"Portgas D. Ace, regarding the significant meaning of this man dying here today."
The low voice of Fleet Admiral Sengoku standing before Ace rang out, slowly delivering this execution's opening statement.
In truth, Sengoku didn't need to say much, as many present had already received similar news.
Ace was Roger's son.
Of course, today was a worldwide broadcast, so more accurately, his words were explaining this super-secret to everyone watching the broadcast.
"Ace, state your father's name."
Sengoku directly shouted at Ace.
"My father is Whitebeard."
"Wrong!"
Facing Ace's words, Sengoku's denial was quite forceful.
But after saying this, he didn't wait for Ace's following words.
Turning back, Sengoku only saw Ace staring at him with a silent gaze but showing no intention of saying more.
This left Sengoku, who originally wanted to use Ace's words to further demoralize the pirates, somewhat off rhythm.
On this side, Ace had actually just instinctively retorted. But soon, the instinct formed from being disciplined by a certain man in the past made him regain clarity.
'The more the enemy wants me to do something, the more I must not do it.'
With Ace's intelligence, it wasn't hard to understand the twists and turns behind Sengoku's actions. He was just a bit reckless by nature, and his intelligence was still online.
Seeing Ace wouldn't engage, Sengoku didn't plan to stop either.
After all, he was the Marine Fleet Admiral. After only a slight pause, he picked up the previous rhythm.
"Back then, we searched desperately with wide-open eyes..."
"Relying on the minimal intelligence and possibilities from CP, we targeted newborn infants..."
"There is an island called Baterilla in the South Blue. Your mother's name was Portgas D. Rogue..."
Just as Sengoku prepared to piece by piece expose Ace's background before all viewers, Ace, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke again.
"Quit dawdling! Don't you just want to say my birth father is the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger?"
"To make such a huge fuss over the son of a defeated foe, you Marines are really insecure, huh?"
"Or perhaps, back then, if Gol D. Roger hadn't turned himself in, you wouldn't have been able to do anything to him either."
"Silence!"
Reacting, Sengoku immediately halted the broadcast.
But Ace's words had already been transmitted worldwide via Den Den Mushi.
Thump!
The two soldiers responsible for the execution heavily struck the back of Ace's head with their sword hilts, causing his entire body to pitch forward.
But even with Seastone shackles on, Ace still stabilized himself before falling.
"Though I don't like that guy either, I still have to say your sense of justice disgusts me even more."
"Colluding with pirates, kneeling to Celestial Dragons, even actively capturing slaves for Celestial Dragons... Do you really live up to the [Justice] on your backs?"
Hearing this, Sengoku didn't respond at all, as the broadcast had already been stopped.
Holding his forehead, he thought with a headache.
'Whether it was executing Roger back then or executing Ace now, we should have gagged both of them beforehand.'
'If Roger's mouth had been gagged, the subsequent Great Pirate Era might not have emerged.'
'-At least not as such a trend.'
'Fortunately, it wasn't too late now.'
After having Ace gagged, Sengoku allowed the reporters to resume the broadcast.
Of course, as for the reason for the sudden disconnection earlier, it was definitely signal interference or equipment malfunction or something.
Such minor matters, even if the Marines didn't say, these news conglomerates controlled by the World Government would actively cover up.
Perhaps the only exception was the World Economic News Paper run by Morgans. That guy was famously willing to risk his life for news, as last time, he even dared to expose Celestial Dragon incidents.
But before Sengoku could continue his speech, dense ship silhouettes had already appeared on the distant sea surface.
Because of that slight delay earlier, reinforcements from the Whitebeard Pirates' affiliated fleets had arrived.
One massive pirate ship after another broke through the thick fog, appearing within the Marines' field of vision.
Looking through binoculars, the pirates on the ships were almost all captains who had made a name for themselves in the New World.
"This number..."
A Marine Vice Admiral suddenly sensed something wrong.
According to their previously gathered intelligence, aside from the Whitebeard Pirates' main fleet, their affiliated fleets should only number around forty-some.
Yet now, the ships emerging from the thick fog already exceeded forty and showed no sign of stopping.
"Something's wrong, those are..."
Soon, other Marine officers stationed in the New World reacted.
Through their binoculars, they saw some familiar faces.
Those were not from the Whitebeard Pirates' forces.
"It's the Big Mom Pirates! And the Beast Pirates' affiliated fleets!!"
This exclamation almost attracted everyone's attention.
The expressions of many on the Marine side also turned grim.
"Hey, hey, hey... this isn't a joke anymore."
Gecko Moria, who was originally somewhat excited, thinking about whether he could collect enough corpses during this battle to add new members to Thriller Bark...
But seeing this unimaginable convergence of forces, a sense of crisis suddenly arose.
Doflamingo's expression also wasn't as relaxed as before.
Originally, in his view, even with the Whitebeard Pirates, they couldn't possibly take Marineford by frontal assault, no matter what.
Even with that man known as the [World's Strongest Man] leading them.
At most, they themselves would only bully some small-time pirates on the fringes, as the Marines naturally had people to deal with those troublesome figures.
But now...
"The war has begun."
War.
Without a doubt, this absolutely deserved to be called an epic-level war.
"Mamamamama! Marines, I haven't forgotten what you did last time!"
In the channel deliberately left by the countless pirate ships, the colossal, fortress-like form of the Queen Mama Chanter slowly appeared.
On the ship's bow, Charlotte Linlin already held Napoleon in its sword form, glaring fiercely at the Marines opposite.
In another channel, the Beast Pirates' main ship also slowly sailed out.
Of course, Kaido, who could fly, rarely traveled by ship normally.
-In fact, if Kaido wanted, he could even move his base, Onigashima, here.
"Wororororo! Old hag, haven't seen you for so many years. Can you still swing a sword looking like that now!"
Kaido also waved Hassaikai, laughing boisterously without restraint.
"Brat! After all this time, you still don't know how to talk! Want me to fight you right here and now!"
"Come on then! Stupid old hag!"
He came here for a great battle. As for who to fight, Kaido didn't really care.
Seeing the two Emperors were about to fight each other before even reaching the battlefield, Katakuri and Queen each offered words of dissuasion.
"Mama, don't forget our goal this time is to seek revenge on the Marines. If a war breaks out here now, the Marines will definitely reap the benefits."
Persuaded by her most prized creation, Big Mom forcefully suppressed her anger, then ordered them.
"Right, and that Donquixote Doflamingo. You must capture him for me before that fool Kaido notices."
Clearly, Big Mom had other objectives.
"Yes, Mama."
The situation with the Beast Pirates was similar, as Queen's dissuasion also had some effect.
Kaido finally stopped targeting Big Mom.
"The supporting characters have all appeared, so next should be the main characters, right..."
The World's Greatest Swordsman, who seemed unconcerned about everything around him, suddenly spoke.
And just as Mihawk uttered these words, bubbles large and small began rising from the concave harbor of Marineford below.