At Ace's shout, Whitebeard answered with his signature laughter. Then his gaze swept across the battlefield.
On the walls—
the Seven Warlords stood in a line.
Below them, the three Admirals lounged on their seats, anchoring the front like immovable pillars.
And higher up—
Kong, Sengoku, and Garp.
Three old acquaintances.
Then Whitebeard's pupils tightened sharply.
He saw five familiar figures.
His voice turned grim with surprise.
"The Five Elders!"
The smile vanished from Whitebeard's face. His eyes hardened, growing sharper by the second.
He had heard Shiki and Kaido would show up, and that had given him some confidence in rescuing Ace—
but if those five were here too, then saving Ace today wouldn't be so easy.
Back at God Valley forty years ago, they hadn't taken the field.
But Whitebeard had never believed they were harmless.
And the commanders beside him—
each one looked heavy, tense, and alert.
They'd expected Marineford's defenses to be monstrous.
But this…
This was beyond exaggerated.
Warships as far as the eye could see. Marines in endless numbers. The Warlords. The three Admirals. The Fleet Admiral, the Commander-in-Chief, the legendary hero—
and now five strange old men who made even their "old man" change expression.
Across the world, in front of live-broadcast screens, spectators argued anxiously.
"So Whitebeard really came."
"They've got a lot of people too, but compared to the Navy… the gap is huge."
"If Shiki and Kaido don't come, then…"
"Forget saving Ace—Whitebeard's crew won't even be able to leave alive."
Almost no one believed the Whitebeard Pirates had a chance.
The Navy's displayed force was simply overwhelming.
Several Hundred Kilometers Away
On a "wood island" drifting offshore, the Rōmu Alliance watched the broadcast.
"So this is Whitebeard… the man called the world's strongest."
True power recognized true power.
Watching Whitebeard stand before over a hundred thousand Marines with Murakumogiri in hand—
even they couldn't help but respect him.
Of course, they didn't count Rōmu in that comparison.
In their eyes, Rōmu wasn't something you described with the word human.
Rōmu murmured softly.
He hadn't seen Whitebeard in forty years.
If he hadn't awakened his Fruit and gained a massive supply of natural life force—
he might have been an old, white-haired man too.
"I wonder what Shiki and Kaido look like now…"
Rōmu thought.
According to Tesoro's intelligence, those two should be arriving soon.
Marineford
On the execution platform, Sengoku raised the loudspeaker Den Den Mushi and shouted:
"Whitebeard!"
"Today's execution will not be interrupted by anyone!"
"You should surrender immediately!"
Then his voice thundered across the fortress.
"All forces—prepare for battle!"
"OH!! HA!!"
Over a hundred thousand Marines roared in unison, perfectly synchronized.
Blades leveled. Rifles raised. Cannons angled.
Every weapon pointed at the Moby Dick.
Their killing intent was unmistakable—
they meant to wipe the Whitebeard Pirates off the sea.
On the Moby Dick's deck—
Whitebeard ignored the roar of the masses. His sharp gaze remained fixed on the Five Elders.
He lowered his voice and spoke to Marco beside him.
"If Shiki and Kaido don't show up…"
"you withdraw."
Marco's eyelid twitched.
He opened his mouth, ready to swear they would live and die together—
but before he could speak—
the wind changed.
A harsh, whistling gale suddenly tore across the sky.
The unnatural shift seized everyone's attention. Heads snapped upward across the island.
The sky, which had been clear moments ago, was now turning black—
as if a massive storm front had appeared out of nowhere.
And that "storm" was sweeping toward Marineford at an absurd speed.
"What is that?!"
"A storm?!"
"No way—this was blue sky just now!"
The Marines muttered in confusion.
But on the fortress—
Kong and the others realized instantly.
That wasn't cloud cover.
That was Shiki's fleet.
Just like God Valley forty years ago—
Shiki had chosen an aerial assault.
"So he really came…"
Sengoku clenched his fists, teeth grinding.
A familiar opening. A familiar dread.
Memories of God Valley—blood and chaos—flashed through his mind.
In moments, the "cloud" split apart—
breaking into countless black dots.
Now even civilians watching the broadcast went slack-jawed, eyes bulging.
They hadn't lived through God Valley.
To them, it looked like punishment falling from the heavens.
Only after several more seconds did they finally see what it was.
"It's the Flying Pirates!"
"Golden Lion Shiki's sky fleet!!"
"So the legend really came!"
"They say Shiki almost wiped out Roger's crew at Edd War years ago!"
Hundreds—no, thousands—of pirate ships descended from the sky.
A sight so absurd it made reality feel warped.
The Navy raised rifles to fire—
but it was too late.
Ships slammed down violently, one after another.
Marineford was instantly filled with wreckage and screaming.
Countless Marines were crushed on impact.
And then—
Sengoku's side noticed something even worse.
Not every flag carried Shiki's emblem.
Many bore a horned beast skull.
"Shiki and Kaido came together."
Kong's "mountain" mustache shuddered as he spoke.
Sengoku's voice sank, grim and heavy.
"I didn't expect them to arrive as one."
Garp's expression turned unstable—stormy, unreadable.
Whitebeard. Shiki. Kaido.
Old enemies.
Old monsters.
And if the intelligence was correct—
Tesoro, Enel, and the rest were coming too.
"This…"
Sengoku's forehead beaded with sweat.
"Can we really… handle it?"
His eyes slid toward the Five Elders.
Seeing their faces unchanged—
still arrogant, still calm—
Sengoku finally let out a shallow breath.
But below the execution platform—
the three Admirals could no longer keep their earlier composure.
One by one, they straightened.
Legs uncrossed.
Eyes sharpened.
"KIHAHAHA…!"
A savage laugh tore through the air.
"Newgate!"
"Didn't think you'd get creative, you old bastard—crawling up from the seabed!"
Then an even louder, more exaggerated roar followed.
"Newgate, I didn't think you'd grown this old!"
"What—can you even lift Murakumogiri anymore?! Or should we hang it on your wall as a decoration?!"
The voice wasn't mockery—
it was a war cry.
Like thunder cracking straight into the eardrum, making the entire battlefield buzz.
Two figures stepped into full view—
Golden Lion Shiki and the "Strongest Creature"…
Kaido of the Beasts.
Shiki clenched a cigar between his teeth, arms folded, coat whipping in the wind.
Beside him, Kaido—seven meters tall—stood with black hair spilling over his shoulders, dragon-whisker mustache fluttering.
He carried his iron spiked kanabo on his shoulder like it weighed nothing.
The three legends of the Rocks era—
officially arrived.
The moment they appeared—
the Whitebeard commanders' morale surged.
Marco wiped his nose and shouted toward Ace on the platform:
"Ace!"
"We're not letting anyone who hurt you get away with it!!"
Jozu clenched his fists, bellowing:
"Ace—hold on!!"
"We're coming to get you!"
"ROOOAAARR!!"
Tens of thousands of pirates roared together, their momentum exploding—
a wave of ferocity that nearly swallowed the Navy's earlier battle cry.
Shiki and Kaido's arrival snapped their faith back into place.
Only Squard's expression changed, jaw tight, struggle written across his face.
"Gurararara…!"
Feeling his sons' fighting spirit rise, Whitebeard let out a hearty, exhilarated laugh.
It was like every old injury and hidden ailment vanished at once.
This was what he lived for.
He stared at Shiki—an old companion—and Kaido—once a crewmate under Rōmu.
A slight curve lifted Whitebeard's lips.
Ever since Rōmu disappeared… it's been a long time since I felt this clear-headed.
His laughter rolled across the battlefield again.
Then—
boom.
A monstrous pressure erupted from Whitebeard.
Conqueror's Haki flooded outward, forming a visible shockwave around his body.
Deep as an abyss. Heavy as hell itself.
Even the commanders nearby instinctively stepped back.
On the execution platform, Sengoku's eyes widened.
"That stance—!"
"Damn it!"
He tried to shout for the soldiers near Whitebeard to retreat—
but it was too late.
Whitebeard slammed Murakumogiri into the deck and shifted his right foot outward.
His body lowered slightly.
His arms crossed in front of his chest.
Muscles bulged like living steel.
Then he roared:
"You two bastards—"
"Don't you dare hold me back!!"
He swung both arms outward and punched the air.
Crack.
A sharp, unnatural sound.
The space where his fists struck—
split.
Invisible reality fractured into spiderweb cracks.
He had shattered space itself.
And that wasn't all.
In less than a breath—
BOOM!
A terrifying, formless shockwave burst outward.
It slammed into the sea of the crescent bay—
and the ocean erupted.
The previously calm water turned violent, rising into two colossal walls.
Within seconds, two monstrous waves surged upward—
towering dozens of meters high.
"What—?!"
"So this is Whitebeard?!"
"He raised a tsunami with one strike!"
"And he attacked first!"
Across the world, people watching the broadcast went completely numb.
On Marineford, the Navy didn't have time to be stunned.
Those waves were already climbing over their heads.
Marines screamed, weapons shaking, turning to run—
because if those tsunamis hit, the impact alone could crush them to death.
Even the Warlords on the wall felt cold sweat at their palms.
Whitebeard's opening move had created a disaster large enough to swallow Marineford whole.
The shockwave hadn't stopped either.
Sea levels rose further.
The two waves climbed higher and higher—
until they blotted out the sky above the island, turning Marineford gray and drowned in shadow.
"Not bad."
Shiki's voice drifted, amused.
"Didn't think you still had that kind of strength, Captain Newgate."
Kaido snorted as well, eyes gleaming.
"Make it bigger."
"Sink the whole damn place."
For forty years, after Rōmu vanished, they'd been waiting for this moment—
to drag Marineford into the abyss.
But they also knew it wouldn't be that simple.
Not with those five strange old men present.
Sure enough—
"Hah."
One of the Admirals finally moved.
Aokiji vanished from his seat in a blur.
In the next instant, he was already tens of meters in the air.
He stared at the surging tsunamis, expression cold and unchanged.
Then he spread his arms.
And spoke in a flat, lethal voice:
"Ice Age."
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