Jerry was already the center of everyone's attention, so his sudden, furious shout was naturally heard clearly by every person present.
"Teach? The Warlord?" Many Revolutionary Army members and Marines asked in bewilderment.
The Whitebeard Pirates, especially division commanders like Marco, gritted their teeth and demanded: "Teach?! Where is that bastard?!"
Beyond them, Whitebeard, Ace, and members of both the Black Star Pirates and Straw Hat Pirates all showed darkening expressions simultaneously.
Following Jerry's intense glare, everyone began looking in that same direction.
Next to the massive corridor that Jerry's attack had carved through the landscape, several town buildings stood quietly with no apparent movement.
But that was merely surface appearance. Many powerful fighters skilled in Observation Haki were able to extend their senses during this brief ceasefire.
When their Haki swept across that area, most of them narrowed their eyes with recognition.
"Not planning to come out? Want to keep playing the patient fisherman waiting for easy prey?" Jerry called out loudly, swinging his fishing rod with violent force.
A razor-sharp slash materialized from nowhere and shot forward at lightning speed.
Some Marine officers considered intercepting it but ultimately held back.
After all, regardless of which side they supported, nobody wanted to be taken advantage of by someone with malicious intentions after such fierce fighting.
As the cutting wind whistled through the air, the slash streaked directly toward a relatively tall residential building nearby.
But just as it was about to strike the structure, it was blocked head-on by a dark shadow that suddenly materialized.
Teach led several accomplices as they appeared on a house's rooftop. He laughed heartily: "Leviathan! Why do you have to pick a fight with us? We're all just working hard for our own futures! Zehahaha!"
"Hey! Are those Level 6 prisoners? Why are they here?!"
"They're all world-class criminals who committed extremely brutal crimes—criminals whose records were supposed to be erased!"
"But that's Shiryu of the Rain, the head guard of Impel Down! Why is he...?"
Throughout the Marine ranks, many knowledgeable insiders exclaimed in shock and disbelief.
"Tch!" Jerry shook his head and spoke in a carrying voice: "So you really did deal with Warden Magellan at Impel Down, didn't you? I kindly tried to warn him, but this still happened. Stubborn old fool."
At this moment, standing alongside Teach—in addition to his original pirate crew members—were Shiryu of the Rain (whom Jerry had never met before), "Corrupt King" Avalo Pizarro (whom he'd encountered in Impel Down), "Crescent Moon Hunter" Catarina Devon, and "Heavy Drinker" Vasco Shot.
As for the "Colossal Battleship" San Juan Wolf who was supposed to appear with them, he was nowhere to be seen. Probably because he'd been injured by Jerry earlier, and due to his massive size, he'd also been affected by Magellan's poison multiple times. Ultimately, it was unclear whether his injuries were too severe or if there were other reasons for his absence.
But these details weren't within Jerry's scope of concern. He only knew that when Blackbeard and his crew appeared, Whitebeard, Ace, and others were already seething with rage.
After hearing Jerry's words, another Marine officer rushed over with a belated battle report from Impel Down. Sengoku immediately grasped the severity of the prison situation.
Sensing Sengoku's piercing gaze upon him, Shiryu held a cigar between his lips and spoke slowly without fear: "My apologies, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. I'll be working with this group from now on. Please treat me favorably."
"Shiryu! You bastard..." Sengoku snarled through gritted teeth.
Suddenly, a tremendous explosion in the distance interrupted Sengoku's furious words.
Everyone turned toward the sound to see Akainu—whose previously immaculate suit was now in complete tatters.
His body was covered in blood, with a sunken chest wound still oozing crimson, and his left forearm was completely gone—obviously having lost part of his limb.
Clearly, when facing Jerry's sudden devastating assault, even though he'd taken defensive measures and barely managed to twist away at the last moment—deflecting the fishing rod's most lethal point and dodging within a split second of taking the hit—Akainu had still suffered grievous injuries and lost a portion of his body.
He gasped heavily while slowly controlling rolling magma to cover the chest wound and seal his missing limb.
After glaring at Jerry for several long seconds, he turned his burning gaze toward Shiryu.
At this point, Sengoku directed his own furious attention toward Teach: "One after another... it seems you planned this from the very beginning!"
"Zehahaha! Of course! My entire purpose in becoming one of the Seven Warlords was to gain access to Impel Down—that's all!" Teach threw back his head and laughed uproariously, utterly proud of his scheme.
Hearing this revelation, veins bulged across Sengoku's forehead as he clenched both fists in rage: "The Seven Warlords system..."
Before he could finish his condemnation, a thunderous roar suddenly rang out: "TEACH!!!"
Whitebeard swung his left arm and delivered a devastating earthquake punch with everything he had.
The very air shattered instantly as cracks spread rapidly like spider webs. An extremely powerful shockwave surged toward the Blackbeard Pirates' position.
Wherever the seismic wave passed, Marines cried out in terror while Blackbeard Pirates members shouted in alarm.
A deafening roar echoed between heaven and earth as countless buildings were pulverized by this terrifying force, reduced to nothing but rubble and debris.
But the figures of the Blackbeard Pirates soon emerged from the smoke and dust, apparently having suffered minimal damage from the assault.
"Whitebeard! Stop going berserk here!" Seeing that Marine Headquarters had suffered yet more serious structural damage, Sengoku felt his blood pressure skyrocketing toward dangerous levels.
He immediately pressed forward again, engaging Whitebeard in renewed combat.
It wasn't that Sengoku didn't want to deal with Teach, Shiryu, and the other criminals—but he believed the consequences of allowing Whitebeard to continue his rampage would be far more catastrophic.
"Zehahaha! How ruthless, Pops!" Teach grinned maliciously.
Although his group's location had been exposed by Jerry before either side in the main battle was completely defeated, he didn't dwell on this setback too much.
After all, he hadn't initially known Whitebeard would appear at Marineford.
They'd come to Marine Headquarters simply because they'd left Impel Down and caught a ride on the exclusive ocean current.
The reason he'd been hiding in secret was because Teach wanted to see if there might be an opportunity to profit from others' battles.
Hearing Teach's mocking words, Whitebeard roared in fury: "Teach! The moment you tried to murder Thatch, you were no longer my son!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Ace looked at Luffy and the others who were gradually approaching the plaza's edge. He spoke with deadly calm: "You guys continue heading outside. I'll be back shortly."
Without waiting for responses from Luffy or other Whitebeard Pirates members, Ace spun around and leaped into the air, flying in the opposite direction—straight toward Teach and his crew.
At this moment, his eyes revealed a bone-deep chill that promised violence.
Seeing this development, Marco nodded to the other division commanders and followed closely to provide escort for Ace.
Jerry noticed Ace's decisive action and knew exactly what his former captain intended to do with his sworn enemy.
He shook his head and whispered to himself: "That kid... ah well, then I'll accompany you in raising hell once more."
After that declaration, Jerry immediately summoned his water clone again and addressed Aokiji, who stood not far away: "You're not going to try stopping me, are you?"
"What do you think?" Aokiji replied slowly, his entire body radiating intense cold.
Jerry spread his hands in a gesture of resignation: "Then we'll have to do this the hard way..."
After this period of rapid regeneration, Jerry's injuries had improved dramatically, and those hideous burn marks had faded considerably.
Jerry felt he was ready for action once again.
"Flame Commandment: Fire Pillar!" Although Ace had expended considerable energy, his attack remained devastatingly fierce.
Along with his battle cry, an enormous fireball several meters in diameter materialized above the battlefield.
At the same time, Akainu fixed Shiryu with an ice-cold stare. He took a massive step forward and swung both fists through the air despite his injuries.
"A traitor should understand a traitor's fate!"
For a moment, fireballs and giant magma fists were flying through the air, smashing toward the Blackbeard Pirates from two different directions in a blazing spectacle that left countless observers speechless.
The battlefield had suddenly transformed from a three-way conflict into something far more complex, with old grudges and fresh betrayals converging into what promised to be the most chaotic and destructive phase of this legendary war.
As attacks from multiple directions converged on Teach's position, it became clear that Blackbeard's gamble to profit from others' battles had backfired spectacularly. Now he and his crew would face the combined wrath of enemies from every side—a predicament that even his ambitious schemes might not have anticipated.