Marineford, Marine Headquarters. The execution platform loomed like a guillotine over the battlefield. A Marine communicator sprinted to Kong's side, his voice tight with urgency.
"Commander-in-Chief Kong! Shichibukai Blackbeard Teach has breached Impel Down and released all prisoners. Warden Magellan is gravely injured—unconscious."
Kong's eyes narrowed sharply. His chest tightened. Impel Down housed some of the world's most dangerous criminals—men like Devil Child Bullet and Wicked King Pizarro. If they escaped, chaos would engulf the seas.
But the war took precedence. Kong suppressed his alarm. "Deploy the Pacifista," he ordered.
The communicator saluted and dashed off to relay the command to the science division. Moments later, three hundred Pacifista marched onto the battlefield, their mechanical forms gleaming ominously. The Whitebeard Pirates, unfamiliar with these war machines, suffered heavy losses. Their cannons bounced harmlessly off the PX-III models, leaving them momentarily defenseless.
The tide turned when a Whitebeard captain discovered Armament Haki's internal destruction could dismantle the Pacifista. The Pirates rallied, targeting the robots with precision. Yet the Marines adapted, coordinating their defenses to shield the Pacifista from destruction.
Suddenly, the sea near Marineford erupted. Ships surged from the depths, their sails billowing like a storm. The watchtower observer's voice rang out in alarm.
"Emergency! The Pirate Grand Fleet—Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates—have surfaced. Estimated ship count: over three hundred!"
Kong's brow furrowed. "Now, of all times..."
The battlefield was a tangle of clashes. Sengoku held Whitebeard at bay. Akainu lay buried in the earth, out of commission. Kizaru dueled Marco in a blur of light, while Aokiji grappled with Diamond Jozu. Sephiroth had Vista pinned—until Sword Master Lightning Lord Mcguy intervened, tipping the scales toward stalemate.
With most of the Marines' high-tier fighters engaged, the remaining powerhouses were Zephyr, Garp, and Kong himself. The arrival of two Emperor crews stretched their forces dangerously thin. And the Shichibukai? Half-hearted at best. None fought with true conviction.
The Whitebeard Pirates breached the military port walls, forcing the Shichibukai to retreat inside. Even Yamato, eager for a fight, was yanked back by Hancock. "Stay by my side," she commanded. "No reckless charges."
After the Whitebeard Pirates charged into the military port, the five Shichibukai also retreated inside the walls. Even the naive Yamato, who was simply looking for strong opponents to fight, was pulled back by Hancock when she wanted to charge into the enemy formation to find opponents, and was ordered to stay by her side and absolutely not charge or run around recklessly.
The battlefield was chaos incarnate—a sprawling war where enemies lurked in every shadow, attacks raining from all sides. Even a Four Emperor couldn't afford carelessness; a single misstep could lead to ambush and disaster. Here, the luxury of a one-on-one duel was nothing but a death wish.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The deafening crack of gunfire erupted from behind the Marine lines. Soldiers who had been focused on the enemy ahead were caught completely off guard. Bullets tore through their ranks, sending men crumpling into blood-soaked ground. Those at the rear spun around, their eyes widening at the scene unfolding before them.
Pirates poured out of Marineford's buildings like a swarm of ants—dozens, then hundreds, then thousands. They emerged from houses, alleys, even Marine Headquarters itself, armed to the teeth and radiating menace. In moments, tens of thousands had flooded the battlefield, launching a surprise attack that defied belief.
"Pirates! They've infiltrated Marineford! It's the Big Mom Pirates!" "How the hell did they get into the town?" "Damn it! We're pinned from both sides!"
As panic spread among the Marines, Fleet Admiral Kong snapped into action. His Observation Haki flared, scanning the battlefield. What he sensed made his blood run cold.
The Pirates hadn't marched in—they'd appeared inside the buildings as if conjured from thin air. Their numbers? Over thirty thousand. The Big Mom Pirates' ambush was devastating, and the Marine ranks began to crumble.
To salvage the Marines' reputation, Kong barked an order to cut the live broadcast of Ace's execution. He grabbed a loudspeaker den den mushi and roared into it, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"Hold your ground! Rear army, face the new threat! Front lines, maintain your positions!"
His commands steadied the Marines, but the scales were tipping toward the Pirates. Still, Kong hesitated to execute Ace. Not out of reluctance—but necessity.
Ace was the bait to draw Whitebeard into a trap. Killing him now would unleash the Emperor's full wrath. Whitebeard, unrestrained and enraged, would join forces with the Beasts Pirates and Big Mom Pirates, obliterating every Marine in Marineford.
Only with a decisive advantage could Ace's execution serve its purpose—delivering the final blow to the Whitebeard Pirates' morale.
Meanwhile, in a villa within Marineford, the Charlotte Family gathered around a woman in a flowing white dress, her light purple hair cascading down her back, a scar etched across her face.
"It's time," Charlotte Brulee declared, her hands clasped before her chest. "Mama will make her entrance!"
A white vortex of light erupted from her palms, expanding rapidly until it spanned ten meters in diameter. From its depths emerged Big Mom Charlotte Linlin herself—eight point eight meters of towering menace, clad in a pink pirate hat and dress. Clouds and sun orbited her left and right sides as she stepped into the world, her laughter booming.
"Mamamama! Brulee, you've done well! Connecting Marineford's mirrors and constructing the mirror world took quite the effort. Rest now—we may still need your power when we withdraw." "Yes, Mama!" Brulee replied eagerly.
Brulee gave a brisk nod at the command. She spun on her heel and stepped through the full-length mirror in the hall, disappearing into the shimmering surface of the mirror world.
The Pirates of the Big Mom Pirates' sudden appearance in the town was made possible by Brulee's Mirror-Mirror Fruit. Her ability linked every mirror in Marineford, creating a network for the crew to traverse. This allowed them to slip behind Marine lines undetected. For this battle, the Big Mom Pirates had mobilized a staggering force of thirty-six thousand fighters.
Charlotte Linlin, known as Big Mom, spearheaded the assault. She led Katakuri and her other children, commanding twenty-eight thousand troops in a flanking maneuver. Meanwhile, Perospero directed the remaining eight thousand from the outskirts of Marineford, raining long-range artillery fire on Marine Headquarters.
The Big Mom Pirates weren't here to save Ace. Their sole objective: annihilate the Marines. Destruction and slaughter were their orders of the day. "Alright!" Big Mom bellowed, her voice thunderous. "Let's turn Marine Headquarters upside down!" She yanked Napoleon, her sentient hat, from her head. With a flash, the hat transformed into its saber form.
With a ground-shaking crash, Big Mom launched herself skyward, smashing through the roof. High above Marineford, she hovered, held aloft by the white cloud Zeus. Prometheus, her sentient sun, orbited her like a fiery halo. The combination gave her an aura both divine and demonic, radiating waves of palpable danger.
Her gaze locked onto the execution platform below. There stood Kong, Garp, Zephyr, and other Marine heavyweights. "Mamamama!" she cackled. "Take this—Elbaf's Spear: Hakoku!" Her saber, crackling with dark red lightning, swept upward. A massive blade of energy, infused with Haoshoku Haki, hurtled toward the platform at blinding speed.
This was Big Mom's devastating imitation of the Giant Race's ultimate technique. The Elbaf's Spear could obliterate mountains—an execution platform would be vaporized in an instant. "That crazy old hag!" Kong muttered, his brow furrowed. He stepped forward, ready to intercept the attack.
But before he could act—
"Let me handle it!" a voice growled. Garp, clad in his white suit and 'Justice' cape, launched himself toward the oncoming blade of energy. His right fist crackled with dark red lightning as Armament Haki surged through him, converging into a single, devastating punch.
"Fist Impact!" he roared, driving his fist forward. A shockwave of Haki erupted, colliding with Big Mom's attack in a cataclysmic clash.
Two incomparably powerful energy shockwaves collided fiercely, unleashing terrifying air currents. The deafening explosion reduced nearby buildings to rubble, sending plumes of smoke and dust spiraling into the sky.