"Stop him! He's going to take Marine Headquarters down with him!"
This time, Whitebeard did not divide his strength to watch the rest of the battlefield. He focused the dangerous Vibration into a single strike aimed straight at its source!
Crack!
Though the attack was still far away, an enormous fissure suddenly appeared in the Grand Fortress, rebuilt only recently. It ran through the entire fortress, splitting the word "Justice" on its facade in two!
Alarm bells rang in Sengoku's mind. Whitebeard meant to take him down too. Even if Whitebeard died, he would avenge his family!
But because the attack was so concentrated, Sengoku noticed something.
Whitebeard was avoiding Ace!
Sengoku stood on the Execution Platform. If Whitebeard wanted to kill him, the platform would inevitably be caught in the attack. But Ace, Whitebeard's son, was there too, and Whitebeard would never want Ace to die by his hand.
So Whitebeard had narrowed the tremor to a single line, aimed at Sengoku alone.
Which meant—
Sengoku suddenly bent down, seized Ace by his Seastone restraints, and held him out in front of himself.
"Despicable!"
Fury surged through Whitebeard, but he had no choice. He abandoned the attack.
Boom!
He flung the invisible Air Quake aside, sending it around Sengoku's position. The violent tremor swept over both their heads. Even Sengoku could not suppress a grunt, and blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Ace fared worse. Days of torment had left him terribly weak; he spat blood and passed out.
But they were both alive. Centered on the Execution Platform, the left half of Marineford was torn apart in an instant by the terrible Vibration!
Literally torn apart!
The island had stood for centuries as a symbol of the Marines' highest honor, bearing the name of justice. One