They had someone to rely on again!
Whitebeard's sudden return sent Marco and the others into wild celebration.
They had seen the news that Cyrus sent Whitebeard to Impel Down, but there had been nothing they could do against Cyrus.
The next time they saw Pops was through the broadcast from Sky Island.
They assumed they would have to sail back to Paradise if they wanted to reunite with him, and had already begun making preparations.
Then the declaration of war changed everything.
The scale of the conflict left the Whitebeard Pirates uncertain about what they should do. Were they supposed to enter the war under the Hunter Guild's banner?
Before they could decide, a doorway appeared from thin air and Whitebeard stepped through.
"Pops!"
Everyone stared at him with burning excitement.
The captains from the other ships hurried over as well.
Whitebeard looked at the sons gathered before him, his expression complicated.
Cyrus had been right.
Whitebeard had always believed that, as the head of their family, it was only natural for him to shelter everyone behind his back.
Now he could see that he had made a mistake.
"Pops, is something wrong?"
Marco's heart tightened when he noticed his expression. His voice carried unmistakable unease.
"It's nothing."
Whitebeard waved a hand.
"Pops, did you escape from—"
Diamond Jozu began to ask whether he had escaped from Cyrus, but realized halfway through how wrong that sounded and swallowed the rest of the sentence.
"He let me go." Whitebeard answered calmly.
"Gather everyone. We have an operation to prepare for."
Marco immediately realized what that meant.
"Pops, are you entering the war?"
"That was the condition for my release."
Whitebeard nodded without denying it.
"Are we attacking Mary Geoise?"
The division commanders immediately grew excited.
Without Whitebeard, none of them would have dared entertain such an idea. Mary Geoise was the heart of the World Government.
Now that Pops had returned, however, they suddenly felt invincible again.
Attacking Mary Geoise?
Then they would tear the place apart!
With Pops leading them, there would surely be plenty to gain.
"No. Our targets are the creatures that appeared in Wano."
Whitebeard shook his head.
"You mean those demons?" Marco asked in surprise. "But didn't they all disappear?"
They had heard what happened in Wano, just as Whitebeard had.
Cyrus had erased the entire country, the Marines had sealed off the surrounding waters, and Pluton had surfaced there.
The monsters should have vanished along with the island.
"Those things were created by someone. The one behind them is still alive."
Whitebeard offered no further explanation.
"Understood."
Marco nodded and turned toward the other commanders.
"You heard Pops! What are you standing around for?"
His shout jolted everyone into motion.
With Whitebeard back, the entire crew seemed to regain its spirit.
"You haven't been doing very well."
Once the others had gone, Whitebeard looked at Marco.
Marco's expression turned awkward.
They truly had not.
With Whitebeard, the Whitebeard Pirates had stood among the rulers of the sea.
Without him, they were merely a large group of capable pirates.
Compared with the factions strong enough to establish themselves in the New World, they were no longer particularly special.
Now that Whitebeard had mentioned it directly, Marco felt ashamed.
He believed he had failed to live up to Pops's expectations.
"Pops, I…"
Marco lowered his head.
Whitebeard sighed inwardly at the sight.
Cyrus really had been right.
Compared with Teach, whom Whitebeard had met recently, Marco lacked both the boldness and presence needed to carry the entire crew.
"Marco!"
Whitebeard's voice made him raise his head.
"I won't be alive forever."
"I'm sorry, Pops. I disappointed you."
"I wouldn't go that far."
Whitebeard shook his head.
"Go make the preparations. We need to move quickly."
"Yes!"
Marco could hear a trace of disappointment in his voice, but he forced himself to recover and accepted the order.
Before leaving, he looked back at Whitebeard.
"Pops, how is your body?"
"Much better than before."
Whitebeard saw no reason to hide it.
He clenched one fist and the air around it burst with a sharp crack.
Marco's eyes widened.
Pops truly looked well.
It had been a long time since Marco had seen him in such condition.
Reassured, he left to handle the preparations aboard the fleet.
Whitebeard walked several steps, then sat beneath the ship's thick mast.
'Things could be worse. It doesn't seem like Cyrus intends to wipe us out completely.'
He fell silent in thought.
…
News that Whitebeard and Charlotte Linlin had suddenly reappeared in the New World and set sail with their followers shook the entire region.
Compared with the war now engulfing the world, however, their return did not attract as much attention as it normally would have.
No one in the New World dared underestimate its importance.
That was especially true for the factions that had clashed with the Whitebeard Pirates and Big Mom Pirates after their leaders disappeared.
And those two were not the only ones.
Red-Haired Shanks, who had vanished after a lengthy conflict with the Big Mom Pirates, had also resurfaced.
The news quickly spread.
Under these circumstances, everyone reached the same conclusion.
All three forces intended to participate in the coming upheaval.
"Damn it! Weren't those two supposed to be in Paradise?"
A huge, bald man with skin like steel wore an ugly expression as he crushed the golden wine bowl in his hand into a flat disk.
"Boss, now that they're back, do you think they'll come after us?"
The pirates around him looked worried.
"Come after us?"
The man's face darkened.
His crew had clashed with the Whitebeard Pirates several times.
Those idiots had abandoned piracy to become Pirate Hunters and then acted as though he were an easy target.
What kind of lunatic did that?
"If they come here, I'll tear them apart myself!"
The man issued his threat.
The surrounding pirates lowered their heads, their expressions strange.
Their captain was bragging again.
Yet this time, he suddenly fell silent.
That confused them.
Normally, once their captain began boasting, he would keep going until everyone had heard enough to last a lifetime.
Why had he stopped?
One of the pirates who knew him well slowly raised his head.
Then everyone instinctively took a step back.
Their captain's eyes had turned completely black.
An ominous aura seeped from his body before sinking back beneath his skin.
Sharp canine teeth pushed through the flesh around his mouth, leaving his face twisted and monstrous.
"Boss?"
Someone called to him cautiously.
The sound seemed to awaken a demon.
The burly man, who had been sitting motionless, snapped his head upward.
A flash of crimson appeared within his pitch-black eyes.
He reached out and seized the speaker's head.
Crack!
The sound resembled a watermelon bursting.
Blood and fragments of bone sprayed through the gaps between the giant man's fingers.
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