Two days passed in a blink.
Only three hours remained until Ace's execution.
Marineford — The Calm Before the Doomsday
Marineford had already been emptied.
No one knew what kind of apocalyptic havoc Whitebeard, Shiki, and Kaido would unleash, so on Sengoku's orders, the Marines' families were evacuated a full day in advance to an island over ten kilometers away.
The streets that were usually loud and bustling were now completely deserted.
A gust of wind rolled by.
Only fallen leaves made a faint rustle-rustle—like the island itself was holding its breath.
Before the fortress—
the towering execution platform had been built.
The plaza was packed with Headquarters Marines holding standard-issue weapons.
Thousands upon thousands of heavy cannons formed a full ring around the fortress.
Under the sunlight, the pitch-black barrels glinted with chilling, metallic cold.
Above the sky—
seagulls circled with "Big-Eye" video Den Den Mushi hanging from their necks, looping around Marineford—especially near the execution stage.
This was all arranged through Big News Morgans, contacted early by Sengoku.
And after learning that even the Five Elders would take the field…
Marineford's confidence skyrocketed.
They were convinced this public execution was now foolproof.
So Sengoku decided to go bigger than anyone in history:
A worldwide synchronized live broadcast.
Using massive numbers of video Den Den Mushi, they would stream the entire execution—every second—onto the world's news screens.
The Navy's goal was obvious:
To wash away the humiliation of forty years ago.
To show the world what the Navy had become after four decades of growth.
To announce to everyone—
"Justice is undefeated."
The Whole World Watches
At that moment, the entire world's mood tightened to a breaking point.
East Blue, West Blue, South Blue, North Blue—
even across the Grand Line—
citizens poured out of their homes onto their islands, crowding around broadcast screens.
"My god… the Navy really went this far—real-time global live stream?!"
"Look at that lineup—this is insane!"
"So this is the power of Justice…?!"
"Three legendary pirate forces or not, the Navy going all-out is terrifying!"
Young people gawked in shock.
And through the broadcast—
they could see it clearly.
The sea outside Marineford, usually wide open…
was now crammed with warships until it looked almost crowded.
Thousands of battleships.
Countless Marines.
A forest of steel.
And right in front of the execution platform—
the lineup was so extravagant it felt unreal:
Giant warriors standing like walls.
The Seven Warlords lined up in the plaza, cloaks snapping in the wind—
Mihawk, Hancock, Blackbeard, Moria, Weevil, Kuma, Doflamingo—
each one radiating a pressure that made the screen feel heavier.
And beneath the execution platform, seated like judges of the battlefield—
the three Admirals.
This wasn't just "impressive."
This was the highest specification the Navy could possibly field.
Even through a screen, the oppressive force made small pirates sweat cold.
But—
some older people stayed oddly calm.
Because they had lived through the war forty years ago.
And they knew—
there had once been a name above legend.
Meanwhile — On the Government Sea Route
On the World Government's official sea route, a stolen Marine warship cut through the rotating currents.
The Impel Down escapees had turned the deck into a drunken festival.
Buggy, in black-and-white prison stripes, raised a cup with a smug cough.
"All right, everyone!"
"Congratulations on the unprecedented, never-before-seen—The Great Impel Down Breakout!!"
"Cheers!!"
Hundreds of prisoners roared back, raising cups and devouring food like beasts.
Some even did crazier things out of sheer relief.
They'd been crushed under Impel Down for too long.
Now that they were free, they were releasing all that pressure in one manic burst.
But at the edge of the deck—
two figures weren't celebrating at all.
One wore prison stripes, black hair shaped like a "3."
The other wore a ragged yellow shirt with a straw hat on his back.
Mr. 3 and Luffy.
Mr. 3 stared at the shrinking outline of Impel Down, voice low.
"Thinking back…"
"He wasn't a bad guy."
"We finally met again…"
"And he saved us again."
Luffy wiped his tears with his sleeve, crying so hard his eyes practically turned into fried eggs.
Bon Clay had risked his life—becoming a fake Magellan, sending false orders, opening the Gates of Justice.
They escaped.
But Bon Clay stayed behind.
And the thought tore Luffy apart.
"BON-CHAN!!"
The two shouted together, sobbing toward the vanishing prison.
Then—
tap tap tap…
A drunk Buggy staggered over, beer cup raised, slurring.
"How long are you gonna mope?"
"He was a good guy, sure—but if he's dead, he's dead!"
"Come on, let's party! It's a jailbreak celebration!"
Luffy's and Mr. 3's faces went pitch-black.
Buggy, totally oblivious, kept laughing.
"Yahaha…"
"Oh, right—"
"Let's make it Mr. 2's funeral banquet!"
BAM!!
A fist like a sandbag smashed straight into Buggy's red nose, sending him rolling down the steps to the lower deck—blood spraying.
"It hurts!! I'm bleeding!!"
Buggy screamed.
"Bon-chan isn't dead yet, you big-nosed clown!!"
Luffy snapped, retracting his rubber arm.
Buggy instantly exploded too—
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING BIG-NOSED?!"
The two started brawling like idiots.
Mr. 3 stared from the second deck with a twitching eye.
"…Just let them go."
Crocodile and Jinbe — The Truth Comes Out
On a cannon barrel, a man with slicked-back hair, a long scar across his face, a golden hook, and a fur coat spoke coldly.
"I thought commanding fish was a Fish-Man special trait…"
"I didn't expect you could call sea kings too."
Crocodile.
Nearby, Jinbe gripped the helm calmly.
"Fish-men have good relationships with fish."
"What's strange about that?"
Then Crocodile turned his gaze toward Marineford's direction and said plainly—
"No one's going to remember the Warlords after this."
"I never thought I'd get a chance…"
"To face the Navy head-on like the boss did back then."
His voice stayed casual.
But there was a clear edge of anticipation.
Jinbe's chest swelled with pride.
"Exactly."
"Warlord?"
"That was just a delaying tactic to protect Fish-Man Island while we hid our identities."
"This time, since our leader is going to declare war on the Navy…"
"Let's go make a mess at Navy Headquarters!!"
The moment Jinbe said "Navy Headquarters"—
Buggy and Luffy both froze.
"Headquarters…?" Luffy muttered.
Then Buggy screamed.
"HEADQUARTERS?!"
In the next second—
Luffy's body twisted into a noodle of shock.
Buggy split clean in half, his lower body hanging off the railing, upper body crashing onto the deck.
"W-w-wait!!"
Buggy pointed at Jinbe like he'd seen a ghost.
"This ship… it's heading to Marineford?!"
Jinbe answered with irritating calm.
"Yes."
Buggy's face drained.
He spat words like bullets.
"You idiots don't know Whitebeard, Shiki, and Kaido are about to fight the Navy at Marineford?!"
"We just escaped Impel Down—now you're sending us into a war that's basically meteor vs planet?!"
"WE'RE DEAD!!"
Panic spread like wildfire across the warship.
Some prisoners turned pale, others screamed to turn around.
A few even shouted they'd rather go back to Impel Down.
Jinbe didn't even flinch.
"It's just Navy Headquarters."
"Nothing to be afraid of."
Then his eyes sharpened, voice steady—like he was stating a fact carved into stone:
"With Leader Rōmu here…"
"This war will end with our victory."
The prisoners erupted even harder.
"How is that possible?!"
"We're going to die!"
"This war is worse than hell!"
"I've never even heard of Rōmu!"
Luffy stared, dumbfounded.
"Jinbe… you're a Warlord—and you still have a leader?!"
Buggy, however—
turned to ice.
His pupils shrank.
His whole body trembled.
He pointed at Jinbe, voice shaking as if he didn't dare finish the sentence:
"Blue-skin…"
"Th-that Rōmu you said…"
"…could it be the one from forty years ago…?"
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