Somewhere on an island in the New World, a strange echoing laugh rang out over the trembling sea.
"Mamamama~~~!" The booming voice of a woman erupted, causing the surrounding seawater to ripple involuntarily.
"That old geezer Whitebeard, just for the sake of his son, actually unleashed such overwhelming strength again!"
One of the Four Emperors, Charlotte Linlin of the BIG MOM Pirates, held a struggling, juicy sausage in her hand while throwing back her head and laughing wildly.
"However, this might very well be his final battle. His body has aged so much…"
Mama's voice carried a sad, nostalgic note.
"Getting old, getting old, yet in the end you still went crazy. I thought we could meet again and compete for the final Grand Treasure."
Memories of the Rocks Pirates flashed through Mama's mind, scene by scene.
"Has so much time passed in an instant?"
Mama stared at the battle unfolding on the screen before her.
Especially at the Emperor's great pirate at the very center of the conflict, fighting three Admirals alone.
The image of that domineering, free‑spirited, heroic powerhouse from her memory slowly overlapped with the weary, aged figure on screen — a face wrinkled with age yet still radiating an awe‑inspiring presence.
"Hmph! Whitebeard!" Mama suddenly glared at the image, her cheeks flushing with a strange mix of irritation and something else. Then she cursed in dissatisfaction.
"What makes that foolish Stussy better than me? To actually choose her!"
"…," The surrounding members of the BIG MOM Pirates fell silent as winter cicadas, exchanging uneasy glances but none daring to speak.
"None of the children you favor are related to you by blood! They are different from my own flesh and blood, born of me and me alone!"
Mama's blood‑red eyes swept across the alert Big Mom Pirates on the island, each boasting Berries in the hundreds of millions, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.
"Without blood ties, how can one ensure loyalty? The most important bond among family members, of course, is the lifeblood!"
Crunch!
Mama opened her cavernous jaws, viciously biting down on the screaming sausage, then sneered between bites.
"I am the one who will become King of the Sea, dominating this world! You may rest in peace on your way, but the Grand Treasure, I will take it!!!"
The remnants of the sausage fell to the ground, only to be stomped fiercely by Mama's colossal foot.
"But first, I must capture that damned brat!!!" Mama's icy, resentful voice seemed to chill the entire island by several degrees.
"I lost to that Shirogai kid due to my own carelessness. What Arrogant Emperor? Claiming to be an Emperor by stepping on the names of Kaido and me?! Too arrogant, too infuriating!"
A terrifying Haki fluctuation burst explosively from Mama's body.
Crack!
"Ugh…" A few weaker Pirates nearby, unprepared for the sudden surge of Haki, faltered and fell unconscious.
"Mama is furious again…" Charlotte Daifuku, the Minister of Beans, grit his teeth not far away.
"It's all because of that damned Shirogai! How dare he treat Mama like that? Mama has never hated anyone so much."
"Things that are sought yet out of reach always ignite anger in the heart of the seeker," Smoothie, the Minister of Juice, mused as she sat on a log, her long, elegant legs crossed, gently swirling the drink in her cup.
"Unfortunately, as the Arrogant Emperor's fame spreads and his bounty climbs higher, Mama's anger only grows alongside her desire. She cannot help but fantasize. If only she had brought him under her command back then, then the honors that belong to the Arrogant Emperor should have been ours — the BIG MOM Pirates'."
A sigh of regret slipped from Smoothie's lips.
She closed her eyes, drinking down the thousand‑year‑old juice she had squeezed from ancient wood, savoring its bitter sweetness, and a wistful thought took seed in her heart.
If only when we first met… if I had expressed my true feelings and offered myself for your alliance… would you have agreed?
Arrogant Emperor Shirogai.
What man does not fall in love, what maiden does not yearn for spring?
As his prestige spread wider and his name grew louder, Smoothie felt a strange mix of worship and affection for the man she had met once, the man she had spent some private time with.
Perhaps it was because Mama, who held such formidable power in her eyes, was defeated by him.
This had stirred within Smoothie, whose criteria for a partner was strength above all else, an ever‑growing admiration for this incredibly powerful, young, and handsome man.
"Unfortunately…" Smoothie sighed softly as she set down her long‑stemmed glass, regret lingering in her heart.
It was probably too late now.
Her chance to become the spouse of the strongest Emperor seemed to have slipped away during that restrained carriage journey.
…
On another island, the Beast Pirates' own Queen the Plague watched the broadcast in shock, a wine bottle slipping from his grip to shatter on the ground.
"Whitebeard is actually this strong?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes in disbelief as he stared at the aged man battling three Admirals on screen.
As fellow Four Emperors, the Beast Pirates had clashed with the Whitebeard Pirates many times, and they had seen Whitebeard unleash his power before.
But the strength of Whitebeard's Tremor‑Tremor Fruit now… it was completely different from any display they had seen previously.
It was a world apart.
"Whitebeard, that man…" Kaido, sitting cross‑legged without restraint, tilted his head while gulping down drink after drink before exhaling a breath heavy with alcohol.
"He's fighting with his life."
Kaido, who had faced Whitebeard in his prime, fully understood the true strength of the man known as the "Strongest Man in the World."
He also knew that Whitebeard, whose body had long since weakened, would likely be paying a steep price for returning to his peak today.
Most likely, he used his very life force as fuel, sacrificing years of his lifespan to fight at full strength once more.
"As expected of you." A drunken Kaido stared at Whitebeard on the screen, nostalgia shining in his eyes.
"You never bowed your head to anyone — Marine Sengoku, Garp, Rocks, Roger — no one could ever bend the choices in your heart…"
To be honest, Kaido felt a mix of envy and admiration.
Though known as the "Strongest Creature," Kaido had been forced over time by reality to shift his goals unconsciously.
It wasn't until he was defeated in a direct one‑on‑one fight by that brat who appeared out of nowhere that he began to rediscover his original resolve.
"This chaotic world doesn't need so many pirates…" Kaido suddenly smashed the empty wine bottle in his hand, Haki roaring and surging from his body as he bellowed in fury.
"The Grand Treasure belongs to the Beast Pirates! We will seize it! And then…" Crack!
His Dragon Claw clenched with terrifying black lightning.
"Let us use our strength to completely reshape this dull, chaotic world!"
…
"So strong!" The Marines who had retreated to the plaza of Marineford watched Whitebeard's heroic clash against three Admirals in the distance, stunned and breathless.
"Is this the true strength of an Emperor? Whitebeard can actually take on three Admirals at once?"
"Everyone, snap out of it!" Vice Admiral Dalmatian, awakened by the urgency of battle, growled as he sent a charging pirate flying across the plaza with a single claw strike.
"This is a battlefield! You don't have time to stand around watching!"
Across the battlefield, other Vice Admirals responsible for their assigned sectors had also noticed what Whitebeard had just done. Though he had not shattered the entire island, his actions had made Marines across Marineford tremble.
They cried out to rally their fellow soldiers, urging them back into the mindset of facing death bravely, unafraid of the enemy, unafraid of the Whitebeard Pirates.
The seasoned Vice Admirals knew this truth deeply.
At this moment, morale had to be upheld at all costs.
If ordinary Marines began to feel defeat was inevitable, if they shifted to a mindset of self‑preservation and retreat, the entire battle could collapse in an instant.
Do not underestimate these ordinary Marines. Though they have not mastered Haki, they are brave in battle.
On this battlefield, it is precisely because of their presence that the Navy maintained an overall advantage.
Though ants are small, an anthill working together can swallow an elephant.
Though individual pirates may be stronger than ordinary Marines, these ordinary soldiers risk their lives to entangle them, steadily draining their stamina.
This disruption prevents pirates from unleashing their full might against the Marines tasked with reaping lives and safeguarding Marineford.
In reality, the pirates' original brave, unyielding momentum had already worn thin with each death of a devoted Marine soldier.
Among the hundred thousand Marines present, eighty thousand were regular infantry.
Even if these soldiers could be slain by pirates, they would blunt the sharp edges of pirate blades and dull their instincts in battle.
Continuous fighting, though numbing the sensation of pain across the battlefield, ultimately ignites the Marines' will to fight to the death against their foes.
At this point, even if three Admirals were defeated by Whitebeard, it did not mean all was lost, for there were still other powerful forces who could step in.
Yet under no circumstances must the ordinary Marines collapse in fear.
Fear spreads easily among ordinary ranks, and there is no substitute for their valiant resolve.