Ace's roar echoed across the deck.
His body was trembling violently, and flames were surging uncontrollably from him, distorting and burning the surrounding air.
"It's me—it's me who killed everyone!"
If I hadn't been captured by Blackbeard, if I hadn't acted so stubbornly...
My Pops won't come to save me, Oars won't die, and those dead brothers won't die!
"Now that Pops's staying there too—what's the point of me going back alone?!"
His voice changed from a roar to a sob, and from a sob to a silent weeping.
Marco released Ace's shoulder, crouched down, grabbed his collar, and pulled his face close to his own.
Look at me, Ace.
Marco's voice was deep and firm.
" Pops made this choice not because of you."
It's because he has Whitebeard.
My Pops has never backed down in his life, and he has never let anyone stand in front of him for him.
"If he doesn't stay behind to cover our retreat, the navy won't let us go."
The people on Hachinosu helped us tie down the main naval force, but their ultimate goal is against the navy, not to protect us.
" Pops wanted was for us to live."
You are alive.
Luffy is alive.
Everyone is alive.
"If you go back now, it will mean that Pops's sacrifice was all for nothing."
Ace's body stiffened.
He looked into Marco's eyes, which were bloodshot and filled with tears, but more than anything, they reflected a son's understanding and reluctance towards his father's choice.
He then turned to look at the other team leaders.
Vista nodded to him, Jozu turned his face away, and everyone else's eyes showed the same emotion—grief, but also determination.
Ace slowly lowered his head, placed his hands on the deck, and his shoulders heaved violently.
The team leaders remained silent.
They simply stood beside Ace, keeping him company, watching together as the enormous figure stood alone in the center of the battlefield in the distance at Marineford Square.
The sea breeze swept across the deck, ruffling everyone's clothes and hair.
Some people sobbed softly, some clenched their fists, and some closed their eyes and prayed silently.
But no one tried to persuade the Pops to come back.
Because that was Whitebeard's choice.
That was their Pops's final choice in his life.
On the battlefield, Whitebeard seemed to sense something.
He stopped and looked back at the fleet that was gradually disappearing into the distance.
On the horizon, the sails of forty-three ships grew smaller and smaller.
A slow, wide smile spread across his face.
"My little ones, live well."
He muttered something under his breath, then turned and continued walking toward the center of the battlefield.
The naginata rested on the ice, each step steady and firm.
The wound in his chest was still throbbing, but for him, that pain was nothing.
Because he knew his sons were safe.
Next, it was up to this old man to fight on his own.
Whitebeard stood in the center of the battlefield, his naginata beside him.
The fighting continued all around, with the sounds of the navy and Hachinosu clashing.
The flashes of explosion and sparks from clashing swords flickered on the ice.
But Whitebeard seemed completely oblivious to all of this.
"Gula la la la--"
The Whitebeard suddenly looked up and burst into laughter.
The laughter echoed across the battlefield, shaking the surrounding ice.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, whether they were from the Navy or the pirates, from Hachinosu or the Whitebeard Pirates.
Everyone involuntarily stopped what they were doing and looked at the giant standing in the center of the battlefield.
After laughing, Whitebeard gripped the naginata with both hands and slammed it heavily into the ground beside him.
The knife handle was deeply embedded in the ice, and cracks spread in all directions.
"My little ones--!"
His voice boomed across the battlefield like a great bell.
In the distance, the captains on the fleet who had been silently shedding tears suddenly looked up.
Their Pops was speaking to them, and they could hear him clearly, even across the entire bay, across the gunfire and smoke.
" Pops, I'm already a remnant of the old era!"
The New World no longer has a ship that can carry me!
The Whitebeard's voice echoed throughout Marineford.
Sengoku's expression changed, and Akainu's brows furrowed.
Garp stopped exchanging punches with Bullet and turned to look at his old rival, with whom he had been entangled for decades.
"You must return safely to the New World —don't stop a man from choosing a romantic way to die!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Whitebeard clenched his fists and slammed them forcefully into the air on both sides.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit erupts.
The atmosphere shattered like glass, cracks spreading outwards from his fist.
A shockwave, visible to the naked eye, blasted fiercely towards the harbor from him.
The shockwave precisely bypassed the members of Hachinosu and struck the ice blocking the harbor's exit.
"Boom--!!!"
The ice shattered, revealing the thick ice surface that had been frozen for half a day by Aokiji.
Under the full force of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's attack, it shattered into pieces like glass smashed by a heavy hammer.
Ice shards flew through the air, and seawater gushed out from the cracks, blasting a huge gap in the ice wall that blocked the harbor.
The gap was hundreds of meters wide, connecting the battlefield inside the harbor with the sea route to the open sea.
The Whitebeard Pirates ' fleet has reached the breach.
The pirates on the forty-three ships wept as they watched Whitebeard's punch clear their escape route.
" Pops --!!!"
Some people lay on the ship's railing, roaring towards the battlefield; others knelt on the deck, wailing and sobbing.
Some people waved frantically at the Whitebeard, while others clutched their hair and wept uncontrollably.
Marco pinned Ace to the deck, tears streaming down his face.
Her lips were bitten until they turned white, and her nails dug into the flesh of her palms, leaving bloody marks.
Marco did not cry. He stood at the stern, the blue flames still burning on his body, but there were no tears in his eyes.
He just kept staring at that figure standing in the center of the battlefield, at that back he had watched grow up.
Looking at the figure that had been blocking his way since he could remember, he wanted to etch that image into his mind forever.
" Pops, may you rest in peace."
Marco silently said something to himself, then turned around and raised his right hand to the fleet captains.
"Full speed ahead—don't look back!"
Whitebeard withdrew his fist and turned around.
The fleet is safe.
Ace is safe, Luffy is safe, Marco will take them back to the New World.
Now it was his turn to fight.
Whitebeard drew his naginata and leaped several times to reach Sengoku's side.
Whitebeard looked down at the little guy who looked remarkably like Roy and grinned:
"Little guy, you have healing abilities, don't you?"
Pea nodded, understanding Whitebeard's intention, and his five fingers transformed into vines that pierced Whitebeard's chest.
Streams of life energy were continuously flowing into Whitebeard's body.
The wound on Whitebeard's chest began to heal rapidly under the nourishment of life energy; new flesh grew back from the charred skin, and the muscle tissue scorched by the magma was repaired layer by layer.
A plume of white smoke rose from the wound.
Whitebeard's aura was recovering at a visible speed.
His previously heavy and disordered breathing became steady again, and his previously tired and dull eyes regained their sparkle.
Even his full head of white hair had a faint golden sheen due to the nourishment of life energy.
Whitebeard clenched his fist, feeling the power surging back within him.
He stopped the Pea from firing. "That's enough, little guy."
Pea stopped what she was doing and looked up at the Whitebeard.
Whitebeard ruffled Pea's hair, then pushed off with his feet, leaping out like a cannonball.
The next second, he appeared in the midst of the Sengoku's battle.