After they left—
Under the power of Shiki the Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit, they quickly arrived above Marine Headquarters.
They maintained a height from which they could clearly observe what was happening below, yet remain unlikely to be detected.
Just as they had expected, the battle at Marineford was far from over.
Only—
Whitebeard's condition was deteriorating rapidly.
Not only did he have to face Sengoku the Buddha head-on—that crafty old fox—
He also had to deal with Akainu, the rabid dog.
With Whitebeard now alone, neither of these two main forces held back in the slightest.
And that wasn't all. He also had to endure Kizaru's constant harassment.
As well as the occasional sneak attacks launched by certain vice admirals who didn't know their place.
To Whitebeard at his peak, such attacks would have been nothing more than ants.
But to him now—
Even ants could bring down an elephant.
Every bit of harassment added another wound—small, but not insignificant.
In such a dreadful state, with a grave expression on his face, Whitebeard naturally had no spare attention to check whether any "guests" had arrived in the sky above.
"Gurarararara!"
He burst into laughter, feeling his life force slipping away.
He knew his time was running out.
If that was the case—
"Then let me go out with a bang!"
"Seaquake!"
His attacks grew even more violent and frenzied. He completely abandoned defense.
It was a suicidal fighting style!
Faced with Whitebeard's sudden eruption, Sengoku and Akainu sharpened their focus to the utmost, responding with full force, not daring to be distracted for even a moment.
If anyone slipped up, Whitebeard would seize the chance and crush them.
The battle was already nearing its end—who would be willing to die alongside him?
As a result, none of them paid any attention to whether anyone might be watching from the sky.
After all, in any sane person's mind—
No one with a functioning brain would escape with their life… only to immediately return.
There was nothing left at Marine Headquarters that Leno could possibly want.
Against Whitebeard's berserk assault, the Marines began shouting out their named attacks.
"Great Eruption!"
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
"Great Buddha Shockwave!"
"Finger Pistol—"
"Iron Body!!"
…
A very brave Iron Body.
It resulted in one vice admiral coughing up blood and dying on the spot.
"Gurarararara! Shameful ganging up—and this is all you've got?!"
Whitebeard swung his bisento, Murakumogiri, sending another vice admiral flying.
"As long as we can make you stay, any method will do!"
Sengoku roared and struck down with his palm!
In his view, nearly all the damned pirates were already dead.
The broadcast had been cut—no one knew what was happening at Headquarters.
The image of Marine justice would remain untarnished!
However—
What the Marines didn't know was that their entire siege of Whitebeard was still being broadcast live to the world.
The one responsible?
None other than Buggy the Clown and the News King, Morgans.
Akainu had slaughtered many ordinary pirates earlier.
Yet Buggy was still very much alive.
The Luck King's luck was not to be questioned!
While frantically fleeing along the battlefield's edge, he hadn't forgotten to continue the livestream.
He just so happened to be discovered—and rescued—by Morgans, who was also lurking around Marine Headquarters in search of a major scoop.
Morgans had originally been hanging around because of Leno.
Who would've thought he'd stumble into an even bigger story?
This heaven-sent fortune—
He grabbed it without a second thought!
As for whether the Marines and the World Government would hunt him down afterward?
He didn't care in the slightest.
Or rather—
A world-shaking headline was more tempting to him than anything else.
High in the sky—
Golden Lion watched his old rival's worsening state below, and a trace of melancholy appeared on his face.
He sighed.
Back then, he had stormed Marine Headquarters alone to rescue Roger.
Not for love—
For admiration.
But he would never do the same for Whitebeard.
Even during their days aboard the Rocks Pirates, their relationship had only been so-so.
And now, with Marine Headquarters fully mobilized—
Going down there to save him?
That would just be suicide.
So while he felt sentimental—
Saving him was out of the question.
What he was more curious about was what Leno had risked coming back for.
From the looks of it—
It didn't seem to be some grand surprise attack on the Marines.
"Kid," Shiki finally asked, unable to hold back, "what exactly did we come back for? To watch the show?"
"Of course not."
Leno's gaze remained fixed on Whitebeard below as he replied calmly:
"Whitebeard's corpse."
Shiki froze.
He had considered many possibilities—
But not this one.
Might as well try rescuing him instead.
If he knew what Shiki was thinking, Leno would have said:
It's not that I don't want to save him. It's that I simply can't.
Even with Blueno's Door-Door Fruit, the success rate would be close to zero.
Blueno's fruit was powerful—
But Blueno himself was too weak.
Stealing Whitebeard's corpse and rescuing Whitebeard alive were entirely different levels of difficulty.
Shiki didn't understand Leno.
But thinking of the Whitebeard division commanders who had just joined Leno's ranks, he thought he did.
"Tch. For Marco and the others, huh? Didn't expect you to be so loyal."
Leno didn't bother explaining.
For Marco? Had he lost his mind, risking this much?
Whitebeard wasn't his father.
Though… winning over Marco and the others in the process wasn't a bad bonus.
Between him and Whitebeard, there had been no sentiment.
Only a cold transaction—mutual exploitation.
Whitebeard held back the Marines.
Leno protected the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates.
That was it.
No extra clauses.
As they spoke, Whitebeard's condition plummeted sharply.
Fighting in such a reckless, defense-abandoning manner drained him enormously.
Death would arrive all the faster.
He might not even last as long as Aokiji and Akainu had in their duel in the original timeline.
"Seaquake!"
Whitebeard, drenched in blood, threw a punch at Akainu.
It landed!
But at the same time, Sengoku struck his back from the side with a massive golden palm.
"Great Buddha Shockwave!"
The Marines were not fighting one-on-one.
"Meigou!"
Knocked down moments earlier, Akainu seized the opportunity, rising and driving his magma fist straight through Whitebeard's chest.
Kizaru's lasers continued to burn blackened holes into Whitebeard's body.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
The vice admirals did not waste the chance either, launching sneak attacks and carving more wounds into him.
Whitebeard's massive body swayed.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
He looked increasingly battered, his aura no longer carrying its former crushing pressure.
Watching everything from the shadows, Blackbeard observed it all, overjoyed.
"Zehahahaha… soon. Very soon!"
He rubbed his hands excitedly.
"Just a little more… and my plan will succeed!"
Just as he had predicted—
Whitebeard finally reached the end of his strength.
He clutched one wound with a large hand, using the other to brace himself as he slowly stood upright.
"Gurarara… what a thrilling battle."
He swept his gaze across the battlefield, finally landing on Sengoku.
"Sengoku… we'll meet again someday. The new era cannot carry relics like us…"
"Then let me add one final spark to this age!"
Unaware that the broadcast had supposedly been cut, he gathered his last bit of strength—
And roared to the heavens:
"ONE PIECE… DOES EXIST!!!"
When the roar faded—
His towering body remained standing.
But his eyes had lost all light. All brilliance.
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate—
Died standing.
And Blackbeard had finally obtained the opportunity he had been waiting for.
He began to stir.
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