Naval Headquarters, atop the battlefield.
Whale ship, Moby Dick.
"Daddy!"
Skuad, captain of the Eddy Spider Pirates, rushed to Whitebeard.
"Skuad… are you alright? I haven't been able to reach you!" Whitebeard asked, concern etched on his face.
"I'm alive!" Skuad replied breathlessly.
"That's good. What's the situation in Wantou now?" Whitebeard pressed.
"The pirates under my command suffered heavy losses. I took a shortcut to get here!" Skuad's expression was grim. "Sengoku won't hold back—he's using everything against us."
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes.
"Father, have you discovered the Marines' strategy?" Skuad asked, lowering his head, a strange unease in his gaze.
"Sengoku and I are old friends…" Whitebeard muttered, pulling out his supreme sharp knife, Cong Yunqie. "Though I'm unsure of exactly what's changed, the Marines have made their move. I'm about to strike all at once. Will you join me?" His eyes fixed on the plaza in the bay.
"We, the pirates under your command, owe everything to you, Old Man. For the Whitebeard Pirates, we'll go through fire and water!" Skuad drew his sword with resolve.
"This is a battle to protect the family. Whitebeard will never abandon his family. That's why we follow you… but—"
Swish!
The blade flashed with an icy, deadly light. It pierced the chest of Four Emperors Whitebeard.
Blood sprayed across the deck.
The vast battlefield froze in deadly silence.
Marco, Joz, Vista, and the other Whitebeard Pirates' captains, along with New World captains like Ranger Doma, Ice Witch Pei, the Dikalban Brothers, and every pirate and sailor nearby… all froze. Eyes wide, faces pale. Shock and disbelief gripped everyone; no one could comprehend what they had just witnessed.
Gudong… sizzle… sizzle…
Sabaody Islands, Live Plaza.
Reporters and melon-eaters gasped, hands clutching their throats.
"Wh-what… what just happened?"
"Whitebeard… Four Emperors Whitebeard… assassinated?!"
"And the person who did it? Skuad—the Vortex Spider, one of Whitebeard's own captains!"
"Why… why would a Whitebeard captain do this?"
"The Whitebeard Pirates are famously united! Everyone under their command treats him like a father…"
"Hahaha, pirates first and foremost think of themselves!"
"That Vortex Spider Skuad must've made a deal, realizing he couldn't win, so he betrayed them!"
"Pirates have no sense of justice. Only self-interest matters—this is natural!"
The melon-eaters in the square erupted into debate.
"Report it! Contact headquarters immediately!"
Reporters scrambled to their devices. But every attempt failed.
"What… what's happening? Why can't I reach them?"
"Headquarters! Please respond!"
"All signals are dead… nothing is getting through!"
Panic spread as Supernova captains Heart, Kid, Tank, and Hawkins arrived with grim news from all directions.
"We're trapped by some force!"
"Who could do this? How… why?"
Floating Sky Island, Plaza.
"Jiehahaha! Whitebeard, this is what happens when you go everywhere with your son. Now, you've been repaid for all your devotion!" Golden Lion Shiki cackled.
"That Vortex Spider… why would he do this?" Yamato's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Forget him—the bigger problem is that Whitebeard was successfully attacked!" Erza said, her expression tense.
"Exactly! Even the Four Emperors shouldn't be vulnerable to a trusted subordinate!"
Naval Headquarters.
The battlefield shuddered from the strike of Skuad's filial betrayal. How long the oppressive silence lasted, no one could tell.
"Skuad!!!"
The roar of Marco, first captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, the Phoenix, shattered the quiet.
"Why? Answer me, Skuad!" Marco demanded, pressing his hands against the traitor's chest, his voice urgent.
"Stop with the speeches! You all forced me into this!" Skuad screamed. "End this farce, Whitebeard! Haven't you colluded with the Marines already? Marine promised Ace's safety… we've all been deceived!"
"Skuad!"
"What… what is he talking about?"
"Explain yourself!"
On the battlefield, New World captains watched in stunned silence.
"I never knew Ace was Roger's son. When you adopted me, I was alone… all my important partners were killed by Roger! You should know how much I hate the Roger Pirates! And yet… Ace, the special one… you wanted him to become the next One Piece!" Skuad's voice trembled with rage.
"I was betrayed back then. I trusted Ace… I became friends with him, unknowingly used as a pawn. And now… for Ace, you betrayed your own pirates."
"You sold the lives of our forty-three pirate captains to save Ace. The Whitebeard Pirates and Ace will survive, yes… you colluded with Sengoku, didn't you?"
Skuad revealed what he had learned from Admiral Akainu, shaking the battlefield with the truth.