"All Marines, listen up. Retreat. Withdraw from the battle with the pirate crews!"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku did not even spare a glance at Akainu, who was being mercilessly crushed into the ground. Instead, he issued an order that instantly stunned the Marines still locked in combat.
"Retreat? Why?! We can wipe them out right now!"
"Could it be…?"
Some Marines quickly understood the meaning behind the command. Their eyes shifted toward the battlefield, where Shirogai was brutally suppressing Admiral Akainu, then toward the five terrifying figures advancing steadily through the smoke.
"Obey the order!!!"
Sengoku roared, his voice leaving no room for defiance.
Not far away, five monstrous beings wrapped in ominous black flames had already arrived.
High above, Saint Mars, the Environment God Warrior, descended from the sky in the form of a grotesque serpent-like bird. With an indifferent expression, he released what he carried.
Bang!
A massive body slammed into the shattered ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
That battered face slowly turned upward.
"Pops!!!!"
Across Marineford, Whitebeard Pirates froze in place. Those already on Marine ships, those preparing to board, and those holding the line all cried out in grief and fury.
The one discarded like broken refuse was their father.
Edward Newgate.
Whitebeard.
One of the Four Emperors.
Yet the man lying there no longer resembled the indomitable giant they knew.
His crescent mustache was scorched and broken. Two deep sword wounds tore through his abdomen, cut so deeply that his beating heart was visible. Beneath them was a horrifying circular hole, as if something long and sharp had pierced straight through him.
One of his legs was gone entirely, the pant leg hanging empty.
Even so, his left hand still gripped Murakumogiri.
His eyes, though dimmed, remained unyielding as they stared at the five grotesque figures.
"Pops… wuwuwuwu…"
When had they ever seen him like this?
The Whitebeard Pirates, who had grown up under his towering shadow, broke down completely.
"Damn monsters!!!"
"Don't be afraid, Pops! We're coming!"
Several pirates leapt from the ships, rushing back toward him.
"Stop! Don't go near them!"
"Idiots! Do you want Pops to die for nothing?!"
"Go back! Get stronger! Then come back and avenge him!"
They were stopped by the division commanders, their own eyes red with grief as they bit down hard and forced themselves to stay rational.
"Cough… cough…"
Whitebeard slowly pushed himself upright, using Murakumogiri as support. He stood on one leg, refusing to turn back.
Behind him, his captain's coat fluttered weakly, soaked in blood, the Whitebeard Pirates emblem dyed crimson.
Just like its owner.
A man standing on borrowed time.
"Shirogai, you brat!!!"
Whitebeard suddenly roared toward the distance.
"Heh, I'm here."
Shirogai casually released Akainu's shattered head and tossed him aside as if discarding trash. In the next instant, his figure vanished.
Swish!
A flicker of purple light condensed, and Shirogai Yamikuro appeared beside Whitebeard, smiling calmly.
…
The five transformed Gorosei looked down at the two men without emotion.
To them, Shirogai was no different from Whitebeard.
Just another insect nearing death.
"Do you have the confidence to kill them?"
Whitebeard lifted Murakumogiri and pointed it at the five figures.
"They're not ordinary Zoan users. Their regeneration isn't something I understand. If you can't win, then leave. I'll hold them back."
…
Shirogai did not answer immediately.
His gaze swept over Whitebeard's pale, bloodless body with unmistakable respect.
"As expected of the world's strongest man. This level of vitality shouldn't exist in a human."
The effects of the hormone Shirogai had injected earlier were long gone.
By all logic, Whitebeard should have died after unleashing that final, world-shaking strike.
Yet he remained standing.
Purely through will.
Through a father's refusal to abandon his children.
With strength alien to this world, he had forced his own dying body to continue fighting.
Even Shirogai had not expected this.
"This is the difference between borrowed power and true strength," Shirogai said coldly, glancing at the Gorosei.
"Compared to you, who command your own corpse through sheer will, these things rely on power that doesn't belong to them. Puppets trembling in fear."
"Relying on others' power…"
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed.
"So that's how it is."
He stared at the five monsters without fear.
"Their resurrection isn't truly theirs."
The Gorosei bristled at their calm gazes.
"Insects," roared Saint Warcury, the God Warrior of Law, unleashing a terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki. "You do not comprehend the greatness before you. You exist only to be enslaved!!!!"
The Haki roared across the battlefield, crushing weaker beings into unconsciousness.
"I'll do it," Whitebeard said quietly.
He stepped forward, leaning on Murakumogiri.
"This will be the last strike of my life."
Crack!
He steadied himself with the polearm as his other hand clenched into a fist. The air shattered. Space itself trembled.
"You call us insects?"
He endured the crushing pressure of Conqueror's Haki, his voice low and resolute.
"Even if we are insects…"
Crack. Crack. Crack.
His fist trembled.
The will was there.
But the strength was gone.
…
Just as loss flickered through Whitebeard's eyes, a warm hand grasped Murakumogiri.
Power surged back into his body.
…
Whitebeard looked down and met Shirogai's smiling gaze.
Both understood.
Roger…
It seems I found someone worthy too.
A pity we met so late.
The air fractured further, space warping like shattered glass as vibrations layered upon one another.
Whitebeard pushed aside all thoughts.
He leaned forward and threw his final punch.
"…We can still devour you whole!!!!"
Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt!
Conqueror's Haki erupted, black lightning racing through every裂 in space, weaving a massive web that swallowed all five monsters.
Crack!!!!
The entire region collapsed.
Thunder roared like divine punishment as black lightning exploded relentlessly.
Whitebeard stood tall amid the chaos, leaning on Murakumogiri, his gaze fierce and unbowed.
Like a mortal challenging gods.
Shirogai knew the truth.
The moment that punch was thrown, the man who had never bowed to anyone had already left this world.
---