The severed head spun through the air, and the next moment it dropped back onto the pirate's neck that was spurting blood. Then, as though guided by some impossible force, the head reattached itself and healed perfectly.
"I… I really can't die!!!"
The pirate blinked wildly, glaring fiercely at the stunned Marine beneath him and sneered in disbelief.
"Go to hell! Marine!"
He ignored the knife still embedded in his stomach and lunged at the Marine, his hands wrapping around the other man's neck.
Crack!
Bones snapped.
The Marine collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
"Hmph! With this immortal body, can't I still help Pops rescue Captain Ace!"
The pirate roared in excitement as he looked around.
What he did not notice was that the Marine beneath his foot had already fully recovered — his neck healed, eyes open, staring blankly up at the pirate.
"I… I have an immortal body too?"
…
"Kill the pirates of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew!!!"
"Kill the Marines! Get Captain Ace back!"
In an instant, Marineford exploded into chaos again.
All the resurrected Marines and pirates who still had not fully understood the situation instinctively began hacking at one another with frenzy.
But quickly many of them realized something strange: no matter how they killed each other, the fallen did not stay dead. Wounds healed, limbs reformed, bodies restored — immortality in effect.
Still, not every Marine rushed into the fray.
Some who regained their memories from before death looked at the carnage with cold detachment, discarded their weapons, and retreated.
Many had died to the Gorosei's devastating attacks.
They had watched Marine leaders indiscriminately slaughter friend and foe alike, their own comrades dying in magma under Admiral Sakazuki's order.
When they remembered what had come before, the so‑called justice they served twisted and collapsed in their hearts.
Was this the justice of the Marines? Sacrificing their own people as expendable cannon fodder? Ignoring the desperate resistance of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew? Disregarding their own lives in service only to be betrayed?
Betrayed once, they no longer believed in the World Government nor the Marines.
"Stop! Pirates of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew!!!"
On the distant dock, the Azure Fire Phoenix, blazing in cerulean flame, soared into the sky.
Marco, the Phoenix, shouted down to the struggling pirates and Marines below.
"Retreat! Ace has been rescued! We're retreating!!"
He flew with all his strength, a single purpose driving him.
"Pops! Pops! You must have been revived too, right!"
Marco plunged into the most ruined section of the plaza… and froze.
A group of oddly clothed pirates surrounded Whitebeard's body, grinning like madmen as they performed some strange ritual.
"Gahahahahaha!!! This power is finally mine!!! With this, I'll have the leverage to negotiate with the World Government!"
The burly man stepping out from beneath the black cloth, leading the group with a sinister grin, was none other than the traitor who betrayed the Whitebeard Pirate Crew:
Blackbeard Teach, Marshall D. Teach!!!
Marco's flames roared in fury as he plummeted.
"Teach!!! What have you done to Pops!?"
Boom!!!
Marco struck with crushing force, sending the surrounding pirates flying and launching Teach through the air.
"Ouch!!!"
Teach landed in a heap, groaning, but upon standing he saw the pirate supporting Whitebeard's body.
"Oh? If it isn't Captain Marco," he sneered with a twisted smile that erased all anger.
"Captain Marco, Pops is already dead, and the Whitebeard Pirate Crew has no leader. Join me! Since we were once family in the same crew, I'll give you an important position."
"Pops…" Marco's voice cracked as he ignored Teach's offer and shook Whitebeard's body desperately.
"Pops! Pops! Wake up!"
Marco had just watched countless comrades rise from death.
Among them was Straw Hat Luffy, whose organs had been charred by Admiral Sakazuki's punch. Luffy sat up loudly and yelled that he was hungry — nearly prompting a violent response from everyone around him.
But then news broke from the Plunderer, Shirogai.
Everyone who died in this war would be resurrected.
Marco's mind was consumed with one thought — his father, Whitebeard!
He rushed to protect him without hesitation.
He swore — he would never let Father stand alone again.
"Gahahahahaha!!! Stop shouting! The dead will not be resurrected!"
Blackbeard Teach laughed, convinced Marco had lost his mind after Whitebeard's death.
"No! Captain!"
Suddenly, Van Augur's eyes widened as he spoke urgently.
"All the wounds on Whitebeard's body have healed!!!"
"Huh?"
Only then did Blackbeard Teach notice — Whitebeard's once ravaged, mutilated body was now whole.
His broken leg was restored, his shattered skull healed, even his iconic white crescent mustache was regrown intact.
"Captain! Something's wrong!"
Meanwhile, Laffitte, who had been scanning the air, landed with disbelief.
"The dead have come back to life!"
"What?!"
Blackbeard Teach looked around in shock as figures began crawling out from the distant ruins.
Marines and pirates alike, once dead, were now walking, familiar faces emerging from the rubble — survivors they had long since thought gone.
His heart thudded in sheer disbelief.
"The dead have really come back to life? How is this possible?!"
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine as he turned his gaze nearby.
"Ah!!!!!"
Blackbeard Teach screamed in terror when he saw a tall, weathered figure standing before him, gripping Murakumogiri, looking down with a casual, almost gentle expression.
"Gurahahahaha, Teach, have you come to die!"
"Oyaji… you! You truly rose from the dead!!!"
Teach instinctively took two steps back — fear and reverence flooding his features.
"Gurahahahaha, I wouldn't die without killing you, the traitor!!!"
Whitebeard's roar split the air as Murakumogiri slashed downward toward Teach with earth‑shaking force.
Boom!!!!
…
Behind him, Marco watched in stunned sadness as the figure attacking Teach spoke quietly without looking back.
"Marco, accept reality. Only Whitebeard truly died naturally because his lifespan had reached its end. I cannot save him…"
Whitebeard was truly gone.
He had left them forever.
And now the one controlling Whitebeard's restored form was none other than —
The strongest guardian in the world, the Plunderer, Shirogai Yamikuro.
---