The air at Marineford crackled with tension as the white seagull flag snapped sharply against the wind. Every Marine soldier stood at attention in Oris Plaza, weapons ready, their gazes locked on the horizon where danger might emerge at any moment.
When Fleet Admiral Sengoku revealed Ace's true identity, the gravity of the situation settled over them all. This wasn't just a battle—it was a clash between justice and chaos, where the future of the world hung in the balance. Victory meant ending the Great Pirate Era. Defeat would plunge the world into darkness.
Every Marine gripped their weapons tighter. Failure wasn't an option. The weight of justice pressed down on their shoulders. Out on the azure waters, thick fog rolled in, obscuring the watchtowers' view and swallowing the distant horizon.
Beneath the waves, coated pirate ships drifted silently with the currents, creeping toward Marineford's shores. "All the Fishmen and merfolk from Fish-Man Island have vanished," one pirate muttered. "Where'd they go?" another asked. "Rumor says they migrated as an entire nation..."
"Thank Whitebeard for arranging those deep-sea beasts," a third pirate cut in. "Without them, half of us would've drowned before reaching these waters." A gruff voice interrupted, "Enough chatter! Surface positions!" Cheers erupted across the decks. "Let's show these Marines what the Whitebeard Pirates can do!"
With a thunderous roar, black-sailed ships burst from the sea one after another, their bubble coatings exploding into mist as they breached the surface. Forty-three pirate vessels materialized through the fog, their masts flying black flags of every design. The decks teemed with thousands of armed pirates.
"Contact!" A Marine watchtower lookout's voice cracked across the plaza. "The enemy fleet's here!"
"Battle stations!" Officers barked orders as identifications rang out. "Squard the Backstabber! Doma the Wandering Blade! McGuy the Stormbringer! Whitey Bay the Frost Queen!" Each name carried the weight of New World infamy.
Sengoku snatched up his den den mushi. "Where's Whitebeard's flagship? Locate the Moby Dick!" The reply came instantly: "No sign of it yet, sir!" The Fleet Admiral's frown deepened. Something wasn't right. Then—movement. The water near Crescent Moon Bay rippled unnaturally.
Sengoku's eyes narrowed. Realization dawned. "Unless—"
Three massive ships erupted from the depths simultaneously, their white whale figureheads gleaming. The Moby Dick and its escorts formed a spearhead formation, cutting straight into the heart of Marineford's defenses.
At the flagship's prow stood Whitebeard, his bisento resting against one shoulder, his cloak billowing behind him. His gaze swept across the assembled Marines like a conqueror surveying ants.
Behind Whitebeard stood fourteen figures; they were all commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, each a legend in their own right, their strength matching Marine Vice Admirals. The Emperor's laughter boomed across the bay. "Gurarara! Sengoku! Decades later, and here we are again!"
As he spoke, Whitebeard laughed heartily and planted the Murakumogiri in his hand onto the deck, while his hands were clenched into fists, held flat before his chest to gather power. The next moment. Boom! As Whitebeard swung his fists, smashing them outwards to both sides of his body, the space struck by his fists immediately showed mirror-like cracks, emitting cracking sounds.
In an instant, a surging and powerful vibrational force continuously spread outwards, stirring up waves that twisted and churned, extending from the military port bay all the way to the distant sea surface of Marineford. "It suddenly became quiet?" "Was that vibrational force just now really just a simple greeting?"
Just as many Marine soldiers began to feel doubt, an inexplicable vibration, growing from small to large and intensifying, suddenly appeared, gradually causing the entire island of Marineford to tremble. Rumble!
Two monstrous waves, reaching a height of over a thousand meters, swept in from both sides of Marineford, intending to completely submerge all the Marine soldiers in Oris Plaza and bury them at the bottom of the sea. This is the terrifying power unleashed by the world's strongest man, Whitebeard, with a casual strike using his Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability! "Tsu... tsu... tsunami incoming!!!"
"How is this possible!?" "Damn it! To think he raised such a massive tsunami..."
... Just as the many Marines in Oris Plaza felt fear and fell into despair. Located below the execution platform, Aokiji, who was seated on a large chair, his figure flashed, bringing with it a loud sonic boom, and he directly shot up into the sky, spreading his arms towards the tsunamis on both sides. Ice Age!
Bone-chilling freezing energy spread from Aokiji's palms, instantly forming two slender pillars of ice that extended across half of Marineford. The moment the ice pillars touched the tsunamis, they immediately froze the surging monstrous waves into thick, solid ice emitting bursts of cold air. "The Marine Admiral kid, he really has some skills..."
Whitebeard, holding Murakumogiri, watched Aokiji, who had instantly neutralized his tsunami attack and landed back on the ground in the distance. He smiled, feeling no anger whatsoever in his heart. In fact, whether the tsunami attack succeeded or not, it was all beneficial to him! Whitebeard had already known that Marine Admiral Aokiji was a Logia-type Ice-Ice Fruit ability user.
If he raised a tsunami and Aokiji couldn't freeze the sea surface, the Marines would lose a large number of soldiers, thus allowing the Whitebeard Pirates to narrow the numerical gap between the two sides. If Aokiji froze the sea surface, then Whitebeard also created a battlefield where his sons could land, using the opponent's Ice-Ice Fruit ability.
After all, among the Whitebeard Pirates and its allied fleets, there were quite a few Devil Fruit ability users who were experts... If fighting at sea, the Marines could completely suppress the Whitebeard Pirates' ability users through their numerical and artillery advantage, causing them to be buried directly at the bottom of the sea without being able to fully exert their strength.
"To think he created such a grand scene right from the start... it's really scary!" As he spoke, Kizaru leaped, jumping directly into the sky, his hands clasped in front of his chest, emitting a yellow light. Yasakani Sacred Jewel! The next moment.
Thousands upon thousands of countless dazzling yellow light bullets shot out from Kizaru's hands, forming an overwhelming barrage that instantly enveloped the three Moby Dick ships of the Whitebeard Pirates, aiming to blast them directly into powder. "Gurahaha! You little brat, you've got guts!" Seeing this scene, Whitebeard laughed twice.
Murakumogiri spun in Whitebeard's hand, the blade's flourish trailing a translucent white energy. With a thunderous boom, the weapon cleaved through the air, shattering space like glass. The resulting shockwave tore into Kizaru's yellow barrage, scattering both light and Admiral into the sky.
"As expected of the world's strongest man," Kizaru's voice drawled as his body reformed from scattered light particles. "Truly terrifying. Any slower, and I might've been seriously injured." His tone carried its usual lazy inflection, but the words hadn't fully left his lips when Marco struck.
"Stop lying, you bastard!" Marco's voice rang out as he launched from the Moby Dick, his body wreathed in blue flames and partially transformed. His beastial clawed foot connected with Kizaru's head in a brutal kick. The impact sent the Admiral crashing into the military port bay wall in an explosion of brick and dust.
Meanwhile, Whitebeard's forces surged forward. Forty-three allied captains led tens of thousands of pirates charging across the ice toward Marineford, their war cries shaking the heavens.
Sephiroth observed the scene as he drew his butcher knife. The Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates were clearly letting Whitebeard's forces take the brunt of the initial assault, waiting to capitalize on the chaos. His black wings unfurled, carrying him aloft toward the distant Moby Dick.
While Kaido remained his primary target, the Emperor's absence left Sephiroth momentarily at loose ends. The Marine uniform he wore drew too many eyes—especially from the female Marines—to simply stand idle. Until Kaido appeared, he might as well entertain himself with a worthy opponent. And who better than the world's strongest man himself, Edward Newgate?
Sephiroth's left hand swept through the air, igniting the Nether Flame Blade. Nine roaring fire dragons materialized, their orange-red forms streaking toward Whitebeard from multiple angles. Before the Emperor could respond, Vista leapt into action.
The Flower Sword's twin rapiers flashed as he met the fiery onslaught. "Rose Rhapsody!" Vista's confident smile never wavered as his blades danced, scattering petals that mingled with the inferno. His precise cuts wove an invisible net of sword strokes, slicing the dragons into harmless sparks that dissipated into the air.
"Fifth Division Commander, Vista the Flower Sword, reporting for duty!" he announced with a flourish.
"Somewhat interesting," Sephiroth remarked, his eyebrow arching slightly. Vista's flamboyant swordsmanship had piqued his curiosity—enough to warrant a momentary diversion.
"If you intend to stop me," Sephiroth warned, his voice cold, "be prepared to pay with your life."
"Come at me with everything you've got!" Vista shot back, his grin widening. "I've been itching to test my skills against the world's greatest swordsman for a long time."