To dominate the Grand Line and become the Pirate King…
The path is nothing short of arduous.
For Gol D. Roger, it was no exception.
Before he single-handedly ushered in the Great Pirate Era, countless powerful figures fell before him.
It could be said that Roger carved his way to the pinnacle of his time atop the corpses of innumerable foes.
Though it has been over twenty years since then, the seeds of hatred, once sown, can take root for a lifetime.
Even among Whitebeard's ranks, there were pirates who had suffered crushing defeats at Roger's hands, losing numerous comrades as a result.
And when they learned that Ace was Roger's son…
The seeds of hatred quickly sprouted.
This, in turn, provided the Navy with an opportunity to sow discord.
On a battlefield where tension ran high, mere words could shake the morale of Whitebeard's fleet.
However—
Even before the public execution was announced, Maude had already leveraged the Revolutionary Army's network to spread rumors across the world about Ace's bloodline.
Because of this, Whitebeard was granted time to personally quell the hatred brewing within his ranks.
A father's debt repaid by his son?
What a joke!
To risk everything and rescue Ace, or to be consumed by vengeance and abandon the crew—
As pirates, their choices should always be their own.
Due to Maude's butterfly effect, Whitebeard was spared a crucial betrayal from a foolish son.
Without that betrayal, the Whitebeard Pirates wouldn't expose as many vulnerabilities for the Navy to exploit.
And without Luffy leading a prison break, there wouldn't be hundreds of Impel Down escapees falling from the sky to shift the tide of battle.
Not everything could happen as it did in the "original story."
And Maude certainly couldn't remember every minute detail of the Marineford War from the original timeline.
But when one's strength reached a certain level, such things hardly mattered.
"He's coming…"
As Maude absorbed the benefits of his accumulated gains, feeling his stamina and Haki recover slightly, his gaze fixed on Whitebeard, who had leaped down from the Moby Dick.
This man possessed the power to destroy the world.
Yet, no matter how strong he was, in a war involving over a hundred thousand combatants, he faced one undeniable reality—stamina!
No one could maintain peak performance indefinitely in a battle of this magnitude.
Not Whitebeard.
Not the Four Emperors.
Not even the Admirals.
But Maude, with his ability to recover stamina through acquired gains, could.
"Is he going to charge straight for the plaza?"
Standing before Little Oars Jr.'s lifeless body, Maude could faintly sense Whitebeard's gaze cutting through the chaotic battlefield.
Was he looking at him, or at the fallen Oars?
"Pops…!"
The pirates trapped in the bay turned their eyes to Whitebeard, their faces lighting up with excitement.
Under the gaze of countless warriors, Whitebeard gripped his naginata, Murakumogiri, and took resolute strides forward, eyes locked onto the Marineford bay ahead.
"Do not let Oars' sacrifice be in vain! All hands—step over Oars' body and take the plaza!"
His booming voice drowned out the clamor of clashing blades and gunfire.
"Ohhhh!!!"
"Follow Pops and charge ahead!"
"Take Marine Headquarters!"
With Whitebeard stepping onto the battlefield, the pirates' morale soared to its peak.
Beneath the execution platform—
Garp's expression grew heavier.
"A few steps forward, and he raises his entire crew's spirits…"
Fixing his sharp gaze on Whitebeard's imposing figure, Garp muttered, "How many men in this world could accomplish such a feat?"
"Whitebeard's destructive power is the most unpredictable factor in this battle."
Tsuru's expression remained calm, though inwardly, she harbored deep apprehension toward Whitebeard's ability to reshape the battlefield.
Whether or not the Navy could crush the Whitebeard Pirates within the bay hinged entirely on Whitebeard's next moves…
Atop the execution platform—
Sengoku's eyes darkened, mirroring that very concern.
"They're too spread out."
Scanning the scattered pirate forces, Sengoku frowned slightly.
If the enemy didn't cluster together, the Navy's concentrated firepower wouldn't be as effective.
On the battlefield—
Whitebeard, despite being unaware of Sengoku's exact plans, relied on his experience to anticipate them. He had already instructed Marco and Jozu to clear out the Marine forces flanking the bay, increasing their margin for error.
Before Sengoku's schemes could take full effect, the primary objective remained the same—
Break through the Marines in the bay and storm the plaza.
Whitebeard advanced with long, powerful strides, reaching the battlefield's most intense clash within mere moments.
The Giant Vice Admirals, who had been the most imposing figures on the field, instinctively turned to face him.
"Whitebeard!"
The two closest giants, their faces grave, eyed the legendary pirate who had finally entered the fray.
One wielded a spiked club—Vice Admiral Pekk*.
The other held a massive battle axe—Vice Admiral Lonz.
As two of the few giant Vice Admirals in Marine Headquarters, both Pekk and Lonz possessed strength beyond the reach of ordinary men.
Their combat prowess had earned them reputations as relentless warriors.
"We won't let you reach the plaza!"
Faced with the world's strongest man, neither hesitated.
With unspoken coordination, they split off to attack from both flanks.
The pirate division commanders, seeing the giants charge, merely smirked coldly, making no move to intercept them.
"Out of my way."
As the two giant Vice Admirals bore down on him, Whitebeard's gaze turned icy. Gripping his naginata tightly, he swung Murakumogiri behind him in a sweeping arc.
"BOOM—!"
His biceps bulged as he channeled his power, causing a glowing sphere of energy to manifest along his blade.
With a single slash, a massive shockwave erupted forward.
In an instant, the devastating tremor shattered both Pekk's club and Lonz's axe before slamming into their massive frames, sending them both hurtling backward, vomiting blood.
Before they could even hit the ground, they had already lost consciousness.
But the shockwave did not stop there—it surged onward toward the plaza.
Like a colossal tornado, it swept up Marines in its path, flinging them into the air.
Screams and cries of pain filled the battlefield.
For those who observed closely, there was a subtle yet masterful precision to Whitebeard's attack—
Despite its devastating range, it had only struck his enemies, sparing his own crew entirely.
His control was nothing short of masterful.
Yet most Marines failed to grasp this hidden nuance.
Their attention was wholly consumed by the sight of the two Vice Admirals lying at Whitebeard's feet.
"One strike… he took down Vice Admirals Pekk and Lonz…"
"This is the power of the strongest man in the world!"
Whitebeard's arrival had utterly stunned the Navy.
Then, once more, he raised Murakumogiri.
Unless stopped, he could unleash the same attack again and again.
If a few more such strikes could shatter the Marines' resolve, all the better.
On the execution platform—
Seeing Whitebeard's sheer destructive power, Sengoku sighed heavily.
"Retract the front lines. Fall back to the plaza."
Without hesitation, he gave the order to activate the encirclement wall earlier than planned.
As the command spread across the battlefield, the Marines swiftly disengaged and withdrew in an orderly manner.
Watching this unfold, Maude murmured to himself—
"When a monster goes berserk, reason has no place."
Maude gazed at Whitebeard, a sense of awe rising within him.
Despite being old and riddled with illness, the sheer power he still wielded was terrifying.
"Next..."
Maude glanced at the Marines retreating and tightening their defensive lines.
If he recalled correctly, the Navy's strategy was to trap all of Whitebeard's forces within the bay and then unleash a concentrated barrage to wipe them out.
But...
With Whitebeard's body unpierced by any fatal wounds, would the Marines really be able to carry out their plan?
"Oh right, there's also Uncle Fujitora."
Maude suddenly remembered Fujitora's presence.
Come to think of it—
Throughout the battle so far, Fujitora hadn't made a move. Perhaps it was because of his memory of the original Marineford War that Maude had momentarily overlooked the man's existence.
"Akainu's raining magma, plus Fujitora's meteor shower... This—"
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*I have no idea who is this Pekk.
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