If they kept waiting, did that mean the execution hinged entirely on the enemy's schedule?
Ridiculous. This was absolute justice.
Sengoku's gaze hardened. His expression turned ruthless. "It seems the Pirate King's son is a coward after all." He swept his arm down. "Execute him."
'They didn't come? Damn it.'
Teach's looked around with hatred. He stopped begging. He stared ahead at the empty sea and screamed, "East Blue Overlord, Hargon D. Mock! Whitebeard you so-"
He never finished the curse.
A sudden, deep rumbling bubbled up from the harbor.
The sea directly before the plaza violently churned. A booming, commanding voice rang out immediately after, shattering the tense silence.
"Teach, my son, don't be afraid! Pops is coming to save you!"
The thunderous voice echoed across the entirety of Marineford in an instant.
'They're here.'
Everyone froze, heads snapping toward the boiling bay. Teach did the same, staring in shock at the massive galleons that had suddenly erupted from beneath the waves, especially the colossal flagship leading the charge. That was the Whitebeard Pirates' main vessel, the Moby Dick. And standing atop its prow, an imposing, legendary figure: Edward Newgate.
Teach's face shifted instantly. His vicious, hateful expression vanished into thin air. Overwhelmed, snot and tears streaming down his grimy face once again, he looked up at the towering man and screamed, "Pops!"
"So that's how it is? Did they coat every single ship and rise from the seabed?"
"The Moby Dick is here!"
Every Marine stared in raw horror as the Yonko's fleet erupted from the depths. Sengoku watched with frustration. He never expected the enemy to completely bypass the heavy artillery at the Gates of Justice and invade directly from the harbor floor.
Consider the tactical nightmare: these were the absolute heartland waters of the fortress. Once they landed, they would step directly onto the front plaza, meaning a straight, unhindered path to the execution scaffold.
"I didn't expect them to breach this close."
Sengoku grimaced as he stared down the legendary pirate.
*Clang, clang, clang!*
Heavy weaponry clashed as the pirates secured their footing. Amidst the ringing steel, a massive figure appeared before the world, wielding a colossal, long-handled blade and smiling with terrifying confidence.
"It's been decades, hasn't it, Sengoku?"
Newgate stood tall on the prow, effortlessly gripping one of the Supreme Grade Swords, Murakumogiri. He smiled warmly at the chained figure kneeling on the platform.
"My beloved son is unharmed, I trust?"
"Whitebeard." Sengoku glared, his face darkening with rage. "You shouldn't have come."
Though he had anticipated the Yonko might show up, seeing the man appear right before him, and in this unexpected manner, still stirred deep tension within his chest. After all, this man was hailed as the World's Strongest Man, wielding a power capable of destroying the very earth. Even with recent intelligence suggesting that age and chronic illness had diminished his strength, there was absolutely no doubt: the old man remained a terrifyingly lethal force.
More importantly, their primary target today wasn't this legend, but the East Blue Overlord.
"Where is Mock?" Sengoku folded his arms across his broad chest, his voice hardening into a challenge. "Why are you the only one here? Is Roger's son only good at running his mouth?"
"Gurararara! Where that boy went, I don't know, but I believe... he will definitely come."
Unfazed by the mockery, Newgate let out his distinct, rumbling laugh before fixing his fierce eyes on the Fleet Admiral again.
"As for me... I'm just a father coming to get his son back."
With that, he entirely ignored the highest authority of the Marines and looked tenderly at Teach. The man was filthy and battered, snot and tears mingling on his grimy face.
"Teach, you've suffered, haven't you."
As those warm words fell...
"No!"
Teach snapped out of his crying fit. He quickly sucked his snot back in. In that instant, all his confidence returned, as if the wailing, begging coward from earlier had never existed. Though his hands were firmly locked behind his back and he was forced into a humiliating posture, he still craned his neck stubbornly.
"For my brothers, I, Teach" He paused, forcing a resolute, heroic look into his otherwise treacherous eyes, before continuing. "always knew you would come!"
Fake tears welled in his fierce eyes as he shouted at the massive figure ahead. "Pops, you... you actually came to save me in person? But your health... you shouldn't have taken the risk."
"Gurararara!"
Hearing his son's seemingly genuine worry, a trace of deep relief surfaced on Newgate's aged face before he threw his head back in a roaring, joyous laugh.
"Teach, you are my son too. How could I just stand by and watch my family suffer? Don't worry, Pops and your brothers will take you home soon."
"Pops!"
Right in the middle of this touching, dramatic father-son reunion...
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Garp, snacking lazily beside the scaffold, leaned over to Sengoku. The Fleet Admiral stood completely rigid, an undeniable, suffocating pressure rolling off him.
"How did Newgate end up with a son like that?" Garp spoke, genuine curiosity coloring his tone. "He's a real piece of work."
Crying and sniveling at first, begging every guard in sight, and now that his captain was here, he was acting like a brave martyr.
"However. Hasn't he been spouting bullshit from the very start?" Sengoku scoffed in disgust. "Ranting about Roger having another son, he's nothing but a treacherous liar. Who would believe that kind of desperate dumb rumor?"
A heavy silence fell over the platform.
'I hadn't expected Whitebeard to be blind in his old age too. And do you even realize what time it is?'
Sengoku, facing the Yonko from afar, failed to notice Garp's suddenly strained expression. He shot a furious glance at the rice crackers in Garp's hand and snapped, "This is a war! And you're eating? Get the hell out of my sight!"
He ignored Garp's chuckling, turning his attention back to the massive figure standing at the bow of the ship. Something shifted in his tactical assessment.
The Whitebeard Pirates had arrived first, throwing the entire schedule into chaos.
"Leave here now, this is your only chance." Sengoku scoffed, hurling the hollow threat across the bay. "You should know our true target isn't you."
"Gurararara! It's just a kid talking nonsense." Whitebeard let out his distinct laugh again. "Sengoku, you're as narrow-minded as ever."
"Just a kid? Do you have any idea how much destruction the very kid you're protecting has brought to this sea?" Sengoku's face darkened completely. "The Demon's Bloodline... will absolutely not be allowed to survive!"
"We're just old relics of a bygone era." Whitebeard chuckled softly. He suddenly drove the butt of Murakumogiri straight into the wooden deck, bent his thick knees, and crossed his massive arms, gathering his strength. "Better not get in the way of kids chasing their dreams, Sengoku."
As he spoke, the very air shifted. In a terrifying flash, under the horrified gaze of a hundred thousand soldiers...
*Crack. Crack. Crack.*
A series of sharp, shattering sounds rang out like breaking glass. The crowd looked up in utter disbelief. Staring at the fractured space around the Yonko's fists, they whispered in sheer terror.
"The atmosphere... the air is cracking!"
In the blink of an eye, the ocean violently rebelled.
Towering, apocalyptic tsunamis surged instantly around the crescent bay. A seaquake. Newgate had actually grabbed the ocean itself and tilted it.
'Is this the true power of the World's Strongest Man?'
Before the waves could crush the island, a familiar chill swept over the harbor.
The towering walls of water... were frozen solid in an instant by Admiral Kuzan.
Watching the clash of titans from the safe zone, Enel stared in sheer astonishment. He had genuinely thought his own strength had grown to an invincible level, that he was no longer a big fish in a small pond, but he never expected the top powerhouses of the world to be this strong.
"Frightening, isn't it?" Dante noticed his officer's pale expression and spoke earnestly. "It's good to see more of the real world. Saves you from staying lost in a false god's delusion."
"I-It's nothing special." Enel lifted his chin in stubborn defiance, but his eyes remained locked onto the frozen tsunamis, his voice hardening. "One day, my lightning will be stronger than them."
He looked at the Marines mobilizing frantically around them and frowned. "Hey, what are we supposed to do now? Just watch? Did you bring us all the way here just to spectate?"
However.
Before Dante could offer a tactical reply, Dracule Mihawk, who was supposed to be guarding the front lines with the other warlords, walked over with a bored expression. He frowned slightly, looking at Dante.
"What are you planning to do?"
So many chaotic variables had occurred one after another that even the World's Greatest Swordsman felt a mild headache forming.
"Where is Mock?" Mihawk kept his sharp frown, scanning the frenzied battlefield. "He caused such a massive global scene, yet he still hasn't shown up. Is he planning something even more destructive?"
"Mock?" Dante looked entirely confused by the swordsman's inquiry. "I'm not familiar with his schedule. There's no way I'd know what that idiot is planning."
Mihawk stared at Dante in speechless annoyance. The man was still spouting blatant lies right to his face, but Mihawk didn't press the issue. He had already decided to put in minimal effort today anyway. No matter how huge this war got, it had absolutely nothing to do with him.
However.
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