With the departure of the Kamui Pirates,
the war at Marineford finally came to an end.
The surviving members of the Whitebeard Pirates evacuated with their remaining captains.
However, the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates had not gone far.
A Marine warship suddenly appeared in their sight.
The pirates on the observation deck who were scouting for the wind immediately shouted down below,
"There's a ship approaching!!"
"Found a Marine warship!!!"
Upon hearing this, all the Whitebeard Pirates were shocked.
They just escaped Marineford, and a warship is already chasing them?!
Nervousness spread among the crew.
They had just endured a terrible battle at Marineford and hadn't yet recovered.
They only heard there was a Marine ship approaching — and only one — while they still had several pirate ships with them.
About thirty ships accompanied the main ship, the Moby Dick.
Whitebeard slightly raised his head and spoke in a low voice,
"Is this your backup?"
"Sengoku!!"
Meanwhile, on the Marine warship spotted by the Whitebeard Pirates,
Sengoku and Ivankov looked ahead at the huge whale-headed vessel.
The flag of the Whitebeard Pirates flew high on the ship.
They both suddenly panicked.
"So… that's the Whitebeard Pirates' main ship?!"
"Moby Dick!!"
"How could they still be here?! What was that huge noise earlier—has the war already ended?!"
Beside Ivankov, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates was also shocked by what he heard.
He instinctively turned and asked,
"Whitebeard Pirates?"
"Ace's father?!"
Elsewhere on the sea,
a large pirate ship sailed past the Gate of Justice,
heading along the fairway toward Marineford.
On the sails of this ship was a huge skull pattern.
There were three striking red marks on the skull's left eye.
This ship belonged to one of the Four Emperors of the sea — the Red Hair Pirates, led by the red-haired Shanks.
At the bow, Shanks held a knife in one hand, silently staring toward Marineford.
After standing like this for a while, Benn Beckman, the co-captain, walked slowly to his side.
"Do you feel something's wrong too?"
After a moment of silence, Shanks nodded in response.
"Yeah."
"That loud noise just now gave me a bad feeling.
Let's sail faster."
"We're already at full speed," Benn Beckman replied slowly.
After a long voyage,
the Red Hair Pirates finally caught sight of Marineford Island.
But as they approached and the full devastation became visible,
everyone onboard, including Shanks, changed expression drastically.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"Is this… really Marineford?!"
Behind Shanks, Lucky Roo — a stout man wearing white and green striped clothes — exclaimed in disbelief.
Not just him — throughout the Red Hair Pirates, everyone's pupils constricted uncontrollably.
Shock and disbelief filled their faces.
"Is this real? Am I dreaming?"
"Marineford… Marine headquarters is in ruins?!"
"Did Whitebeard do this?!"
"That man's power is still terrifying as ever!"
The crew stared at the distant ruins in shock.
Shanks frowned and said with a heavy heart,
"What… what happened?!"
Two days after the Marineford War,
newspapers printed the final victory reports, delivered by carrier seagulls to every corner of the world.
The wicked fifth Emperor's reputation had become known everywhere!
The prestige of the Kamui Pirates spread throughout the seas!
This war ended in a disastrous defeat for the Marines, shaking the world.
Marine's fiasco caused riots across the seas, and the number of pirates skyrocketed.
Inside the magnificent castle of the Holy Land Mariejois, in a conference room,
a burly old man with a beard suddenly threw a newspaper onto the table.
"Ridiculous!!"
"What a joke! Losing so embarrassingly on our own turf!"
"When did the Marines become so incompetent?"
"Even a bunch of little devils can run over you at will?!"
The bearded man shouted angrily.
In front of him, Sengoku hung his head silently, grinding his teeth.
At that moment, an old man sitting on a sofa with a sword in his arms looked at Sengoku deeply and said,
"You Marines are the face of the government's outer layers.
But this time at Marineford, you have not only disgraced the government — you have also brought down its majesty!
Sengoku!! Aren't you going to explain yourself?"
Sengoku clenched his teeth but didn't know where to begin.
Not long after, another old man with curly hair sitting on the opposite side spoke,
"Looks like you're getting old, Sengoku!"
"After returning, prepare to retire!"
Sengoku was stunned for a moment.
Was he being asked to abdicate?
Although he had already planned to resign as commander-in-chief,
he hadn't expected the Five Elders to say it outright like this.
There was silence for a moment.
Sengoku exhaled and nodded.
Anyway, he was ready to resign — it was just a matter of timing.
The Marines had suffered a crushing defeat in such a crucial battle.
The Five Elders' decision made sense.
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