Unlike a direct power amplification — like Kaido's Mythical Zoan, or Whitebeard at full strength capable of cracking all of Marineford with a single blow — Big Mom's Devil Fruit wasn't that straightforward.
Soul Pocus. Her most direct method of claiming lifespans. A spoken verdict over living things: let one shred of fear toward her slip through, and that much soul is stripped away as lifespan. The ability suited her perfectly — because Big Mom, who spiraled into mania during her hunger pangs at unpredictable intervals, was exactly the kind of terror capable of harming even her own children.
Most residents of Totto Land paid a month's worth of lifespan every six months in exchange for the right to live in peace.
Yimi's vivid blue irises were replaced again by that blank, molten gold. Paired with Big Mom's brand of Conqueror's Haki — the scene of the battlefield being shredded still fresh in everyone's minds — Big Mom's children, who had glimpsed something in Yimi's shadow, couldn't help but let fear bleed through. And that fear was exactly what Yimi seized on, draining their lifespan away.
Even with all those stacked bonuses, none of it changed what she fundamentally was: a tiny child.
The CP0 operative adjusted his hat without a word. No fear. A calm acceptance of death — the same composure with which he'd tried to light that bomb. Operatives were taught from the very beginning: sooner or later, you'll be sent to die.
Yimi stabbed through his heart with the spear and finished him off.
The new ability was completely useless.
"Too many lives have already been lost in this war. Do me a favor and let it end here — leave something for the new era."
Shanks timed it to the exact moment Whitebeard managed to reach Ace. He stepped in and intercepted Aokiji.
"...Pops." Ace — still cuffed in Seastone — wept openly.
For one reckless man who refused to listen, they had fought this war. So many had died for it.
Sengoku's instincts fired for a split second before he caught himself, remembering he was nothing now but a semi-retired bystander. He leaned close to Aokiji's ear: "This war is being broadcast live to the entire world."
Letting Whitebeard rescue someone in full view of the world would cause devastation comparable to what Roger triggered when he launched the Age of Pirates — but how Aokiji chose to handle that was no longer Sengoku's problem.
Aokiji knew it. He couldn't simply let Ace walk free — backing down to a pirate now would make him look like a deserter.
But standing where he was, what could he actually do?
Shanks, who might have mediated, had already declared his position. Over there was the Brat — whose intentions were still unclear after jumping off the Red Force. On Aokiji's own side: he was crossing swords with Shanks, Kizaru had raised his hands at Beckman's gunpoint, Garp had gone flying and made his choice clear by not coming back, and the three-Warlord team had fought like a slideshow. Every ally on his side was putting on a performance — and the only one who could actually help him was Sengoku, right there. Across from him: three Emperor-level figures, including one unknown thing wearing a child's body.
And the battlefield had shrunk so drastically that half the people left were spending everything they had just to keep from falling into the ocean.
Aokiji glanced at the broadcast Den Den Mushi sitting in the corner.
Den Den Mushis were living creatures too. After Yimi had drained Big Mom and tested out her Conqueror's Haki, the poor thing was now unconscious.
He looked at the Marines below him. More than half were knocked out from that wave of Conqueror's Haki — many of them fresh talent, promising new sprouts that shouldn't be cut down here.
He lowered his hands.
That was answer enough.
Sengoku let out a slow breath. He didn't reproach him.
"Little Hawk-Eye! Time to head back!" Shanks grinned and called over to Yimi, then turned back to take in the thoroughly remodeled Red Force — courtesy of Big Mom — and felt a faint urge to cry.
"Is Mama still alive?"
"Shh — not a word!"
Below the ship, the assembled children of Big Mom were attempting to drag their shriveled mother back toward their side.
Aokiji turned to look at them too. His thinking finally shifted into a gear appropriate for his rank. Even if they'd lost this fight, they had to walk away with something. Opportunistic? Certainly. But wasn't this Big Mom — right here — the perfect card to play?
After all, the broadcast Den Den Mushi hadn't exactly been shoved in their faces the whole time. If the press ran the story as the Marines defeating and capturing Big Mom, the meaning changed entirely.
"The Navy lost to the pirates" became "The Navy took down an Emperor even while surrounded." Shameless? Perhaps. But when you're Fleet Admiral, who needs shame?
Aokiji glanced at Shanks. Big Mom had just taken a running start at his ship and gone to town. He wasn't about to stick his nose in further.
He gave the order. "Arrest them."
"Aokiji — you dare?"
With only Smoothie as their remaining Sweet Commander, the Big Mom Pirates had no path through this many Marines.
By this time, Yimi had come running back from the barrier. A tiny thing — exactly the age meant for cuddling in her parents' arms.
"Little girl," Aokiji said, out of nowhere. "What's your dream?"
"Dream?" The cat knew the word. "I want to go home."
"Go home..." That wasn't a dream at all. It was exactly the kind of answer a child would give.
Aokiji closed his eyes.
What was this era teaching its children?
He watched Yimi's retreating figure in silence — and saw, for a moment, the little girl from the Ohara incident twenty years ago. A victim, branded with an 80-million-Berry bounty.
Brrr brrr brrr. Brrr brrr brrr—
The Five Elders' Den Den Mushi.
"Hello?" Aokiji answered.
"Is the Brat dead?"
That they asked about the Brat before asking about Fire Fist Ace caught him slightly off guard.
"You're having a laugh. Just dealing with Whitebeard was enough of a headache. If Sakazuki were still around, things might have been different."
"Don't mention Sakazuki to me." Something shifted in the Five Elders' voice at the name.
That bastard's defection — and then heading straight for Mary Geoise to launch a Meteor Volcano...
"I don't care what methods you use or what the cost. Even if you have to sink all of Marineford — kill her here."
The five old men spoke in relay, like one organism with five mouths.
Aokiji sat down where he stood, watching several Vice Admirals corral the Big Mom Pirates. "The matter is settled. There's no one left standing who can keep fighting."
"You really want to let a child like that grow up unchecked, Kuzan?"
The truth was they suspected her of having the Nika Fruit.
"This is far from over. I take it that Vegapunk bomb didn't go off?"
"No matter the cost—"
Click.
Aokiji hung up.
"Now you get to feel what this position truly costs." Garp — no one knew when he'd dragged himself back — sat down beside him. Across the distance, he and the grandson on Whitebeard's ship shared one last look.
"Garp-san."
"What is it?"
Kuzan was quiet for a long moment. "What exactly is the 'justice' I've been holding onto?"
"Why ask that all of a sudden?" Garp looked at him, surprised.
Was this really the kind of doubt a Fleet Admiral was supposed to have?
"I kind of want to rebel," said Aokiji.
"?" said Garp.