"Looks like… Whitebeard, the greatest threat of all, has already been dealt with by Gern."
On the execution platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku withdrew his gaze from the golden stage above. He turned slightly, looking at the silent figure seated beside Ace.
His tone was calm.
"Karp… at this point, are you still not going to make a move?"
The question carried two meanings.
On the surface, it was directed at the Marine Hero's stance.
Beneath that, it was a grandfather being asked what he would do while his grandson awaited execution.
Monkey D. Garp kept his head lowered.
His teeth were clenched. His body rigid.
He did not answer.
Justice and blood.
Both were tearing at him.
Sengoku frowned deeply, preparing to press him further—
"BOOOOM!!!"
A massive crash, accompanied by an outrageously loud shout, thundered down from the sky, shattering his train of thought.
"WAAAAAAAH!!! That's so much gold!!!!"
Countless eyes snapped upward in unison.
From high above, a battered, barely-holding-together warship was plummeting toward the center of Marineford Plaza in a chaotic yet strangely fierce descent.
And at its forefront—
A boy in a straw hat stood unmistakably at the bow.
"ACE!!!"
The scream that tore from Monkey D. Luffy's lungs struck the battlefield like a tidal wave.
"Straw Hat?!"
"How is he here?!"
"And… 'Desert King' Crocodile?!"
"Sea Knight Jinbe?!"
"Aren't those… Impel Down escapees?!!!"
Before stunned eyes across the battlefield, a strike force composed entirely of prison break fugitives descended like divine soldiers, crashing straight into the war's chaotic heart.
"BOOM—!!!"
The warship smashed into the ground, sending up a towering cloud of dust.
Straw Hat Luffy.
Former Warlord Crocodile.
The fish-man hero Jinbe.
Revolutionary "Queen" Emporio Ivankov.
The absurdly lucky clown Buggy and his motley followers.
And a swarm of vicious criminals freed from Impel Down's depths.
This chaotic yet undeniably powerful reinforcement had officially entered the Paramount War.
"Ace!"
Luffy adjusted his straw hat, rubber arms already stretching and coiling with explosive tension.
"I'm here to save you!!!"
Sengoku's face darkened to iron at their sudden appearance. He turned to Garp and growled under his breath—
"Karp! Once again, it's your damn family causing chaos!!"
But the upheaval was far from over.
An even more violent surge of Haki swept across the distant horizon.
The clouds were ripped apart brutally.
A massive azure dragon tore through the sky at astonishing speed.
Another Emperor of the New World—
"Hundred Beasts" Kaido.
Behind him, King—the "Wildfire"—followed in pterosaur form.
"Kaido?!" Even Golden Lion Shiki, mid-clash with Akainu, hadn't expected yet another old rival to appear.
"Kaido is here too?!!"
Gasps echoed across the battlefield.
One Whitebeard had already forced the Marines to commit everything.
If two Emperors descended simultaneously—
The consequences would be catastrophic.
"NEWGATE!!!"
Kaido's roar battered every eardrum.
"That thing with Oden back then— I don't owe you anymore!!!"
Eight parts of his arrival were pure instinct—an appetite for chaos, drawn to the greatest war of the century.
The remaining two…
Perhaps even he wouldn't admit it.
A complicated residue from the ambush that led to Kozuki Oden's death—an urge to "repay" something, however twisted.
The colossal dragon dove toward the already fractured battlefield of Marineford.
Just as two Emperors seemed poised to converge at Marine Headquarters—
"SHING—!"
A massive slash wrapped in black-and-red lightning surged skyward from a nearby supply island at blinding speed.
It cut straight toward the dragon in the heavens.
"Divine Departure!"
Before the blade even arrived, the Conqueror's Haki infused within it made Kaido's pupils contract.
"BOOOOM!!!"
Kaido was forced to swing his dragon claw, shattering the slash midair. His downward momentum stalled as he turned toward its source.
On the shoreline of the supply island stood Shanks.
His legendary blade Griffin rested casually at his side.
Alone at the front.
Behind him, the full lineup of the Red-Hair Pirates stood ready for war.
"Kaido! The balance of this war is already fragile!"
"If you intervene and send it spiraling completely out of control, the entire world will descend into greater turmoil and suffering!"
"That's not a future any of us should accept!"
It was all lofty rhetoric about preserving balance and preventing bloodshed.
Kaido snorted in contempt.
"Damn brat… your captain's son is about to be executed and you're preaching about the greater good? The new generation really has no sense of honor!"
Still—
With Shanks' current strength, barging into Marineford today would not be easy.
"Tch… Red-Hair. You meddlesome, self-righteous bastard!"
"How come Gern didn't just cut you down back then?"
"Or is the scar across your chest feeling too lonely? Want me to add another and make it a cross?!"
Shanks' gaze sharpened.
"I think the scar on your chest looks just fine, Kaido."
"You—!"
Kaido roared, dragon body twisting violently through the clouds before shifting into his hybrid form.
But ultimately—
He was intercepted completely by Red-Hair.
Even so, though Kaido and Shanks' clash did not enter Marineford proper, the ripple effects were unavoidable.
King, who had followed Kaido.
And the Red-Hair Pirates' executives—Benn Beckman, Yasopp, Lucky Roux, and the rest—who had come ashore to block him—
Were now trapped.
Pulled into Marineford's colossal meat grinder whether they liked it or not.
Elsewhere, Kizaru and Aokiji exchanged a glance.
From their vantage point, they could clearly feel the imperial-level shockwaves from the distant clash.
Even residual energy from a battle between Emperors could devastate Marineford.
Worse—
If the two lost control.
Or, in the worst-case scenario, joined forces temporarily—
The outcome would be unimaginable.
"Yare yare~ how troublesome…" Kizaru pouted lazily, though his body was already dissolving into golden particles.
"Can't just stand around watching anymore~"
"Ara ara… this really has spiraled out of hand."
Aokiji sighed as cold mist began spreading uncontrollably from his body, frost instantly sealing the ground beneath his feet.
"I wonder… did Gern prepare for this? Or has this scene already shattered his plan?"
The two Admirals moved almost simultaneously.
In an instant, they left the central battlefield of Marineford and sped toward the confrontation zone between Red-Hair and Kaido.
"Hm? Marine Admirals…" Shanks' brow creased slightly as he sensed their rapid approach.
"Hmph! The Navy brats want in too? Let Gern come himself if he's got the guts!!" Kaido sneered.
In that patch of sky—
A bizarre and dangerously unstable triangular stalemate formed.
Red-Hair vs (Kaido + Kizaru + Aokiji).
Kizaru & Aokiji vs (Kaido + Red-Hair).
Kaido vs (Red-Hair + Kizaru + Aokiji).
An absurdly volatile three-way tug-of-war unfolded along Marineford's perimeter.
And on the execution platform—
Watching the battlefield spiral further and further beyond control—
Sengoku's expression darkened completely.
One of his greatest fears…
Had just come true.