Marineford.
The hundred thousand-plus Marines also learned this shocking news for the first time.
Amidst the uproar, ship silhouettes suddenly appeared on the sea ahead.
From the observation post, a Marine soldier cried out in alarm, "Whitebeard's subordinate pirate fleet has appeared!"
Dozens of huge pirate ships sailed in from the distant sea.
On their decks stood vicious-looking pirates.
"Ice Witch" Whitey Bay, "Knight of the Whirlpool" Doma, "Squard the Great Whirlpool Spider"... all were major figures renowned throughout the New World.
Forty-three great pirates, leading forty-three pirate crews, totaling over fifty thousand people.
They were rapidly approaching from the distant sea.
The entire Marine force stood ready; no one dared to slack off.
What followed would surely be a bloody battle of life and death!
An unprecedented, super-scale war involving over a hundred thousand people!
"Where is the main ship of the Whitebeard Pirates?"
Sengoku on the execution platform, and Garp, Tsuru, and the three Admirals below frowned.
What they were truly concerned about were the people on the Whitebeard Pirates' main ship, the Moby Dick.
Suddenly, a large number of bubbles emerged from the bay within the arched harbor shoreline.
A huge, whale-like shadow appeared beneath the water's surface.
Sengoku, Garp, Tsuru, and the others felt their eyebrows twitch as an astonishing thought popped into their minds.
"Could it be that Whitebeard..."
Splash—!
Endless water splashed into the sky.
The massive, whale-like shadow leaped out of the sea. It was a giant ship shimmering with iridescent colors.
It wasn't that the ship itself was colorful, but that its hull was covered in a transparent, bubble-like membrane.
Sunlight shone on the membrane, reflecting a dazzling array of colors.
The whale-shaped giant ship slammed heavily onto the sea surface and slowly came to a stop.
On its deck stood the main forces of the Whitebeard Pirates, the dozen or so division commanders.
Sengoku and the others' expressions changed slightly.
Coming from underwater using the coating technology from the Sabaody Archipelago was beyond their expectations.
But regardless, these were all the enemies they faced.
According to surveillance, only the Whitebeard Pirates had appeared at Marineford.
The other Yonko crews could not come.
Thump... thump... thump...
Steady footsteps sounded from the Moby Dick, like drumbeats pounding on the hearts of the Marines.
They felt their hearts inexplicably race, and the air grew heavy and oppressive.
The Moby Dick became like a dark, deep cave, as if a peerless beast was slowly walking out, the foul wind it stirred making breathing difficult and causing uncontrollable panic.
Soon, a tall, burly figure holding a giant blade stood at the bow of the Moby Dick.
He wore a white coat, and his muscular, exposed chest was covered in scars.
A crescent-shaped white mustache adorned his aged face, revealing a heroic smile.
"Sengoku, it's been decades since we last met, hasn't it?"
"Release Ace!"
Sengoku's face was grave, his voice cold and hard. "Stop dreaming, Whitebeard."
"Gurarararara." Whitebeard laughed heartily, planted his giant blade into the deck, clenched his fists, and punched the air on both sides.
In an instant, the very atmosphere cracked like glass, showing clear fissures.
The entire sea around Marineford began to shake violently!
The island trembled, and varying degrees of panic appeared on the faces of the hundred thousand Marines.
"Everyone be careful! This is the power of the world's strongest man, Whitebeard! Sea Quake!"
A Marine Vice Admiral roared.
Many young Marines had never witnessed it before and did not yet know what a Sea Quake meant.
But soon, they would see a scene of despair they would never forget.
The sky suddenly darkened.
Giant waves, hundreds of meters high, surged up on both sides of the bay, blocking the sun, and crashed down toward Marineford with overwhelming force!
Whitebeard, with a mere gesture, had created a massive tsunami!
From Marine Lieutenants up to Vice Admirals, a sense of powerlessness appeared in their eyes.
Against this tsunami, their entire army would be wiped out.
Let alone confronting Whitebeard directly.
'So, the difference in strength between people can be this vast...' This thought emerged in the minds of many Marines.
In the sky, between the two hundred-meter-high waves, a tall figure flashed.
"Ice Age!"
Aokiji leaped into mid-air, releasing extreme cold from both hands.
In an instant, ice rapidly spread across the giant waves.
The freezing air blew across everyone's faces, and the sound of the crashing waves dissipated.
Vast white ice froze the massive waves on both sides.
Even the sea inside and outside the bay was frozen solid, becoming a world of ice and snow.
A Marine gulped, then roared excitedly, "Admiral Aokiji is invincible!"
The attack of the world's strongest man, Whitebeard, had been neutralized!
The Marine Admirals truly were the highest combat power of the World Government!
Freezing the sea in an instant.
Such terrifying power was something they could never achieve in their lifetimes.
"Ice-playing brat," Whitebeard snorted coldly and threw a punch.
The atmosphere shattered again.
A terrifying shockwave spread through the air, smashing toward Aokiji.
His entire body elementalized into ice crystals, falling onto the ice surface, then reforming into his solid body.
"Sons, attack! Rescue Ace!"
Whitebeard gripped his large blade, its edge pointed diagonally at the execution platform, his voice booming.
From the Moby Dick and the forty-three pirate ships, tens of thousands of pirates roared, leaped down, and charged toward the Marine ranks.
The super-scale war involving nearly two hundred thousand people had completely erupted!
All sorts of strange and varied fruit abilities.
The pitch-black color of Armament Haki.
Vacuum kick slashes, bright sword flashes, and the firelight from spears and cannons flickered across the icy battlefield.
Screams and curses rose and fell.
Streams of crimson blood splattered high into the air.
The sound of flesh tearing was incessant.
Low-ranking soldiers and pirates fought desperately, every blow drawing blood, corpses and limbs falling onto the ice.
The Marine Admirals and Warlords each made their moves.
Kizaru fought against the 1st Division Commander Marco. After symbolically firing two lasers, he flashed away, returning to his seat below the execution platform.
Aokiji was also slacking off, wandering around the battlefield.
Akainu sat firmly in his high chair, unmoving.
Currently, the enemy's commander, Whitebeard, had not yet entered the fray.
The three of them wouldn't truly engage unless someone got close to Ace.
Among the Warlords, Hawkeye Mihawk was currently fighting the Whitebeard Pirates' 5th Division Commander, "Flower Sword" Vista.
Boa Hancock attacked friend and foe alike, petrifying any man she encountered, her figure gradually moving toward the edge of the battlefield.
She was preparing to leave for Impel Down.
Doflamingo was messing around everywhere, occasionally taking out a couple of pirates.
Sometimes he used his String-String Fruit to manipulate Marines and pirates into fighting each other, while he watched the show from afar.
The other Warlords were mostly the same, sometimes fighting pirates, sometimes taking out a few Marines.
Crocodile tried several times to kill Whitebeard but was intercepted each time by the 3rd Division Commander, "Diamond" Jozu.
He had already been knocked back by Jozu, coughing up blood.
Even though Crocodile desperately wanted to kill Whitebeard, he couldn't succeed and could only watch with resentment.
The Marine Vice Admirals led the Marines, engaging Whitebeard's forty-three subordinate pirate crews and over fifty thousand pirates.
The situation reached a stalemate.
Whitebeard's side wanted to attack and rescue Ace but couldn't break through.
The Marines' side wanted to kill all the pirates but couldn't do it quickly.
"Pops, Ace's execution time has been moved up."
Marco, whose arms had transformed into wings of blue flame, landed on the bow of the Moby Dick and said in a low voice.
Whitebeard's eyes flickered upon hearing this. "Moved up? It seems we can't wait any longer."
He tightened his grip on his giant blade, "Murakumogiri," and was about to leap off the Moby Dick to join the fight personally.
Suddenly, panicked shouts came from the sky behind them.
Many people, including Whitebeard, were drawn by the sound.
Because above the ice surface, a pirate ship was rapidly hurtling down from the sky, about to crash.
"The Straw Hat Pirates' flag?"
"Straw Hat Luffy?"
The front of the pirate ship had a white sheep's head. The skull on the mast wore a straw hat. Energy flames spurted from the stern, propelling the ship through the air.
On the deck, the screams of men and women were clearly audible.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]