Garp froze when he heard Ezra's name again.
His emotions were tangled beyond words.
He had said it before. In his heart, Ezra had once stood in the same place as Luffy and the others. Perhaps even closer.
And now Ezra had killed Ace with his own hands.
To Garp, it felt no different from family slaughtering family.
Yet he had been powerless to stop any of it.
The thoughts passed in an instant. Garp wiped his tears, nodded, and spoke quietly.
"Let's go, Sengoku."
The two boarded the last warship and sailed toward the outer seas.
Back in the plaza, it could no longer be called a plaza.
Whitebeard's quake power had already shattered the city beyond recognition. Add Ezra's blazing slashes, and nothing remained but endless ruins.
Amid the wreckage, two figures continued to collide again and again.
Ezra and Whitebeard.
Around them, pirates kept their distance, forming a wide circle while launching attacks from afar.
If it had been anyone else, they would have been worn down long ago by the Whitebeard Pirates.
But this was Ezra.
Whitebeard still stood in peak condition. Ivankov's hormones seemed to have extended his prime.
They had been fighting for over an hour.
In the past, Whitebeard would have collapsed from exhaustion by now. Yet every swing of Murakumogiri still carried the full force of his quake power.
Even so, both men wore grim expressions.
No matter what tactics the pirates tried, no matter how strong Whitebeard became, none of it seemed to matter to Ezra.
Thousands of sneak attacks and Whitebeard's fury alike were being deflected with near perfect precision.
Whitebeard sensed something was wrong.
It felt as though Ezra was waiting for something.
The unease in his chest grew heavier.
He could only keep swinging.
I hope Ivankov and the others escaped Marineford.
Far out at sea, a submarine slowly surfaced.
Ivankov and the others were inside.
Ivankov gulped down the salty air, breathing hard. Escaping Marineford felt like escaping a giant furnace.
No one wanted to remember what it had been like inside that submarine. It had been like a steam cooker for the living.
"So close… we almost died…"
They greedily breathed in the cool, damp sea breeze.
Then they looked back toward distant Marineford.
"Whitebeard… please survive…"
Ivankov muttered, even knowing how slim the chance was.
He did not realize that this fragile hope would soon be shattered and turn into a nightmare he would never forget.
On Sengoku's warship, Kizaru and Akainu had joined him.
"Fleet Admiral, was it really necessary to abandon Marineford?" Kizaru asked, adjusting his glasses.
Sengoku nodded gravely.
"You are not here often. You do not understand what it means when Ezra tells us to evacuate."
Akainu spoke flatly.
"Looks like we will need a new headquarters after today."
Sengoku gave a small nod.
"We will deal with that later."
In his heart, he added silently, Leave it to the next Fleet Admiral.
When the fleet had sailed far enough that Marineford was barely visible, Sengoku ordered the ships to stop.
At that moment, Hina and Tashigi arrived from the direction of Impel Down. Neither was injured thanks to the charm Ezra had given them.
But they had failed to stop Luffy and looked miserable.
They bowed their heads.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, we failed our mission."
Sengoku waved a hand. Now was not the time for that.
"Fleet Admiral… why has everyone left Marineford? Could it be…"
Hina trailed off. She already guessed the answer.
Sengoku nodded.
"Watch closely. This is the final chapter of the Whitebeard Pirates."
Back on Marineford, Ezra knocked Murakumogiri aside once more.
Then he paused.
His eyes shifted toward the distant horizon.
"They finally made it out."
"At that distance… they should be safe. Probably."
His brief distraction made Whitebeard halt as well. The unease in his heart spiked sharply.
Ezra exhaled slowly. His crimson eyes glowed as he looked at Whitebeard.
"Before you die, let me show you something."
Whitebeard barely had time to react before the temperature around them surged again.
This was not a normal rise in heat.
It felt as if the world had jumped to an entirely higher level of temperature.
If the earlier heat had been like the surface of the sun, this was like standing inside its core.
And with that extreme heat came change.
Suddenly, the entire world seemed to turn into a furnace.
The wind vanished. The clouds in the sky stopped moving.
Silence became the only sound.
No insects. No seagulls. Even the sea grew still.
It was as if the world itself had been forced to pause.
Whitebeard and the pirates stared at Ezra.
Anyone could tell that this transformation came from the man in the black suit.
Boom.
A crimson wave of spiritual pressure burst from Ezra.
Where it passed, everything ignited.
Pirates felt stabbing pain across their skin.
Then, without warning, their bodies began to burn.
"What… what is this?!"
"Fire! It is fire!"
"No… no!"
One pirate after another went up in flames.
Whitebeard's face showed fear for the first time.
He slammed his glowing fist into the sea.
"Sea Quake!"
Towering waves crashed down, but they brought no relief.
Even the seawater was scalding.
Boom.
Ezra's spiritual pressure rose again.
Whitebeard's fear deepened.
"Does this monster have no limit?!"
Ezra slowly raised Ryujin Jakka.
His calm voice clashed sharply with the apocalyptic heat around him.
"Zanka no Tachi."