This war at the summit, which had drawn the eyes of the entire world, was undoubtedly the largest-scale battle since the dawn of the Great Pirate Era.
No matter the final outcome, it would leave an indelible mark in history.
And with a single, unparalleled shot, Bacardi Maude fired the opening salvo of this unprecedented war.
For a brief moment, countless eyes from all over the world focused solely on Maude.
From the harbor to the plaza, Marines watched the towering flames and thick smoke rising from the sea, their morale surging.
Fortunately, such an extraordinary sniper was fighting on their side.
As one, the Marines turned their gazes toward Maude's back.
Feeling the weight of countless stares upon him, Maude remained impassive, casually lifting his smoking rifle.
One shot, two bullets—one in plain sight, one in the shadows.
The visible was a lead bullet; the hidden, a shadow bullet.
Even powerful figures of the New World, unfamiliar with his abilities, fell victim to it. This was the brilliance of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit when used in a supporting role.
Still, Maude felt no particular pride in this technique.
Yet, the stunned expressions around him told a different story.
Maude peered toward the smoke-shrouded waters in the distance. Despite the explosion, he had yet to receive any experience points.
That made sense.
Even with the sudden nature of the blast, the sheer resilience of New World pirates meant they wouldn't be taken down so easily.
At that moment, the Whitebeard-affiliated pirate crews closest to the explosion were expertly rescuing their comrades who had been thrown into the sea.
"Cough… cough…"
Delacuaji clambered onto a nearby ship, clutching his chest as he coughed violently.
His face and right arm bore severe burns from the explosion at close range—clearly, he had suffered significant injuries.
The less fortunate among the weaker crew members had either perished or sustained grave wounds.
"Can you still fight?"
The crewmate who had pulled him aboard looked at him with concern.
Delacuaji struggled to suppress his coughing and forced out a single word: "Yes."
Then, his gaze turned somber as he looked at the wreckage floating on the sea and the bodies of his fallen crew being retrieved. Grief consumed him.
"This is my fault."
One moment of carelessness had led to such a devastating loss. Delacuaji was overwhelmed with guilt.
"Don't blame yourself."
A Fish-Man with an octopus-like head, Karma, approached him and said in a deep voice, "This isn't your fault. The enemy's attack was too strange. Even we didn't notice that pitch-black bullet hiding in silence."
"..."
Delacuaji shook his head.
Indeed, the enemy's technique was bizarre. A single gunshot had produced two bullets flying in opposite directions.
The most terrifying was the shadow bullet, utterly silent in flight.
But in the end, it was his own arrogance that had led to this tragedy—his beloved ship and longtime crewmates had paid the price.
Seeing Delacuaji's dejected expression, the surrounding captains offered words of consolation.
No one could have foreseen such an outcome.
After all, the one who fired the shot had never even ventured into the New World.
Under such unfamiliar circumstances, falling into an enemy's trap was inevitable.
"Increase speed!"
Having witnessed firsthand the threat Maude's long-range sniping posed, Whitebeard's fleet adjusted their approach, using manpower to accelerate toward Marineford's Crescent Bay.
However—
After taking that first shot, Maude had no intention of firing a second.
Long-range sniping was effective, but without teammates to divert enemy attention, trying to kill New World elites with this method was an impossible task.
Moreover—
Now that his Shadow Bullet had been revealed, the enemy would be on guard.
Using the same trick again wouldn't yield the same results.
Weighing his options, Maude chose not to waste his energy.
After all, coating a bullet with Haki before firing consumed far more effort than simply applying Haki to a melee weapon.
Maude slung his long rifle, White Weasel, back onto his waist.
The Marines, seeing Maude stow his weapon, couldn't hide their disappointment.
They had been eagerly hoping he would fire more shots and sink another enemy ship.
But Maude had taken only one shot before stopping.
"Hm?"
Nearby Marines, still watching Maude closely, let out startled gasps.
They saw Maude, after putting away his rifle, draw a long, refined black-and-red sword, resting its spine against his shoulder as he assumed a stance brimming with a dangerous aura.
"What's he planning now?"
With the Whitebeard Pirates yet to make their full appearance, Maude's actions once again drew the Marines' full attention.
Even the other Warlords of the Sea beside him eyed him curiously.
The battle had not yet officially begun.
And yet, Maude had already wielded both gun and sword—
What was he trying to do this time?
"A sword stance…?"
Mihawk, watching Maude gather his sword aura, raised an eyebrow. He sensed something and instinctively activated Observation Haki.
A moment later, he detected nothing unusual.
With the enemy fleet still beyond cannon range and the Whitebeard Pirates yet to appear, Maude's stance had, once again, become the focus of the battlefield.
"Gurgle, gurgle—"
Just then, faint bubbling sounds rose from the depths of the sea.
"Hm?"
The sound of bubbles still echoed from the depths of the sea, but atop the execution platform, the three Admirals almost simultaneously detected the disturbance.
Even Sengoku, standing on the execution stand, as well as the Vice Admirals below—masters of Observation Haki—picked up on the movement from beneath the waves.
"No way…"
Sengoku's gaze dropped to the harbor, where the water's surface remained eerily calm. In that instant, realization struck him, and beads of sweat rolled down his face.
The faint feeling that he had overlooked something earlier suddenly became crystal clear.
Below the execution platform, both Garp and Tsuru turned their eyes to the sea.
"Well, now… That's certainly an unexpected entrance."
"Little Tsuru, we miscalculated our formation, didn't we?"
"…"
Seconds later, bubbles from deep below surged upward, breaking the surface with an audible disturbance.
"Huh? That sound…"
"It's coming from the harbor!"
Most of the Marines, slow to react, turned their gazes toward the water—only to see vast shadows emerging beneath the surface.
"Could it be… they're coming from underwater…?"
As the shadows grew more defined, expressions of shock spread across the faces of the Marines.
Then—
Boom!
As if to confirm their fears, a massive wave exploded into the air.
Four enormous whale-headed ships, their hulls coated in protective bubble film, burst from the depths, breaking through the sea's surface in a V-shaped formation.
The lead vessel, facing the execution platform head-on, was none other than the flagship of the Whitebeard Pirates—the Moby Dick!
In a completely unexpected maneuver, the Whitebeard Pirates had made their entrance, forcing their way into everyone's field of vision.
Pop!
As the ships surfaced, the bubble film coating their hulls shattered in a cascade of popping sounds.
And then—
A thunderous roar suddenly drowned out the sound of the bursting bubbles.
"Hakoku."
Just as everyone was reeling from the Whitebeard Pirates' surprising appearance, Maude—who had been preparing for this moment—seized the perfect opportunity. He unleashed a devastating Hakoku slash toward Whitebeard at the bow of the Moby Dick.
A blinding white shockwave, like a comet streaking across the sky, tore through the air and shot toward Whitebeard in an instant.
The entire battlefield fell into stunned silence.
Could it be…
This man had foreseen the Whitebeard Pirates' movements before anyone else?!
Otherwise, how could he have set up an attack in advance?
As disbelief rippled through the ranks, Maude's column-like shockwave struck Whitebeard head-on, engulfing him completely.
Crack!
In the blink of an eye, the very air in front of the Moby Dick fractured like shattering glass, even distorting the trajectory of the oncoming shockwave.
Shards of fractured space scattered like glimmering debris.
And behind those remnants stood Whitebeard, fist extended.
"Pops!"
Onboard the Moby Dick, the crew—including its division commanders—first confirmed Whitebeard's safety before their gazes snapped toward Maude on the shore, eyes filled with astonishment.
This guy…
Was it Observation Haki?
No—he had preemptively predicted their arrival!
Had Pops not reacted in time, they would have suffered a minor loss right at the start.
"Even the 'Strategist' Sengoku looks completely caught off guard, yet this guy had already prepared an attack?"
Marco and the other commanders exchanged wary glances.
"Gurararara…"
At the bow of the ship, Whitebeard let out a deep, rumbling laugh as he slowly withdrew his fist. His commanding presence alone exuded an overwhelming aura of dominance as he fixed his gaze on Maude, who still held his blade at the ready.
"Hakoku, huh…? What a unique way to say 'hello,' brat."
"Haaah—"
Despite Whitebeard's imposing presence, Maude remained unfazed. He let out a long breath before remarking, "I thought I could catch you off guard… Guess I was overthinking it."
As the shockwave of Hakoku and the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit canceled each other out, all eyes shifted between Maude and Whitebeard.
The same man who had fired that breathtaking first shot had now, in a completely unexpected move, launched the first attack against Whitebeard himself.
Though the attack had been neutralized, the sheer force of Hakoku had already left a deep impression on everyone.
Hawkeye observed Maude closely, his gaze lingering for a moment before shifting toward Whitebeard.
The man hailed as the world's strongest…
He was a figure who could captivate the interest of countless powerful warriors.
And that, of course, included Dracule Mihawk.
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard did not respond further. His attention lingered on Maude for only a moment before he turned his gaze toward the execution platform, where Ace was bound.
"My beloved son… Are you alright?"
"Pops!!!"
Ace, staring at his father and crewmates who had come to rescue him, did not feel joy—only overwhelming worry and guilt.
Sengoku's sharp eyes remained locked onto the commanding figure standing at the bow of the Moby Dick.
"Whitebeard…"
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