Alone at the Rear, the Escape Begins

"Ace has been rescued!!"

"Oh oh oh oh—"

Amidst deafening cheers, Whitebeard forced himself to swallow back the blood.

Although he still looked imposing, only Whitebeard knew that his body had reached its limit. So, what's next?

"Activate the backup plan!!"

With Whitebeard's loud command, a small, coated 'Moby Dick' burst from the water, turning around and slowly retreating in this direction. This was the last ship of the Whitebeard Pirates; the previous four had all been destroyed in battle.

After rescuing Ace, it was time for a great escape!

Pity,

Whitebeard sighed, knowing he probably wouldn't live to see his sons safe.

"Luffy, can you still fight?"

Two figures, back to back, landed below the Execution Platform; they were Luffy and Ace!

"Of course, hehehe~~"

"Don't even think about it!"

The Rear Admiral and colonels who had been sent flying by Whitebeard's sword earlier had all rushed back. Swords and spears surged towards the two from all directions, and Ace immediately unleashed a massive straight-line fire attack with a Fire Fist! Luffy also entered Second Gear to deal with the Armament Haki attacks that used 'Shave' to get close.

"You've gotten stronger, Luffy!"

"One day I will surpass you, Ace!"

······

Brushing off imaginary dust, Roman calmly rose from the ruins. Bon Clay had already slipped away in the chaos, disguised as someone else; with the power of the Mane Mane no Mi, no one could stop him in this melee.

But the most dangerous moment is yet to come: the Navy can't just let the Whitebeard Pirates go, or they'll lose their reputation for ruling the Four Seas.

Therefore, the Admiral need to get serious!

"Hey, Mr. Garp."

Roman walked up to Garp, who was buried in the stone slab, and spread his hands.

"For the sake of your two children, my relationship with your navy is probably almost turning into 'hatred' now. You old man, stop pretending to be dead and at least protect me."

Splash,

Garp sat up from the pile of rubble and rubbed his silver hair.

"Aren't you supposed to be a cunning rascal? Now you need an old man like me to protect you?"

Roman rolled his eyes and subtly pointed behind him.

"I always had a feeling that your Fleet Admiral Sengoku was plotting when to kill me with a single blow, then report it as 'died from the aftermath of battle'..."

"Nonsense!"

In high spirits, Garp patted his white suit.

"If the Sengoku wanted to kill you, would you even need to think about it?"

It's done in the blink of an eye!

"Ace, Luffy,"

Looking at his two grandsons, who had fought side-by-side through the enemy lines, Garp's expression softened. Even after decades as a Marine, capturing countless pirates, these two were a different story...

He was willing to give up his lifelong beliefs and pride.

Ah, is this what they mean by "A mother misses her son so much her heart breaks; a son misses his mother so much his carrying pole is too long"?

Roman stood beside Garp, who was sitting amidst the ruins, his safety assured. But the day was not over yet; the Navy would not rest until a satisfactory 'result' was achieved.

Faced with Aokiji Kizaru, whose speed is unparalleled in the world, how could the Whitebeard Pirates possibly escape Marineford?

Group teleportation?

Therefore, a sufficient number of 'heads' must be left behind...

"I am now issuing... the final 'captain's order'!"

In fact, there was someone on the battlefield who had the same thought as Roman. That person was:

"Listen up... The Whitebeard Pirates!"

"You bid me farewell here, and you must return to the New World alive!!"

"Dad!"

"Don't say anything unlucky..."

"We don't want to hear this—"

However, Whitebeard had already crouched down slightly, raised a clenched fist, and his muscle fibers, like steel cables, were stretched to their limit, just like a fully drawn bowstring!

"I am a remnant of the old era..."

As he activated his Devil Fruit ability, a sphere of intense white light, seemingly encompassing all colors, instantly formed on Whitebeard's fist, so bright that just one glance at it seemed capable of shattering him to pieces.

"There is no ship in this new era that can carry me!"

Children,

Don't look back.

Times are about to change.

'Haha, how could any pirate not be interested in treasure?'

'Hey, Newgate, what do you want?'

Family--

"Space collapses!!"

Thump!

Whitebeard's punch struck like a blow to everyone's heart! As large cracks exploded in the air, waves of power invisible to the naked eye surged toward the Marine Headquarters, like thousands of mountains crashing down, causing the Marines to tremble violently, their bones cracking and popping, as if they had become a million times heavier!

This is a fluctuation of power, a tremor of space, and a projection of the mind! It doesn't need to hit directly; just being within the ripples will cause the opponent to feel an infinite tremor.

Armament Haki - Devil Fruit ability - Conqueror's Haki!

The vibrations formed by the combination of the three forces fluctuated and undulated at a certain frequency, forming wave after wave of all-pervasive and all-encompassing force impacts that spread outwards, making all the naval officers and soldiers feel as if their entire bodies, from skin and muscles to bones and internal organs, were being repeatedly crushed and impacted by terrifying vibrations.

Puff, puff, puff, puff!!!

Amidst the dense sounds of vomiting blood, swarms of elite naval soldiers collapsed to the ground—this one punch was equivalent to all the casualties from the previous battles!

As the tremors spread, the entire Marineford Marine Headquarters shook, groaned, collapsed, and turned into ruins.

"Foam Master - Armor Bubble!"

Bubbles enveloped Roman; after all, he was now on the 'Navy' side, so being caught in the crossfire was to be expected. When the shockwave reached Roman, each bubble acted as a small piece of 'reactive armor,' continuously exploding and neutralizing the layers of tremors.

After the shockwave destroyed one bubble, a new one immediately appeared. Through this endless cycle of regeneration, Roman managed to withstand Whitebeard's attack unscathed—of course, it was only a large-scale area-of-effect attack.

"A funny little trick,"

Roman rolled his eyes helplessly at Garp's assessment, who was just treating it like a gentle breeze.

"Mr. Garp, are you born with peak Armament Haki?"

Who didn't start out as a weakling...?

But:

Whitebeard's punch was indeed on par with those 'masters' seen in those eyes—

They're just neck and neck.

Perhaps Whitebeard at his peak could surpass those who once challenged Holy Land Mary Geoise, but... Roman shook his head. Judging by the nonchalant look in his eyes, even Whitebeard at his peak probably couldn't shake the Celestial Dragons' rule!

Tsk, the task ahead is arduous and far-reaching.

"I've been traveling for too long... Let's bring this to a close, Navy!"

Faced with Whitebeard's resolute expression, Akainu charged forward without a word, fists raised, followed by the other Marines.

"Kill him!"

"Justice will prevail!!"

"Whitebeard is already at his last gasp—"

"Walk!"

"Hurry up—"

"Let's go, this is Dad's order!!"

With Whitebeard covering their retreat, the pirates, fighting back tears, began their withdrawal, even Luffy turning and running away. This battlefield was simply too much for his current strength.

"Ace?"

A massive pillar of fire swept away the enemy in front of him, Ace suddenly knelt down in front of Whitebeard, his forehead hitting the ground heavily.

"No need for further words, I'll just ask you one question..."

Am I qualified to be a father?

Ace simply nodded heavily in response to Whitebeard's words.

"Certainly!!"

"Gurala la la~~~"

The tall figure let out a series of hearty laughs, then suddenly turned around and brandished the 'Murakumogiri' in his hand!

"Come on, sailors—"

"Let's go, Luffy!"

A pure white armor glove grabbed Luffy, who was almost exhausted. The familiar coolness flowing from the glove Luffy Guotou in surprise.

"Roman!"

"Um,"

The White Knight nodded and began to fly backward, pulling Luffy. At the same time, a white dove landed on Ace's shoulder.

"Listen to me······"

The white dove spoke in a human voice, which startled Ace.

········

"Ha, what's with all this talk about safety, safety..."

Garp glanced at the motionless 'Roman' beside him, then at the White Knight was pulling Luffy back amidst the chaos of battle.

"In the end, didn't you also rush headlong into danger?"

But that's youth for you...