"Red Hair! What is your purpose here? Do you intend to join this war as well?!"
Sengoku shouted, his tone laced with anger.
At the port, the pirate ship Red Force slowly approached. Standing at the bow, Red Hair wore a serious expression and spoke in a solemn tone.
"Quite the opposite. I have no desire to see the flames of war spread any further. Therefore, I have come to end this war."
"End the war?"
"What kind of joke is this guy playing?!"
"A Marine victory is already inevitable! Are you telling us to just stop? Absolutely impossible!"
Hearing Red Hair's words, the Marine officers on the battlefield shouted their responses. Their eyes burned with anger, looking very much ready for another fight.
By now, Whitebeard was a spent force. Between his flaring old injuries and the wounds accumulated from continuous battle, taking him down was only a matter of time.
The division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates were also showing signs of exhaustion after their prolonged struggles against the Admirals.
On the other hand, the three Admirals still retained plenty of energy. Under these circumstances, they naturally wanted to press the advantage and wipe out the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates. How could they possibly listen to him and obediently stop?
"Even with Red Hair's crew added to the mix, the Marines aren't without the strength to fight!"
"That's right! If you want a war, bring it on! We absolutely cannot let Whitebeard and Fire Fist Ace leave here alive today!"
Voices continued to ring out from the Marines, and an aura filled with intense fighting spirit rapidly spread through their ranks.
Seeing this, Shanks's expression remained unchanged, seemingly unsurprised by this outcome.
It was true that he didn't want to expand the war. It would be best if he could get the Marines to stand down without a fight, but if that didn't work...
Since he was here today, he was naturally prepared to stop the war with more war!
*Shing!*
Red Hair drew his saber, Gryphon, from his waist. A cold gleam flashed across the blade as his gaze darkened, and he said coldly,
"Then bring it on. Although I have no intention of starting a war, since some of you haven't fought enough, I don't mind being your opponent."
As his words fell, Benn Beckman, Yasopp, Lucky Roux, and the others behind him grabbed their weapons and stepped forward, looking entirely ready for a massive brawl.
In an instant, a chilling, murderous aura rapidly permeated the entire battlefield.
Seeing that they were serious, the majority of the Marines immediately fell silent.
Among them, a small portion of the Marines actually had no will to fight left. The prolonged slaughter since the war began had long since left them physically and mentally exhausted.
A small faction of hardliners, however, had burning gazes. Even at the prospect of fighting another Emperor's crew, there was not a shred of fear in their eyes.
However, the vast majority of the Marines remained relatively calm. They knew that whether or not they continued fighting wasn't up to them; the decision rested solely in Sengoku's hands.
And Sengoku was always rational. He would consider the gains of going to war against the risks involved, weighing the pros and cons before making an appropriate decision.
His reasoning was indeed correct.
The moment he saw Red Hair appear, Sengoku had actually already begun to consider how the Marines should respond if the Red Hair Pirates joined the war.
In fact, this scenario had been brought up in meetings long before the war started. He had considered the possibility of both Red Hair and Kaido—the Emperors most likely to come to Marineford—showing up.
The Marines' troop deployment had originally been prepared to fight two Emperor crews simultaneously.
However, war was unpredictable.
The Straw Hat kid crashing into the battlefield with an army from Impel Down, the descent of Golden Lion Shiki, and Blackbeard Teach returning to Marineford—these were all unforeseen variables.
It was precisely the chain reaction caused by these variables that resulted in the Marines failing to take down Whitebeard and Ace even now.
If it were only those things, it would have been fine. Despite a few hiccups, the situation had not yet slipped out of the Marines' control.
But now, the arrival of the Red Hair Pirates undoubtedly added a massive element of uncertainty to a situation that was just about to stabilize.
After a moment of thought, Sengoku's eyes turned cold, and he said in a deep voice,
"I can let you take the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates away, but Whitebeard himself, as well as Fire Fist Ace, must stay."
"Wait a minute, Fleet Admiral!"
"How can we let pirates act so arrogantly?!"
"That's right! If you ask me, we should wipe out Red Hair's crew in one fell swoop!!"
Sengoku's decision clearly provoked dissatisfaction among the hardliners, and several voices of opposition immediately rang out from the Marines.
However, Sengoku's decision was absolutely rational enough.
Obviously, under the current circumstances, the price of forcing a war with the Red Hair Pirates would be far too high.
The core purpose of this war was to dismantle the entrenched power of the Four Emperors in the New World. Once chaos ensued, the Marines could seize the opportunity to establish their forces there.
If going to war with Red Hair's crew severely crippled the Marines, it would inevitably have a major impact on their plans to deploy across the world. By the time they recovered, they might have already missed the window to enter the New World.
Therefore, unless pushed to the absolute brink, the Marines definitely wouldn't go to war with Red Hair. The other party had surely seen through this as well, which was why he came to mediate the war.
And to reach a ceasefire agreement, Whitebeard's death was the most fundamental condition. Red Hair definitely understood this and would most likely not interfere in their business.
Simply letting some insignificant pirates escape would be no loss to the Marines.
Opposite them, Red Hair glanced at Whitebeard, remained silent for a moment, and then turned back to Sengoku.
"What I can do is limited, but no matter what, I must take Ace away today."
"That's impossible! Don't get carried away, Red Hair. Ace will absolutely not be handed over to you!!"
Hearing this, Sengoku practically roared in anger.
At the same time, he seemed to truly understand Red Hair's purpose for coming here.
The bloodline of Red Hair's former captain, Pirate King Roger!
Red Hair had once served on Roger's ship. This was no secret among the Marine higher-ups, but it was a point many easily overlooked.
The moment Red Hair mentioned Ace just now, Sengoku immediately connected the dots.
Red Hair and Roger were simply too alike. Perhaps due to being influenced by him at a young age, the path Red Hair walked seemed to follow Roger's trajectory step by step.
Thinking about it carefully, it was entirely possible that Red Hair had come to rescue Ace!
He just didn't know how far the man would go to achieve it.
Just as the tension between the two sides reached a breaking point.
"Hey, Red Hair brat."
In the distance, Whitebeard suddenly spoke up. He stared calmly at Shanks and said lightly,
"Regardless of your reasons, I appreciate that you came to help Ace, but listen well..."
"Roger is Roger, and Ace is Ace. I will absolutely not allow you to forcefully instill that man's will into my son."
"Otherwise, I won't let you off even if I go to hell. Remember that."
Whitebeard shouted, a look of absolute resolve in his eyes.
Red Hair met his gaze, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke slowly.
"Unfortunately, I have no such intentions. I have already found the one who can inherit Captain Roger's will."