"Nah hee hee hee hee—!"
The sound of laughter echoed across Marineford, blending with the steady rhythm of the drums.
Monkey D. Luffy stood in the center of the crater, his entire body bathed in pure white.
His hair had turned white and fluttered upward like flames. White vapor-like clouds coiled around his shoulders and neck. His eyebrows curved in a strange spiral, and his grin stretched wide across his face—bright, carefree, almost childlike.
The ground beneath him softened further, turning elastic. Each step he took made the earth bounce slightly, as if the island itself were responding to him.
The sunlight above seemed stronger.
His heartbeat continued.
Dong-long-dong.
"That's… Devil Fruit awakening?" Sengoku muttered.
But something was wrong.
"This isn't Paramecia…"
He had seen awakenings before. This was different. The transformation. The presence. It resembled a Zoan more than anything else.
Across the battlefield, whispers spread.
Some of the older pirates stared in shock.
The image—white hair, free laughter, boundless joy—
It matched an ancient legend spoken of in the New World.
Sun God Nika.
On the distant Holy Land of Mary Geoise, within Pangaea Castle, the Gorosei watched in grim silence.
"It awakened."
"Dispatch the God's Knights."
"Marineford must eliminate Nika immediately."
Back on the battlefield, morale shifted.
Some Marines felt their hands tremble on their weapons.
Some pirates laughed louder.
Luffy stretched his arms wide, testing his body as if waking from a long sleep.
"I can move! I can move however I want!" he shouted, laughing.
Then he vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared on the execution platform.
"Ace!"
His arm stretched and snapped forward. The Sea-Prism Stone restraints shattered under the impact of his awakened power.
The shackles fell.
Portgas D. Ace was free.
"Straw Hat—!" roars echoed from the Navy ranks.
Below, Sakazuki, locked in combat with Edward Newgate, lost focus for a fraction of a second.
Whitebeard's fist struck him squarely, sending him crashing backward.
But Whitebeard himself staggered after the blow, clutching his chest. His illness and wounds were catching up to him.
"Retreat!" Whitebeard roared, lifting his bisento. "We've done what we came for! Get Ace out of here!"
But the battlefield would not allow it so easily.
A massive pink dragon shape swooped down from the sky.
Vice Admiral Onigumo, transformed by the artificial Azure Dragon fruit, descended with sword in hand.
Luffy grabbed Ace to pull him back—
Too late.
The blade cut across Luffy's cheek, drawing blood.
He blinked.
Ace touched his own face.
There was blood.
"I tried to use my power…" Ace said quietly. "It didn't respond."
His expression darkened.
"The Mera Mera no Mi… it's gone."
Luffy froze.
Stolen.
Blackbeard.
High above the battlefield, Xiao watched in silence.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
So it had come to this.
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