"I am a Marine. Always have been. Don't mind me."
Garp paid no attention at all to Whitebeard's provocation and simply sat down a few meters away from Ace.
His eyes, however, looked somewhat hollow rather than sharp.
"Gurararara. Garp, can you really answer to yourself like that?" Whitebeard pressed, unwilling to let it go.
"The only thing the Marines have ever needed to answer to is justice."
Sengoku cut off Whitebeard's probe. His face was cold as he took a step forward.
"No matter what happens today, we will never let you take him away!
"Give up, Whitebeard. If you leave now, you may still have a chance to cling to life!"
"No. From the very beginning, you planned to wipe us all out in one sweep, didn't you?"
Whitebeard bared his teeth in a grin.
"Even executing Ace ahead of time doesn't matter. That was the news you just released, wasn't it?
"As expected of the Resourceful General. The Shichibukai's rebellion may have been beyond your expectations, but you used it to make your arrangements anyway.
"But don't think I didn't see through it. With the Marines' ability, there's no way you could have been beaten back this far.
"The battle line in the bay is almost broken through. You've practically let all my family in.
"You think this is some children's game?
"So, just as you wished, I was provoked into coming here. And now you want me to leave?
"Or is it that your trap isn't ready yet? If that's the case, then too bad!"
"You old bastard…"
Sengoku's gaze turned instantly icy, and at the same time, he activated the final extermination plan.
Following the Fleet Admiral's order, a new change appeared on the battlefield.
At the rear of the Whitebeard side's frontal battlefield—also the battlefield between Marines and pirates—no one knew when the Marines had stopped their interception, allowing the Whitebeard subordinate forces that had come from outside to charge into the main battlefield.
Yet the leading members of the Whitebeard Pirates did not call for everyone to advance. Instead, they stopped in an extremely abnormal manner.
"Hey! Haven't the Marines already collapsed? This is the perfect chance to break through head-on!"
"I think so too, but this is Pops' order!"
"Huh?"
The Whitebeard subordinate forces hesitated, while Squard, who was mixed in among them, looked shaken and uncertain.
Because this was different from what Akainu had told him.
Before he could figure out what was happening, someone suddenly raised the alarm.
"Look behind us."
"What is that?!"
"Ships! Huge ships! There's a fat guy on one of them, and… a lot of people who all look exactly the same!"
One enormous sailing ship after another suddenly appeared on the open sea outside Marineford.
Then, they approached at an astonishing speed. On the flagship at the very front stood a man who looked as though he were wearing nothing but a belly band, coldly watching the members of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Beside him, one tall black-and-white man after another appeared on the battlefield—figures whose faces no one recognized.
They looked exactly like someone, yet also had problems in all sorts of places.
For example, the steel and wires exposed inside them, their somewhat sluggish movements, and so on.
They were like goods hurriedly rushed into production, landing on this battlefield as fighting forces.
But—
They were strong. Very strong!
In the next instant, laser beams erupted. High-heat explosions swept across the ice, dragging the Marineford War into a white-hot stage.
Whether the Whitebeard subordinate forces were willing or not, they were beaten back under the frantic barrage of laser fire.
"So the World Government's human weapons succeeded after all?"
Whitebeard glanced sideways, then said, "But that isn't all, is it? Sengoku, we're old friends."
Sengoku did not answer.
But the entirety of Marineford had already begun to shake.
Beneath the walls along the edge of the harbor, the sound of gears turning rang out.
Every wall began rising upward with the grinding of machinery, slowly revealing the steel walls underneath.
The isolation walls that had been prepared in advance rose, and soon, the entire bay was sealed off.
Seen from above, it was like a circle enclosing the bay, while outside that circle was the plaza of Marine Headquarters.
At the innermost edge of the circle were Sentomaru, advancing with the Pacifista, and the steadily retreating Whitebeard subordinate forces.
A pirate reacted instantly, lifted a cannon, and fired a shot—yet it was completely useless!
Sparks burst, but not even the slightest scratch was left behind.
"Whitebeard, your era is over. Be buried here together with your subordinates."
Sengoku's voice was ice-cold. At the same time, the Marines who reacted began attacking the enemies below from their higher position.
There were also some powerful Marines who took the initiative to enter the battlefield inside the bay, tangling with the pirates and preventing them from climbing up.
Meanwhile, they led the remaining comrades on the battlefield toward the edges of the wall to form a defensive line.
"As expected, Seastone technology? A cage like this…"
Whitebeard seemed to realize something and looked toward Akainu, who had not made a move beneath the execution platform.
At that instant, the latter stood up. Boiling magma surged from both his hands and arms as he raised them toward the sky!
"Meteor Volcano!"
Boom—!
Amid a piercing roar, Akainu fired countless magma fists into the sky with both hands, like endless New Year's fireworks.
Immediately after, the sky turned dark red, and a wailing sound rang out.
Everyone on the icy battlefield inside the bay looked up at the sky and realized what was about to happen.
This was the overture of destruction, the omen of a great disaster.
The things about to fall—
If they crashed into the bay, they would inevitably bring devastating damage. Just one of Akainu's volcanic bombs was enough to ruin a large warship.
And this attack was far more numerous than before, with a far wider range of coverage.
Aside from Pops and the commanders, no pirate could ignore such an attack.
Squard's whole body went cold, and a look of regret appeared on his face.
He had lost his chance.
There was no way to assassinate Pops now and stop that bastard from selling out everyone except the Whitebeard Pirates.
He could not help looking toward the very front of the battlefield, toward the figure standing atop Oz Jr.'s head.
Yet in the next instant, he froze.
Because Murakumogiri had been thrown high into the air!
"A large-scale destructive technique… It's certainly useful—"
Whitebeard seized the air with both hands, his cold eyes turning toward Sengoku's icy expression.
"—provided I am still the old man you expected me to be, weak and frail, forced to carefully measure every bit of strength I use!"
Without hesitation, his ten fingers tore at the atmosphere, releasing incomparably violent quake force, then magnifying it crazily through resonance.
The scene that had once unfolded on Raijin Island replayed itself again—but this time, it was even stronger and even more terrifying!
Boom—boom—boom—!
A series of thunderous explosions erupted between heaven and earth.
Then came a scene of the world spinning.
Tilting!
Everything tilted in different directions!
Left and right! Up and down!
Everything within sight trembled, shook, and tilted!
The buildings of Marineford outside the isolation walls collapsed and shattered along with it.
Dense cracks spread across the icy ground inside the bay.
Looking closely, those cracks were so deep they seemed to plunge straight into the depths of the earth.
But that power was still being released, until its range stretched for hundreds of nautical miles!
Amid that terrifying quake, amid the terrified screams of Marines and pirates alike—
The sea heaved and tilted into countless rectangular blocks of ocean, while the island where Marineford stood became a circular block of sea.
But… it still was not over!
"Sengoku, do you still not understand what state I'm in right now?"
Whitebeard's eyes were mocking as he punched several times, as though flipping a switch. Above everyone's heads, the sky erupted with a thunderous roar.
A wildly violent shockwave was released, blasting away every falling Meteor Volcano.
But it was not over. He struck the air on both sides again.
The quake force cleverly formed a chain reaction, and immediately afterward, the isolation walls—walls that had been calculated for every scenario except Whitebeard's power being this terrifying—began to collapse.
Indeed, isolation walls forged with Seastone material were not things that could be smashed apart casually.
But why did he need to smash them?
When faced with an incredibly sturdy iron door, the best method was not to break through the door—it was to break through the surrounding wall and enter.
Yes.
That was exactly what Whitebeard was doing at this moment.
With quake force, he tore apart the earth and the sea, causing serious problems in Marineford's island foundation.
As a result, the ground sank, causing the original isolation walls—and even Marineford's mountains—to begin subsiding!
At this moment, Sengoku could not help taking a deep breath.
Because the scene before him had allowed him to confirm the truth.
The man before him was even stronger than he had been in his prime!
"Gurararara! This is reality, Sengoku—right now, I'm stronger than I was in the past!"
Whitebeard's booming laughter magnified endlessly, echoing through the sky above the entire battlefield.
Everyone who witnessed this scene was filled with fear and shock.
Aging?
About to die?
Just an old man?
Those contemptuous words and serious assessments from the past all turned into pale scraps of paper at this moment!
Edward Newgate, standing here beneath the eyes of the whole world—
Was stronger than he had ever been!
"…Why is this happening?!"
"He's already seventy-two years old! Doesn't he age?!"
"Why…"
At the Sabaody Archipelago broadcast center, the reporters watched this scene in utter horror.
They simply could not comprehend the strength he displayed.
The same went for the Marines on the battlefield.
"H-how can we possibly win against this? We've lost!"
A Marine dropped his weapon in a daze, completely unable to understand how they were supposed to keep fighting.
The plan had failed. The strategy had failed. What else could they—
"Everyone, calm down!"
Sengoku's furious roar echoed through the sky, replacing Whitebeard's laughter.
"Have you forgotten your identity and your position? We are the Marines, the maintainers of the world's order!
"How many people in this world count on us to bring them peace? How many people live under the protection of the Marines?
"Have you all forgotten why you joined the Marines?!"
Following the Fleet Admiral's furious roar, the chaos in Marine Headquarters suddenly froze for a moment.
With different expressions, they looked toward the old yet majestic Marine Fleet Admiral standing on the execution platform.
They listened to his hoarse, desperate shout.
"We are justice! This is a war fought on the name of justice! The one we are executing is the child of sin, Roger's bloodline!
"Do you mean to hand Ace over to Whitebeard and let a second Pirate King appear in this world simply because things are difficult, because we have suffered setbacks, because blood must be shed?!"
"Never!"
Suddenly, someone among the Marines shouted those words.
(End of Chapter)