"That figure is..."
On the plaza, Sengoku, who was still clashing against the heavily injured Whitebeard, naturally sensed the arrival of the two monsters.
But the moment he turned and truly saw those two figures, his expression changed drastically.
"Douglas Bullet!!!"
"And... that man who once stood shoulder to shoulder with Roger and Whitebeard, the Red Count, Patrick Redfield!!!"
"Teach, you bastard!!!"
"You actually released monsters like them from the Eternal Hell!!!"
Sengoku was grinding his teeth hard enough to crack them.
Everything had been going perfectly. The Marines were clearly on the verge of victory.
So why were more and more legendary pirates suddenly appearing now?!
Faced with Sengoku's fury, Blackbeard, blood all over his face, still looked shaken himself. But even so, he forced out his usual laugh.
"Zehahahaha!!! Don't be so tense, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. We came here to help the Marines!!!"
"What did you say?!"
After blasting away a Whitebeard Pirates commander with a punch, Sengoku stared at him in disbelief.
Whitebeard, who had only just caught his breath, slowly turned his head, killing intent flooding his face.
"Teach..."
"You alone are unworthy of being my son!!!"
...
Elsewhere, Sakazuki, who had been kicked across the battlefield by Ozz's zero-frame Teleport Kick before he could even react, had instantly appeared on the far side of the war zone.
Boom!!!
He smashed through the earth, then rose from the smoke wreathed in rolling magma.
"That bastard Black Spear... acting as he pleases like this..."
The nearby Marine soldiers had still been panicking over the battle. The moment they saw Admiral Sakazuki reappear, they all jolted and hurriedly backed away.
Rubbing his head, blood on his face, Sakazuki quickly grasped the situation.
"Tch... if Fire Fist Ace actually escapes, then this whole war becomes a joke!!!"
"You don't really think you're getting away, do you?!"
He looked at the Whitebeard Pirates, who were retreating toward the sea after rescuing Ace.
His voice dripped with contempt.
"So the Whitebeard Pirates run the second they save Fire Fist Ace. Is that all you cowards amount to?"
"Don't fall for his taunting!!!"
But Sakazuki did not stop. Instead, his thoughts shifted, and he pressed further.
"Forget taking it back. I won't."
"When all is said and done, compared to Roger, who conquered the Grand Line and then used his death to ignite the Great Pirate Era, I may deny him as a Marine, but at least he was worthy of the title Pirate King."
"But what about Whitebeard? Playing house with a bunch of weaklings, being called 'old man' by fools, protecting one idiot after another under his name. And in his old age, even getting stabbed by his own son..."
"Even after Roger died, he still couldn't surpass one of Roger's cabin boys. He never became a king. He was beaten in his prime by that rookie pirate, Ozz."
"Shut up!!!"
Ace's face darkened, flames rising from his hands.
"Old man gave us people like us a second life. I won't let you talk about my benefactor that way."
"This era is called Whitebeard!!!"
Flames versus magma.
Ace dropped to his knees almost immediately.
"This kid..."
Even Ozz, watching from afar, could only sigh helplessly.
A few words and he lost his head. He forgot the entire point of this war was to save him. Was Ace stupid, or just too genuine for his own good?
"That's Roger's son, isn't it?"
"He looks a lot like Roger did when he was young."
Beside Ozz stood an elderly man leaning on a cane, silently observing Ace as well.
Then he glanced sideways at Ozz.
"You're not going?"
"No."
Ozz answered lightly.
"The future has already been seen."
Hearing that, Redfield's expression shifted. A moment later, a red gleam flashed in his deep-set eyes.
The surprise on his face was not because of what he had seen, but because of something else entirely.
"I really am curious... just how far into the future you can see."
Redfield had lived for so many years, yet this was the first time he had ever encountered a monster with Observation Haki this terrifying.
Ozz only smiled faintly.
"It's just different specialties."
His Observation Haki had been special from birth. Like the Op-Op Fruit, it excelled in precision and penetration, leaning toward the physical side.
Redfield's, and Queen Otohime's, could directly perceive human hearts, leaning more toward the spiritual side.
And because Ozz's leaned toward the physical, it naturally focused more on reality itself, which was why he could see farther and more clearly into the future.
Two monsters with advance screening turned on were casually chatting in the middle of the war.
As one of the remnants of the old era, Redfield was extremely interested in Ozz.
Because of his ability to perceive hearts, he had seen too much ugliness in human nature. Betrayal. Hesitation. Weakness.
That was exactly why he had found Ozz so shocking.
This handsome, elegant man, when he was not using Observation Killing, could still be partially read.
And what Redfield found made his pupils tremble.
What an utterly pure inner world.
No hypocrisy. No disguise. No conflict.
Only a pure, absolute pursuit of amusement.
As if everyone and everything were puppets in his hands.
As if he were a spectator, forever wide-eyed with anticipation, waiting for anything that might entertain him.
...
Elsewhere, Luffy had already reached his limit after his second injection of Tension Hormones. He was kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath.
Sakazuki, his fist bubbling with molten magma, had already reached Ace.
"The sons of Pirate King Roger and Revolutionary Dragon, two of the most dangerous men in the world, actually swore brotherhood. Your blood alone is an unforgivable sin!!!"
"Any pirate can escape, but not you two. Watch closely!!!"
He stepped past the kneeling Ace, magma rolling off his fist, and hurled a molten punch straight at the still-unresponsive Luffy.
"Luffy!!!"
As the older brother, Ace immediately moved to shield Luffy, even if it meant giving up his own life.
"Don't forget. Luffy has more than just you as an older brother~"
At the critical moment, the ground split open. Two dragon-claw-like hands shot up and grabbed both of them by their clothes.
"It's been a long time..."
"Ace. Luffy."
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