The air was utterly still.
The ice didn't just freeze—it imprisoned.
"Completely immobile."
"Even Armament Haki can't shatter it."
"Kuzan... his punch is devastating!"
Jinbe, sent flying and crashing to the ground, didn't land on his back or prostrate himself. Instead, he stood frozen solid—a statue of ice. His face, the only part exposed to the biting air, was pale from the extreme cold. Frozen blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
The exchange of blows hadn't just knocked him away and encased him in ice. The chilling cold that penetrated his body, reaching deep into his bones, had caused severe damage. The Armament Haki-infused punch—comparable to Vice Admiral Garp's legendary strength—had further damaged his internal organs after breaking through his defenses.
Although Jinbe remained alive and conscious, he had lost the ability to break free.
Yet, Jinbe refused to surrender. He continued to channel Armament Haki, desperately trying to crack the ice encasing his body.
Whoosh—
A sound cut through the air.
Then—
Thump!
A disheveled figure plummeted from the sky like a broken-winged eagle, landing right at the feet of the frozen Jinbe.
"Marco!"
Jinbe glanced sideways and recognized the fallen figure, his pupils contracting sharply.
It wasn't just that it was Marco who had been shot down. The phoenix, who normally ignored all attacks and injuries, now lay prostrate at his feet, his body riddled with bloody, golden bullet holes.
Bleeding. Theoretically, this shouldn't happen to Marco.
Moreover, his entire body was covered in holes, none of which had healed. The ever-burning flame of regeneration hadn't appeared on his wounds.
"Jinbe!"
Marco struggled to lift his head from the ice. Seeing Jinbe's condition was no better than his own, his pale face grew even grimmer.
Bang!
Another sharp whistling sound rang out. A figure crashed into the ice a short distance away like a meteorite, creating a massive, spiderweb-shaped crater.
"Katakuri."
Marco and Jinbe looked over. The Charlotte Family's masterpiece—the man known for never letting his back touch the ground—now lay with his back flat against the ice, a gruesome hole running from his front to his lower back.
They recognized it immediately.
It was Sakazuki's handiwork.
Only a pirate pierced through by a magma fist bore such a distinctive wound.
"Cough!"
Katakuri gripped his trident with trembling hands, using it as a crutch to struggle to his feet. His physique, strength, health, and Haki were all superior to Ace's in the future. Furthermore, the magma fist had pierced his abdomen, not his chest. Therefore, he hadn't been killed instantly. Instead, he knelt on one knee, barely clinging to life.
But just as Katakuri struggled to stand, three tall figures draped in admiral coats stood in a line before him, Jinbe, and Katakuri.
Without any movement, merely standing there, an overwhelming pressure enveloped their minds and bodies.
"Sakazuki."
"Borsalino."
"Kuzan."
Looking at the three Admirals of the Marines lined up before them, Marco, Jinbe, and Katakuri felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness and despair.
They had exhausted all means. They had fought to the death.
However, faced with the three Admirals fighting seriously, even with tens of thousands of pirates fighting relentlessly, they couldn't harm the Admirals in the slightest. They had only managed to slightly soil their clothes.
"Give up."
Sakazuki glanced at the defeated warriors before him. Seeing the three barely alive yet still unwilling to surrender, his words made Marco and the others' pupils shrink, their fighting spirit shattering:
"Your captain is dead."
Upon hearing these words, Marco and Katakuri shuddered as if struck by lightning.
"No... impossible!"
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Marco let out a hysterical roar.
He couldn't believe that the three Emperors, working together, could lose to Rosen. Moreover, they had lost so quickly.
"Your Observation Haki couldn't perceive a battle that distant," Sakazuki said, his voice cold. "But it doesn't matter. I can tell you directly."
He clenched his fists, his gaze fixed on the three defeated warriors:
"Edward Newgate."
"Charlotte Linlin."
"And Shiki."
"Their presence has vanished."
One was the former second-in-command of the Whitebeard Pirates. The other was the second-in-command of the Big Mom Pirates.
Rather than simply killing the two and extinguishing Marco and Katakuri's remaining fighting spirit, Sakazuki chose to completely collapse the two Emperors' crews, still struggling in their death throes. That was why Sakazuki, known for his ruthless nature and taciturn demeanor, hadn't immediately finished off the three after bringing them to the brink of death.
Instead, he informed them of the defeat of the world's strongest man, the born destroyer, and Golden Lion Shiki—and also the pirates on the entire battlefield.
"In other words," Sakazuki said, enunciating each word clearly. "They're dead."
Faced with this sudden and devastating news, Marco, Jinbe, and Katakuri—already on the verge of death—were no longer merely dejected and powerless. They were filled with despair and utter collapse.
They wanted to refute the news from the enemy. They didn't want to believe it. But the problem was, even if their Observation Haki couldn't detect it, the commotion caused by the battle between Edward Newgate, Shiki, and Charlotte Linlin had been simply too great.
Whether it was the Float-Float Fruit's ability to raise ice lions as large as mountains and send down ice blocks like meteors, or the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's air tremors, sea tremors, and earthquakes, all were incredibly powerful.
Even from tens of kilometers away, one could feel the terrifying, overwhelming force.
But now, on the distant battlefield where Rosen and the Three Emperors had clashed, there wasn't a single sound.
The overwhelming shockwaves had ceased. The lightning and heavenly fire descending from the sky had vanished. The ice lions rising from the ground had disappeared.
The signature abilities of Edward Newgate, Charlotte Linlin, and Shiki had all vanished.
More than half a minute had passed in utter silence.
Marco and the others knew perfectly well what this meant. However, they had been so engrossed in their own battle, overwhelmed by the three Admirals, that they hadn't had time to process it.
Now, wounded and lying on the ground, with Sakazuki having told them directly, the realization became clear.
Only the defeat and death of the three Emperors could explain the silence of the distant battlefield.
Like still water. Not a single roar of power, nor any earth-shattering boom.
"Impossible!"
"My father is invincible—how could he possibly lose?"
"It must be a lie!"
Not only Marco and his companions, but the pirates in the nearby battlefield, upon hearing this news and seeing the ashen faces of Marco and the others, also realized what was happening.
Of the original 60,000 pirates, fewer than 20,000 remained. More than two-thirds had been lost. The only reason the entire pirate crew hadn't collapsed was because of Edward Newgate's charisma and a lingering illusion: that the three Emperors combined could defeat Rosen.
Now, that illusion had shattered.
The world's strongest man—no, the three Emperors combined—had been utterly defeated. Even Edward Newgate's immense charisma couldn't stop the despair and collapse that permeated the battlefield, engulfing every pirate.
"It seems you've understood."
Sakazuki surveyed the battlefield, his Observation Haki spreading out, taking in the emotions of the numerous pirates. Seeing the two Emperors' crews completely demoralized—some fleeing in disarray, some abandoning their armor, and some collapsing to the ground—a flicker of joy flashed in his eyes.
The opportunity to wipe out all three Emperors in one fell swoop was before him. For him, who was solely focused on eradicating the Great Pirate Era, this was naturally immense good news.
So, after a fleeting hint of joy in his eyes, it vanished instantly, replaced by a murderous intent that even the waters of the four seas couldn't extinguish.
"Ara ara ara ara."
"Are you planning to leave no one alive?"
Sakazuki's murderous aura was as violent as a volcanic eruption, a torrent of lava. How could Kuzan, standing beside him, not sense it?
In the past, he would have been disgusted, and wouldn't have uttered a single word to Sakazuki. But now, he spoke first.
"Edward Newgate, Charlotte Linlin, and Shiki."
"Their deaths only signify the defeat of the Three Emperors, not the disappearance of their pirate crews. Once a new king rises, these remnants will become members of the new Emperors' crews."
In the past, Sakazuki also wouldn't have said a word to Kuzan. Because the two of them were diametrically opposed in personality, ideology, perception, and sense of justice, each going to extremes. Just as ice and fire are incompatible.
Rosen's existence had become a towering mountain suppressing the raging magma and the chilling ice, and also a bridge connecting the two. When the two no longer clashed over justice, no longer fought for the position of Fleet Admiral, and could witness the end of the Great Pirate Era and the unprecedented golden age of the Marines before their eyes, their conflicts seemed insignificant.
Moreover, regardless of their personalities or sense of justice, both Sakazuki and Kuzan were essentially magnanimous individuals. However, compared to Kuzan, Sakazuki only reserved his magnanimity for those who were not pirates.
Having set aside prejudices and conflicts, both were tolerant of each other. At least, normal communication was not a problem.
"No matter what, the crimes of pirates can never be erased," Sakazuki said coldly. "We can erase the fabricated charges the World Government forcibly placed on them, but even setting that aside, there are still far too many crimes. Besides, it's not like we didn't give them a chance."
Seeing that the two weren't as hostile as usual, but instead actively communicating, Borsalino, who no longer adhered to ambiguous justice, also offered his opinion:
"Before the war even started, Rosen had already given them a chance. Anyone from the Whitebeard Pirates who surrendered would be imprisoned and tried for their past crimes. Given the Whitebeard Pirates' style, if they had surrendered cleanly, over ninety percent of them would have survived. However, they chose to reject the Navy's offer."
Borsalino shrugged.
"Let them live, and the Marines' blood will have been shed in vain. If you truly can't bring yourself to do it, then I'll bear the burden of this slaughter and the infamy alone. As long as we can defeat the Three Emperors, as long as we can end the Great Pirate Era, even if I have to endure the world's scorn and hatred, I don't care."
Sakazuki glanced at Kuzan.
Kuzan, upon hearing this, looked around. Although every Marine involved in the battle was an elite selected by the Marine Headquarters, fighting against two Emperors' crews, coupled with their numerical disadvantage, meant that casualties were inevitable. The protective power of the combat suits also had its limits.
At this point in the battle, many Marines were bleeding profusely, had severed limbs, were on the verge of death, or even had their heads severed. Seeing this scene, Kuzan's eyes became both resolute and cold.
After all, he now upheld not a lazy justice, but a burning justice. The choice between the Marines and the pirates was crystal clear.
Crack!
Suddenly, just as the three Admirals, their killing intent hardened, were preparing to bury the remnants of the two Emperors' crews in one fell swoop, a deafening cracking sound, like a storm, swept across the entire battlefield, exploding in the ears of every Marine.
Hearing this familiar yet strange sound of shattering, Marco, his heart filled with despair, abruptly turned his head, his eyes wide.
As he turned, he saw the distant sky shatter like a mirror. Like a giant spiderweb, it covered the top of the sky, radiating a terrifying white light.
"Father!"
Seeing this, tears welled up in Marco's eyes, and he wept with joy.
—-