Members of the Whitebeard Pirates knelt before Whitebeard's corpse, still unable to recover from their grief.
Marco, battered and wounded, staggered forward. He looked at Whitebeard's body, but unlike the others, he did not cry or wail. Instead, he kept his head lowered in silence.
Earlier, Kaito had already told him Whitebeard's final words — that their crew could leave now, just like the Beasts Pirates had.
Marco's emotions were a tangled mess. His voice was low and heavy as he said,
"Pops made a deal with the Navy. The condition was to spare our lives. Don't let him down. We're leaving!"
With that, he transformed back into his phoenix form, wrapping Whitebeard's corpse in his wings before flying toward the Moby Dick.
The rest of the crew, no matter how unwilling, could only follow Marco back to their ships.
With their numbers now less than half, even though some ships had been destroyed in the earlier battle, the remaining ones were more than enough to carry them away from Marineford.
As the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beasts Pirates both withdrew, the only one left in the area was Shanks — pinned to a block of ice by a black Truth-Seeking Spear.
The White Kama embedded in his abdomen was fading. Once it disappeared, his body would be completely erased by the Truth-Seeking Orbs.
Suddenly, the black spear in his abdomen withdrew, reverting into a Truth-Seeking Orb that floated back to Kaito's side.
At that moment, the White Kama vanished completely, and a wave of overwhelming weakness crashed into Shanks. His vision went black, and he collapsed.
Another black coffin enveloped his body. A door appeared in the air, and the coffin drifted through it before vanishing.
With everything handled, Kaito rose into the skies above Marineford. Facing the entire Navy headquarters and countless spectators watching from around the world, he declared in a clear, powerful voice:
"The war is over. Victory belongs to the Navy!"
After a brief silence, thunderous cheers erupted across the headquarters. From Fleet Admiral Sengoku down to the lowest soldier, everyone's faces were flushed with excitement. They clenched their fists, letting out the emotions surging within them.
...
Konoha Village (Cocoyasi Village).
The villagers were in full celebration. Because of Kaito, their sense of pride in the Navy was incredibly strong. Now that the Navy had won, it was naturally a moment worth celebrating.
Nami clasped Nojiko's hand, swinging it with excitement, her little face flushed as she shouted,
"Kaito is amazing! Isn't he, Nojiko?!"
A bright smile blossomed on Nojiko's face as she nodded firmly.
"Of course! Kaito is the greatest in the world!"
...
Foosha Village.
Some fainted villagers were awakened by the cheers coming through the live broadcast. Groggily, they got to their feet, shaking their heads, still unclear on what had just happened.
Makino patted the still-sleeping Luffy beside her. Luffy's eyes shot open, and he sat up abruptly. The first thing out of his mouth was:
"One Piece is real!!!"
The villagers just chuckled and shook their heads. They thought Luffy was far too naïve, still clinging to such a belief.
But Luffy didn't care about their reactions. Those words were meant for himself alone.
After a pause, he turned to Makino and asked,
"Makino-san, where's Shanks? Is he okay?"
Makino looked troubled. Although she didn't like Shanks much, she knew how important he was to Luffy. If she told him the truth, she wasn't sure he could handle it.
Seeing her hesitate, Luffy turned to a nearby uncle and asked about Shanks.
The man, unburdened by Makino's concerns, answered bluntly,
"He's been locked inside a black cube by Admiral Shikiryū. My guess is he'll be executed."
"Nani!?"
The words made Luffy's head buzz. After a long moment, he turned and started walking toward the edge of the village without a word.
Some villagers quickly grabbed his arm.
"Luffy, where are you going?"
"I'm going to save Shanks!!!"
"Idiot! Are you insane!?"
The other villagers scolded him immediately, but Luffy ignored them and kept walking.
It wasn't until Makino rushed in front of him and slapped him hard across the face that he stopped.
Luffy looked up at her, stunned, his voice trembling as he asked,
"Makino-san… will Shanks die?"
Makino couldn't bear to see him sink into despair, nor did she want him doing something reckless.
"He won't die. If Kaito wanted to kill him, he would have done it already. He wouldn't have locked him up. You need to calm down first."
Luffy nodded blankly, finally quieting down.
Makino let out a silent sigh of relief, pulling him away from the scene. She didn't want the villagers' ongoing celebrations to unsettle him again.
On the way back, Luffy clenched his fists. In his heart, he swore he would save Shanks — and he would find the One Piece no matter what!
...
The war that had shaken the entire world had ended with a complete Navy victory.
Thanks to Kaito's use of his Gyakunen divine power, the Navy achieved a miraculous zero casualties, while the Four Emperors suffered devastating losses.
Not counting the fallen crew members and officers, two of the Four Emperors were dead, one had fled, and the red-haired one had been imprisoned — his fate still unknown.
After this battle, the Navy's prestige and influence on the seas soared to unprecedented heights. Waves of young people began joining their ranks, while the pirates' side fell into decline.
Many small pirate crews disbanded, blending into towns as ordinary citizens. Larger pirate groups barely clung to survival, realizing that in many places, even common townsfolk no longer feared them.
Their lives worsened day by day, earning them a new title — "drifters of the sea."
...
Back at Navy Headquarters.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was unusually lively today. The commanders chatted and laughed, a stark contrast to the grimness before the war.
As usual, Aokiji strolled in slowly. When he reached his seat, Akainu — already sitting — did something shocking: he nodded at him.
Aokiji's eyes widened, staring at Akainu's face as if to confirm whether the man had eaten something strange that morning. This was nothing like the usual Akainu.
Normally, when he showed up late, Akainu would just give a cold snort and wear that perpetual scowl.
From his seat at the head of the table, Sengoku frowned.
"Kuzan! You're late again. Sit down already!"
Only then did Aokiji take his seat, still sneaking glances at Akainu.
Sengoku let out a helpless sigh, then his expression turned serious.
"Today, I have an announcement to make…"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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