Chapter Summaries

Golden Lion brutally beat Luo after Luo tried to negotiate for his help, overwhelming his Devil Fruit ability with Haki. The battered Luo admitted he knew his place, leaving him with a new resolve to seek help from someone like Straw Hat Boy instead.

• Luo offered to remove Golden Lion’s transplanted leg perfectly, but Golden Lion attacked him without warning.
• Golden Lion kicked Luo into the air and used Haki to stop him from activating ROOM and Shambles.
• Golden Lion relentlessly battered Luo with his newly transplanted leg, then slammed him into Bullet’s training ground.
• Golden Lion threatened Luo and demanded that he acknowledge his place, and Luo struggled to agree.
• Luo realized he should seek help from someone like Straw Hat Boy rather than try to bargain with Golden Lion.

Douglas Bullet interrupted Golden Lion Shiki’s confrontation with Luo, and Gern used Shiki’s hesitation to reveal his ambition to turn an old-era legend into leverage in the Fleet Admiral succession struggle. The chapter then shifted to August 1520, when Blackbeard defeated Ace and secretly secured a Shichibukai title by handing him over to the World Government.

• Douglas Bullet struck at Golden Lion Shiki, then confronted him while Mihawk, Perona, Enel, Kuma, Lipo, Toritoma, and Tesoro gathered around the injured Luo.
• Gern invited Shiki to join the group, but Shiki hesitated in the air, leaving him isolated among G-10’s powerful members.
• Gern told Tesoro that Shiki’s hesitation exposed his schemes and that he planned to use the old legend as an opening in the Marines’ Fleet Admiral succession struggle.
• Gern considered ending Shiki and possibly destroying Marineford to force the World Government to give him the Fleet Admiral’s seat.
• In August 1520, Blackbeard defeated Ace on Banaro Island and secretly traded information about Ace’s true identity to the World Government for a Shichibukai title.
• World Government agents took Ace directly to Impel Down instead of placing him in a Marine prison.

Sengoku learned that the World Government planned to have the Marines publicly execute Ace, provoking Whitebeard, and erupted at the CP0 agent who delivered the order. He confronted Garp over failing to hide Ace, then warned that the forced execution would bring an all-out war and countless deaths.

• Sengoku read the World Government's order to execute Ace publicly at Marineford and realized it could provoke Whitebeard's forces.
• Sengoku struck the CP0 agent with a paperweight, condemned the order, and drove him from the office with Conqueror's Haki.
• Garp entered Sengoku's office in silence and apologized to Sengoku.
• Sengoku told Garp he had known about Ace's identity and had protected the records listing Ace as Garp's adopted grandson.
• Sengoku seized Garp by the collar and blamed him for failing to hide Ace, warning that the execution would force the Marines into a devastating war with Whitebeard.

Sengoku realized the Marines needed a successor willing to destroy and rebuild the existing order, and concluded that neither Aokiji nor Akainu was suited to lead that era. At G-10, Golden Lion Shiki began exploring the New World after his Ship's Wheel was removed, while Hawk-Eye considered giving Zoro guidance on Haki once he proved himself.

• Sengoku reflected on the burdens of balancing the Marines, Gern's G-10, and the World Government amid the coming war.
• Sengoku decided the next Fleet Admiral needed to break the old framework and judged that neither Aokiji nor Akainu was the right choice.
• Lipo and Luo used their Devil Fruit powers to remove the Ship's Wheel from Golden Lion Shiki's head without complications.
• Shiki left G-10 to roam the New World, while Gern let him explore and adjust to his renewed life.
• Gern teased Hawk-Eye about Zoro, and Hawk-Eye said he might offer Zoro advice about Haki after Zoro defeated the sword-wielding baboons on the island.

Gern learned that Portgas D. Ace had been captured and would be publicly executed after the World Government discovered he was the Pirate King's son. He prepared to go to Marineford with Lipo, Bullet, and Tesoro, leaving G-10's defense to Mihawk.

• Lipo told Gern she wanted to accompany him on future outings, then nearly revealed private details about their family games before Gern stopped her.
• Perona questioned Mihawk about the strange scene, and he dismissed it as family games.
• Tesoro delivered a classified Navy document reporting Ace's capture and the World Government's plan to execute him publicly.
• Gern ordered Tesoro to notify Bullet and arranged for Tesoro and Lipo to accompany him to Marineford.
• Gern entrusted G-10's security to Mihawk, then donned his coat of justice and remarked that the wind had turned bitter.

Gern returned to Marineford and met with Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who summoned him to fight in the coming war against Whitebeard. Gern refused to leave G-10 undefended, warning that his absence would invite the Four Emperors to attack and could unravel the Marines’ position in the New World.

• Gern arrived at Marineford with Tesoro, Lipo, and Bullet, and Marines greeted him with fervent salutes.
• Vice Admirals Yamakaji and Momonga discussed Gern’s prestige and why his New World power base made him an unlikely Fleet Admiral candidate.
• Sengoku told Gern that an all-out war was about to begin over the public execution of Whitebeard’s son.
• Gern recognized that the World Government was making Sengoku bear Whitebeard’s fury and that Sengoku wanted Gern and the Calamities to defend the execution.
• Gern refused to leave G-10, warning that Kaido, Big Mom, and Red-Haired Shanks could exploit his absence to attack the base.

Gern confronted Sengoku over Whitebeard and refused to let the Fleet Admiral dictate his actions in the New World, bargaining instead for Marineford to be moved there. After leaving Sengoku’s office, Gern ordered a series of operations to distract the Four Emperors and protect G-10 while he attended the public execution.

• Sengoku demanded that Gern intercept or kill Whitebeard before he could reach Marineford, but Gern challenged Sengoku’s authority to command him in the New World.
• Gern told Sengoku that Marineford ought to be in the New World, and the two began negotiating a bargain over the Navy’s future balance of power.
• Gern told Tesoro to proceed with the original arrangements and confirmed that he would attend the public execution at Marineford.
• Gern ordered his agents to draw Kaido, Red Hair, and Ochoku into distractions and sent Snake Princess Toritoma and Dracule Mihawk to create turmoil in the New World.
• Gern ordered Enel and Bartholomew Kuma to attack Big Mom’s Sweet Commanders, declaring that he would cripple Big Mom if she threatened G-10 while he was away.

Garp asked Gern to accompany him to see Ace, and the two traveled from Marine Headquarters to Impel Down. Despite the World Government’s order barring them from approaching Ace, Gern and Garp walked past the prison’s guards without being stopped.

• Gern and Tesoro came upon Lipo playing on Bullet, then Gern noticed Garp watching from the corridor.
• Garp asked Gern to go with him to see Ace, and Gern silently agreed to accompany him.
• Gern and Garp boarded a small vessel and sailed through the Gate of Justice to Impel Down.
• Magellan, Hannyabal, Domino, and the jailers tried to block Gern and Garp from entering under the World Government’s orders.
• Gern warned Magellan that he and Garp could destroy the prison, then the two walked past the guards without resistance.

Gern and Garp visited Ace in Impel Down, where they learned the World Government planned to publicly execute him at Marineford. After leaving, Garp broke down over his grandson’s fate and asked Gern what he should do, but Gern had no answer.

• Gern and Garp found Ace chained and badly wounded in Impel Down’s Level 6, and Ace asked what would happen to him.
• Gern told Ace the World Government planned a public execution at Marineford and explained that it wanted to use Ace’s identity to provoke Whitebeard.
• Garp told Ace he had chosen the pirate’s path, while Gern reminded him that choosing to call Gern “Pops” might have kept him safe.
• After leaving the prison, Garp wept and asked Gern what he should do about Ace’s impending execution.
• Gern remained silent, unable to give Garp an answer.

Gern could not answer Garp’s anguished question because he was caught between Sengoku’s request to stop Garp from rescuing Ace and his loyalty to his friend. Three days later, the World Government announced Ace’s public execution, and Whitebeard prepared to bring his son home, daring Gern to stand in his way.

• Gern remembered Sengoku asking him to restrain or even execute Garp if Garp tried to rescue Ace during the war.
• Gern comforted the sobbing Garp but gave him no answer about what he should do.
• The World Government announced that Marine Headquarters would publicly execute Ace in one month, setting the stage for a war with Whitebeard.
• Whitebeard tore out his IV lines, took up Murakumogiri, and told his crew he would bring Ace back.
• Whitebeard dismissed Marco’s warning about Gern and vowed not to fear any calamity that stood between a father and his child.

As Marineford prepared for the execution war, Gern visited Zephyr and revealed his plan to use the conflict to seize the Fleet Admiral’s actual authority and move Marine Headquarters into the New World. He asked Zephyr to let Ain join him, and Zephyr fiercely objected.

• The Marines, Shichibukai, and G-10 fighters assembled at Marineford for the public execution and coming war.
• Lipo greeted Zephyr at his home, where Gern arrived to discuss the operation.
• Zephyr assessed Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino as Fleet Admiral candidates and said the World Government would never allow Gern to take the position.
• Gern asked Zephyr for Ain’s help, explaining that her Return-Return Fruit could restore injuries and counter the effects of time.
• Gern declared that he would use the war to force the World Government to grant him the Fleet Admiral’s actual authority and relocate Marine Headquarters to the New World.

Gern informed Zephyr that he intended to reshape the Marines, then headed to a meeting after Sengoku ordered Douglas Bullet to fill a Shichibukai position at Marineford. As war preparations intensified, Koby met Gern and fantasized about surpassing him, but Helmeppo reminded him of Gern’s victory over Shiki.

• Gern told Zephyr that he had vowed never to lose again, and Zephyr accepted that he could not dissuade his former disciple.
• Jinbe refused the World Government’s summons and lost his Shichibukai title, while Hancock secretly brought Luffy into Impel Down.
• Sengoku ordered Gern to have Douglas Bullet temporarily fill a Shichibukai position at the execution site.
• Koby and Helmeppo accidentally collided with Gern in Marineford, saluted him, and watched him continue toward the meeting hall with Bullet and Lipo.
• Koby claimed he would someday surpass Gern, but Helmeppo pointed out that Gern had cut down Shiki in his prime three years after joining the Marines.

Gern and Bullet put Doflamingo in his place after he used his strings to force three Marine lieutenant colonels to attack one another. Gern broke Doflamingo’s fingers and warned the Shichibukai not to throw their weight around at Marine Headquarters.

• Doflamingo taunted Moria and Blackbeard while they waited for Sengoku, then mocked the Marines for their coming losses.
• When a lieutenant colonel ordered Doflamingo to behave, Doflamingo used Parasite String to make the three lieutenant colonels draw their sabers and attack one another.
• Sengoku and Tsuru entered, but Doflamingo kept controlling the Marines until Gern warned him to stay still.
• Doflamingo froze and released the lieutenant colonels, while Moria and Blackbeard sat quietly and avoided provoking Gern.
• Bullet slammed Doflamingo into the meeting table and pinned him down, and Gern broke each of Doflamingo’s fingers before warning the Shichibukai that Marine Headquarters was not their territory.

The Whitebeard Pirates reached G-10 on their way to Marineford, where Ace was set to be executed. Whitebeard secured safe passage by calling in a favor, but the fleet was confronted by a seemingly restored Golden Lion Shiki.

• Jozu urged Whitebeard to fight through G-10, but Marco warned that a battle could devastate the fleet before it reached Marineford.
• Whitebeard told Marco to use the Den Den Mushi and call Gern, invoking the favor he owed from the Holy Land Incident.
• Gern answered only, “Go ahead,” then ended the call, and G-10 patrol vessels moved aside to let the Whitebeard fleet pass.
• Whitebeard ordered the fleet to sail through G-10 so they could reach Marineford and save Ace.
• Golden Lion Shiki appeared above the Moby Dick with his legs restored and challenged Whitebeard to let him join the coming battle.

Gern escorted Ace toward Marineford and told him Whitebeard had staked his future on him, urging him to honor the Whitebeard Pirates’ mark even as Gern declared he would kill Whitebeard. After handing Ace over, Gern learned that the Golden Lion had gone to contact Whitebeard and that Trafalgar Law had escaped, and he prepared to use the coming war to end the old era.

• As Gern escorted Ace across the Calm Belt, he recalled taking Roger to his execution and told Ace that Whitebeard had staked his future on him.
• Gern told Ace he would kill Whitebeard and urged him not to let the tattoo on his back lose its meaning.
• Gern handed Ace over to Marineford’s temporary guard unit before the execution.
• Tesoro reported that the Golden Lion had left to contact Whitebeard and that Trafalgar Law had escaped to the Sabaody Archipelago.
• Gern deduced that the Golden Lion intended to claim the next era and revealed his confidence that the coming war would end the age of legends.

The Five Elders planned to remove Sengoku as Fleet Admiral and install a successor they could control, agreeing that Gern must never take the position. At Marineford, Sengoku worried that Gern’s hidden plans and the New World pirates’ unnatural silence meant the war was unfolding around a larger threat.

• The Five Elders chose Sakazuki as their preferred Fleet Admiral and prepared backup options, but agreed that Gern Reginald Sigma must never command the Navy.
• At Marineford, Tsuru told Sengoku that Gern’s calm presence with Bullet, Tesoro, and Lipo suggested he had made a deal with Sengoku.
• Sengoku told Tsuru that Gern never revealed his true plans and was the greatest variable in the war against Whitebeard.
• Tsuru suggested Sengoku had always hoped Gern would succeed him, and Sengoku admitted that he considered Gern a fitting successor despite the World Government’s opposition.
• Tsuru reported that Red Hair, Kaido, and Big Mom had made no moves, and Sengoku grew alarmed at the New World’s unnatural quiet.
• Gern turned toward Sengoku and smiled across Marineford, making Sengoku’s heart sink.

As Marineford prepared to execute Portgas D. Ace, Marco led a surprise assault into the inner bay while Whitebeard arrived from the sky. Whitebeard shattered the atmosphere with his Tremor-Tremor Fruit and declared that he had come to take Ace home.

• The Marines assembled at Marineford as Portgas D. Ace and his executioner were brought to the Execution Platform, while Whitebeard's fleet approached.
• Marco and an elite force burst through the inner bay in a coated ship, surprising the Marines with a decapitation strike.
• A tremendous Haki descended from above, and Gern recognized that Whitebeard had arrived.
• Whitebeard's enormous ship emerged through the clouds, and he struck the air with both fists, shattering the sky and sending tsunamis toward Marineford.
• Whitebeard called out to Ace and declared that he had come to take him home.

Whitebeard launched his assault on Marineford, but Gern blocked his attempt to break through the Marines' defenses and challenged him to a duel. As the battle erupted, Gern struck Whitebeard and exposed how badly age and declining strength had weakened him.

• Aokiji froze the two tsunamis Whitebeard had sent toward Marineford.
• Gern intercepted Whitebeard's Air Quake punch before it could hit the defensive wall.
• Whitebeard ordered his crew to rescue Ace while he fought Gern, and Sengoku commanded the Marines to attack.
• The Whitebeard Pirates and Marines charged into battle as Whitebeard and Gern faced off at the center of Marineford Square.
• Gern told Whitebeard that he had grown old, then struck him with Black Quake Collapse Mountain and sent him flying.

Gern overwhelmed Whitebeard, while Bullet held off the Whitebeard Pirates’ commanders and Golden Lion Shiki intervened against Akainu. Tesoro then created a vast golden stage above Marineford for Gern and aimed the prepared Visual Den Den Mushi at it.

• Gern stopped Whitebeard’s quake slash with his elbow, seized Murakumogiri, and struck Whitebeard with Heavenquake: Star-Piercer, sending him flying and shattering Aokiji’s frozen tsunami wall.
• Bullet blocked Marco, Jozu, and Vista from reaching Whitebeard, throwing Marco toward Kizaru and fighting off the other commanders.
• Akainu tried to finish off Whitebeard with Hell Hound, but Golden Lion Shiki intercepted the attack and challenged Akainu to fight.
• Tesoro spread gold across Marineford and raised an enormous floating golden stage above the battlefield.
• Tesoro activated the Visual Den Den Mushi aimed at the stage and presented it to Gern.

Golden Lion Shiki, Akainu, Doflamingo, and Moria’s reckless fighting intensified the chaos at Marineford, prompting Zephyr to intervene. On the golden platform, Gern revealed that he wanted to face Whitebeard at his strongest, and Whitebeard accepted the challenge to fight in a restored, glorious form.

• Golden Lion Shiki and Akainu exchanged massive attacks that caused casualties among Marines and pirates, while Doflamingo and Moria added to the battlefield’s disorder.
• Sengoku watched the chaos grow, and Zephyr charged into the battle to contain Shiki and limit further casualties.
• Gern told the wounded Whitebeard that he wanted to face the version of him who had once inspired Gern with his overwhelming strength.
• A hooded figure appeared behind Gern and conjured a peach-colored flame, after which Whitebeard understood Gern’s intention and welcomed the chance for a final battle at his strongest.
• Whitebeard challenged Gern to prove he could defeat the World's Strongest Man, and Gern said he would repay the sword strike Whitebeard had landed in West Blue.