Naval Headquarters — The Summit War.
The all-out battle between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines had reached its final stage.
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard raised his supreme-grade blade, Cong Yunqie, high above his head.
The air around it trembled as his overwhelming quake power wrapped around the blade.
With a single swing, the atmosphere cracked open.
The earth shuddered as a massive shockwave erupted from the old pirate's body, spreading outward in every direction.
Screams of Marines filled the air as hundreds of elite soldiers were blasted skyward, only to crash back down like raindrops.
"My sons! Kill the Marines and save Ace!" Whitebeard roared, his mighty voice booming across the battlefield.
"Uooooohhh!!!"
"Destroy the Marines!"
"Rescue Ace!"
"Follow Father! Charge!!!"
Tens of thousands of pirates under Whitebeard's command roared in unison, their spirits ablaze.
"Gurarara!" Whitebeard charged forward, leading the assault himself.
Once again, he raised Cong Yunqie, his legendary blade gleaming with deadly force—
"Ah la la... if we let you keep doing as you please, things are going to get troublesome."
A lazy voice cut through the chaos.
Admiral Aokiji, one of the Navy's three greatest powers, leapt high into the air and landed directly before Whitebeard.
"Pakk!"
With a wave of his hand, a storm of absolute-zero frost surged forth.
In an instant, the Emperor of the Sea—Whitebeard—was frozen solid in a massive block of ice.
But—
Before the Marines could even cheer—
Crack... crack...
A sound echoed across the plaza.
Fissures spidered through the ice, spreading rapidly.
"Ah la la... looks like vibrations can't be frozen," Aokiji muttered.
Boom!
The ice exploded apart as Whitebeard broke free, his rage undiminished.
Without backing down, Aokiji lunged forward again, attacking head-on.
Clang!
Whitebeard met him with a powerful counter, swinging Cong Yunqie in a devastating arc that made the ground quake.
"Nice hit!" one of the pirates shouted.
"Papa's Haki pierced through him!" another yelled.
But—
"Did you really think an Admiral would fall that easily?" someone muttered grimly.
Aokiji remained calm, his expression unreadable.
Though Whitebeard's blade was infused with intense Armament Haki, Aokiji's body had already turned to ice before the strike landed.
The Admiral's arm reached out, gripping Cong Yunqie. Frost exploded outward upon contact, spreading toward Whitebeard's chest.
"Sparkle Rush!!!"
A booming voice cut through the cold.
Diamond Joz, the Third Division Commander, launched himself forward, his body hardened like a diamond and cloaked in Haki.
Boom!
He smashed directly into Aokiji, shattering the Admiral's ice body into fragments.
Moments later, Aokiji reformed several dozen meters away, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Gurararara! Anyone ready to die—come at me!" Whitebeard roared, raising his blade again.
But before his strike could land, a blinding laser beam shot in from the side.
Boom!!!
The explosion lit up the sky as Whitebeard's attack collided with the incoming light.
"It's dangerous, isn't it, Whitebeard~?"
Admiral Kizaru hovered nearby, his expression playful and mocking, fingertips still glowing with condensed light.
"Kizaru, you damn pest, you just don't quit!"
From above, Marco the Phoenix swooped in, his fiery blue wings cutting through the smoke.
"Phoenix Seal!!!"
He kicked out, sending Kizaru crashing backward in a burst of light.
Whitebeard didn't even glance at them.
His eyes remained locked straight ahead.
Once again, he swung Cong Yunqie.
The quake force rippled outward—
Boom!!!
The entire Marineford plaza trembled.
Hundreds of sailors were flung into the air, screaming as they vanished into the smoke.
Even the most elite Marines were like fragile glass before the might of a Yonko.
Finally—
"That's enough!"
A deep, booming voice echoed.
The third Admiral appeared—Akainu, stepping forward through the wreckage.
"If this continues, the island itself won't survive," he growled, molten magma dripping from his clenched fists.
"Gurarara! Magma brat... you framed me for betraying my comrades and turned Skuyad against me. Now you'll pay for that—with your head!" Whitebeard thundered.
"Try it if you can!" Akainu snarled, his fists blazing brighter.
The air rippled from the heat.
Each time his magma burned, the atmosphere itself seemed to warp.
He lunged forward, magma fist colliding with Whitebeard's quake-imbued punch.
BOOOOM!!!
One red.
One white.
The two forces clashed, splitting the world in half.
The sky trembled.
A hole tore through the dark clouds.
Reality itself screamed.
Sabaody Archipelago — Live Broadcast Plaza.
Corpses littered the ground.
The air was thick with smoke and disbelief.
Even those who had survived the shockwave could barely move, staring blankly at the massive live screen projecting the battle.
No one dared to get closer.
No one—except one.
"What in the world… is going on?"
The bar owner Shakky muttered in horror, her cigarette trembling between her fingers.
She'd received reports earlier, but seeing it for herself was another thing entirely.
The broadcast flickered. The entire Marine Headquarters was in chaos. Even the Sabaody Islands were shaking from the aftermath.
"Not even Marineford is safe… whose handiwork could this possibly be?"
Her gaze locked on the live feed—and then her pupils shrank sharply.
"Monkey… Lightning…" she whispered.
Her attention fixed on the Straw Hat crew now storming through the battlefield.
What she didn't notice was the shadow watching her from above.
On the highest branches of Grove 30, a massive Pteranodon, its head wreathed in flame, crouched silently, armored and still.
It observed for several long minutes, eyes narrowing.
Then, with a flap of its wings, it took off into the sky.
At that same moment, not far from the Sabaody Islands—
A massive, ornate pirate ship soared through the clouds, held aloft by swirling flame clouds.
The ship's name gleamed in gold along its hull: Queen Mama Chanter.
The Big Mom Pirates' flagship.
"Oi, Linlin," a deep, rumbling voice laughed. "Looks like that fancy intelligence network you brag about isn't all that reliable, huh?"
The former Emperor of the Sea, Kaido of the Beasts, sneered.
"Shut your mouth, Kaido! At least it's better than yours!" snapped Charlotte Linlin, known to the world as Big Mom.
Among the Four Emperors, Big Mom's crew was famed for its unmatched intelligence network.
She had even boasted to Kaido before setting out that her sources could track every move made at Marineford in real-time.
But ever since the first report—that Whitebeard's forces had landed at Marine Headquarters—the line had gone silent.
No new information.
Nothing but static.
"What's going on, Mondor?" Big Mom demanded, her voice icy.
Her nineteenth son, Mondor, trembled as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I—I'm sorry, Mama! Something's gone wrong!"
"Hey, hey," Kaido chuckled darkly, "looks like your network isn't so perfect after all. But don't worry… Jhin's back. He can tell us what's really going on."