Walked straight through the middle of them.
Teach's eyes almost bulged out of his sockets.
He desperately tried to stir the Dark-Dark Fruit, the black power that could swallow everything churning inside his body.
But the darkness was locked inside him.
Cold sweat streamed down Teach's forehead. What kind of ability was this? Conqueror's Haki?
No! Conqueror's Haki only made people faint. It wouldn't turn people into stone.
Shinju walked to the center of the plaza. Standing in his way was the Navy Admiral, Kizaru.
Kizaru crooked his mouth, raised a finger toward the sky, and gathered light at his fingertip.
Shinju didn't slow down. He rammed straight into Kizaru.
At the instant they were about to make contact, Kizaru's elemental body was forcibly pushed aside.
Shinju's shoulder slammed into an Admiral.
Kizaru stumbled backward, retreating more than a dozen steps.
Shinju kept moving forward. The steps were right in front of him.
On the execution platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's gold-rimmed glasses reflected the light.
He watched that young man walk up step by step.
He felt like he'd become a statue. That helplessness was so absurd it made him want to laugh.
He was the Fleet Admiral of the Navy, one of the most powerful men on this sea yet now, all he could do was watch that boy walk up, trampling the Navy's dignity, trampling the face of justice.
Halfway up the stairs, Vice Admiral Garp was kneeling to one side of the platform.
Hero of the Marines
the old man who had chased the Pirate King Roger across the world
kept his head lowered.
Garp's fists were clenched tight. He was in agony too
duty on one side, family on the other.
Ace was right behind him.
Shinju stopped in front of Garp.
Garp's whole body trembled. He was resisting a god's will.
Garp lifted his head, tears streaming down his face.
"Y-you…"
He forced out a single word.
Shinju looked down at him.
"Rest, Navy Hero."
Those three words left his mouth, and the taut muscles in Garp's body instantly went slack. The resistance vanished.
Garp collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. He could no longer stop him.
Shinju stepped past Garp. The last few steps—Sengoku was there.
The Buddha Fruit user had already begun to swell, golden light spilling from within his body. Sengoku was fighting with everything he had.
He wouldn't allow anyone to take the prisoner right in front of him. This was his bottom line. A golden shockwave gathered in his palm.
Shinju lifted his eyes.
The surging power inside Sengoku was cut off. His swollen body was forced to shrink back down. The golden light scattered.
Sengoku let out a muffled groan, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth—backlash from forcing it to stop.
Shinju didn't even look at Sengoku. He walked right past the Fleet Admiral, like he was passing a random stranger.
That attitude hurt more than being defeated.
Sengoku wanted to reach out and grab Shinju's sleeve
yet he still couldn't do it.
Ace was kneeling on the execution platform. Two long spears were crossed in front of his neck, and the executioners had already fainted.
Ace lifted his head to look at Shinju, his eyes full of confusion.
He didn't know this man. There wasn't anyone like him on this sea. Ace had seen everything that just happened.
Everyone had been frozen in place.
Shinju squatted in front of Ace.
Ace opened his mouth.
"Who are you?"
Shinju didn't answer. His finger touched the Seastone handcuffs binding Ace.
Seastone unbelievably hard, a natural counter to all Devil Fruit users.
But under Shinju's touch, that pitch-black stone began to crumble, turning into fine sand.
Ace froze. He felt the sudden lightness around his wrists.
Flames surged back through his veins.
Shinju stood up and extended a hand to Ace.
"The farce ends here," Shinju said.
Ace stared at that hand, then reached out his own.
Shinju pulled, and Ace rose to his feet.
Below the platform
Luffy's eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open.
"Ace!"
That shout shattered the dead silence.
Shinju turned around and stood at the edge of the execution platform.
Ace stood at his side, and the two of them looked down over the battlefield.
A hundred thousand Navy elites. Tens of thousands from the Whitebeard Pirates. The Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Everyone stared up at the platform.
Doflamingo's sunglasses slid halfway down his face. The cocky grin he always wore was gone—only stiffness remained.
Mihawk gripped the black blade Yoru, his arm trembling slightly.
Hancock's beautiful eyes flickered as she stared at Shinju.
This man had suppressed the entire field.
Shinju spoke.
"Come with me. Your little brother is waiting for you."
Ace glanced down at Luffy. Luffy was waving like crazy.
Ace took a deep breath.
"Okay."
Shinju nodded.
"From today onward…"
Shinju's voice rose a few notches.
"The rules of this world will be set by me."
Sengoku's face turned deathly pale. He understood what that meant.
The power this boy had shown was enough to overturn the World Government's eight-hundred-year rule.
"The old era is over."
After Shinju said that, he snapped his fingers. The force binding everyone vanished.
Countless people collapsed to the ground, gasping—panting sounds rising everywhere.
Akainu knelt on the ground, both hands braced on the earth, magma burning two holes into the surface.
An Admiral… crushed to immobility by someone's mere presence.
"Bastard!"
Akainu roared. Magma erupted.
A massive molten fist blasted up into the sky.
"Great Eruption!"
The target was Shinju on the execution platform—an attack launched in fury, even stronger than usual.
Heatwaves slammed into everyone.
Ace instinctively tried to step in front of Shinju.
"Watch out!"
Shinju didn't even turn his head. He merely raised a single finger, and the gigantic magma fist stopped in midair.
"I said the farce ends here."
This time, no one dared to move.
Whitebeard stared at the boy on the platform. He was a battle-hardened monster himself.
But that boy didn't exist on the same plane as them—like humans looking down at ants.
No matter how strong an ant was, it couldn't bite a human to death.
Whitebeard threw his head back and laughed.
"Gurarararara!"
The laughter was bold and unrestrained.
"Boys! Retreat!"
Whitebeard gave the order.
Ace had been rescued—the objective was achieved. There was no need to keep dying here.
If that boy had saved Ace, he wouldn't let the Navy take him back again.
The pirates erupted in cheers. The Navy soldiers looked at each other.
Chase?
Who would dare chase?
The word "Justice" on the cape behind Sengoku suddenly felt unbearably heavy.
If they chased, they'd probably be wiped out.
Sengoku looked at Shinju.
Shinju looked back.
Sengoku understood the message in those eyes.
You can try.
Sengoku closed his eyes, swallowing endless unwillingness.
"Ceasefire!"
The Navy soldiers exhaled in relief. No one wanted to face that monster.
The war at Marineford… ended.
Shinju led Ace down from the execution platform.
The crowd automatically parted into a path. Whether Navy or pirate, everyone lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.
Luffy rushed over and hugged Ace tight, snot and tears smeared all over Ace's clothes.
"Ace! This is great! Waaah!"
Ace ruffled Luffy's hair, smiling.
"Idiot. Why are you crying?"
Shinju stood to the side, quietly watching the scene.
Mission complete. Earnings: 700.
He looked up at the sky. A News Coo circled overhead—ready to spread everything that happened today to the whole world.
Shinju.
That name would become the nightmare of a new era… or its god.
Shinju started toward the harbor. Ace and Luffy followed behind.
The Whitebeard Pirates followed as well, a vast procession—no one dared to stop them.
Sengoku stared at the devastated Marineford.
In this battle, the Navy lost.
Not to Whitebeard
but to a boy who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Investigate," Sengoku said to the aide beside him.
"Find out who he is. Where he came from."
"Yes!"
The aide accepted the order and left.
Shinju boarded Whitebeard's ship—the Moby Dick.
He stood at the bow.
The sea wind tugged at his clothes. He didn't look back at Marineford even once.
A gathering place for the remnants of the old era wasn't worth his attention anymore. His gaze went farther, to more distant horizons.
This place had only been a stop on the road—used to harvest fame, to harvest momentum.
Ace walked up beside Shinju.
"Thank you," Ace said, solemn and sincere.
Shinju turned his head slightly.
"Don't thank me. Your life belongs to me from now on."
Ace paused.
Then he nodded.
"Okay."
No hesitation.
This life had been picked up from the brink of death, what did it matter if he handed it over?
The Moby Dick slowly sailed away from the harbor. Marineford shrank behind them until it vanished over the horizon.
That day, the Pirate Era took a turn.
The Marineford War seemed like a happy ending.
But every major force knew the truth:
A sword now hung over their heads.
A sword that could fall at any moment.
And that sword's name was Shinju.
(End of Chapter)
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