Far away, thousands of miles from there,
East Blue, the Goa Kingdom,
in Foosha Village,
the villagers and the mountain bandits watched the summit broadcast that was being streamed to the entire world.
"Ace… Ace!!!"
In the crowd, a middle-aged woman whose face carried the marks of time covered her mouth and cried uncontrollably.
Beside her, Dadan and Makino fumbled in panic, stopping her from doing something reckless while blurting out comfort through their tears.
"Don't do anything stupid, Lady Rouge!!!"
"He'll be fine, he has Vice Admiral Garp and Mr. Ozz there!!!"
"Even if you set sail right now, you could never make it in time!!!"
After they finally managed to calm the nearly collapsing Rouge, the bandits and villagers all fell silent, their expressions heavy.
Because what they were seeing… did not look good.
Mr. Ozz and Vice Admiral Garp were sitting on the Navy's side!!!
Rouge couldn't break free. She dropped to her knees, snot and tears pouring out uncontrollably.
She stared at the image on the screen, at Ozz's calm silhouette, cigarette in hand, his expression impossible to read.
"Please… Ozz-san… even if it's for Roger's sake… save Ace…"
…
Marineford, Navy Headquarters.
A solemn pressure spread through the plaza.
Sengoku, dressed in the Fleet Admiral's coat, stood atop the execution platform with a severe expression.
"You are Roger's son. Whitebeard took you aboard because he intended to raise you into the next Roger."
"That's wrong. I wanted to make Pops the Pirate King!!!"
"That's only what you believe!!!"
Sengoku roared.
At this point, digging up who had saved the mother and child back then no longer had any meaning.
Whether it was to erase the Pirate King's bloodline, or to achieve the strategic goal of terrifying the world with absolute force…
"To stop you from growing into someone who could reach the pinnacle of piracy in the new era,
we will wage war with Whitebeard without hesitation!!!"
A strange silence followed.
Then, in an instant, alarms screamed across Marineford.
Pirate ships surged through the Gates of Justice and entered the waters surrounding the bay.
So many they seemed to stitch the horizon together.
Dozens of ships pressed in from the fog like an advancing army.
"It's a massive pirate fleet!!!"
But strangely…
Whitebeard himself was nowhere to be seen.
Only Ozz rested his chin on his hand, eyes drifting downward.
Within the boundless range of his Observation Haki, he could see several "bubbles" approaching.
"In the end… he's running on fumes."
Whitebeard was old.
If it were the Whitebeard of his prime, he would never have used a stealthy approach like this.
After all, no matter how fierce the long-range firepower was, it meant nothing before the power of the Gura Gura no Mi.
The truth was simple. Whitebeard's condition was far worse than before.
If he could avoid spending strength, he would.
He was conserving stamina.
"Fufufufu… what an interesting war. Hurry up and come, Whitebeard!!!"
Doflamingo looked thrilled, because he had no intention of truly going all out.
Why not watch the Navy and Whitebeard's men tear each other apart while he coasts?
Then the sea inside Marineford Bay erupted.
At last, the Whitebeard Pirates made their entrance.
"That's the Moby Dick!!!"
The division commanders appeared one after another.
A bisento slammed into the deck with a heavy quake.
The "Four Emperors," Whitebeard, finally appeared!!!
"Gurarararara… the Navy's defenses are as tight as expected… but I didn't think even you would show up here…"
Whitebeard didn't bother looking at Sengoku on the highest platform.
Instead, he locked onto the man sitting there in silence, legs crossed, cigarette between his fingers.
"How are you thinking about this, Ozz!!!"
"Whitebeard!!!"
Sengoku had been ready to face Whitebeard's words.
He didn't expect Whitebeard to try and shake Ozz's stance first.
Cold sweat instantly poured down Sengoku's face.
"Ozz is here at the World Government's invitation. Don't waste your breath!!!"
"Gurarararara…
I wasn't asking you, Sengoku!!!"
Whitebeard stared at the long-haired figure on the platform, eyes complicated.
In truth…
before they even reached Marineford, Marco and the others had already discussed it with him.
"Pops, according to intelligence, 'Black Spear' will appear at Marineford too, and he'll be sitting on the Navy's side with the Seven Warlords!!!"
Marco's face had been grim as he spoke.
No matter how much faith they had in their father, they had to admit the reality.
With Pops in his current state, it was impossible to defeat today's "Black Spear."
Whitebeard had fallen silent for a moment after hearing it.
Then he laughed.
"It's fine. You didn't forget who that bastard's captain used to be, did you?"
"Ace once told me what happened around the time he was born. Add that to what I know about him…"
Whitebeard's eyes sharpened.
"That man would never become the Navy's hired muscle that easily!!!"
"And besides…"
"The one who surpassed Roger… is him!!!"
…
Now, in the Summit War,
even a man long hailed as "the strongest man in the world" still played the emotional card.
Whitebeard was not some brainless pirate.
But what was strange was this.
Ozz simply smoked, calm and unhurried.
Facing both the Navy and Whitebeard, he did not declare himself for either side.
Every gaze gathered on him.
Even the broadcast Den Den Mushi aimed its lens at the man who could tilt the entire world's balance.
"It's Lord Ozz!!!"
People cried out on Sabaody.
"That's… the man who once crushed an entire era!!!"
Old-timers of the sea recognized the former king.
"Ozz…"
Even the seat of power was watching.
The Five Elders observed in silence, waiting for more information.
It was said CP0 had paid a terrible price and finally obtained fragments about a secret experiment, and the report was still being organized.
The Seven Warlords watched Ozz's reaction.
If Ozz flipped sides, Mihawk would open with a kilometer-long slash without hesitation, and everyone would betray at point-blank range together.
Sengoku's face glistened with sweat, his pupils trembling.
Even Aokiji watched Ozz with the corner of his eye, already itching to unleash Ice Age the moment Ozz moved wrong.
Everyone waited for the "King" to choose.
The world went quiet because of him.
The direction of the war was about to be decided.
But…
Ozz, at the center of it all, slowly lit another cigarette.
Then, as if he had only just noticed the countless eyes on him, he raised his head and smiled.
"Meh… a game where the winner is decided from the start is way too boring."
"Please, enjoy the slaughter, everyone."
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