As time passed, more and more golden dust began rising from beneath Brown Plaza.
The glowing particles gathered together rapidly, gradually forming two gigantic golden arms.
The sight instantly forced the surrounding Marines and Cipher Pol agents to retreat.
Everyone stared at the center of the plaza with nervous expressions.
"Something's underground!"
"Move back!"
"It's coming out!"
"Be careful!"
Within moments, a massive empty zone spanning several hundred meters formed in the middle of the battlefield.
The two enormous golden arms slowly solidified completely, standing upright like giant statues made of pure gold.
Aramaki, who had been preparing to attack Dragon's fleet, immediately stopped moving.
He turned toward the golden arms with a deep frown.
"What the hell is this? Some kind of Devil Fruit ability?"
Unlike other Admirals, Aramaki rarely paid attention to information about Devil Fruit users unless they directly affected him.
But Kuzan's eyes widened instantly.
"Impossible..."
A shocking possibility appeared in his mind.
Dragon watched the scene with interest, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"So you've finally arrived."
Sabo also stared at the giant golden hands.
An extremely familiar aura spread across the battlefield.
His body trembled slightly.
Vegapunk immediately noticed it.
"Sabo-kun? What's wrong?"
Sabo shook his head.
"Nothing."
Although Vegapunk spent most of his time buried in research, he was still smart enough to read the atmosphere.
Judging from Sabo's reaction, it was obvious the person below was someone he knew.
Still, since Sabo didn't explain further, Vegapunk chose not to ask.
Soon enough, the answer would reveal itself anyway.
The entire ground of Brown Plaza began shaking violently.
Rumble!
Rumble!!
The tremors grew stronger every second.
Then suddenly...
BOOM!
The two massive golden hands slammed against the ground.
The entire plaza shook violently.
Ten giant fingers pierced deep into the earth.
Golden veins spread across the backs of the arms as overwhelming force erupted outward.
Crack!!
The ground split apart like shattered glass.
Two gigantic fissures tore through Brown Plaza at terrifying speed.
One of the cracks rushed directly toward the execution platform before finally stopping over a kilometer away.
A massive black abyss now divided the battlefield.
The surrounding crowd was completely horrified.
"W-What is this?!"
"The ground split open!"
"Is this an earthquake?!"
"How terrifying!"
Some soldiers nearly collapsed from fear.
Even the sea surrounding Brown Plaza began surging violently from the shockwave.
Aramaki raised his hand immediately.
"Quiet!"
"Something's coming up!"
The entire battlefield fell silent.
Then...
A voice echoed from deep beneath the fissure.
"Kakkoii na~ So this is the power of the Gold-Gold Fruit? Sugoi~"
Aramaki's expression darkened instantly.
Several powerful presences were rapidly approaching from below.
Three of those auras were especially monstrous.
Two of them were even stronger than his own.
His pupils shrank slightly.
"Who the hell is it...?"
Another irritated voice echoed upward from beneath the crack.
"You brat!"
"Hurry up already!"
Moments later, liquid gold surged upward like a tidal wave.
A gigantic pirate ship slowly emerged from beneath the fissure, carried entirely by the flowing gold.
When the ship finally appeared fully above ground, the entire battlefield exploded into chaos.
"T-That's the Moby Dick!"
"The Whitebeard Pirates!"
"The Whitebeard Pirates are here!"
The legendary ship stood proudly in the middle of Brown Plaza itself.
Aramaki's face darkened with anger.
"To let pirates invade the center of the plaza..."
"This is beyond disgraceful!"
His thoughts immediately turned serious.
The Whitebeard Pirates were one of Peach Garden's allied forces.
If they had arrived here...
Then where was Rolan?
Aramaki instantly expanded his Observation Haki across the battlefield, searching for any abnormal aura.
But he found nothing.
That only made him even more uneasy.
This public execution was clearly a trap set by the World Government against the Revolutionary Army and Peach Garden.
And after the Marineford War, Rolan had openly declared war against the World Government.
There was no reason for Peach Garden to ignore this battle.
So why hadn't Rolan appeared yet?
Aramaki narrowed his eyes slightly before glancing toward Kuzan on the execution platform.
Ever since Kuzan publicly announced the Marines' integration into Peach Garden during the last high-level meeting, the two had completely fallen out.
Aramaki had originally planned to leave the Marines entirely and join the World Government directly.
Yet now, Kuzan was strangely cooperating with the Government during Sabo's execution.
No matter what Kuzan was planning, Aramaki only cared about one thing.
This was the perfect chance to crush Peach Garden and the Revolutionary Army together.
And he would not let that opportunity slip away.
Meanwhile, the appearance of the Moby Dick caused a massive uproar throughout the world.
"It's Portgas D. Ace!"
"The commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!"
"The Gold-Gold Fruit user!"
"The man connected to the Marineford War!"
"And next to him..."
"Straw Hat Luffy!"
"Ace's younger brother!"
Aramaki stared coldly at the two brothers standing aboard the Moby Dick.
"These two are disasters waiting to happen."
"They absolutely cannot leave Kulusimiya alive."
Luffy ignored everyone else completely.
His eyes were locked onto Sabo atop the execution platform.
"SABO!!"
"Wait for us! We're coming right now!"
Chains rattled loudly as Sabo struggled violently.
"Luffy! Ace! Why are you idiots here?!"
"This is my problem!"
"You don't need to risk your lives because of me!"
"Get out of here now!"
Before Sabo could continue shouting, Luffy immediately yelled back.
"Shut up, Sabo!"
"We're brothers!"
Ace crossed his arms and smirked slightly.
"Yeah."
"Since when do brothers run away?"
Sabo stared silently at the two of them.
His expression became complicated.
His eyes reddened slightly.
A strange warmth spread through his chest.
So this was what it felt like to have brothers willing to risk everything for you.
Kizaru quietly observed Luffy from the execution platform.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"So that's the Sun God Nika Rolan mentioned..."
"And possibly Joy Boy..."
"Hmm, I still can't tell."
Beside him, Renn remained silent with an unreadable expression.
No one could tell what he was thinking.
Then Aramaki suddenly stepped forward again.
"Portgas D. Ace!"
"Monkey D. Luffy!"
"You filthy pirate brats think you can save Sabo?"
"None of you are leaving Kulusimiya alive today!"
The moment his voice fell, his gigantic body rushed toward the Moby Dick.
Luffy blinked and tilted his head slightly.
"Who's this weird old guy?"
Ace immediately answered.
"That's Admiral Ryokugyu."
Luffy nodded casually.
"Oh."
"His hair really is green."
The moment those words entered Aramaki's ears, his face twisted violently with rage.
He hated hearing that more than anything.
Every woman he had ever dated had cheated on him with pirates.
Because of that, he developed a deep hatred toward pirates and swore to exterminate every last one of them.
And now this brat had reopened old wounds directly in front of everyone.
Veins bulged across Aramaki's forehead.
"Die, Straw Hat!!"
His right arm suddenly transformed into a gigantic vine coated in Armament Haki.
The sharp tip pierced through the air at terrifying speed straight toward Luffy's face.
Just as Luffy prepared to move...
A phoenix claw wrapped in blue flames suddenly crashed into the vine.
BOOM!
The attack exploded apart instantly.
Marco hovered in the air with his wings spread wide, blue flames dancing around his body.
"Heh, don't interfere."
"They've got more important things to do."