On the Execution Platform, Sengoku finally spoke the information that shocked the entire world.
"Your mother's name was Portgas D. Rouge, and your father was..."
"The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!"
After Sengoku's words were spoken, the nearly 100,000 Marines in the entire bay were silent, shocked beyond measure.
In the Sabaody Archipelago, everyone watching the execution through the live broadcast was equally stunned.
"Notify headquarters, hurry up and release an extra edition!"
An old reporter wearing a bowler hat, with a mustache and a plaid shirt, said to the two young assistants beside him.
The two assistants, a man and a woman, were dazed for a long while before running away in a panic.
The old reporter was also an interesting fellow; his name was Photo King, nicknamed "Photo Man." He was once the head of the Marine photography department. Because he would always shout "fire" when taking photos, he was also known as "Flame Photo Man."
However, he often forgot to remove the camera lens cap when taking photos, a total of 57 times.
Especially during the Enies Lobby incident, he once again failed to capture a photo of "Black Leg" Sanji of the Straw Hat Pirates crew because of this. Marineford reached the end of its patience and finally fired him.
Fortunately, this great figure recently found a new job at the "World Economic Journal" under the newspaper tycoon, Morgans.
Having just started his job, he was full of energy.
The two assistants assigned to him by the company were a young couple, Wan Luo and Wan Shi... Taro was flying rapidly toward Marineford when a sudden gust of wind blew in his face, causing his speed to abruptly decrease and his body to almost lose control.
The howling gale swept across the entire sea area, and the seawater receded several kilometers, gathering into a towering wave before surging toward Marineford.
"Is this a seaquake? Whitebeard's ability!"
Taro was slightly stunned, then overjoyed. This meant he had made it in time!
He activated his Internal Energy once more, accelerating against the gale and chasing after the giant wave.
When he flew over Marineford, the two towering waves had already been frozen by Aokiji, standing like two screen walls on either side of Marineford.
The sea surface within the bay had also been frozen. The Marine front-line commanders were about to order a bombardment, while the Whitebeard Pirates were also preparing to launch a charge.
"Whoosh!"
Taro dove down from the sky, stopping his momentum only when he was close to the ground, and landed gently on the ice.
Taro's sudden appearance made both sides about to erupt into war freeze for a moment, after which the Marine camp erupted into earth-shattering cheers.
"It's Vice Admiral Taro!"
"The light of the marines, Vice Admiral Taro!"
"'ink dragon' Taro!"
"..."
Whitebeard stood at the bow of the Moby Dick, his eyelids slightly lowered. "Are you Taro?"
Just as Taro was about to nod in agreement, he heard Whitebeard continue: "The Taro who boasted about treading the 'Four Emperors' underfoot?"
Taro was dumbfounded. My name is Taro, that's right, but I never said that last part. Don't talk nonsense, that's slander!
Seeing that Taro didn't speak, Whitebeard chuckled. "It looks like your injuries aren't light. With this level of strength, you dare to talk big?"
Taro's Marine uniform was somewhat tattered, and half of his body was wrapped in bandages. He looked quite miserable, but in fact, his injuries were not serious.
He was about to speak when he saw Whitebeard open his large hand.
Taro was suddenly startled.
Holy crap, no way. I'm a Marine, and you're going to say that line too?
Taro was worried he would hear Whitebeard say the words, "Be my son."
Fortunately, Whitebeard only said proudly: "Brat, if you're heavily injured, then retreat. I have no interest in making a move against you."
Whitebeard's words made Taro's eyes darken, and he felt a bit sad in his heart.
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, the strongest man in the world, a powerhouse who had fought many times against the Pirate King Roger.
All he sought in his life was nothing more than family.
His actions among pirates were actually not considered heinous.
To be honest, Taro had a good impression of Whitebeard in his past life. Now that the two were in opposing camps, Whitebeard still didn't want to attack him because he was injured, which moved Taro even more.
Thinking that Whitebeard only had a few hours of life left, Taro's heart was filled with sorrow.
He looked up at Whitebeard standing at the bow and said, "You are also terminally ill. Why do this? You should just..."
Whitebeard had been staring at Taro, and the changes in Taro's expression naturally couldn't be hidden from him. Seeing the pity and sadness in Taro's eyes, Whitebeard was furious.
"Brat, what I do is not for you to nag about!"
Saying that, he actually leapt from the bow, jumping high into the air. He swung the Murakumogiri, one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords, and slashed down at Taro's head.
"I am Whitebeard!"
Taro didn't expect Whitebeard to suddenly attack without a second word. There was no time to think about the reason; the opponent's attack was already before his eyes. He could only draw thunderstorm and swing his blade to meet it.
"Boom! Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"
The blades of both Murakumogiri and thunderstorm turned black, with Armament Haki surrounding the blades. With half a meter between the two swords, their Armament Haki had already crashed together with a boom.
This was a clash of blades between two top-tier powerhouses. In an instant, the winds and clouds changed, the air condensed, and the azure sky darkened as rolling thick clouds suddenly appeared, lowering the vault of heaven.
This strike from the two of them seemed to tear the sky apart. A rift was cut through the thick clouds in the air, clearly dividing the sky into two.
"How is that possible!"
The 14 division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates and the 43 Captains of the subordinate fleets cried out in surprise. The pirate fodder were even more terrified, their faces turning pale as their morale plummeted.
On the Execution Platform, Sengoku, Garp, and Vice Admiral Tsuru also showed looks of surprise. Akainu and Kizaru, who had been sitting calmly in their chairs before, also stood up in shock, their expressions solemn.
The Marine Soldiers on the plaza were even more shocked, their jaws nearly dropping, their mouths wide open and unable to say a word.
The Headquarters Vice Admirals looked at each other, seeing the shock in one another's eyes.
"This guy... he's actually strong to this extent?" The cigar in Smoker's mouth fell to the ground as he muttered.
Tashigi, beside him, was even more excited, her face covered in tears. "Is this the strength of a top-tier swordsman? It's so overwhelming. I... I also have to work harder to become stronger!"
Hina gazed at Taro, her lips moving slightly as she said, "I knew you were strong, I've known for a long time!"
At the edge of the plaza, Sherman had an excited look on his face, slapping Old Mike beside him hard as he shouted, "Mike, Mike, Taro is really so strong! This is just too strong!"
Mike also had his mouth hanging open in surprise, clearly not expecting Taro to be strong to this degree. However, he quickly slapped Sherman's hand away and put on a proud "I knew it all along" expression.
"Don't touch me. I told you long ago that our Vice Admiral's strength is extraordinary. Now what do you have to say?"
It was as if he were the one clashing blades with Whitebeard.
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