Whitebeard's Remnant Group's fleet slowly sailed out of Marineford's harbor. Not a single Marine warship dared move to stop them. The crowds on the battlefield gradually dispersed, leaving only wreckage and bloodstained ruins.
Huang Zhong still stood in the center of the square, the Ding Tang Saber hanging at his side. His calm gaze swept across the battlefield before finally settling on Bartholomew Kuma nearby.
The two members of Cipher Pol Aigis Zero, frozen in time, remained rigid where they stood. Kuma stood beside them, staring expressionlessly toward the harbor, without a ripple in his vacant eyes. Yet only Huang Zhong could sense that the consciousness within him was making its final struggle against the World Government's modification programming.
Jewelry Bonney also ran over from the fast ship, hurrying to Huang Zhong's side. Looking at Kuma nearby, she clutched the hem of her clothes with her small hands. Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought to keep them from falling.
"Godfather..." Jewelry Bonney's voice trembled slightly. "The war is over. Can we... can we take Daddy away now?"
Huang Zhong lowered his head, ruffled her pink hair, and nodded slightly. "Yes. The agreed time has come."
As he finished speaking, he slowly raised a hand. Dialga's Power of Time erupted again, and a pale golden glow swept toward Kuma like a tide.
This time, he held nothing back. He pushed the power of Time Reversal to its limit, sending it through every part of Kuma's body and deep into his brain. The modification chips implanted by the World Government, the mental lockdown programs, and the mechanical components were stripped away and restored, bit by bit, under the power of Time Reversal.
Kuma's body shuddered violently, every muscle convulsing. Life gradually returned to his once-vacant eyes. The consciousness erased by