Sengoku's Choice and the Appearance of Blackbeard

"Ace!"

Luffy, who still wore a ferocious expression, was so happy to see Ace rescued that he completely forgot he was in Gear Third. The air leaked out of him, and he flew this way and that across the battlefield like a deflating balloon.

Even so, his joyful laughter still rang loudly across the battlefield.

"Luffy."

Calling out to Luffy instinctively, Ace turned his head, lowered his gaze to look at the iron chains he had been breaking through a moment ago, and felt momentarily dazed.

He still could not quite believe that he had been rescued so suddenly.

And the person who saved him...

He turned his head to look at the figure not far from the execution platform, and his fists clenched tightly.

"Gurarara!"

Right in the middle of this abruptly quieted battlefield, Whitebeard let out a loud laugh. "Thank you for saving my son, Rayleigh!"

His naginata struck heavily against the ground, sending out a ring of shockwaves.

Rayleigh, standing on the execution platform, narrowed his brow slightly. He looked at Whitebeard and said plainly, "Ace is Roger's son."

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent. Two visible bursts of Conqueror's Haki erupted abruptly, crashing heavily against one another.

Shockwaves rolled outward, and an infinite sense of oppression hung over everyone's hearts.

In the perception of everyone present, the sky dimmed in that instant, looking just like dark clouds pressing down overhead.

Faint arcs of electricity sparked through the air, and the ground trembled slightly beneath this increasingly domineering pressure.

Just as neither side took a single step back, as if they were about to start fighting at any second—

Sengoku, who had been sent flying by Rayleigh's sneak attack, erupted completely at this moment, unleashing two golden Buddha Shockwaves toward Rayleigh and Whitebeard.

This was Marine Headquarters. This