A thick blanket of tension smothered the battlefield as the war neared its final act. Most of the pirates had concentrated at the mouth of the bay, engaged in a desperate struggle to secure the remaining ships for their return journey.
Their eyes frequently darted back toward the center of the plaza. Once Whitebeard and the Division Commanders joined them, they could finally flee back to their sanctuary—the New World!
"Teach..." The Division Commanders glared at Blackbeard, their faces twisted in fury. They knew exactly who was responsible for this nightmare.
It was Blackbeard who had orchestrated the Paramount War from the shadows. Since his betrayal, he had shown the Whitebeard Pirates zero mercy, pushing them into a corner at every turn. Had their Father not miraculously recovered, Edward Newgate would surely have died here today. The source of all this suffering was the man standing before them—the "family member" they had shared bread with for decades.
Seeing Blackbeard currently missing half his life force, the Commanders felt a brief, complicated pang, but it was quickly buried under a wave of satisfaction. They knew who had dealt those blows. While they didn't fully understand Whitebeard's sudden recovery, as pirates, they knew some things were better left unsaid.
They had their suspicions. Drake had made his declaration in front of the world. Even if it were true, they would remain silent; saving Whitebeard was the same as saving the entire crew. Gratitude was a debt that a simple "thank you" could never settle, and Drake likely didn't expect one. It was an unspoken pact of silence.
"Zehahahahaha..." Blackbeard laughed, seemingly unfazed. It was impossible to tell if he was genuinely confident, bluffing, or simply resigned to his fate.
"Long time no see, Commanders." He spoke as if greeting old friends, without a shred of shame or regret—as if he wasn't the traitor who had murdered a comrade.
The Commanders' jaws tightened. They struggled to suppress the fire in their veins. Teach was a master of the mask; had he been acting for all those years? Thatch's death was an open wound in their hearts, a pain that would never truly heal. They never believed a traitor could emerge from their ranks, let alone one as senior as Blackbeard—all for the sake of a single Devil Fruit.
The hatred was absolute.
But now was not the time for reckless impulse. They were surrounded. Not only was there Blackbeard's crew, but the full might of the Marine Headquarters loomed over them. The Whitebeard Pirates had suffered staggering losses. With Ace rescued and their Father seemingly out of danger, a total retreat was the only logical choice.
Everything depended on Whitebeard. They would follow his lead without question.
"Sengoku... we are leaving. You cannot stop us," Whitebeard stated calmly, his gaze locking onto the Fleet Admiral.
"Whitebeard..." Sengoku hissed, his eyes shifting toward Blackbeard.
The Marines were in a precarious position. Whitebeard alone was a headache of global proportions, and now the Blackbeard Pirates—a crew comprised of the world's most heinous criminals—had entered the fray. A three-way brawl would be catastrophic.
"Blackbeard!" Sengoku reached a sudden decision. It was time for a gamble. "Your goal is Whitebeard, isn't it?"
"Hmm?" Not just Blackbeard, but everyone on the field froze. What was the Fleet Admiral implying?
"Zehahahahaha!" Blackbeard erupted in laughter. He understood exactly what Sengoku was fishing for. A dark glint lit his eyes. "That's right! I came to Marineford for one reason: to take Whitebeard's head!"
"WHAT!?" The Commanders roared in fury.
"Teach! Do you hear yourself!?" "You bastard! Have you no shame after everything Pops did for you?" "Talk is useless," Marco said, his expression cold and decisive. "Today, we clean house."
The toxins in Marco's system had finally been purged by his Phoenix flames; his combat power was back at its peak. Hearing the traitor demand his Father's head was the final straw. Not just for Marco, but for every son of Whitebeard. He was the man they respected most in the world.
But the first one to charge wasn't Marco. It was Ace.
To Ace, after Garp and his brothers, Whitebeard was his everything. The crew was his home. He would not tolerate anyone insulting his Father.
VROOM! Ace erupted in flames, gathering his power.
"Ace, wait..." Whitebeard held up a hand, stopping him.
Blackbeard ignored Ace entirely, offering a twisted, oily smile to Sengoku. "Want to team up?"
A look of profound tragedy crossed Sengoku's face. He hated the idea, but if he pushed Blackbeard into Whitebeard's arms, the war was lost.
"Who would ever team up with you!?" the Marines roared, their eyes burning with indignation. "A Marine would rather die than join forces with a pirate!" "Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Do not agree to this!" "Absolutely not!"
The soldiers surrounding Sengoku begged him to refuse. To team up with a pirate was a stain on their honor, and to do so with Blackbeard—the man who had used the Warlord title to sack Impel Down—was an insult to their intelligence. They weren't fools to be played with like this. This was a war watched by the entire world; if the Navy joined hands with a criminal now, they would never be able to hold their heads high again.
HUMMM—ZIP! ZIP! ZIP!
While all eyes were on Sengoku, a barrage of lasers suddenly tore through the air.
The target: the Blackbeard Pirates!
"What's happening!?"
Not just Blackbeard's crew, but the Whitebeard Commanders and the Marine rank-and-file were left in a state of total confusion.
"AAARGH!"
In an instant, the Blackbeard Pirates were mowed down. They collapsed one by one until only Shiryu remained on one knee, a fresh, smoking hole in his shoulder.
"Kizaru..." Blackbeard gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief.
One second everything was going according to his plan, and the next, his crew had been annihilated. He looked down at the new wound in his chest. Between the lasers and Whitebeard's previous twin-shockwaves, his body had hit its limit. No matter how hard he struggled to stand, his muscles failed him. He slowly collapsed back into the dirt.
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