charged right back into the battle.

Gustav was so angry with himself that he punched the ice. "I'm useless… I'm totally pathetic!"

The giant had managed to recover from Oars' attack and watched as he began to advance across the battlefield.

"I've never had to crane my head to look up at anyone."

"Me neither."

"Out of the way," said Oars. "Ace is my friend, and he needs my help. Don't try and stop me."

"I don't take my orders from you!"

One of the Giants then launched himself at Oars, and their blades began to clash. However, Oars had the size and strength advantage, and he began pushing him back, but he was barely able to block his attacks. With every swing of his sword, Oars began chipping away at the giant's blade until it shattered. Then, he swung his sword down at the defenceless giant, cutting him down.

The other Giants just stared in shock, surprised that Oars was able to take one of them down so easily.

"Vice-Admiral Lacross!" the only female giant cried.

Oars then roared loudly into the air.

Stoick sighed. "That Oars is just as stubborn as he ever was." He then turned towards Oars and began yelling at the top of his voice. "Getting yourself killed does not make you brave!"

"Don't try and stop me, Stoick," he said. "I won't stop because I don't wanna. Not until I'm done. Not until Ace is safe. I want to save my bro. I want to do it now so he doesn't hurt any more."

Stoick sighed. "I know the feeling." He then turned and looked at his men. "All right, men! Help out about the big guy! Go cover Oars!"

The pirates cheered and followed his commands.

Oars kept on advancing the helpless Marines on the battlefield, completely terrified as there was nothing they could do to stop him.

"How are we even supposed to fight that thing? He's too big!"

Oars began swinging his blade down towards the Marines, but a giant wielding a battleaxe quickly blocked his attack. However, Oars struck another blow so hard that he was sent flying and then jumped another giant, bringing him down as well.

"Don't worry, Vice-Admiral, I'll avenger you!" the female giant cried.

She then jumped into the air, raising her spear, but Oars caught it with one hand and tried to see my cheek and free from his grasp. He swung his fist at her, and she was sent flying, landing in front of the other Giants.

"We can't do this alone," said one of the giants as he helped her up. "We're all going to have to attack at once."

The chaos that Oars had caused the lad a few of the pirates to move within range of the Warlords, who, as of yet, hadn't made the move.

"Oars is one hell of a distraction; let's make our move!"

One of the Pirates fired several shots straight at Atali, but she merely created a visible kiss and shaped it into a bow.

"Slave Arrow!" she said.

She then fired several arrows from her makeshift bow. The moment they made contact with the cannonballs, they turned to stone. What was even worse, however, was that every one of the arrows also turned anyone into stone.

"Wait… what? They're statues?!"

"So you're the Pirate Empress, huh?"

Atali then launched herself onto the battlefield and kicked one of the pirates. Her kick suddenly turned a portion of his body to stone, which cracked.

"What did you do to me?" he said, shocked as he tried to hold himself together. "I'm crumbling."

"Perfume Fever!" she said, kicking Pirate and Marina alike.

Naturally, the Marines were furious with this action.

"You psycho! Why are you attacking the Marines?"

"I may have agreed to aid you in your fight against Stoick's crew, but I don't recall making any promises about collateral damage," she said coldly. "Allies or foes, all men are equally worthless. Well, except for one."

The Marines growled in frustration, but there was not a lot they could do.

"You can hate me if you want, but you can't say I didn't keep my word," she said, shrugging off their glares.

"You're nuts!" a Marine yelled.

Atali then gave off an innocent smile. "Please take mercy on my beauty."

The Marine then began to blush. "Why not?"

Oars was making quick work of the giants as he continued to advance.

"I'm coming, Ace," he said.

Moria laughed. "Yes, right this way."

Kuma then stepped forward.

"No Oars!" Ace yelled.

Moria glared at Kuma. "Damnit."

He quickly jumped back just as Kuma began creating an airpalm, and the Warlords cast their eyes upon him. The air palm he was forming was gigantic, far bigger than the one he used on the Dragon Riders.

"I'm going to save you now, Ace," said Oars, who was unaware of the danger he was now in.

"Stop," Ace pleaded.

"Nothing to fear," said Oars.

Kuma then began to condense the massive air palm into his hands. Kuma then released his condensed air palm, and it began to fly over towards Oars, who finally took notice, but it was far too late.

"Prepare yourself for the Ursa Shock," said Kuma.

The air palm then slammed into Oars, and suddenly, he was hit with what felt like a silent bomb. All the Marines and pirates in the bay were also blown away from fighter the shockwave, but it was far worse for Oars, who was stuck right in the middle of it.

When it was finally all over, Oars was still standing, albeit gingerly. However, it was clear that the attack had taken its toll upon him, and it looked as if he was going to topple over at any moment.

"Stop!" Ace yelled. "Oars, that's enough. They won't let you reach me."

Oars then suddenly fell to his knees, and his eyes turned to the straw hat he had been wearing that had been blown off by the shockwave.

Upon looking at it, he remembered the time he spent with Ace, who had given it to him.

"Hey, buddy," said Ace as they sat on a hillside. "It's hard to tell from all the way down here, but I can't help but wonder, don't you get hot? Just being closer to the sun and all."

Oars looked at the sun, and admittedly, he had never thought about it, but now that Ace had mentioned it, he felt rather hot.

"I do feel rather hot," he admitted.

"I figured. You know what? We're going to have to get you some shade."

Oars' pirate crew looked upon him in shock.

"No, Captain Oars!" they cried.

Oars then looked up at Ace.

"Don't tell me he can still move," said Sander surprised.

"Lovely," Moria smiled excitedly. "He's every bit as resilient as the other Oars."

Oars just continued thinking back to when Ace gave him his hat.

"You made this?" he said as he picked up the hat.

"Yes, some folks in the Wano Kingdom taught me how," Ace smiled. "Try it on."

Oars placed the hat on, making sure his horns didn't pierce it.

"Ace ruined two others before he got that one right," said a member of Ace's crew. "They burnt to a crisp."

"That's what happens when someone made of fire weaves straw."

They all laughed, but Oars was touched that Ace went to such lengths to make him the hat.

"Oh, it's nice and cool under here," he said.

"Then it works, I like the look."

Of course, Ace, in the present day, just looked at Oars, distraught at the links he was going to rescue him.

Despite his injuries, Oars continued to make his way towards the wall, but the Marines were not to make it easy on him.

"Aim and fire!"

The Marines fired cannonballs at Oars, and unlike last time, they appeared to be more effective due to his weakened state.

The pirates could only watch in horror.

"Oars!"

"Runaway man! You're an easy target now!"

Oars, however, refused to leave, still determined to rescue Ace; he continued to remember just how effective the gift Ace had given him had been. He had been sitting out in the middle of the rain, and the rest of his crew wondered what he was doing.

"Hey, Captain Oars, what are you doing outside in the rain?!"

Oars' new hat also served as an excellent umbrella, allowing him to sit out in the rain for a massive amount of time.

"Rain or shine, I'm fine," he said. "I don't get wet any more. Man, I love this hat."

Oars reached out his hand towards Ace. 'I still can't reach him.' He then began to topple over, but as he did, he came up with a new goal. 'If I can't rescue you, at least I can take out one of the Warlords!'

As he felt, he clenched his fist to flatten Johann with it. He managed to stabilise himself and swung his fist down upon him.

Johann finally took notice, and Oars smashed right through the wall. At the last moment, Johann somehow was able to fly up into the air. He was now floating directly above Oars, laughing, and Oars found that he was unable to move.

"Why did you stop?" Johann asked. "Ace is right there."

"Ow, my foot," Oars winced.

His memories turned to another time he remained outside, this time in the snow, and once again, his hat shielded him from the elements.

"Captain! Hey, Captain! You're going to stay outside again?"

"Why should I care?" he said cheerfully. "Snow is not getting on my head. Neither is the heat nor the cold. This hat never gets old. You're the best Ace."

Oars then suddenly felt a massive sharp pain in his leg as Johann sliced it off with his powers, and he just stood there laughing.

"Now that was fun," he said.

"Oars!" Ace cried as he fell to one knee.

Oars were now struggling to stay conscious, and he looked straight towards Ace. Much to the shock of the Marines, he kept on advancing.

"Wait? He still moving?"

Oars were now reaching directly over the wall as he attempted to pull himself into the Plaza.

"He's infiltrated the Plaza!"

Oars just reached out his hand towards Ace. "Got to go over a little bit more. Don't worry, Ace. I can make it for sure."

"That damn Johann! Moria cursed. "He knew that I wanted Oars intact. You don't cut off the foot of a corpse, so once claimed! Double Man!"

His shadow then suddenly extended.

"Let's finish him," he said in his shadow, burst into bats and began to swarm around Oars. "f

They combined and formed into a giant lizard and pierced right through Oars' stomach.

"Noooo!" Ace roared helplessly.

Oars continued to reach out to him, trying as he might, but Ace couldn't move because of his shackles.

"I made it, Ace," he said with a smile on his face. "I am here to save you."

Ace was in tears as he watched his friend dying right in front of him.