Garp sat down next to Ace under Sengoku's watchful gaze.
The Fleet Admiral had no patience for any improvisation from the old hero. Not at that moment. Not now.
He knew exactly what that war meant for the Navy and the World Government, and he would not allow anything or anyone to prevent Ace's execution.
Garp knew that too.
And that knowledge tore him apart inside.
Saving Ace meant betraying everything he had built.
Doing nothing meant watching his grandson die.
The conflict was silent but brutal.
Then, a chill ran through Marineford.
"Here they come!!"
Sengoku's voice echoed across the square as his Observation Haki picked up something rising from the depths of the ocean.
"Everyone to your stations!!"
High-ranking officers repeated the order, and tension exploded among the ranks.
"How did they appear out of nowhere?!"
Ships emerged from the sea like ghosts, breaking the surface in perfect formation. Shock took hold of the marines.
"It's a huge fleet of pirate ships!"
"Find Whitebeard and that Jason guy right away!"
But there was no sign of either of them.
Upon hearing the report, Sengoku felt his stomach sink.
"There are 43 ships in total... but Whitebeard and his commanders are nowhere to be seen."
This did not reassure him. On the contrary.
Ace was never the real target.
He was the bait.
This war was no longer just a rescue attempt. It was a trap set to lure Jason to Marineford and eliminate him right there.
And the fact that Jason and Whitebeard were not visible only made things worse.
Sengoku took a deep breath and spoke firmly:
"Make no mistake. They are all allies of Whitebeard."
The Marines stiffened their expressions, adjusting their weapons and stances. The war had begun.
"Let's do this!!"
"We've come to save you, Ace!"
"We're here, Ace!"
The voices echoed from the pirate fleet. Many of those men had real ties to him.
"...You came."
For a brief moment, Ace's eyes regained some of their lost light. Still, he remained motionless. He knew what those thorns did.
Sommers had been clear.
If anyone who cared for him touched him... both would suffer unbearable pain.
Ace gritted his teeth.
A soldier approached Sengoku.
"Should we open fire, sir?"
"No."
The answer came immediately.
"Unless we see Jason or Whitebeard. They're nearby... plotting something."
And Sengoku knew this better than anyone.
Jason D. Winchester.
The name alone carried more weight than many legendary pirates.
He wasn't a Yonkou.
He wasn't an avowed revolutionary.
He wasn't a king.
Yet his every move shifted the world like tectonic plates.
And now... Whitebeard was also in play.
Sengoku didn't need to see them together to understand the significance. The war had changed in nature the moment Jason decided to show up.
He had no proof of an alliance.
He didn't need it.
As Fleet Admiral, he always prepared for the worst.
'Convergence.'
Not a formal alliance.
No toasts or pacts.
Just two forces wanting the same thing at that moment: to deny the World Government an absolute victory.
'And that's enough.'
Sengoku clenched his fist, feeling the invisible weight of every decision he had made since taking office.
'If I err on the side of caution, we lose men.'
'If I err on the side of naivety... the world falls.'
Jason didn't need to give orders.
He didn't need to raise flags.
Wherever he went, structures crumbled, physical, political, and mental. Dogmas were broken. Soldiers began to think.
"And soldiers who think too much... question."
And the World Government never survived questioning.
Sengoku closed his eyes for a brief moment.
"If the two act in unison, even by chance... Marineford will not just be a battlefield."
"It will be a historic turning point."
So, inevitably, his thoughts turned to Garp.
"You old fool... you're at the center of this and you don't even realize it."
Ace was just the trigger. He always had been.
The real target of that war was never a prisoner chained to a platform.
It was the idea of control.
The illusion of absolute justice.
Fear.
"If there's even the slightest chance of cooperation... then I must act as if it were certain."
Without hesitation.
Without regret.
"Even if I become the villain of the story."
"Even if the world hates me."
Someone had to hold the wall while it was still standing.
"If Jason falls today... the world remains broken, but controllable."
"If he wins..."
Sengoku opened his eyes and stared at Marineford like a general stares at his own grave.
"There will be no more walls."
"Neither of stone... nor of lies."
"Fufufu... where are you, Whitebeard?"
Doflamingo was the only one among the Shichibukai who laughed when he saw the immense fleet appear out of nowhere. His fingers slowly closed, as if he were holding invisible strings.
"I'm excited... come out already, Whitebeard."
The other Shichibukai ignored him, their eyes fixed on the colossal fleet that spread out before Marineford like an omen.
"Darling..."
Boa Hancock murmured, her voice low, laden with unease. It had been days since she last heard from Jason. A few days—and yet, they seemed too long. Her chest tightened as she remembered his touch, his overwhelming presence that she now missed.
She longed to see him again.
"..."
Mihawk remained silent, Yoru resting on his shoulder, his sharp gaze analyzing each ship with utter indifference.
"..."
Bartholomew Kuma also said nothing. A robot. A body that only obeyed orders. But only a small part of the world knew that inside that emotionless robot, there was a place where he was happy spending time with the woman he loved, just waiting for the two of them to come back to life and live happily with their daughter.
"There's... a shadow in the bay."
"Could it be...?"
"They applied coating... traveled across the ocean floor."
Then, suddenly, four ships emerged from the depths, breaking the surface of Marineford Bay in an absurd, almost impossible scene.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"It's Moby Dick!"
"They're all in the bay... the fourteen squad leaders!"
A marine's voice trembled, unable to hide his shock.
"...Whitebeard."
Sengoku's eyes darkened.
He instinctively searched the sky, the screens, for any sign.
Nothing.
No transmission. No presence.
Jason hadn't arrived yet... or so it seemed.
"Gurararara..."
Deep laughter echoed from the deck of the Moby Dick, accompanied by the heavy sound of footsteps slowly climbing a staircase.
"How many years have passed, Garp... Sengoku?"
A colossal figure appeared, standing upright on the Moby Dick, wielding a naginata twice the size of an ordinary man. His presence made the very air seem denser.
"My beloved son had better be fine."
Whitebeard said, without tubes, without medical equipment, without any visible sign of weakness.
"Gurararara!! Wait right there, Ace!"
He laughed, loud and confident.
Then, Whitebeard closed his eyes.
For a few seconds, he forced his Observation Haki to pierce through the chaos, the distance, his own exhaustion. When it finally touched Ace, his expression changed.
Injuries. Thorns. Waves of pain.
Too much pain.
Pain that didn't match what his eyes saw.
'These injuries... are wrong.'
A burning sensation shot through his chest. Whitebeard frowned and immediately cut off his Haki, taking a deep breath.
"They hurt... my son."
The joy disappeared from his face.
He stared at the entire Marineford.
Then he clenched his fists.
Boom.
The air was struck, and shattered like glass.
"What?!"
"The air... is cracking?!"
Panic spread among the Marines as the sea below turned into a violent mass of foam, and the ground beneath their feet deformed like jelly.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
"Whaaaaa!"
"What the hell was that explosion?!"
"Look at the waves... look at the size of that thing!"
Everyone turned their eyes to the horizon and saw walls of water rising, growing larger and larger, advancing straight toward Marineford.
Sengoku's face contorted in agony as he recognized the scene.
"...An earthquake at sea."
"A tsunami is coming this way. It's huge."
"Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate... User of Gura Gura no Mi, an earthquake man."
Garp said with a grim look.
The marines panicked when they saw the magnitude of the earthquake heading towards Marineford.
"This fruit has the power to destroy the world.
Sengoku shouted and started the war on the navy's side.
"THE WAR IS BEGINNING, ATTACK!!!"
At that moment, Aokiji rose from his admiral's seat, his body turning to ice, and shouted:
"The ice age."
Ice gushed from his body like a center, freezing two huge ice mountains to stop the tsunami waves and then crossed the sea to completely freeze the bay of Marineford.
"Aokiji..."
Whitebeard said with a fierce smile on his face.
"Ahhhh... It stopped...!!!"
The marines sighed with relief as they saw the danger disappear.
Immediately after freezing the fierce waves, Aokiji attacked Whitebeard.
"Partisan!!!" Several sharp ice spears were launched toward Whitebeard.
Whitebeard, in turn, shattered the air beside him, destroying the ice spears and thwarting Aokiji's attack.
"Oh my God..."
Whitebeard's attack didn't stop there; he quickly reached Aokiji and shattered him like an ice statue.
Aokiji fell into the frozen sea and returned to human form.
"Everyone, retreat!"
At that moment, a voice from behind urged the pirates to retreat.
Veins bulged on Jozu's arms as he tried to grab the edge of an icy mountain.
"Jozu!!!"
"That strength is extraordinary...!!!"
"Haaaaaahhhhh!!!"
As the iceberg continued to break away from the frozen sea, Jozu shouted louder and louder, until he finally managed to pull it and throw it toward Marineford with all his strength.
"It's a huge chunk of ice!!!"
"That thing is too big!!!"
The marines stood open-mouthed in shock.
"Let's see you stop that!!!"
The giant block of ice headed toward Marineford Bay, intent on crushing thousands of marines.
When the huge block of ice was getting absurdly close, Admiral Akainu finally acted.
His right arm began to drip hot volcanic magma, resembling a volcano about to erupt.
"Akainu-san!!!"
The marines scream in amazement as they see the admiral enter the battlefield.
"Daifunka!!!"
A huge fist of magma was thrown toward the giant ice block, leaving a trail of volcanic magma behind.
In an instant, the ice began to evaporate, forming a dense fog that quickly enveloped it, until nothing remained of the ice but mist.
"That huge chunk of ice... It disappeared without a trace..."
"It evaporated...!!"
What remained of the solidified volcanic magma began to fall on the pirates below.
"Aaagh!! Volcanic rocks!!!"
"Aahhhh...!!"
"Ahhh!! We can't stop them all!!!"
"One of the ships sank!!"
**
While the war raged below, a strange portal opened high in the sky above Marineford—right at the top of the frozen tsunami.
From it jumped, in sequence: Straw Hat Luffy, several prisoners from the sixth floor of Impel Down, Ivankov, Inazuma, Bon Clay... and finally, Jason D. Winchester.
"Where are we?"
Luffy asked, turning on his heels, confused to see only endless ice and an absurdly blue sky.
"A few meters above Marineford."
Jason replied, already walking to the edge of the giant ice block.
He looked down.
The war was in complete chaos.
Akainu pulverized the iceberg thrown by Jozu, magma boiling against the ice. Whitebeard, in turn, grabbed one of the incandescent volcanic rocks... and blew it out with a breath, as if it were a birthday candle.
"Heh... the kid's got style."
Jason smiled slightly.
The idea came back to his mind with force: Whitebeard alive was a necessary restraint. Jason wouldn't be in this world for long, and the power vacuum that would follow would be disastrous. Edward Newgate, keeping his territories under control, would prevent lesser pirates from going crazy.
Then Jason looked away to the execution platform.
Ace.
Wounded. Exhausted. Battered.
And beside him... Garp.
The old hero sat motionless, his expression heavy, almost broken.
It made Jason frown.
'So this is how you choose to be...'
He already knew that type of man. And he could already see the shock that was coming.
An inevitable confrontation. Not only of forces, but of paths.
Jason's gaze swept over the admirals.
Gion.
'Acting admiral... interesting.'
His gaze lingered a little longer, admiring the curves of her body and nodding in satisfaction. Hot stuff.
Then Tsuru.
Elderly now, but still carrying the imposing presence of someone who was once feared by all.
Further down—
Hancock.
She fought fiercely, mercilessly petrifying pirates. At times, she looked around, restless. Searching.
'What a dedicated woman I have...'
The thought was filled with affection, and something more hungry.
Jason's attention was then captured by a figure advancing across the battlefield like an uncontrolled force of nature.
Oars Jr.
The ancient giant ignored everything around him—gunshots, explosions, screams, orders. Each step was taken with a single purpose: to reach Ace.
From the outside, for those who didn't know the story, that scene looked like just another monster advancing in a stupid and suicidal way.
But Jason knew.
He knew about the relationship between Oars and Ace.
He knew about the giant straw hat, carefully sewn by clumsy hands, loaded with meaning.
He knew that it wasn't bravery... it was affection.
That's why Oars charged forward without protecting himself.
Not because he was foolish, but because, for him, returning without Ace was never an option.
And then came the punishment.
Navy cannons tore through his flesh.
The impact of Kuma's ability threw his colossal body backwards.
And finally, Doflamingo smiled as invisible threads cut through his leg as if it were paper.
Oars fell.
And yet, he tried to get up.
Jason narrowed his eyes for a moment.
'This world does not forgive those who love too much.'
At that very moment, a Navy giant advanced on Whitebeard, wielding a colossal axe.
The blow came down with enough force to split ships.
Whitebeard didn't move.
He raised a single bare hand and parried the attack.
The axe shattered on impact, the steel shattering like glass against a mountain.
Before the giant could react, Whitebeard grabbed the metal hood covering his head and, with a sharp tug, dragged that colossal body to the ground, as if dealing with a disobedient child.
A white whirlwind appeared around his hand.
The air vibrated.
The steel hood pulverized under the force of the earthquake.
And the giant's head...
simply exploded like a rotten fruit.
Blood and bone fragments scattered across the battlefield as the body fell, inert.
There was no doubt about it.
Edward Newgate was furious.
Jason watched the scene from above, his eyes alert, a slow smile forming on his face.
It wasn't amusement.
It was recognition.
'Yes...'
'You are still exactly the monster the world needs.'
"How do we get down from here?"
Luffy asked, going to the other side of the ice block.
"You can climb down there, but... it will take a while."
"By jumping."
Jason replied simply.
Everyone stared at him.
"But... it's high, isn't it?"
Luffy tilted his head.
"Just time the fall."
Jason began to explain, as if he were talking about something trivial.
"We're going to break half of this iceberg and fall with it. When we're close to the ground, we jump. Deceleration does the rest. Pure physics."
"..."
Absolute silence.
From Redfield to San Juan Wolf, everyone stared at Jason with blank expressions, trying to decide if this was genius... or madness.
"You're a genius, Jason!"
Luffy broke into a huge smile.
"When we're close to the ground, we'll jump and land softly!"
"Hmmm... that's not quite how physics works, mugi-chan..."
Bon Clay tried to intervene, sweating coldly.
But Luffy's eyes were already shining.
"Jason-san..."
Ivankov cleared his throat.
"Maybe there's a slightly more—"
"No time to think, Ivankov."
Jason interrupted him, lifting the tip of his foot slightly.
"Trust dad. It'll work."
He stepped on the ice.
Crack.
The sound echoed like a gunshot.
Everyone's heart skipped a beat.
The crack spread quickly, snaking across the colossal block.
"Th-that's—"
Before anyone could finish the sentence, the platform broke away from the frozen tsunami.
And plummeted.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
"W-we're going to die!"
Ivankov and Bon Clay screamed as they clung to whatever they could. Shiryu stuck his sword into the ice so he wouldn't be thrown off. The others held on as best they could, the wind howling as the ground approached at brutal speed.
Jason, however, just smiled.
'Just calculate the timing.'