Far away, thousands of miles away,
East Blue, Goa Kingdom,
Inside Foosha Village, the villagers and the mountain bandits were watching the live broadcast of the Summit War that was being shown to the entire world.
"A… Ace!!!"
In the crowd, a middle-aged woman whose face bore the marks of the years was covering her mouth and crying endlessly.
Beside her, Dadan and Makino were desperately trying to stop her from doing something foolish, stammering as they tried to comfort her.
"Don't be rash, Lady Rouge!!!"
"It'll definitely be fine! After all, Garp and Orin-san are both there!!!"
"Even if you leave now, you can't possibly make it in time!!!"
It took all their effort to barely calm the collapsing Rouge, and the mountain bandits and villagers around them were all looking gloomy.
Because the sight before their eyes… was truly not something they felt optimistic about.
Orin-san and Vice Admiral Garp were actually sitting on the Navy's side!!!
Rouge struggled uselessly, then collapsed to her knees, snot and tears uncontrollably pouring out.
She looked despairingly at the screen—at Orin's calm, cigarette-holding figure whose expression couldn't be seen clearly.
"Please, Orin-san… even if just for Roger's sake… save Ace…"
...
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
A solemn atmosphere spread. Sengoku, wearing the coat of the Fleet Admiral, stood atop the execution platform with a grim expression.
"You are Roger's son. Whitebeard took you aboard because he wanted to raise you into the next Roger."
"No, I boarded the ship because I wanted to help Pops become the Pirate King!!!"
"That's only what you think!!!"
Sengoku roared angrily.
At this point, digging into who rescued Ace and his mother no longer meant anything.
Whether it was to eliminate the bloodline of the Pirate King, or for the global strategic purpose of demonstrating force—
"In order to prevent you from awakening the potential that may allow you to reach the peak of this new era… We will wage war against Whitebeard without hesitation!!!"
With a strange moment of silence—
A loud alarm suddenly erupted across all of Marineford.
Countless pirate ships passed through the Gate of Justice and entered the outer waters of Marineford.
Densely packed, stretching like a mass reaching into the heavens—dozens of pirate ships emerged from the fog and pressed forward like an invading army!!!
"It's the pirate fleet!!!"
But strangely, no one saw any sign of Whitebeard.
Only Orin, resting his chin on one hand, slowly cast his eyes downward.
Within the vast range of his Observation Haki, he could sense several "bubbles" approaching.
"In the end, you really are a spent arrow…"
Whitebeard was old now. If it were his younger self, there's no way he would've used this kind of sneaking infiltration.
After all, no matter how fierce long-range weapons were, nothing could deal real damage under the pressure of his Quake. But now, in his declining state, Whitebeard would avoid attacking whenever possible.
He was conserving strength.
"Fufufufufu… what an entertaining war. Come quickly, Whitebeard!!!"
Doflamingo watched the chaos happily—after all, he wasn't planning to contribute seriously.
Isn't it great to slack off and watch the Navy and pirates kill each other?
Only when a column of seawater erupted within the bay of Marineford did the Whitebeard Pirates finally make their formal entrance.
"It's the Moby Dick!!!"
The division commanders appeared one after another, and the sound of the naginata striking the ground echoed.
The "Yonko" Whitebeard appeared!!!
"Kuralala… The Navy's tight defense was expected, but I didn't think even you would show up here…"
"What are you thinking, Orin!!!"
Upon entering, Whitebeard completely ignored Sengoku standing on the highest platform.
Instead, he aimed his words directly at the silent man sitting with crossed legs, smoking leisurely.
"Whitebeard!!!"
Sengoku had prepared to speak with Whitebeard, but he didn't expect that the very first thing Whitebeard would do was try to shake Orin's stance.
Cold sweat instantly broke out across Sengoku's face.
"Orin-sama is here by invitation of the World Government! Don't you dare spout nonsense!!!"
"Kuralala… I wasn't asking you, Sengoku!!!"
Looking at the long-haired silhouette on the high platform, Whitebeard's gaze grew complicated.
In truth—
Before reaching Marineford, Marco and several others had already discussed this with him.
"Pops, according to the intel, the [Black Gun] will also appear at Marineford this time, leading the Shichibukai on the Navy's side!!!"
Marco's expression was heavy as he spoke.
Even though they believed in Pops, reason forced them to acknowledge the truth: with Pops' current condition, there was absolutely no way he could defeat the present-day [Black Gun]!!!
Hearing this, Whitebeard remained silent for a moment—
Then chuckled loudly.
"It's fine. Have you forgotten who Orin's former captain was?"
"Ace once told me what happened when he was born. Combined with what I know about him… There's no way that man would simply become the Navy's attack subordinate!!!"
Whitebeard's eyes flashed with sharp light.
"That man surpassed even Roger!!!"
...
Now, amid the Summit War—
Even though Whitebeard had been called the "Strongest Man in the World" for years, he was not foolish. He played his emotional cards deliberately.
But strangely—
Orin merely smoked calmly, showing no stance toward either side.
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All eyes focused on him—even the live broadcast transponder snails turned toward the man who could change the world's balance.
"It's Lord Orin!!!"
On Sabaody Archipelago, crowds screamed.
"This is… the man who suppressed an entire era!!!"
The relics of the old era on the sea recognized their former king.
"Orin…"
Even among the highest authorities, attention was fixed on this war.
The Elders observed closely. They were also waiting for intelligence—rumor said that CP0 had paid a huge price to obtain some information about a secret experiment, and were preparing to report as soon as it was compiled.
The Shichibukai were waiting for Orin's response.
It was obvious: the moment Orin defected, Mihawk would immediately unleash kilometer-long slashes, and everyone would betray the Marines at point-blank range.
Sweat beaded on Sengoku's face, his pupils trembling.
Even Aokiji was watching Orin from the corner of his eye—
Just waiting for the slightest movement, so he could excitedly unleash "Ice Age."
Everyone was waiting for the choice of this "king." The world grew silent.
The war's outcome was about to be decided.
However…
Standing at the center of the world, Orin slowly lit another cigarette.
Only then did he seem to notice that everyone was staring at him.
He slowly lifted his head and revealed a smile.
"Well… a game with predetermined winners and losers would be far too boring~"
"Please fight to your heart's content, everyone~"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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