Among the hundreds of pirate ships, the largest one in the very center indeed flew the flag of the Whitebeard Pirates.
A glance revealed that every ship was packed with people.
On the deck of the largest ship in the center stood a giant over six meters tall. His solid, powerful muscles rippled across his body, and he held a massive azure-dragon crescent blade resembling Guan Yu's weapon.
Most striking of all was the white, crescent-shaped mustache around his mouth.
His appearance left every Marine soldier trembling in fear.
The Marine officers all wore deeply furrowed brows.
There was only one reason: Whitebeard!
One of the Yonko of the New World, publicly recognized as the strongest man in the world.
For the twenty-four years after Roger's death, it had been the era of Whitebeard.
His bounty was as high as five billion berries—and that was the figure from over a decade ago.
As Whitebeard grew older, the old injuries throughout his body kept flaring up.
He had not fought anyone in a long time, spending his days recovering and enjoying his retirement.
The Marines had dared to move against Ace precisely because Whitebeard's threat was growing smaller and smaller.
If Whitebeard had been at his peak, they would not have dared touch Ace even with ten times the courage.
Even so, Whitebeard's appearance at Marineford still left every Marine trembling to the core.
Ace, kneeling on the execution platform, saw this and immediately burst into tears. He shouted toward Whitebeard, "Dad!"
"Gurararara, my good son. You've suffered quite a bit during this time, haven't you? Don't worry. Dad will take you home right away!"
The moment Whitebeard spoke, all the pirates began roaring as though they had taken some kind of drug.
It was not because of Whitebeard's ability, but