Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
One hundred thousand Marines stood assembled across the harbor plaza, fully armed and awaiting battle.
The massive headquarters building bearing the word "MARINE" loomed above everything, the tallest structure in Marineford.
Below it rose the execution platform of Fire Fist Ace.
Only four figures stood atop it.
Ace himself, shackled in Seastone chains, knelt with his head lowered.
Behind him stood two executioners gripping long halberds.
And beside them—
Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha, supreme commander of the strongest force on the seas.
Below the platform sat the three Admirals.
Kizaru.
Akainu.
Aokiji.
The highest military power of the World Government.
They were the backbone of the one hundred thousand Marines—and the greatest obstacle facing the Whitebeard Pirates.
Below them stood the Seven Warlords.
Bartholomew Kuma, now stripped of all emotion.
Dracule Mihawk, cold and unreadable.
Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress, long legs poised elegantly, eyes distant and proud.
Gecko Moria, grinning strangely.
And finally—
Edward Weevil, drooling foolishly while carrying his mother, Miss Bakkin.
Though he claimed to be Whitebeard's son, he stood here against Whitebeard.
Because Bakkin had whispered poison into his ear.
She insisted that Whitebeard valued Ace more than his "biological" son.
Thus Weevil had to prove himself stronger.
And after Whitebeard's death—
Inherit everything.
Below the Warlords stood dozens of elite Vice Admirals.
Including several giant Vice Admirals towering dozens of meters tall.
Tsuru.
Onigumo.
Hina.
Even Smoker from G-5 was present.
But Vergo was absent.
As Luo Xing's planted mole within the Marines, Vergo's mission was long-term ascension—not dying here against Whitebeard.
Smoker, meanwhile, stood there for one reason:
Strength.
Tashigi was "dead."
In G-5, he had been toyed with by Vergo at will.
All because he was too weak.
He would grow stronger.
He would surpass Vergo.
Marineford was silent.
Ten thousand breaths—
Not a sound.
They waited.
For the arrival of the strongest man in the world.
On the execution platform—
Sengoku's face remained stern.
But his heart churned.
He worried where Whitebeard would strike.
That was obvious.
But there were two more concerns.
First—
Blackbeard.
He had attended the Warlord meeting.
Now he was gone.
Vanished.
Once this war ended—
Sengoku swore he would hunt that traitor down.
Second—
Luo Xing.
Something about his public appearance at Sabaody had felt wrong.
Calculated.
Yet Sengoku couldn't grasp it.
He forced those doubts aside.
Raising the Den Den Mushi, his voice thundered across the seas.
"People of the world—today we publicly execute Fire Fist Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!"
"But his identity is far greater than that!"
He turned to Ace.
"Tell the world your true lineage! Whose blood flows in your veins?!"
Ace trembled violently—but said nothing.
Sengoku roared into the microphone.
"He is the son of the Pirate King—Gol D. Roger!!"
Shockwaves rippled across Marineford.
Across the world.
The Pirate King's son—
That was why this war was inevitable.
Ace shouted hoarsely:
"No! I am not that bastard's son! My only father is Whitebeard!!"
Sengoku snorted.
"Your denial changes nothing. The blood of the Pirate King flows through you."
"Roger began the Great Pirate Era."
"And your death will end it!"
The execution was meant as a warning.
If even the Pirate King's son must die—
Who would dare defy the World Government?
Sengoku prepared to continue—
When suddenly—
Pururururu—
The encrypted Den Den Mushi at his waist rang.
His heart skipped.
Impel Down.
He stepped aside from the platform's center before answering quietly.
"Report."
On the other end, a panicked voice cried:
"Fleet Admiral—disaster!"
"The Fifth Emperor Luo Xing appeared in Impel Down through a strange door!"
"He used a bizarre serum to create ten giants hundreds of meters tall!"
"Levels One, Two, and Three are destroyed!"
"Most Level Three prisoners have defected and were strengthened with Monster Cells!"
"They are fighting Warden Magellan and Chief Jailer Shiryu in Level Four!"
"Please send reinforcements immediately—otherwise the entire prison will be annihilated!!"
The words struck Sengoku like thunder.
For a moment—
He heard nothing but ringing in his ears.
"Fleet Admiral?!"
The voice screamed.
Then—
A sudden cry.
The line went dead.
Sengoku stood frozen.
Bloodshot eyes.
Hands trembling.
The reporting guard was dead.
Luo Xing.
How had he reached Impel Down?!
A strange door?
Another invention?
And a serum that creates hundred-meter giants?!
How many impossible inventions does he possess?!
Is he even human?!
Sengoku felt his composure shatter.
He wanted to tear open Luo Xing's skull and see what lay inside.
Though he had stepped aside, his change in expression did not go unnoticed.
Tsuru saw.
As Marine HQ's Grand Staff Officer, she approached.
Sengoku told her in hushed tones.
Her face drained of color.
She had witnessed Luo Xing's clash with Rayleigh.
A man capable of matching Conqueror's Haki infusion at that level—
With two subordinates equally monstrous.
Impel Down was in grave danger.
"We must send reinforcements!" she urged.
Sengoku exhaled slowly.
"With Whitebeard about to arrive, we have no spare forces."
"And even if we did… it would be too late."
"So we abandon Impel Down?"
"Trust Magellan. He is not a man who falls easily."
But his confidence wavered.
Magellan's opponent was Luo Xing—
A man whose methods had already driven Sengoku to the brink.
After a moment's thought, Sengoku said:
"Tsuru—go to Mary Geoise immediately."
"Inform the Five Elders and Fleet Admiral Kong. Have them dispatch CP0 and the reserve Admirals Momousagi and Chaton to reinforce Impel Down."
Hidden forces must move.
Tsuru did not hesitate.
She departed at once.
Some sharp-eyed observers noticed her anxious exit.
And unease spread quietly among the ranks.
Had something gone wrong—
Before the war had even begun?
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