THUD!
Whitebeard landed heavily on the deck. Standing once again upon the Moby Dick, a profound sense of belonging washed over the Commanders, the crew, and the old man himself. They had done it. They had won!
They hadn't escaped the pursuit yet, but when the Whitebeard Pirates set their sails to leave, they feared no one!
"My sons! Hold them back for ten minutes!" Whitebeard stood at the prow. A sudden gale kicked up, snapping his captain's coat against his broad shoulders.
If they could hold the Navy for just ten minutes, the entire crew could safely withdraw. Then, the Whitebeard Pirates would be the true victors of this war!
"OHHH!" The crew roared in a unified surge of spirit.
Around the waters of Marineford, dozens of warships began to converge. Almost every vessel carried a Vice Admiral, and the Warlords were scattered among them. Sengoku stood on the deck of the central flagship, flanked by Kizaru and Aokiji.
As for Akainu...
"Admiral Sakazuki, are you alright...?" a Marine asked tentatively, seeing blood trickling from both his forehead and the corner of his mouth.
Akainu offered no reply. He walked past the soldier with a face of cold stone and boarded his ship.
The Marines: "..."
Seeing that the "Red Dog" was in an exceptionally foul mood, no one dared to provoke him further.
"Full power! Sink the Moby Dick!" Sengoku commanded into a hand-held Den Den Mushi.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The cannons of dozens of warships fired simultaneously. The sheer volume of fire made the sea look as if it were celebrating a violent festival.
"All units, engage!" Whitebeard threw a punch into the air, the resulting shockwave detonating the incoming shells before they could even cross half the distance.
The Whitebeard Pirates moved like a well-oiled machine. Marco took advantage of his flight, weaving between the warships like a blue streak.
KABOOM!
Seizing a momentary gap in the formations, he delivered a dive-kick that snapped a warship in half!
"AAARGH!" "It's First Division Commander Marco!" "Shoot him down! Now!" Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets and shells rained toward Marco, but they passed harmlessly through his blue-and-gold flames. His body reconstructed itself instantly, the damage having zero effect.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
On the deck of the Moby Dick, the swordsmen led by 'Flower Sword' Vista were a blur of steel. Every slash sent severed cannonballs falling into the sea.
Boom! Boom!Bang! Bang!
The snipers of the Whitebeard crew returned fire, their precision pinning down the Marines on the approaching decks. The exchange of fire was deafening, the sky choked with smoke and sulfur. Despite the overwhelming numbers of the Navy, the Moby Dick remained untouched.
This was the naval combat prowess of the strongest crew in the world—a legacy built over decades. Even a rank-and-file member of this crew possessed the strength to survive the perils of the New World; they were the elite of the elite.
In the chaotic melee on the plaza, individual strength had been the focus. But on the water, it was different. The Whitebeard Pirates operated with a collective instinct honed through years of sailing together. In contrast, the Marines were a conglomerate force gathered from across the globe; they lacked coordination and, in many cases, didn't even like each other. They fought strictly by the book, following orders. The pirates fought by the heart.
BOOM!
As the stalemate persisted, the Marines began to notice the shift. Logically, their concentrated firepower should have overwhelmed a single pirate ship by now, even if it was Whitebeard's flagship.
"Something's wrong... why is their morale so high!?" an officer shouted.
"Smoker-san, the Whitebeard Pirates' fighting spirit is through the roof," Tashigi noted, her hand on her hilt.
"Tch." Smoker's face was grim. Marine morale, conversely, had begun to plummet after failing to secure the execution.
"Marines! This is the ocean! We are pirates, and the sea is our domain!" The laughter of the Whitebeard crew echoed across the waves, mocking the pride of the Navy.
Back on the plaza of Marineford, the ground was littered with the fallen. Only the sound of slaughter remained. In the heat of war, no one had the luxury of mourning; the cries of the dying were drowned out by the war cries of the living.
"Koby, what's wrong!?" On a warship, Helmeppo clutched a screaming Koby in a panic. Koby was doubled over, clutching his head.
"Ah... my head! It hurts so much!"
"Your head?"
Inside Koby's mind, images were flickering at a blinding speed. One after another, sensory inputs from the battlefield were being forced into his brain as if by a physical hand. The sheer mental strain was blurring the line between his perception and reality.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The rhythmic thundering of the cannons remained constant.
"Concentrate fire!" Sengoku ordered.
The Whitebeard Pirates were fast and efficient, but their defense relied on stamina. Sengoku knew that even an impenetrable wall would eventually crack if he hammered it long enough. Even if he couldn't capture Ace now, sinking the Moby Dick would be a victory he could present to the world. If the pirates escaped with their pride intact, the Navy's reputation would be scorched beyond repair.
What Sengoku didn't know was that the damage was already done. Thanks to Buggy's "live broadcast," the world had seen the Navy's failure in real-time. News agencies across the globe were already working at a fever pitch.
Among them was the legendary "Big News" Morgans. He was waiting for the final, explosive conclusion. The moment the war ended, his papers would flood the world. Others might hesitate to offend the World Government, but Morgans? The World Government meant nothing to him compared to a world-shaking scoop.
"Kizaru." Sengoku decided to escalate. Only a crushing blow would break the pirates' momentum.
"Understood." Kizaru leaped into the sky, his hands glowing with blinding brilliance.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Zip! Zip! Zip!
Countless light orbs rained down, blanketing the Moby Dick. Even Marco couldn't intercept them all.
Just as the crew braced for impact, Ace and Sabo stepped to the center of the deck. They punched the air in perfect synchronization.
"FIRE FIST!!"
A tidal wave of flame surged upward, annihilating the light orbs in a massive atmospheric explosion. When the flames cleared, the ship was unscathed.
"It's Commander Ace and his brother, Sabo of the Revolutionaries!" the crew cheered.
Looking at the two brothers standing side-by-side, Whitebeard's lips curled into a smile. Drake and Luffy shared a grin as well, seeing their brothers master their combined power.
But then, Drake noticed something. Luffy's eyelids were drooping. He looked as if he might collapse at any second.
"Luffy! Luffy, what's wrong?" Drake shouted, reaching out.
Luffy tried to answer, but his eyes rolled back and he slumped forward. The adrenaline that had kept him upright through two rounds of exhaustion had finally run out.
"LUFFY!"
Drake's cry drew the attention of everyone on the deck. Ace and Sabo's smiles vanished instantly as they rushed toward their youngest brother.