Gern Reginald Sigmar remained still, watching coldly without intervening.
But elsewhere on the battlefield, Ace and the others—consumed by grief and fury at the desecration of their father's body—could never stand by while Blackbeard defiled Whitebeard's corpse.
"Teach!!! You bastard!!!!"
The moment the massive black curtain swallowed Whitebeard's body, the grief and rage Ace had been suppressing exploded all at once.
He didn't think.
He didn't hesitate.
With a roar, his right fist ignited into roaring flames—
A blazing Fire Fist burst forward, scorching and incandescent!
However—
"Swish!"
A cold arc of steel arrived after the flame yet struck first, slicing into the torrent with surgical precision, as if cleaving silk.
The razor-sharp slash split the enormous pillar of fire clean in two.
The divided flames scattered into twin streams, sweeping past both sides of the black curtain without touching it.
Shiryu of the Rain appeared before the shroud, calmly sheathing his famed blade, Raiu.
A cigar hung from his lips. He exhaled a thin plume of smoke, tone faintly mocking.
"This… is a miraculous moment."
"It mustn't be disturbed."
His relaxed posture—like a man enjoying a stage performance—only ignited the Whitebeard remnants' fury to greater heights.
"Shiryu!!!"
"Kill them! Take back Pops!"
Flames surged around Ace once more as he prepared to charge recklessly forward—
"Ace!!! Stop!!!"
In a flash of blue fire, Marco transformed into his phoenix form and intercepted him at blinding speed, gripping Ace's shoulders firmly.
Grief etched his face as well—but his eyes were clear.
"Look at the situation, Ace!!!"
"Pops is already… already dead!!!"
"He didn't give us a final order—but he gave his life to carve out our path to survive! To secure your freedom!!!"
Marco shook him, trying to rouse his brother from rage's suffocating grip.
"Look around you! The Marines are still waiting for their chance! Blackbeard's crew are snakes in the grass! And Gern… Gern's intentions are unclear!"
"If we keep fighting, we'll all be wiped out!!!"
"Don't let Pops' sacrifice be meaningless, Ace!" Marco's voice cracked—not with weakness, but pleading urgency.
"We have to retreat! Now! Immediately!!!"
"Retreat? None of you are leaving."
The tragic tension froze as a voice, cold and brimming with naked killing intent, cut through the air.
"BOOM!"
Molten magma erupted skyward.
Like a gatekeeper from hell itself, Admiral Akainu crashed down in front of the pirates attempting to withdraw, sealing off their path.
Half his body had already become magma, dark-red lava coursing over his form like living blood.
His gaze flicked briefly toward the black-shrouded area—apparently unconcerned with Blackbeard's actions for the moment—
Then locked onto Ace, shielded by Marco, and the battered yet unyielding Straw Hat Luffy beside him.
"Heh."
A cruel smirk twisted across his face—a blend of absolute disgust and the satisfaction of uncovering something vile.
"I never expected…"
"That the blood of Pirate King Gol D. Roger… and the blood of Revolutionary leader Monkey D. Dragon…"
"The two greatest criminal lineages in the world…"
"Would be sworn brothers!!"
The revelation struck like lightning.
Ace and Luffy's pupils trembled violently. Marines and pirates alike stared in stunned disbelief.
Akainu savored the effect.
He stepped forward, magma fist slowly clenching, radiating suffocating heat and pressure.
"Your fathers are dead. You 'sons'…"
He emphasized the word with venomous mockery.
"Ought to show some filial devotion…"
"And stay here…"
"To be buried alongside him."
"PIRATES!!!"
The final word exploded from his mouth—an unfiltered manifestation of his extreme interpretation of Absolute Justice.
—
While Akainu and the Whitebeard remnants teetered on the brink of renewed battle—
Elsewhere, at the bottom of the massive crater that had swallowed Golden Lion Shiki—
The man who should have been lifeless twitched.
His eyelids fluttered.
Then snapped open.
The searing pain that had wracked his body was gone. Instead, a strange warmth enveloped him—life force surging anew.
His clouded vision refocused.
At the edge of the crater stood a figure in a blue cloak.
Ain—the user of the Back-Back Fruit.
"Why?" Shiki rasped, voice dry and hoarse.
"That power… is what restored Newgate, isn't it?!"
He immediately connected it to Whitebeard's impossible return to his prime.
"Yes." Ain's face remained hidden in her hood's shadow, her voice calm and detached.
"Admiral Gern said you get one strike."
"After that, I'll cancel the effect."
She paused.
"As for who that strike is for… you decide."
"He said to think for yourself."
With that, she stepped back and melted into the crater's shadows.
"Heh… that Marine brat again…"
Golden Lion let out a low, ambiguous chuckle.
Struggling upright with the support of his twin blades, Oto and Kogarashi, he activated the Float-Float Fruit once more.
His broken body rose slowly from the abyss.
His target?
In this condition, was that even a question?
Naturally—the man who had driven him into the dirt.
Gern Reginald Sigmar.
Such humiliation could only be repaid in blood.
Decision made, Shiki gripped his swords tightly and ascended.
Murderous intent locked onto Gern's distant figure.
He prepared to gamble his life on this final strike.
But—
As his upper body cleared the crater's edge—
His eyes fell upon a sight that made his blood run cold.
Though details were obscured beneath the black curtain, the Blackbeard Pirates' posture—crowded close, reverent and depraved—
What were they doing to Newgate's body?!
At that exact moment—
"FWAA!"
The massive black shroud was torn away.
Every eye on the battlefield snapped toward it.
Blackbeard's crew wore faces twisted with feverish anticipation.
Marines and Whitebeard's men stared in dread and disbelief.
Whitebeard's corpse stood as before—upright, unbent, unmoving.
Blackbeard stood before it, grinning with boundless ambition.
He even slapped Whitebeard's cold arm again.
"Pops… thanks for the gift!"
Then he spun around, arrogance and showmanship radiating from him, and extended a finger—
Pointing toward Gern in the distance—
Unaware that the rising Golden Lion behind him lay along that same line.
"Heavenly Tremor!!!"
"Witness… my power!!!"
Darkness spilled from beneath his feet.
"Black Vortex!"
Shadow surged like a living abyss, devouring light and rubble alike—the strange suppressive nature of the Dark-Dark Fruit on full display.
Then—
Before the stunned gaze of all—including Golden Lion, hovering midair—
Blackbeard raised his left hand.
"This is the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit!"
And then—
He made a motion that froze the hearts of every Whitebeard pirate present.
His right hand clenched into a fist.
His arm drew back.
That stance.
That opening form.
It was unmistakable.
The signature posture Edward Newgate used to unleash the Gura Gura no Mi!!!
"That stance—!!!"
Marco, Ace, Jozu—every Whitebeard pirate engaged in battle with Akainu—
Their pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Shock beyond comprehension flooded their faces.
Blackbeard did not disappoint.
"The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!!!!"
Laughing wildly, he hurled his right fist into the air before him—mimicking Whitebeard's form.
"Bzzzzz—CRAAACK!!!!!!!"
Space shattered.
Not with the apocalyptic magnitude of Whitebeard at his peak—
But the white, spiderweb-like fractures spreading visibly through the air—
The dull, horrifying sound of reality breaking—
The tangible shockwave rippling outward—
All proclaimed a truth that defied the laws of the sea.
Marshall D. Teach possessed two Devil Fruit powers.
"Zehahahaha!!!!"
He spread his arms wide before the fractured air, roaring in triumph.
Silence.
A silence as deep as the grave swallowed Marineford.
Marines. Pirates. Warlords.
All stood frozen, minds incapable of processing what they had witnessed.
Blackbeard's display—his blasphemous theft, his maniacal laughter—pressed pause upon the battlefield itself.
Only the faint crackle of mending space lingered in the air.
Then—
A voice shattered the stillness.
"Hey… bastard…"
It trembled—not with fear—
But with fury.
A fury vast enough to incinerate reason itself.
Golden Lion Shiki, hovering above—
His entire body shook violently.
He stared down.
At Blackbeard's twisted grin.
At the corpse behind him—
Whitebeard, spine still straight even in death, standing unbowed upon the earth.
That was a man Shiki acknowledged.
A rival. A comrade-in-arms and adversary who had contested the seas alongside him and Roger.
A monument to the pride and strength of the legendary old era.
And now—
That monument was being desecrated by a filthy hyena.
His power stolen.
His dignity flaunted.
Shiki's hands tightened around Oto and Kogarashi until veins bulged, as if he might crush the hilts.
In that moment—
The lion roared.
Golden Lion Shiki—
The last flying pirate of the old legendary age—
His prime restored by Ain's power—
All the dignity and sorrow of a bygone era erupted from him.
Conqueror's Haki detonated outward.
From above, voice trembling like glacial steel, he hurled his words at Blackbeard one by one.
"I'm asking you…"
"What are you doing?"
"To my comrade… my rival…"
With each word, his presence swelled.
The life and strength restored to him ignited fully under his rage.
"To this man I acknowledged…"
"To Newgate's fallen form…"
"What the hell are you doing?!?!?!"