Huang Zhong drew his bow to await Blackbeard, while father and daughter gazed at each other across the sea!

Off the coast of Marineford, in the shadows of the Calm Belt.

Huang Zhong stood at the bow of the Fast Ship, his Sunset Bow already fully drawn. A pale golden halo of time coiled around the arrow on its string. Dialga's Power of Time extended his perception across dozens of nautical miles; not even a passing fish could escape his senses.

His gaze remained firmly locked on the direction of Impel Down.

Just ten minutes earlier, the Wind-Listening Guard had delivered the latest intelligence: Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach, had left Impel Down with his pirate crew. On Level 6 of Impel Down, he had recruited Shiryu of the Rain, Vasco Shot, Avalo Pizarro, Catarina Devon, Sanjuan Wolf, and a host of the world's most vicious criminals, forming a new Blackbeard Pirates. They were now aboard a warship, sailing toward Marineford at full speed.

"Finally coming, are you?" A sharp glint flashed through Huang Zhong's eyes. His fingers tightened slightly, drawing the bowstring a little tauter.

The core task His Majesty had assigned him was to stop Blackbeard from seizing the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. He had lain in wait here for days, all for this moment. As soon as Blackbeard dared to appear at Marineford, he would strike, freezing his movements with Dialga's Power of Time and ending this future Emperor with a single arrow.

"Godfather, will that Blackbeard really come?" Jewelry Bonney stood beside him, her small hands clutching his cloak. Watching the flames soaring into the sky over distant Marineford, she asked in a quiet voice.

Her gaze remained on the tall, expressionless figure at the edge of the square.

Kuma stood in a corner of the battlefield. He still had not taken action, merely watching the battle in silence. Members of the World Government's Cipher Pol stood beside