Chapter 380: Whitebeard's Resolve
As the saying goes—when enemies meet, their eyes burn red with hatred.
The reason Whitebeard brought all his subordinate pirate crews to Marineford to wage this decisive war against the Navy—all of it could be traced back to Blackbeard.
That man had once been one of his "sons."
Back then, he violated the ship's most sacred rule by killing his crewmate, Fourth Division Captain Thatch, for a Devil Fruit, and fled.
Ace had gone after him personally, only to be captured by Blackbeard instead—and handed over to the Navy.
The Navy then decided to publicly execute Ace, which set off the entire chain of events that followed.
Another reason Whitebeard came here today was to deal with Blackbeard himself.
So now, when the Whitebeard Pirates saw Blackbeard and his crew appear, every one of them glared murderously, their killing intent thick enough to choke the air.
Each looked as if they wanted to tear him apart and drink his blood.
Ace, too, furrowed his brows and locked eyes on Blackbeard's crew.
After being rescued from the execution platform by Monkey D. Luffy, he had also been helped by former Baroque Works agent Mr. 3—Galdino, the Candle-Candle Fruit user—who created a wax key to unlock Ace's Seastone cuffs.
Freed from those shackles, Ace had regained his strength and was now fighting once again alongside his brothers in the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Zehahahahahaha…"
"It's been a long time, Pops. Ace."
Blackbeard laughed arrogantly, completely ignoring the furious glares directed at him.
"Titch!"
Whitebeard's eyes hardened as he growled his name.
"Zehahahahahaha… What a surprise."
"Pops, why don't you let us be your opponents next?"
Blackbeard's eyes darted quickly across the battlefield.
Originally, his plan had been to wait until the Navy's top brass and Whitebeard's side had fought each other to exhaustion—then swoop in to reap all the rewards.
He wanted to claim every Devil Fruit possible, especially the three Logia-type fruits possessed by the Navy Admirals.
But things hadn't gone as he expected.
The clash between the Navy and the Whitebeard Pirates wasn't nearly as brutal as he'd imagined.
And then that mysterious man appeared, throwing his plans completely off course—Ace had even been rescued.
Still, there was a silver lining: Sengoku, Garp, and the three Admirals were all being held back by that mysterious man.
They had no hands to spare for the rest of the battlefield.
That gave Blackbeard's crew a golden opportunity.
So now, Blackbeard had decided to step forward himself.
He couldn't let the heavily injured Whitebeard escape.
"Titch! Let me be your opponent!"
Ace stepped forward, seemingly having forgotten the defeat he once suffered.
"Zehahahaha… I didn't expect that, Ace," Blackbeard sneered. "But I'm not interested in you anymore. I offered you a chance once—you turned it down."
He rejected Ace's challenge outright.
"Let me handle him! You go on ahead, Ace!"
Marco stepped forward, fully aware of what Blackbeard's presence here meant.
It was obvious the bastard wasn't here out of good intentions—he wanted to block their retreat and let the Navy do the rest, further whittling down the Whitebeard Pirates' strength.
Time was critical now.
Their top priority was to ensure everyone's safe withdrawal.
So Marco volunteered to stay behind.
"I'll take care of it, Marco. You lead Pops and the others to safety."
Diamond Jozu stepped forward too, his gaze sharp as a blade fixed on Blackbeard.
Then came Flower-Sword Vista and others—each ready to stay behind to buy time.
Blackbeard just laughed madly, showing no concern for his former comrades.
He already knew their strengths well—and summed them up in four words: nothing special.
But Whitebeard's voice cut through the noise.
"All of you, stand down. Leave Titch to me!"
"Marco, take everyone and retreat!"
"That's an order!"
Whitebeard knew his own condition. His health had already been poor, and after the fierce battle just now, his body was covered in wounds—he wouldn't last much longer.
To secure an escape route for his sons, he had made up his mind to sacrifice himself.
He swung his massive bisento backward.
With a thunderous rumble, the ground split apart from the force of his strike.
Marineford's earth cracked open in a massive chasm, cutting off nearly all of the Navy pursuers.
The gaping fissure stopped them in their tracks.
Now, only the Pacifistas and Blackbeard's crew stood in their way.
"Pops…"
Marco's expression shifted as he realized what was happening.
But Whitebeard cut him off sharply before he could speak:
"Don't just stand there, Marco—do as I say!"
"Get everyone out—now!"
"Titch!"
"You and I still have a score to settle! Thatch's spirit will only rest once your blood has been spilled!"
Dragging his bisento, Whitebeard strode step by step toward Blackbeard.
Blackbeard's grin widened—exactly what he wanted.
"Zehahahahahaha! Pops, if you're gonna fight us, the entire Blackbeard Pirates are joining in!"
Because of their sudden arrival, nearly everyone's attention on Marineford was drawn to them.
Almost no one noticed what was happening on Uchiha Dali's clone's side of the battlefield.
Even Sengoku, Garp, and the three Admirals had stopped attacking Dali's clone.
They all stood watching instead.
That instantly irritated Dali's clone.
"Hey, hey, why'd you all stop?"
"I was enjoying this!"
"Enjoying?"
Garp narrowed his eyes. "So our full-strength attacks are just entertainment to you?"
"Ah, quit talking and start fighting already!" Dali's clone snapped impatiently.
Once he became a permanent existence, he could seize this world entirely.
Then his true body could move on to conquer other dimensions without any worries.
How could he stand their hesitation?
"Can we pause for a moment? We still have an entire day, don't we?"
"The ones who just appeared—they're a problem we can't ignore."
Sengoku's gaze locked firmly on the Blackbeard Pirates as he made the serious request to Uchiha Dali's clone.