Marineford.
The Navy HQ—once painted in clean blue-and-white—had been reduced to a scorched ruin.
Burned-out craters pocked the ground. The ice field was shattered into jagged plates. Smoke drifted everywhere, and the air reeked of salt, gunpowder, and blood.
At the very front of the fortress—
the three Admirals stood in a line.
"Stop holding back," Akainu said coldly.
"There's an even harder fight coming."
Kizaru and Aokiji didn't answer. They simply nodded.
They all understood what Akainu meant.
According to the Five Elders' intelligence, Whitebeard, Shiki, and Kaido weren't the only ones coming.
More powerful pirates were still on their way.
Heat surged around Akainu.
His arms turned into blazing magma, the air shimmering and warping from the temperature.
"Move."
He kicked off the ground and shot toward Kaido again.
Akainu wasn't the type to "let things go."
He remembered every slight.
But right then—
a black shadow drifted across the bright sky.
A chorus of shrieks—half howling, half wailing—rang out over the battlefield.
Everyone looked up.
A Marine warship was falling out of the sky.
And beneath it—
hundreds of figures dropped with it, screaming like lunatics.
Garp's vision went dark for a split second.
He recognized that straw hat immediately.
"…LUFFY?!"
Among the falling crowd were faces the rank-and-file Marines knew all too well:
"Straw Hat!"
"Buggy!"
"Jinbe!"
"…Ivankov?!"
The shock rippled across the lines.
Sengoku and the others weren't surprised.
They'd already received word that this bunch would show up.
"Annoying little brat…" someone snarled under their breath.
The ship slammed down.
Chaos erupted.
Luffy stood at the bow, staring straight at the execution platform.
Ace was up there.
Ace saw him too.
Their eyes met.
Luffy's whole face lit up.
I made it in time!
He planted his feet, leaned back, and sucked in a massive breath until his belly ballooned—
then threw his arms wide and shouted with everything he had:
"ACE!!!"
His voice rolled across the battlefield like a drumbeat.
On the platform, Sengoku nearly exploded.
"GARPPP!!"
"Your grandson again—always your family!!"
Garp grabbed his head, utterly fed up.
His son was a revolutionary.
His grandsons were pirates.
That damned D bloodline was determined to humiliate him to the end.
Up on the walls, even the Warlords reacted.
Doflamingo's grin widened under his sunglasses.
He remembered what Rōmu had told him—
don't underestimate Straw Hat.
These "kids" weren't ordinary rookies.
They were the next generation stepping onto the stage.
Aokiji's gaze slid sideways, cold and sharp.
"So you're here too…"
Frost surged.
Ice shot out and locked Crocodile in place in an instant, binding him like a sculpture.
And Luffy?
He didn't hesitate.
He bolted forward, sprinting straight into the war.
"ACE!! I'M COMING!!"
Nearby Marines were instantly furious.
"Pirate—don't get cocky!!"
"Stop him!"
"Form up!"
"Kill them all!!"
They rushed him in squads, blades raised.
Luffy roared back—
"Get out of my way!"
"GUM-GUM ROCKET!!"
His arms shot forward, stretching to impossible lengths.
BOOM!
A blast of impact smoke exploded as Marines were launched into the air, weapons scattering across the ice.
Seeing Luffy charge like that, pirates who'd been wavering suddenly got their fire back.
Whitebeard's men surged again, roaring as they pushed deeper into the bay.
Sengoku shouted again from the platform:
"Damn it!"
"Garp—look at the grandson you raised!"
But despite the yelling, Sengoku wasn't panicking.
Luffy was still far too weak to "turn the tide."
The only reason he drew this much attention was his bloodline.
Then—
a glittering flash cut the battlefield.
A streak of light slammed down near Whitebeard's Thirteenth Division as they tried to break through the wall.
BOOM!
Dozens of pirates were blown apart and sent flying.
Bodies hit the ground hard.
Blood painted the ice.
"Bastard…!"
"So this is an Admiral's power…!"
The pirates stalled—hesitating.
But Luffy kept running.
He didn't slow down for anything.
Kizaru's voice drifted out, lazy as ever:
"Pretty fired up, aren't you…"
He remembered Luffy.
Garp's grandson.
Kizaru raised his foot.
Golden light gathered at the tip of his shoe.
A cross-shaped flare formed—blinding.
A real finisher.
Unlike earlier, this wasn't a warning shot.
The killing intent was there.
Yet—
even with the attack fully charged—
Kizaru didn't kick immediately.
Luffy was still charging forward, eyes locked on Ace.
Kizaru clicked his tongue inside his head.
Tch… damn it.
And then—
as if on cue—
Emporio Ivankov appeared at the side, face twisted in urgency.
Kizaru exhaled, the tiniest breath.
Then spoke lightly, as if he hadn't hesitated at all:
"Light."
The golden cross shot out—straight at Luffy.
A shot meant to erase him.
"DEATH WINK!!"
A shrill, ridiculous shout—
and a compressed blast detonated through the air, intercepting the beam and knocking it off-line.
Luffy wasn't hit.
Ivankov's forehead was slick with sweat.
"Thank god… I made it!"
He knew the truth.
Straw Hat wasn't just some rookie.
He was Dragon's blood.
If Luffy died here, Ivankov would have no way to answer for it.
On the execution platform—
one of the Five Elders' eyes narrowed.
He'd seen it.
Kizaru's hesitation.
Kizaru's "slip."
"Enough with the stalling," the Elder said, voice like frost over steel.
"Move."
The Five Elders' killing intent surged—cold, heavy, absolute.
The air around them changed.
And for the first time since they appeared—
they finally looked like they were about to fight.
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