Naval Headquarters — atop the battlefield.
The world's strongest man, Whitebeard, made his move.
With one punch, the very air froze.
The atmosphere itself trembled. Shells that had been flying toward him suddenly reversed course, hurtling backward.
Vice Admiral John Giant braced himself to block the attack—
—but the massive blade in his hand was effortlessly knocked aside.
"Gurararara!"
The Four Emperors' might radiated from Whitebeard as his enormous hands clawed through the air. The very atmosphere seemed to take shape, condensing around his palms.
When he brought them crashing down—
—the entire Naval Headquarters shook violently.
A scene straight out of the apocalypse unfolded.
From the center of the bay, the sea itself split apart, tearing both high and low.
The frozen battlefield shattered, creating a gaping hole in the ice. On the far bank, buildings crumbled like sandcastles under the quake. Even the headquarters building itself split wide open, walls fracturing under the impossible force.
It was the power of the Paramecia-type Shock-Shock Fruit, known as the most destructive ability in the world!
"Damn it, Whitebeard! To wield such power…!"
Marshal Sengoku's expression darkened atop the execution platform.
"Garp, what are you staring at?" he snapped, noticing his old comrade's distraction.
"Over there… near the headquarters building…" Garp muttered absently, his eyes narrowing.
"Forget it," Sengoku growled. "That giant won't last long anyway!"
Ignoring him, Sengoku took out a small Den Den Mushi and barked new orders.
"Raise the surrounding walls immediately!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a deep scream echoed.
Vice Admiral John Giant was completely crushed by Whitebeard's assault.
The shockwave shattered the bay's outer wall and surged toward the execution platform. If it hit, even the steel-built stand would collapse instantly.
At the last possible moment, the three Admirals—the highest combat power of the Marines—moved as one.
They raised their hands, Haki flaring out like an invisible barrier, stopping the quake dead in its tracks.
The battlefield's situation shifted rapidly.
With Whitebeard's overwhelming strike, the pirates' morale surged.
It seemed they would soon charge into the inner plaza of the bay.
Then—
A deafening rumble echoed from beneath the ice.
Walls made of Wabo Memory Alloy burst upward, piercing through the frozen surface and encircling the entire bay.
The Whitebeard Pirates' divisions swung their massive weapons, trying to smash the walls apart—but to no avail. Their blades shattered instead.
Even Whitebeard's quake punches only left shallow craters in the alloy, and thanks to the metal's "memory," the dents healed almost instantly.
Sabaody Archipelago —
"Ooooh!"
"Look at that! Marine's new strategy!"
"The soldiers didn't retreat because they feared Whitebeard—they were clearing space to raise the walls!"
"Now the Whitebeard Pirates are trapped in Ice Bay! A turtle in a pot, with nowhere to run!"
"Hahahaha! Brilliant! As expected of Marshal Sengoku!"
"But… using such tactics feels a bit shameful, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. First they used an assassination attempt with the Whirlpool Spider, and now this?"
"It might guarantee victory, sure… but I wish they'd fought the Whitebeard Pirates fairly!"
"Idiots! Do you think this is a play? This is war!"
"Exactly! Victory at the smallest cost—that's the true strategy! It saves Marine lives!"
In the live broadcast plaza, the crowd of onlookers debated heatedly.
Meanwhile, high above the square, the Supernova pirates—watching from the rooftops—fell silent.
They realized they'd been drawn into a trap, though they didn't yet understand how. The uncertainty made their blood run cold.
"Wait! Look there—the Marine's encirclement isn't complete!" someone suddenly shouted.
On the battlefield, Whitebeard had already noticed.
He'd seen through the Marines' plan—and the one gap in their perfect wall.
It was the spot where Little Oars Jr. had fallen earlier. His enormous body and the rivers of blood that flowed had prevented the wall from rising properly.
"Damn devil… no choice, it's time. Sakazuki, begin!" Sengoku ordered, his jaw tight.
"Understood."
Admiral Akainu stepped forward calmly.
His Magma-Magma Fruit powers roared to life.
"Flowing Star Fire—Meteor Volcano!!!"
He punched upward, and countless magma bombs erupted into the air, piercing the clouds.
A moment later, the dark sky turned crimson.
The heavens themselves caught fire.
Fiery projectiles rained down, melting the ice that Admiral Aokiji had created earlier.
Even the Moby Dick, Whitebeard's flagship, was set ablaze and destroyed.
If the ice melted completely, the pirates would lose their footing—and for Devil Fruit users, that would mean certain death.
This was the true horror of Sengoku's strategy: to fight them within a sealed arena surrounded by the sea.
Yet—
The tides of war are never still.
Just as Sengoku believed victory was his, a sudden surge disrupted everything.
From beneath the waves, the fifth coated Whale Ship burst out of the sea, shattering the Marines' formation.
Under Whitebeard's command, the pirates in the bay scrambled aboard.
With its engines at full power—and with help from the awakened Little Oars Jr.—the whale ship rammed straight into the bay plaza.
The final battle between the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates had begun!
In the real world.
The Little Lion Thousand Suns arrived at Naval Headquarters.
"What the hell is going on here?" Sugisawa Yuuto muttered, wide-eyed.
All around, Marines and pirates lay scattered—but alive.
"They're breathing," Karas confirmed, crouching beside one. "Not dead. Just unconscious."
"Wait—wasn't there supposed to be a war?" Luffy tilted his head, confused. "Everyone's… asleep?"
After a pause, he smacked his cheeks and grinned. "Whatever! None of my business! Let's hurry up and save Ace!"
"Yeah."
Sabo nodded, his Observation Haki sweeping across the battlefield until his gaze locked on Ace, slumped on the execution platform.
"I don't know what's happened, but every Marine—including the Marshal and the Admirals—has fallen into a coma. This is our best shot to save him!"
Without hesitation, the Straw Hat brothers sprinted toward the platform, ready to seize the opportunity.
But then—
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
Tiny shards of ice, no larger than marbles, shot toward them.
At first, they seemed harmless—
—but in an instant, the fragments swelled, growing massive as mountains.
A towering iceberg came crashing down on the Straw Hat brothers.
"Gear Third — Giant's Gun!!!"
"Dragon Claw Fist!!!"
The two attacks collided with the descending ice—
BOOM!!!
And the battlefield once again descended into chaos.