The three men took their seats with composed expressions, their movements perfectly synchronized.
However, once seated, there were slight differences.
Akainu and Nao crossed their legs and folded their arms across their chests almost simultaneously, while Aokiji lazily spread his legs and rested both hands casually in front of his crotch…
Nao subtly glanced sideways at Aokiji.
"What is it?"
Aokiji looked completely confused. Following Nao's gaze, he looked down at himself, then at Akainu and Nao sitting with identical posture…
"You want us to match?"
He felt a bit exasperated and muttered quietly, loud enough for only the other two to hear.
"What do you think?"
Nao smiled and stared straight ahead, his lips barely moving.
Fine… I'll do it your way. Since you're the boss now, Aokiji sighed mournfully, then changed his posture as naturally as possible, crossing his legs…
…
Meanwhile—
On the first half of the Grand Line, in the Sabaody Archipelago, in a certain outlaw district—
Bzzz… crackle!
Three giant LCD screens mounted high above the plaza flickered with static. After a moment, the picture snapped into clarity, and the massive crowd below instantly erupted into excitement.
"Hey, hey! Look, the video's on!"
"Finally! Is the live broadcast starting?"
"Worth the wait after all!"
…
These three giant displays were the largest live-broadcast terminals in the nearby seas.
Among the people gathered here were many reporters from newspapers across the world.
They had been stationed here since early morning, aiming to use the live broadcast provided by the World Economy News Paper to send back newsworthy, explosive articles to their own papers as quickly as possible.
Across the Four Blues,
places with this kind of live-broadcast video equipment were extremely rare.
Information about the war could not be spread globally with video alone—
for most of the world, traditional newspapers were still the only medium.
A dark, damp corridor—its walls lined with moss.
This was the scene displayed across all three screens.
The lighting was dim, and only faint silhouettes of a dozen or so prisoners in prison uniforms could be seen, escorted by two rows of executioners in brown uniforms, marching toward the corridor's end.
"Hurry up! What are you dragging your feet for!"
One prisoner at the back limped forward; apparently he had fallen behind, and an executioner immediately kicked him hard in the rear, coldly urging him on.
Almost the exact moment the executioner's words fell—
CLANG!
On-screen, the iron gate at the corridor's end swung open abruptly, and the blinding morning sunlight poured in, driving away the chill and darkness.
"Move!"
"Keep moving!"
The dozen pirates were shoved forward by the executioners, stumbling as they were forced out through the gate.
The camera followed tightly behind them.
With the last executioner stepping out expressionlessly, the light fully opened up, and the scene changed instantly—
The world outside the prison was revealed completely before everyone's eyes.
Harsh. Majestic.
That was the first impression the outside world gave to everyone watching.
Everywhere the eye could reach were Marines—silent, disciplined, and radiating murderous aura—standing in perfect formation like a storm cloud pressing down over a city.
The fifteen prisoners were forced up an execution platform towering seventy or eighty meters high.
Along the way, none of the elite Marines even glanced at them.
They stood perfectly still, staring straight ahead in full military posture.
The atmosphere surrounding the platform remained terrifyingly silent.
Thirty strong executioners took their positions along both sides.
As soon as the fifteen prisoners arrived, one executioner on the right, face ice-cold, suddenly thrust out his right leg and delivered a vicious kick—
With a heavy thud, under the immense force, all fifteen pirate prisoners fell to their knees at the same time.
Immediately after—
With a sharp metallic shing, thirty long, narrow blades gleaming with cold light were drawn simultaneously, crossing from both sides and resting above each prisoner's head.
The camera focused briefly on the pirate in the center.
His hair was matted, his face covered in wounds, teeth clenched with humiliation and rage—
but even so, he was unmistakably the 4th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates:
Thatch.
The camera then rose, shifting toward the distance.
As light and shadow interwove, the towering fortress walls appeared beneath the blue sky, lined with massive, intimidating gun batteries—each clearly visible to the world.
Beyond them, through the thin morning mist, the protective formation of the enormous Marine fleet surrounding Crescent Bay could be faintly seen—stretching practically beyond the horizon.
White sails flapped in the wind; above the open sky, seagulls glided past.
But the air over the sea was so oppressively heavy it felt as though time itself was frozen.
Even through screens across the world, everyone watching unconsciously felt their breath grow heavier.
The camera zoomed in again.
This time, the screens showed the three Admiral seats beneath the execution platform—each man occupying one screen.
"Look! It's Lord White Dragon!"
A little girl with a ponytail, held in her mother's arms, shouted excitedly.
She didn't even need to say it—
the instant the camera switched, every viewer's eyes immediately locked onto Nao in the center screen.
Whispers spread instantly.
"White Dragon really returned to Headquarters—and he's an Admiral now!"
"With Admiral White Dragon here, the Marine should definitely win this, right?"
"Who knows! Sure, the Marine's elite forces are all gathered here… but don't forget—their opponents are every vicious pirate from across the entire New World!"
"Exactly—and there's that man…"
A young reporter wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
"Edward Newgate—Whitebeard! He's called the strongest man in the world. Even Admiral White Dragon may not be able to—"
"What are you saying! Admiral White Dragon killed Big Mom, who was also an Emperor of the Sea, in less than a day! Can Whitebeard do that, that old man?"
"That's right! The era has changed. If you ask me, Admiral White Dragon's strength has long surpassed Whitebeard. He is the strongest man in the world now!"
Among the crowd—whether reporters or civilians—many were loyal fans of Nao, naturally siding with him.
But another group had grown up hearing the legends of Edward Newgate since childhood.
The deterrent force of the old era's strongest man had never faded.
Even though they leaned toward supporting the Marine, they still felt a deep, instinctive awe—and fear—of the man called Whitebeard.
For a moment, the crowd erupted into loud arguments, the entire place boiling with noise.
…
At the same time—
Before another live broadcast screen, the atmosphere was completely different.
This particular screen was massive, set in a plaza along a commercial street far behind Marineford. Tens of thousands of Marine families lived in the area, and they were all staring up at the live broadcast without blinking.
Before the camera switched to the three Admirals, many people had their heads lowered, anxiously praying—
Praying that the Marine would defeat the pirates coming to attack…
Praying that their husbands, children, parents, or siblings would return safely.
But the very moment Nao appeared on screen, the tension across the entire plaza mysteriously eased.
That handsome face with its confident smile felt like a powerful stabilizer.
He didn't need to do anything—just appearing was enough to give the Marine families an overwhelming sense of security, as solid and reassuring as a mountain.
"This brat is getting more and more ridiculously handsome,"
Garp muttered while picking his nose, clicking his tongue in admiration.
"Not bad—he's got at least half the charm I had when I was young."
"Half?"
"Aiya, maybe I exaggerated. Three tenths then—three tenths is fair."
"Get lost. Can you have a little shame?"
Zephyr finally lost patience and kicked at him, but Garp avoided it with a big grin.
Neither of them had joined the front-line battle.
The Marine still didn't know the exact strength of the pirate alliance. If some deranged pirates chose to bypass the main battlefield and attack the rear, the Marine needed heavy hitters to guard it.
These two old monsters were naturally the best choice.
"Yeah, Grandpa, have some shame."
A childish voice came from beside him. Garp turned his head and saw Luffy, also picking his nose, looking at him with deep disdain.
"If you were half as handsome as Uncle Nao when you were young, I wouldn't have turned out like this."
"True," Ace added on the other side, arms crossed, nodding with sincere agreement.
"Grandpa spends all day bragging."
"You two little punks! Show some respect to your grandfather!"
Garp roared in anger and dropped a pair of loving Fist of Love punches directly onto each grandson's head.
"UWAAAH!! That hurts!!!"
Both boys screamed, clutching their heads, little bumps steaming on top, eyes filling instantly with tears.
"Grandpa, that's too much!!"
"Don't worry about looks! That stuff's meaningless, understand?!"
Garp snorted, crossing his arms.
"To be an outstanding marine, strength and a heart of justice are what matter!"
"The war is about to start—watch Nao closely and learn from him!" he said, pointing at the screen.
"If the two of you ever manage even half of your Uncle Nao's strength one day, this old man would laugh himself awake from his dreams!"
"…Okay."
The two immediately went back to their stools, sitting up straight and staring intently at the screen.
Garp lowered his head, looking at the two grandsons—boys who had barely known each other for long but had already bonded like brothers. It was as if he could see a pair of future twin stars of the Marine rising brilliantly.
A soft smile tugged at the corners of the old man's eyes, one he couldn't hide at all.
How wonderful.
Come to think of it—
Luffy had only been brought from Windmill Village to Headquarters earlier this year.
That day, after Garp beat up Shanks—who had been trying to sway Luffy—and drove him off, he still couldn't feel at ease. Seeing that Luffy had truly resolved to become a Marine, he simply decided to bring the boy with him.
As for Shanks—
After being chased away that day, he voluntarily withdrew from the Shichibukai. And once news spread that the Summit War was about to erupt, his bounty was mysteriously wiped from the records. No one heard from him again.
Garp was still immersed in his beautiful visions of the future.
He didn't notice that little Luffy, sitting on the tiny stool, was staring at Nao on the screen—
with big confusion in his small eyes.
That's strange…
Did Uncle Nao get a prosthetic leg?
————
In front of the Marineford fortress, the atmosphere of dread grew heavier and heavier.
On the high platform.
Sengoku held a Den-Den Mushi in hand, commanding from the center, his sharp eyes sweeping across the entire field.
"Fleet Admiral!"
Suddenly, an urgent voice came through the receiver.
"A surveillance ship reports—the Gates of Justice have suddenly opened! A massive fleet has burst out from the whirlpool currents!"
"I know."
Sengoku replied in a deep voice and hung up. His gaze lifted toward the front, still calm and steady.
The Pirate Alliance breaking through the Gates of Justice and riding the whirlpool currents to launch the fastest possible assault on Marineford—
Everything was within his calculations.
Whoooosh…
From the distant sea came an odd rumbling sound—
The sound of countless ship sails being filled to bursting as fleets surged forward at full speed.
"They're here!"
Countless Marine elites raised their heads simultaneously, eyes fixed on the horizon.
As expected—
Through the pale morning sea mist, a massive fleet appeared beyond the far-off horizon, lined up in a straight formation, charging at full speed toward the bay.
From afar—
There were not hundreds but well over that number of pirate ships, stretching together like ancient sea beasts resting upon the ocean, exuding an overwhelming sense of dread.
"The ones in the center—those are all Whitebeard's divisions! The 'Ice Witch' Whitey Bay, 'Thunder Lord' McGuy, 'Maelstrom Spider' Squard—
All 39 division captains are here!"
"The pirates on the left—they're all under Kaido of the Beasts!"
"The ones on the right don't belong to any Emperor of the Sea, but they are all hardened criminals with a minimum captain's bounty exceeding a hundred million Berries!"
…
With the Whitebeard Pirates leading them, the Pirate Alliance had finally arrived in full force!
Across the bay plaza, every Marine elite instantly tensed, eyes locked on the sea, ready to engage at any moment.
"These are all small fry! Do not be distracted!"
From above, Sengoku bellowed,
"Artillery positions, focus your aim on the sea inside the harbor! The real big fish might be hiding underneath right now!"
On the seats of the Three Admirals, Nao's gaze was deep and tranquil. This point was, naturally, something he had warned Sengoku about in advance.
Gurgle… gurgle…
Almost the moment Sengoku finished speaking, the center of Crescent Bay began to churn violently, huge bubbles rising to the surface.
Splash!!!
In the next instant—under the aim of countless black cannon barrels—
seven pirate ships burst out of the water!
The coating bubbles wrapped around them popped simultaneously with a sharp crack!
Among them were four massive, whale-shaped vessels—the main Whitebeard Pirates' ships. And the largest one at the center, the colossal white whale ship—
Was Whitebeard's flagship, the Moby Dick!