One Piece: The user of the Nen-Nen Fruit, who overturned the sea.

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 was me—it was me who killed everyone!"

If I hadn't been caught by Blackbeard, if I hadn't insisted on going my own way,

My father won't come to save me, Oz won't die, and those dead brothers won't die—!!!

"Now that Dad'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.

"Dad made this choice not because of you."

It's because he has a white beard.

My father 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 Beehive Island helped us tie down the main naval force, but their ultimate goal is against the navy, not to protect us.

"What Dad wanted was for us to live."

You are alive.

Luffy is alive.

Everyone is alive.

"If you go back now, it will mean that Dad's sacrifice was in vain."

Ace's body froze.

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, Joz 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 old man to come back.

Because that was Whitebeard's choice.

That was their father'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 around and continued walking toward the center of the battlefield.

The naginata rested on the ice, each step firm and steady.

The wound in his chest was still throbbing, but for him, this 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 Beehive Island clashing echoing everywhere.

The sparks from the explosion and the clashing of swords flashed continuously on the ice surface.

But Whitebeard seemed completely oblivious to all of this.

"Gula la la la—"

Whitebeard suddenly looked up and burst into laughter.

The laughter echoed across the battlefield, shaking the surrounding ice surface.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, whether they were from the Navy or the pirates, from Beehive Island or the Whitebeard Pirates.

They all involuntarily stopped what they were doing and looked at the giant standing in the center of the battlefield.

After laughing, the white-bearded man 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 lords—!"

His voice boomed across the battlefield like a great bell.

In the distance, the captains on the fleet who were silently shedding tears suddenly raised their heads.

Their father was speaking to them, and they could hear him clearly across the entire bay, across the gunfire and smoke.

"Dad, I'm already a remnant of the old era!"

There's no ship left in the new world that can carry me!

The white-bearded man's voice echoed throughout Marineford.

Sengoku's expression changed, and Akainu's brows furrowed.

Garp stopped exchanging punches with Barrett 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, the white-bearded man 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 toward the harbor from him.

The shockwave precisely bypassed the members of Beehive Island and struck the ice blocking the harbor's exit.

"boom--!!!"

The ice shattered, revealing the thick ice surface that had been frozen by Aokiji for half a day.

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 the escape route cleared by Whitebeard's punch.

"Dad—!!!"

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 white-bearded man, 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 more tears in his eyes.

He just kept staring at that figure standing in the center of the battlefield, at that back he had watched since childhood.

Looking at the figure that had been blocking his way since he could remember, he wanted to etch that image into his mind forever.

"Father, 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.

Next, it was his turn to fight.

Whitebeard drew his naginata and leaped several times to the Sengoku side.

The white-bearded man 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 her five fingers transformed into vines that pierced Whitebeard's chest.

Streams of life energy were continuously flowing into the white-bearded man'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 lava was repaired layer by layer.

A plume of white smoke rose from the wound.

The white-bearded man's breath was returning at a visible speed.

His previously heavy and disordered breathing became steady again, and his previously tired and dull eyes regained their brilliance.

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 up within him.

He stopped the pea from continuing to output: "That's enough, little guy."

Pea stopped what she was doing and looked up at Whitebeard.

Whitebeard ruffled Pea's hair, then pushed off with his feet and leaped out like a cannonball.

The next second, he appeared in the midst of the Warring States period.