"Garp, are you planning to rebel?"
Xiao tapped the baseball bat lightly against his palm, smiling as he looked at Monkey D. Garp.
"You're a hero of the Navy. Are you going to betray justice for the sake of a pirate?"
His expression said everything: I killed your grandson. What can you do?
Before Garp could move again, Sengoku stepped in and grabbed his shoulders firmly.
"Don't do anything foolish!" Sengoku shouted. "Blackbeard did nothing wrong. Your grandson chose to be a pirate. He chose this path."
There was pain in Sengoku's eyes—but his voice did not waver.
A pirate who storms the execution ground must be prepared to die.
No matter whose grandson he was.
If Garp attacked again, it would no longer be an impulsive strike. It would become a declaration of stance. A Navy hero turning against the Navy in front of the world—what would that mean?
The Shichibukai were watching.
The Marines were watching.
If Garp crossed the line, the Navy would split that very moment.
Even the hawks, led by Sakazuki, would not tolerate it.
For the first time, many sharp-minded figures truly understood what Blackbeard had been doing all along.
His generosity to Marines.
His calculated righteousness.
His steady rise in prestige.
He had already laid the groundwork.
Now, if Garp struck him, it would be Garp who stood in the wrong.
What a move, some thought silently.
Meanwhile, Garp's body trembled. His teeth ground together. His eyes were red.
"This old man…"
His Haki surged violently.
He didn't care about being wanted. He didn't care about reputation.
His grandson lay lifeless in his arms.
What more did he have to lose?
In an instant, Kuzan and Borsalino appeared behind him.
Cold air spread.
Ice froze around Garp's legs, anchoring him in place.
"Don't," Kuzan said quietly.
The battlefield stood on the edge of collapse.
And then—
Dong. Dong-long-dong. Dong-long-dong.
A strange rhythm echoed across Marineford.
Clear.
Steady.
Like drums.
The sound did not come from the sky.
It came from the ground.
No—
From Luffy.
Xiao's smile vanished.
He shoved aside the nearest Marines and stared at the crater.
Inside it, Monkey D. Luffy's body suddenly jerked upward.
His heart was beating again.
Each beat was unnaturally loud, like war drums echoing through the air.
Dong.
Dong-long-dong.
With every beat, Conqueror's Haki pulsed outward in waves.
The pressure spread across the plaza.
The ground began to change.
Stone softened.
The cracked earth rippled like rubber.
Marineford itself started to undulate slightly, as if the island had become elastic.
"What… is happening?"
Fighting stopped.
Both Marines and pirates struggled to keep their footing as the terrain beneath them turned soft and springy.
Luffy slowly rose into the air, lifted by the force of his own heartbeat.
His body no longer looked rigid.
It seemed lighter.
Freer.
From Xiao's perspective—through his dimensional perception—something else was clear.
Each time the drumbeat sounded, energy flowed down from above.
From the sun.
Golden light shimmered faintly across Luffy's body.
His exhausted form began to recover at a visible speed. Muscles filled out. Wounds sealed. His presence grew stronger with every beat.
Xiao narrowed his eyes.
"So that's it…"
The Drums of Liberation.
Far away, in Pangaea Castle, within the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, five figures rose abruptly.
The Gorosei had been observing the war from the start.
"It awakened."
"We should never have allowed him time to grow."
"He is Garp's grandson. We had to consider the consequences."
"Enough. Send the order."
Their decision was immediate.
"Dispatch the God's Knights. Marineford must eliminate Nika."
Back on the battlefield, the drums grew louder.
Dong-long-dong.
Luffy's hair began to lighten.
His body radiated a strange joy.
And in that shifting, elastic world—
The sun seemed to shine just a little brighter.
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