Luffy plummeted toward the execution platform.
His descent did not escape the notice of the two executioners standing beside Ace. The moment they spotted him, they raised their blades in alarm.
"Carry out the execution!"
"Kill Portgas D. Ace!"
The two blades descended toward Ace's neck from opposite sides.
"Gum-Gum Jet Pistol!"
Cold sweat covered Luffy's face. Without the slightest hesitation, he fired his fist downward like a cannonball.
Boom!
The first executioner was blasted straight through the wooden floor.
The second barely had time to turn before Luffy's other fist slammed into his face, sending him spinning off the platform.
Luffy landed heavily beside Ace.
Ace stared at him, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"Luffy…"
Luffy turned toward him with a broad grin.
"I finally made it!"
Without hesitation, he grabbed the chains binding Ace to the platform and pulled with all his strength.
The metal groaned beneath his grip but refused to break.
"Ghh…!"
"Stop!" Ace shouted anxiously. "Those are made of Seastone!"
The instant Luffy's hand brushed against the cuffs, the strength drained from his body. He immediately released them and staggered backward.
"Damn it…"
Below the platform, the Marines finally recovered from their shock.
"Straw Hat reached Fire Fist!"
"Get up there!"
"Do not allow him to remove those cuffs!"
Several Vice Admirals leapt toward the execution platform.
Marco swept through the air above them, blue flames trailing from his wings as he knocked several Vice Admirals away from the scaffold.
"You're not getting past me, yoi!"
However, more Marines continued pouring forward.
Just then, a familiar scream came from the sky.
"Get me down from here!"
Buggy flew above the battlefield, his separated hands carrying him through the air while the rest of his body dangled helplessly below.
A group of escaped prisoners followed beneath him, cheering wildly.
"Captain Buggy is heading for the execution platform!"
"He intends to rescue Fire Fist himself!"
"What incredible courage!"
"I'm not going anywhere near that place, you idiots!"
Buggy desperately tried to turn away, but a cannonball exploded directly behind him.
Boom!
The blast sent his scattered body parts flying straight toward the execution platform.
"Why does this keep happening to me?!"
Buggy crashed onto the scaffold beside Luffy and Ace.
Luffy's eyes widened.
"Buggy!"
Buggy slowly lifted his head, completely dazed.
"Straw Hat…?"
A small metal key slipped from inside his coat and landed on the wooden floor between them.
Clink.
Ace's gaze immediately locked onto it.
"The key…"
Buggy's face stiffened.
He had stolen it from one of the Marines during his escape. His original plan had been to use it as proof that he had personally infiltrated the execution platform once the war was over.
Luffy immediately snatched it from the floor.
"You actually brought it!"
"Wait! That belongs to me!"
Luffy shoved the key into Ace's cuffs. His hand moved with absurd smoothness, and somehow, the lock opened on the first try.
Click.
The first cuff opened.
A moment later, the second cuff fell from Ace's wrist and struck the wooden floor.
And with that—
Flames erupted from Ace's body.
Boom!
A pillar of fire rose above the execution platform, illuminating Marineford in a brilliant orange glow.
The intense heat swept outward, forcing the surrounding Marines to shield their faces.
Ace slowly rose to his feet as flames curled around his shoulders and arms.
"I'm free…"
The Whitebeard Pirates erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Ace!"
"They did it!"
"Fire Fist has been rescued!"
The news spread throughout Marineford in an instant.
"Portgas D. Ace has escaped his restraints!"
"The execution has failed!"
Buggy stared at the flames surrounding Ace before slowly turning toward the battlefield below.
Thousands of eyes were fixed upon the platform.
Among them were the escaped prisoners, who immediately began shouting at the top of their lungs.
"Captain Buggy freed Fire Fist!"
"He stole the key from the Navy and delivered it himself!"
"Captain… Captain Buggy planned everything from the beginning!"
Buggy's fear vanished without a trace.
He planted one foot on the edge of the platform and threw his arms wide.
"That's right! Remember this moment well!"
His coat fluttered dramatically behind him as he pointed toward the sky.
"I, the great Captain Buggy, personally rescued Fire Fist Ace!"
The prisoners roared his name.
"Captain Buggy!"
"Captain Buggy!"
Ace shook his head as he looked at Buggy's back, but a faint smile appeared on his face.
Before any of them could move, the damaged execution platform groaned beneath their feet.
Creak…
Crack!
The entire structure began collapsing toward the plaza.
Ace grabbed Luffy by the back of his vest. Flames exploded beneath his feet, carrying both of them safely through the falling wreckage.
Buggy's body split apart just before the wooden beams could crush him.
His pieces scattered through the smoke before pulling themselves back together in midair.
Ace and Luffy landed side by side upon the shattered plaza.
Hundreds of Marines immediately surrounded them.
Fire rolled from Ace's body as he faced the enemy, while Luffy lowered the brim of his straw hat and clenched his fists.
The brothers stood back-to-back.
"Ace."
"Yeah?"
"Let's get out of here."
Ace smiled as the flames surrounding his arm expanded.
"That was the plan."
He drove his fist forward.
"Fire Fist!"
A colossal wave of flames tore across the plaza, blasting the Marines aside and opening a burning path through Marineford.
The Whitebeard Pirates surged forward to meet them.
"Ace is free!"
"Clear a path to the ships!"
"Bring our commander home!"
Sengoku's enormous golden head turned toward the remains of the execution platform.
His eyes widened when he saw Luffy and Ace, both of them completely free.
Golden light surged around Sengoku's fist.
He attempted to turn away from Whitebeard, but the air beside him suddenly shattered.
Crack!
A quake struck Sengoku from the side.
The golden Buddha raised both arms to defend himself, yet the tremendous force still drove him several steps across the broken plaza.
Whitebeard planted his bisento into the ground and laughed.
"Gurararara! Where do you think you're going, Sengoku?"
Sengoku glared at him.
"Whitebeard!"
"You wanted to execute my son in front of the entire world."
A pale sphere of destructive force formed around Whitebeard's fist.
"Don't think I'll let you run back to that platform now that those two brothers are finally together and free!"
Whitebeard punched forward.
The atmosphere split apart.
A devastating quake shock wave surged toward Sengoku, forcing him to meet it with both golden palms.
Boom!
Garp stood several meters away, staring at his two grandsons as they fled with smiles on their faces.
His fists remained clenched at his sides.
"Luffy… Ace…"
Whitebeard looked at him from the corner of his eye.
"Your opponent is still standing, Garp."
Garp's expression became complicated.
"You really are determined to die here, aren't you?"
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard ripped his bisento from the ground.
His skin had turned a dangerous shade of red, and steam rolled from his enormous body.
"I already decided that before I came!"
Even Whitebeard knew he did not have much longer to live.
After suffering so many wounds and fighting Sengoku and Garp at the same time, he had no idea how much longer his body would continue to hold together.
Even so, he refused to fall.
The three legendary figures continued clashing.
After fighting for some time, Sengoku suddenly broke away from Whitebeard and rushed toward the path Ace and Luffy had opened through the Marines.
He could not allow them to reach the ships.
However, before the golden Buddha could take more than a few steps, an enormous shadow appeared beside him.
Whitebeard's bisento swept across from the side.
Sengoku raised his arm just in time.
Boom!
The collision drove him backward, his feet carving two deep trenches through the shattered plaza.
Whitebeard stood between the Marines and his retreating sons.
His breathing had grown heavier, and blood continued running down his chest.
The veins across his enormous body bulged beneath his crimson skin as steam rose from his shoulders.
Countless wounds covered him from head to toe.
Yet somehow, his presence had become even more monstrous than before.
Sengoku steadied himself and stared at him in disbelief.
Whitebeard's body should already have reached its limit... and yet, the closer he came to death, the more terrifying he seemed to become.
"Get out of my way, Whitebeard!"
"Gurararara! As if I'd let you chase after my sons!"
Sengoku attacked again.
Golden shock waves exploded from his palm, tearing apart the ground between them.
Whitebeard met the attack head-on.
The quake surrounding his fist collided with Sengoku's power, and the sky above Marineford seemed to tremble from the impact.
Boom!
Both men were swallowed by the explosion.
Marco twisted around in midair when he saw Whitebeard's enormous body disappear inside the cloud of smoke.
"Pops!"
Before he could reach him, a massive hand emerged from the smoke.
Whitebeard raised his palm toward Marco.
"Don't come back!"
Marco froze in midair.
Whitebeard stepped out of the smoke with blood running down his forehead. Sengoku's attack had opened yet another wound across his body, but his back remained straight.
His voice thundered across Marineford.
"All Whitebeard Pirates and allied crews!"
The pirates scattered across the Marineford instinctively turned toward him.
Whitebeard drove the end of his bisento into the ground.
"You've accomplished what you came here to do!"
His gaze swept across Ace, Luffy, Marco, and the countless pirates still fighting their way toward the coast.
"Fall back to the ships!"
For a brief moment, the fighting seemed to stop.
Everyone understood the true meaning behind his command.
Marco's eyes widened.
"Pops…"
Several commanders stopped where they stood.
Vista's hands tightened around his swords, disappointment clouding his eyes, though no one could tell whether it was directed at himself, the war, or the fate awaiting their captain.
Jozu stared at Whitebeard's back, his expression twisting with pain.
Ace, who had been running toward the coast, slowly came to a stop and turned around.
Whitebeard stood alone before Sengoku, Garp, and the full might of the Marines.
"Old man…"
Whitebeard glanced over his shoulder.
The expression on Ace's face caused his stern gaze to soften.
"Ace."
Ace's fists trembled as he struggled to hold himself back.
Whitebeard's lips lifted into a faint smile.
"Was I a good father?"
Those words shattered the last of Ace's restraint.
His eyes immediately filled with tears.
All the pain, guilt, and doubt he had carried since his capture surged through him at once.
Ace lowered his head and shouted with everything he had.
"Of course you were!"
His voice rang across the entire Marineford, as though he wanted every person in Marineford to hear him clearly.
"You were the greatest father we could ever have asked for!"
Whitebeard closed his eyes for a moment before his laughter rolled across Marineford.
"Gurararara!"
The commanders and allied captains clenched their teeth. None of them wanted to leave him behind, but none of them could disobey their father's final order.
Whitebeard raised his fist, and a pale sphere formed around it as the air surrounding his knuckles began to crack.
Sengoku's expression changed.
"Whitebeard, don't!"
Whitebeard ignored him and drove his fist downward.
Boom!
Marineford split apart.
A massive rift tore through the plaza from one end of the island to the other. The frozen ground, fortress walls, and stone structures collapsed as the fracture widened into an enormous chasm, while Marines screamed as the earth broke apart beneath their feet.
Near the shore, battleships were lifted by the violent waves before crashing into one another.
The fracture divided Marineford completely in half.
Ace, Luffy, Marco, and the retreating pirates were left on the side facing the sea, while Whitebeard remained on the opposite side with Sengoku, Garp, and the majority of the Marine forces.
The enormous rift stood between them like an uncrossable boundary.
With a single blow, Whitebeard had cut off the Marines' pursuit.
Sengoku barely managed to remain standing as the ground beneath him collapsed, while Garp leapt onto a surviving section of the plaza, his chest rising and falling heavily. Behind them, Marine Headquarters leaned dangerously as enormous cracks spread across its walls.
Whitebeard stood at the edge of the rift and looked toward his sons.
They were now beyond the Marines' immediate reach.
That was all that mattered.
"Go!"
His roar snapped the pirates out of their shock.
Marco clenched his teeth before finally turning away.
"All forces, retreat!"
The Whitebeard Pirates began moving at once. The commanders drove back the Marines still trapped on their side of the rift, opening a path toward the remaining ships.
Ace continued staring at Whitebeard, his feet refusing to move. It was not until Luffy grabbed his arm that he finally reacted.
"Ace!"
Ace looked at him.
Luffy's face was covered in blood and dirt, but his eyes remained clear.
"We have to go!"
Countless emotions passed across Ace's face. He drew in a deep breath and looked one final time toward the enormous figure standing across the rift.
Then he turned away.
The two brothers ran toward the coast, while Zoro, Jinbe, Ivankov, and the others followed close behind, fighting through the Marines who had escaped Whitebeard's division of the island.
Zoro cut down another group with a wide sweep of his swords.
"Keep moving! The ground's still collapsing!"
Luffy ran several more steps before suddenly stopping and turning his head toward the opposite side of Marineford.
Shiki was still fighting Akainu and Aokiji.
"Wait…"
Ace looked back at him.
"What is it?"
"Shiki!"
Ace followed Luffy's gaze.
The force of the battle was so great that even from such a distance, they could feel the pressure rolling across Marineford.
"Shiki?"
"He helped me get here," Luffy said simply.
In Luffy's mind, there was no question about Shiki's intentions.
Shiki had attacked the Marines, opened a path into Marineford, and prevented Akainu and Aokiji from interfering with Ace's rescue.
To Luffy, that meant Shiki had helped him.
"We can't just leave him!"
Luffy started to turn back, but blue flames suddenly descended in front of him.
Marco landed between them, his wings folding against his back as his body returned to human form.
"You two keep going, yoi. I'll lend him a hand."
"He helped us plenty during this war. We won't forget that."
As soon as he finished speaking, blue flames covered Marco once more. His arms transformed into wings as fire spread across his body.
"Get Ace to the ships."
Marco launched himself into the air.
The blue phoenix crossed the broken sky above Marineford, flying directly toward the battle between Shiki and the two Admirals.
Luffy watched him disappear into the smoke until Ace placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on."
Luffy nodded.
The two brothers resumed their retreat, with Zoro and the others following close behind.
Across the rift, Whitebeard watched them go.
Ace and Luffy were almost there, and the Whitebeard Pirates had already reached the ships.
One after another, the commanders and allied captains began boarding while the remaining crews prepared to set sail.
Whitebeard's breathing gradually became slower as the strength in his arms began to fade.
His heart pounded painfully inside his chest, each beat weaker than the last. His body had been pierced, burned, struck, and torn apart, and even before arriving at Marineford, illness had already brought him close to death.
Fighting Sengoku and Garp together had simply exhausted what little strength remained.
Still, he refused to fall.
His thoughts began to drift.
He saw Luffy charging into Marineford with complete recklessness, showing no fear even when facing enemies far beyond his strength, all for the sake of his brother.
He saw Ace standing free once again, surrounded by the family he had spent his entire life searching for.
Lastly, his gaze shifted toward the distant storm of darkness, magma, and ice.
The young man called Shiki stood against two Admirals, carrying a name that had once belonged to a legend while walking a path entirely his own.
Whitebeard's smile slowly returned.
Roger had been right.
The will passed down through generations could never be erased.
The Marines could kill pirates, and the World Government could erase names from history, but they could never destroy the dreams inherited by the next era.
Sengoku noticed the look on Whitebeard's face, and his eyes widened as a terrible feeling welled up inside him.
"Whitebeard…"
Whitebeard drew in one final breath. Then his enormous voice thundered across Marineford, reaching every functioning Den Den Mushi still transmitting the war to the world.
"You people fear the day someone finally finds it."
Sengoku's expression changed immediately.
"Stop him!"
Whitebeard ignored him entirely.
"The treasure Roger left behind has never disappeared. Someone will inherit his will, reach that final island, and turn this entire world upside down!"
Across Sabaody and throughout the seas, countless people gathered around broadcasting Den Den Mushi, swallowing nervously as they waited for the final words of the strongest man alive.
Whitebeard did not disappoint them.
He threw back his head as a grin spread across his blood-covered face.
"The One Piece… is real!"
The declaration shook the world.
For one brief moment, even the war itself seemed to stop. Then the reporters gathered at Sabaody erupted into chaos.
"He said it exists!"
"Whitebeard confirmed Roger's treasure!"
"Transmit this everywhere!"
"Don't let a single word be lost!"
Newspapers began preparing their headlines before the battle had even ended. Across the Grand Line, pirates roared with excitement, while men gathered in lawless ports rushed toward their ships.
Throughout the Four Blues, countless people turned toward the sea as dreams they had almost forgotten awakened once more.
With those final words, Whitebeard breathed new life into the Great Pirate Era.
Sengoku's face twisted with fury.
"Damn you, Whitebeard!"
Even at the moment of his death, the old pirate had dealt the World Government a blow greater than any earthquake.
Whitebeard's laughter slowly faded as the edges of his vision began to burn away. In the distance, Ace had finally reached one of the ships, and as he climbed aboard, he turned back one final time.
That was enough.
The last of Whitebeard's strength left his body, and his heart stopped beating. Yet his knees did not bend. His hands remained wrapped around his bisento, and his enormous frame stayed upright before the Marines.
Edward Newgate died standing.
For several seconds, the Marines closest to him could only stare in disbelief. Even in death, none of them dared to approach.
Whitebeard's body was covered in wounds, yet there was not a single injury on his back.
Not once had he turned away from the battle. (PS: Or maybe he just ran fast enough.)
The first Marine to realize that he was truly dead finally raised his weapon.
"Whitebeard has fallen!"
Another voice immediately followed.
"Edward Newgate is dead!"
The Marines erupted into cheers.
"We won!"
"Whitebeard is dead!"
"The Navy defeated the strongest man in the world!"
Their voices spread across the ruined half of Marineford, but on the ships beyond the rift, the Whitebeard Pirates could only lower their heads.
Ace stood at the edge of the deck with tears streaming down his face. His fists trembled violently at his sides, but he did not turn back.
Whitebeard's final order had been to leave.
Ace would honor it.
On the opposite side of the rift, Sengoku's transformation slowly faded. His enormous golden body returned to normal as he dropped to one knee among the ruins. Blood covered his forehead and ran down one side of his face, while his once-pristine uniform had been torn apart.
After repeatedly clashing with Whitebeard, even his breathing had become rough and uneven.
Garp, standing nearby, was in no better condition. His chest rose and fell with each heavy breath, blood ran from the corner of his mouth, and bruises and cuts covered his face and arms.
Garp had never truly unleashed everything he had. His pride would not allow him to fight Whitebeard at full strength when the old pirate was already facing both him and Sengoku at the same time.
Neither man joined the Marines' celebration.
They simply stared at Whitebeard's motionless body. He had been their enemy for decades, yet seeing him die left both of them with complicated expressions.
An entire era had ended before their eyes.
Sengoku slowly forced himself back to his feet.
The war was not over. Ace had been rescued, and the pirates were already preparing to sail away. He opened his mouth, ready to order the Marines to regroup and continue the pursuit.
Before he could speak, a terrified scream filled with sheer horror echoed across Marineford.
"ADMIRAL AOKIJI!"
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