Even the wind at Marineford stopped at that moment.
Whitebeard's body still stood tall against the broken wall after his death in battle. Though his life had ended, the imposing presence of the World's Strongest Man still enveloped the entire Marine fortress. The sounds of slaughter in the square vanished completely. One Hundred Thousand Marines and tens of thousands of pirates from Whitebeard's Remnant Group all fixed their eyes on the enormous black cloth covering Whitebeard's corpse and Blackbeard.
Beneath the black cloth came the teeth-grating sound of grinding bones, along with Blackbeard's low growls of suppressed madness and pain, as though something terrifying was taking shape beneath it.
"That bastard Teach... what the hell is he trying to do?!"
Marco clenched his fists tightly, blue Phoenix flames dancing wildly around him, his eyes filled with towering rage and bewilderment. Pops's body was barely cold, yet this traitor had covered it with a black cloth. This was the greatest desecration of Whitebeard.
Vista gripped both swords tightly, Armament Haki crackling along their edges. At a single command from Marco, he would charge forward and cut the black cloth, along with Teach beneath it, into pieces.
But...
The vicious criminals of the Blackbeard Pirates had already formed a fan around the black cloth. The Demon Sword in Shiryu of the Rain's hand gleamed coldly, while Sanjuan Wolf's enormous body blocked every frontal approach. Catarina Devon, Vasco Shot, and the others had all pushed their Devil Fruit powers to their limits, watching Whitebeard's Remnant Group and the Marines like predators. Anyone who dared approach would face a thunderous blow.
Atop the ruins of the Execution Platform, the golden light of Sengoku's Buddha Form had yet to fade. His brows were tightly knitted as his fully heightened Observation Haki locked onto the movements