When Rubick returned to Alubarna, he was welcomed as a hero. Lan Zhan kept patting him on the shoulder. "That's how a young man should be! A true man!"
Rubick grinned. "Show off and run. What a rush."
On the live broadcast, the situation changed again. Blackbeard appeared at Marineford in a way no one had expected.
"Rubick actually called it. Just how much does he know that we don't?"
The Whitebeard Pirates were about to board their ships and retreat, and Whitebeard had only a few breaths left. Sengoku pulled his forces together and watched warily as Blackbeard appeared on the battlefield with a group of followers.
"Blackbeard, your title as a Shichibukai has been revoked!"
Blackbeard scoffed. "I never cared about that title. It was just one step in my plan. Now that I've recruited so many capable people, I have no need for it!"
Several criminals he had just pulled out of Impel Down stood behind him. Blackbeard looked thoroughly pleased with himself.
"Zehahaha! Pops, you're about to die, aren't you?"
Whitebeard said nothing. After a long silence, he finally spoke. "Let's settle this."
Blackbeard ran toward Whitebeard with a grin. "I was thinking the same thing!"
He wasn't alone. His entire crew charged at Whitebeard with him.
Sengoku was happy to let them kill each other and ordered his men to tend to the wounded first.
"Looks like you weren't the one Roger was waiting for, Blackbeard!"
Blackbeard had no idea what Whitebeard meant. But after seeing Luffy and his straw hat, Whitebeard finally understood what Roger had meant by D.
Before he died, Whitebeard shouted his final words: "The One Piece is real!"
The outcome was clear. Whitebeard died under their combined assault, while Blackbeard succeeded in taking his Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
"Zehahaha!"
Black mist rose