Originally, out of consideration for Garp's feelings, Sengoku had no intention of letting him take part in this war at all.
He only planned to have Garp stand to the side as a symbol, something to steady the battlefield.
Yet this time, Garp had been strangely open-minded.
He had taken the initiative to offer Sengoku help, saying outright that since Cain had caused this mess, it was only right for him, as the boy's grandfather, to clean it up.
Once Cain entered the battlefield, Garp would handle him.
For a while, this made Sengoku wonder whether Garp had finally gone senile.
Had the old bastard developed dementia even earlier than him?
Over the course of the day, Sengoku had dragged him to the Marine hospital three separate times, nearly demanding that they cut open his head and inspect his brain properly.
In the end, after Garp had argued until his mouth nearly wore out, Sengoku had barely forced himself to believe him.
But what was this now?
Kizaru might have looked lazy and half-hearted over there, but at least he was genuinely saving people.
As for Akainu, although he had yet to truly clash with Whitebeard, the two were currently throwing verbal attacks at each other from quite a distance away.
Their exchange was already filled with hostility, and they had clearly locked each other down.
It was only a matter of time before they truly fought.
But Aokiji?
He had been sent flying by Cain's staff strike!
Although Cain could, in a certain sense, still be considered someone connected to the Marines, how many people actually knew that?
To everyone else, this was simply boosting pirate morale while crushing the Marines' own spirit.
However, when Sengoku's furious roar resounded across the battlefield, everyone present was left shocked.
What shocked them was not the fact that Cain was Garp's grandson.
What shocked them was that Garp's grandson is actually this strong.
A Marine Admiral had just been blown away by him!
When Garp heard Sengoku, he immediately burst into loud laughter.
"Bwahahaha! Yes, yes! This old man failed to discipline him properly!"
Before his laughter had even faded, under the gaze of everyone across the battlefield, Garp calmly sat down in the center seat among the three vacant Admiral chairs, guarding the execution platform alone.
The moment the man known as the Hero of the Marines took that position, the shaken Marines seemed to regain immense courage.
Their lost confidence returned.
Garp smiled as he looked down at the battlefield. Then he added another line to Sengoku.
"After all, the fellow who taught Cain those techniques can't exactly be called anything good for the Marines!"
He was clearly referring to Rayleigh, the long-retired vice captain of the Roger Pirates.
But the moment those words fell, Sengoku's face darkened until it looked ready to drip ink.
The veins at his temples throbbed.
Fortunately, Zephyr had not heard that remark.
After all, some of Cain's techniques had also been taught by the two of them.
Garp's words were practically killing two birds with one stone, dragging both of them into the insult along with Rayleigh.
Vice Admiral Tsuru, as usual, kept scanning the chaotic battlefield, searching for traces of Doflamingo.
From afar, Mihawk saw Cain's Conqueror's Haki-infused slash split the frozen glacier.
He froze slightly, and only then did he suddenly remember that Shanks had, maybe, probably, more or less, definitely mentioned the name Cain before.
Ah, right.
Back when he had taken Luffy's bounty poster to Shanks for a drink, another bounty poster had come with it.
That name had been printed on it too. He simply had not paid much attention at the time.
Thinking of this, Mihawk no longer hesitated.
He raised a hand and drew the black blade Yoru from his back.
A cold gleam flashed.
A sword energy of unmatched sharpness tore through the sky, cutting straight through the other half of the frozen tsunami glacier.
In the next instant, the severed glacier was chopped into fragments of various sizes.
There was no special meaning to it.
Really.
As one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, this was merely a casual strike he had made to deal with the pirates.
As for why it had struck the glacier instead, that was unimportant.
He had simply missed by accident.
"That brat… if I could take his shadow…"
Moria licked his lips, the same arrogant expression still on his face.
His eyes churned with greed for Cain's shadow.
His true target, however, had long since locked onto Yamato on the other side of the battlefield.
Back in Wano, he had been defeated by Kaido.
After that, he suffered a devastating blow, yet even so, he still wanted revenge.
He had heard Yamato's shout when she used Thunder Bagua earlier, clear as day.
Naturally, he had recognized her identity.
The chance for revenge was right in front of him.
Cain's powerful shadow, plus Kaido's child as a captive—those were the perfect bargaining chips to complete his revenge.
As for Cain being Garp's grandson, Moria clearly did not care in the slightest.
In the end, Cain was still just a pirate.
He stood in absolute opposition to the Marines, and not even being Garp's grandson could change that.
Besides, what Moria wanted was only his shadow.
What did he care whether Cain lived or died?
As long as the original owner of the shadow was not exposed to sunlight, he would not die.
The Marines would naturally turn a blind eye to it as well.
After all, he was one of the Seven Warlords.
Surely the Marines would not abandon such a useful asset just to protect a pirate?
But when Moria turned his gaze toward Yamato's battlefield again, he found that the area had already been covered in icy mist.
He could no longer see what was happening inside.
…
Meanwhile, below the glacier Mihawk had cut apart, everything had already descended into chaos.
Pirates and Marine soldiers alike scrambled in panic to dodge the falling chunks of ice.
Some were smashed until blood poured from their heads, while others desperately dragged wounded comrades away.
None of them had the spare attention to think about the shocking news that Cain was Garp's grandson.
Then a Marine soldier noticed cold air surging not far away.
Icy mist spread through the area, blocking their vision, while large blocks of solid ice condensed one after another.
Only then did the taut strings in their hearts loosen slightly, and hope rose among them.
Great.
Admiral Aokiji had not been knocked away after all!
He was still here, locked in battle with the enemy!
Had he come to support Zephyr?
"Everyone, run this way! Follow Admiral Aokiji's direction, and we'll survive!"
No one knew who shouted it, but the cry instantly ignited everyone's will to live.
Yet when they rushed into the icy mist, what they saw was Zephyr with half his body frozen stiff.
Zephyr hurried toward them and blocked their path with his own body.
And the monster standing opposite them extinguished every last trace of hope in their hearts, leaving only endless despair.
Aokiji was not here at all.
The one releasing the cold air and forming the ice crystals was Yamato.
At this moment, she had already transformed into the human-beast form of the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami.
Beastly traits covered her body, and white ribbons of cold air coiled around her.
A layer of ice armor had formed over her body.
By relying on that defensive layer to isolate the effects of Sea-Prism Stone, she could easily force Zephyr back.
This was completely different from Aokiji's choice to clash head-on with physical strength.
Against Zephyr, Yamato relied far more on suppressing him with her Devil Fruit ability.
The blocks of ice formed from her freezing breath directly froze Zephyr's Sea-Prism Stone mechanical arm solid on the spot.
Even if Zephyr could break his arm free, or simply shatter the ice, it would still take him time.
Even a few short seconds were enough to give Yamato an opening to attack.
After several exchanges, Zephyr was already in a miserable state.
Yamato had used 'Namuji Hyoga' several times, creating ice blocks, cold air, and mist that perfectly concealed the two figures locked in battle.
Seeing the Marine soldiers suddenly rush in, Zephyr ignored his own injuries and immediately charged over to shield them behind him, afraid they would be caught in Yamato's attacks.
But Yamato no longer intended to keep fighting him.
From the very beginning, her only target had been Ace on the execution platform.
Earlier, she had released her Conqueror's Haki only because she saw Cain and Katakuri do it, so she followed along.
After that, Zephyr had held her down. And now, in order to protect the people behind him, he refused to retreat even a single step.
Seeing this, Yamato no longer wasted time.
In the blink of an eye, she shifted from her human-beast form into her full beast form.
A pure white giant wolf!
The Okuchi no Makami.
Just like Cain nearby, she charged straight toward the execution platform.
After Yamato left, the icy mist lingering around the area gradually dispersed.
Zephyr could finally hold on no longer.
His legs weakened, and he dropped to one knee, gasping heavily for breath while hurriedly fumbling through his coat for his medicinal inhaler.
On the high platform, Garp saw that Zephyr's side was not in serious danger.
Then he looked down and saw two Mythical Zoan figures charging toward him.
At once, he burst into loud laughter.
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