The Summit War · The End

"So it still ended this way! Looks like I was just too weak!"

Chen Qiang watched the entire process of Whitebeard's death unfold before his eyes, now that he had recovered. He couldn't help but sigh.

"But at least he wasn't wounded by Akainu's sneak attack before he died, and Ace is still alive. That's a change, at least!"

Chen Qiang tried to console himself. After all, whenever he'd watched this part about Whitebeard's death in his original world, he'd always felt a pang of sadness.

But this wasn't the time for Chen Qiang to get sentimental. While Whitebeard was dying, Akainu had caught up with Jinbe and the others again and attacked them.

With both hands occupied protecting people, Jinbe couldn't fend off Akainu's attack. Akainu punched straight through him, and then a huge hole was torn through Luffy's chest as well.

Fortunately, by the time Akainu's fist had passed through both of them, it had lost most of its force. It left only a fist-shaped mark on Ace's chest.

But even so, Jinbe could no longer keep running. He fell straight out of the sky. Luckily, Buggy happened to be fleeing past at that moment. He caught the three of them and carried on running with them.

Just as Akainu was about to give chase again, the Whitebeard Pirates' division commanders retreated to the area and blocked his path.

As for Chen Qiang, he'd intended to go help them, but a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his way.

"Where would you like to travel?"

Before Chen Qiang could even see who it was, the man asked him the question.

"Kuma? Weren't you turned into a human weapon? How can you still be conscious?"

At the man's question, Chen Qiang immediately recognized the tall figure as Bartholomew Kuma, one of the Shichibukai. But he was supposed to have been turned into a human weapon. Why had he suddenly asked Chen Qiang that? Could he still be conscious? Chen Qiang was puzzled.

But Kuma didn't wait for Chen Qiang to respond. He swung his palm at him.

"Damn it! I haven't finished what I came here to do. I don't want to go traveling right now!"

Knowing how powerful Kuma's ability was, Chen Qiang didn't dare take the hit. As Kuma's hand swung toward him, Chen Qiang immediately crouched to dodge.

"Bang!"

But just after Chen Qiang dodged the attack, a powerful beam of light shot straight at him.

Luckily, Chen Qiang reacted quickly. He rolled across the ground and dodged the attack, putting some distance between himself and Kuma. Ace still wasn't completely out of danger, and Chen Qiang thought he could still help them—and hitch a ride on their ship to get away from Marine Headquarters—so he didn't want to fight Kuma.

But Kuma had no intention of letting Chen Qiang go. As soon as Chen Qiang had put some distance between them, Kuma appeared behind him again and swung his palm at him once more.

Chen Qiang had no choice but to dodge again. There was clearly no way he could help Ace and the others. His body limited his speed, and he couldn't keep up with Kuma. No matter how fast he went, Kuma caught up with him effortlessly.

Fortunately, on Luffy's side, although Akainu kept catching up with them and attacking as they fled, they were only injured and weren't in danger of dying.

And in the end, with Luo's help, Luffy, Ace, and the unconscious Jinbe were all taken away by him and rescued.

Meanwhile, although Blackbeard hadn't intended it, after gaining Whitebeard's power, the Blackbeard Pirates joined forces to hold off Sengoku and Garp.

Chen Qiang saw this too. So when he got back to his feet, he stopped dodging Kuma's attacks. There was no way he could shake Kuma off, so hitching a ride was out of the question. He might as well stop dodging and face him. If Kuma wanted to send him on his way, then so be it.

"I've decided where I want to travel. Sorry for the trouble, but could you send me to East Blue? I hear the scenery's nice there!"

But as Chen Qiang spoke, Kuma didn't stop moving. He swung his palm at Chen Qiang, and then Chen Qiang disappeared from where he stood. Whether Kuma had sent him to East Blue, as he'd asked, was something no one but Kuma knew.

Not long after Chen Qiang was sent flying, the Red Hair Pirates appeared. Red-Haired Shanks personally stepped in to stop Akainu's pursuit, and also held off Aokiji and Kizaru, who had come after them.

"Everyone! Do me a favor and let this war end here!"

As Red Hair reached the plaza, he unleashed his powerful Conqueror's Haki. The pirates and marines locked in battle all stopped fighting involuntarily and turned to look at him.

"Since that's the case, I declare this war over!"

Sengoku frowned as soon as he saw Red Hair appear. After hearing his words, he thought it over carefully before accepting his proposal. He ordered the marines to stop the war and quickly rescue the wounded.

Sengoku knew that by making this decision, he would be held accountable by the World Government. But there was no other choice. To begin with, all of the marines' top fighters had been injured to varying degrees in their fight against Whitebeard, and the losses among their other elite forces had been severe.

They simply had no strength left to stop Red Hair. After all, he was one of the Four Emperors, just like Whitebeard. Even if he was weaker than Whitebeard, Red-Haired Shanks was still in his prime. To defeat him, the Marines would have to risk losing all their top fighters.

With that in mind, Sengoku ordered the war to stop and accepted full responsibility for the World Government's punishment.

Red Hair took possession of Whitebeard's body and returned it to Whitebeard's sons. The Summit War had come to a complete end.

The Marines hadn't killed Ace this time, but Whitebeard had fallen at Marine Headquarters. That still counted as a victory for the Marines.

The greatest battle since the beginning of the Great Pirate Era had come to a close. The war had a tremendous impact, accelerating the Great Pirate Era. More pirates appeared across the seas and set off for the final destination, Laugh Tale.

For a time, the seas grew even more turbulent. Pirates continued to head for the New World, challenging those who had once held the positions of the Four Emperors.

Although the Marines had technically emerged victorious from the battle, their control over the seas weakened even further after the war ended.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku resigned, and Garp the Hero retired from service. With their top fighters gone, the Marines had no choice but to issue a worldwide recruitment call for new top-tier forces.

But that's a story for another time!