Aokiji's expression turned grave.
He grabbed Ace and leaped up onto the upper section of the Marineford headquarters building.
The reason was simple: what he had just seen was far too dangerous.
Ace was the only bargaining chip they had left to stop it.
Cain and Yamato were just about to move, but Sengoku blocked their path.
He had already heard Aokiji's report. No matter what happened now, he could not hand Ace over.
The moment Sabo saw Ace being taken away, he moved as well.
But just then, the sky exploded.
The cloud layer was violently torn open, and a massive purple-black sphere of lightning suddenly appeared above Marineford.
It was a technique Luffy had seen back on Skypiea: Enel's Raigo.
Only this one was far larger and far more powerful than the one from back then, and it was slowly pressing down from high above.
"I didn't plan to go this far at first. Looks like you found it after all, Admiral."
Sabo had not obtained this ability very long ago.
To make absolutely sure, and to prepare a trump card against the Marines, he had been charging it inside the clouds this entire time, constantly expanding the lightning sphere.
However, he could not release it quickly the way Enel could.
He had to build it up little by little.
Even so, the current Raigo was already far beyond Enel's version in power.
Before now, it had remained hidden by the clouds, which was why no one had noticed it.
When the clash of Conqueror's Haki between Cain and Garp split the sky, the strange magnetic field generated by that power had pulled the clouds back together again.
The thing Aokiji had glimpsed after being sent flying earlier was precisely this.
That was why he had rushed back to Marineford in shock despite his pain.
If this thing fell, then the whole of Marineford and all the Marines stationed here would likely be doomed.
And one had to remember: nearly all of the Marines' main forces were gathered here.
If something happened to them, the entire world would fall into chaos.
Shiki lifted his head and looked at the black sphere of Raigo.
Memories of being defeated by lightning twice before surged into his mind!
He instinctively lowered his altitude.
After arguing with Garp for ages and still failing to find out where his swords had gone, he immediately rushed toward Mihawk on the battlefield and shouted at him with a serious expression.
"HEY, BRAT! I REMEMBER YOU. YOU'RE THAT WORLD'S GREATEST SWORDSMAN, RIGHT? LEND ME TWO SWORDS."
Mihawk remained silent.
He casually tossed over the cross pendant hanging from his neck, then turned away and said.
"That's the only one I have. I don't own any sword smaller than that."
Shiki caught the cross, pulled out the tiny knife hidden inside, and held it up in front of his eyes.
'Damn it.'
'Its too small.'
Figures continued falling from the sky, landing in different areas across the battlefield.
Crocodile charged straight toward Whitebeard, who had been watching from afar.
Naturally, Katakuri would not sit by and allow that.
He stopped Crocodile with a sweeping kick.
After all, Whitebeard was his target too. He would not allow someone else to interfere.
Buggy landed near the edge of the battlefield with the pirates crowding around him.
For now, he was relatively safe.
Jinbei landed directly among the Warlords.
"SABO! I DIDN'T EXPECT YOU TO COME TOO! OH, RIGHT, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO CONTACTED ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
With a loud thud, Ivankov's enormous head smashed into the ground, and he shouted in Sabo's direction.
Sengoku's expression grew darker and darker.
Ivankov was a major figure in the Revolutionary Army.
Then there was the black lightning sphere in the sky, along with the lightning ability Sabo had just displayed.
Clearly, he was the user of the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
'Damn it.'
'The people Cain had brought with him were all ridiculous.'
'Katakuri, a special Paramecia user who could see the future.'
'Yamato, a Mythical Zoan who had mastered Conqueror's Haki coating.'
'And now Sabo, a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user with extreme speed and destructive power.'
'Damn that bastard Garp's.'
'This lineup was almost catching up to the Marine Admirals on their side.'
Sengoku looked at Sabo and said.
"I never expected the Revolutionary Army to interfere in this war as well. Are you truly planning to drop that thing? If you do, the entire world will be thrown into chaos."
"I already said this before. I came here as a brother. This has nothing to do with the Revolutionary Army. That is only one of my methods, Fleet Admiral."
Sabo answered calmly.
Sengoku knew the Revolutionary Army's nature.
Although they opposed the World Government, they would not casually trample innocent lives.
He immediately understood.
The lightning sphere in the sky was not the main attack.
It was a threat.
And precisely because of that, he had to keep Ace firmly in his hands no matter the cost.
Even if executing Ace no longer held any meaning, he still had to make sure Whitebeard stayed here.
Even so, the more Sengoku thought about it, the angrier he became.
"CAIN! GARP! YOU TWO!"
Sengoku growled through clenched teeth, rage filling his chest.
'Cain. Garp.'
'You two are really something.'
'One is the Marines' highest-level secret operative planted beside pirates, and the other is the Hero of the Marines, yet both of you are tangled up in this mess.'
'The Revolutionary Army, the Four Emperors, and even Jinbei, a Warlord dragged in from the other side…'
'You've involved far too many forces, you bastards.'
"ALL FORCES, PREPARE YOURSELVES! ACTIVATE THE ENCIRCLING WALL! NO MATTER WHAT, WE MUST KEEP THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES HERE!"
Executing Ace could no longer serve as their banner.
Their only remaining target was Whitebeard.
As Sengoku's order fell, Sentomaru led the Pacifista army into the battlefield.
But what happened next left Sengoku both shocked and furious.
"WHAT IS GOING ON WITH KUMA?! WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT MAN?!"
Among the Warlords, "Kuma," who had been standing there all along, suddenly opened his mouth just like a Pacifista and launched an attack at the pirates.
Clearly, the Kuma they knew had been switched out.
Perhaps from the very beginning, the one who had appeared there had never been the real Kuma, but a Pacifista.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! CAIN, IS THIS YOUR DOING AGAIN?!"
Sengoku roared, his gaze locked tightly on Cain.
He was a man known as the Resourceful General, yet with so many unexpected developments happening one after another, he had only just realized the truth.
But there was nothing he could do about that.
Cain simply had far more information than he did!
Just as Cain was about to explain, another sudden change occurred.
Three gunshots rang out abruptly, unusually sharp amid the chaos of the battlefield.
Ordinary gunshots were nothing strange here, but these three bullets were far too conspicuous.
Two were pinkish-purple, and one was red.
The round bullets shot separately toward Whitebeard, Zephyr, and Akainu.
Attacks like that should never have been able to harm those three.
They did not even need to dodge. Akainu simply swept out his fist and caught one.
But these were not ordinary bullets.
They were bubbles.
The moment the bubble bullets touched the three of them, they wrapped around their bodies.
Akainu was hit first.
A cloud of blood mist suddenly exploded around him.
Magma splattered everywhere, and countless wounds appeared across his body in an instant.
Pain and exhaustion swept over him all at once.
Zephyr and Whitebeard's situations were completely different from Akainu's.
Zephyr already needed rest to begin with. After seeing what was inside the bubble, he accepted it calmly instead.
Katakuri, who had stopped Crocodile, naturally saw the bubble shatter.
But right now, facing Crocodile in front of him, he could not immediately step forward to stop Whitebeard.
Once that bubble broke, killing Whitebeard would only become even more difficult.
Whitebeard raised his hand and used the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to shatter the bubble.
Yet the instant the white bubble broke apart, a stream of pinkish-purple flame still seeped into his body.
The scene before him made Sengoku's rage surge all the way to his head.
He suddenly roared, "WHO ELSE IS THERE?! HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE ARE HIDING IN THE SHADOWS?!"
Sengoku felt his scalp go numb.
He had thought this war could be kept under control as long as he watched Cain and Whitebeard carefully.
But now, one person after another had appeared.
The forces taking part in the battle were becoming more and more tangled, and the situation had long since gone beyond his control.
Vice Admiral Tsuru was also shaken by the endless changes, yet she still calmly observed the battlefield.
When she saw the ice crystals forming in midair, she suddenly froze.
Those were clearly ice crystals formed from the cold air Aokiji had released earlier, but right now, they stood out strangely.
Why would ice be hanging in midair?
Only then did Tsuru realize that what had been frozen by the ice crystals were threads.
The reason Luffy and the Impel Down escapees had been suspended in midair earlier was not Golden Lion's power at all.
The one who had acted was Doflamingo.
"Fuffuffuffu!"