Chapter 190 – The War Ends
"..."
When the Marines heard Ace's arrogant and threatening declaration, their faces twisted with resentment—but not one dared to refute him.
Even the three Admirals remained silent, for they knew that with Enel present, Ace's words were no mere bluff. They could truly be carried out.
"Forget it, let them go."
At this moment, Garp spoke. He looked at the Admirals and Vice Admirals, then sighed heavily.
"Give it up. The enemy already has us by the throat. To continue fighting would only make us greater laughingstocks."
"This island—Marineford—the very heart of the world, is a symbol of our Navy's Justice and Benevolence. If it were to sink, then even if we killed every pirate here, that shame could never be erased."
"If Sengoku were still here, he would have said the same. So let it end like this. I'll take all responsibility."
With that, Garp placed his Cloak of Justice back on his shoulders and roared to the assembled forces:
"Soldiers! Put away your weapons! Tend to your wounded comrades!
This war is over!!"
And so, with Garp's declaration, the world-shaking Summit War came to an end.
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This battle—the Navy Headquarters and the Shichibukai versus the Whitebeard Pirates and the Spade Pirates' Alliance—was later remembered as the Battle of Marineford.
It concluded with the death of Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach, who had betrayed Whitebeard, and the annihilation of his entire crew.
On the Navy's side, the mood was somber, unwilling, yet powerless to change the outcome.
Among the pirates, however, cheers erupted like thunder. Though many had been lost, the joy of victory drowned out the sorrow.
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"Yaaahahaha!"
On the Ark Maxim, Enel threw back his head and laughed madly at the Navy's retreat.
The thrill of single-handedly forcing an end to such a monumental war left him giddy, drunk on his own power.
"This feeling… is simply divine!"
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On the Moby Dick, Whitebeard gave Ace a push. The younger man blinked in surprise, then grinned knowingly.
He tossed his hat high into the air and shouted, voice carrying across the battlefield:
"Young men, set sail! Back to the New World—we're having a party!!"
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During the voyage home, Ace rested and pulled out two Den Den Mushi—one with wings, the other marked with a slipper-shaped pattern.
Not far from Marineford's waters, aboard a Revolutionary Army battleship locked in a tense standoff with the Red-Haired Pirates, Monkey D. Dragon received Ace's call.
When he heard that Sabo had been rescued, and that the Navy had been defeated, a rare smile touched Dragon's lips.
He cast a deep look across the sea at Red-Haired Shanks, then ordered his ship to turn away without another word.
The Revolutionary Army withdrew, leaving the Red-Hair Pirates behind.
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Before entering the war, Ace had prepared a triple-layer backup plan.
The first layer was Enel, whose overwhelming power nearly ended the war by himself.
The second layer was the Revolutionary Army. Before the battle, Ace met with Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary Army and father of Luffy. They agreed that Whitebeard and Ace would focus on rescuing Sabo, while Dragon's forces would intervene against any unexpected disruptions—whether from the Yonko or the World Government.
With Kaido preoccupied in Wano, using Kozuki Oden's son as bait to lure out the remnants of the Scabbards, and with Big Mom bound by an important Tea Party, neither had the time nor intent to interfere.
That left only Red-Haired Shanks and the World Government as unpredictable factors.
Just as in the original history, Shanks had intended to enter Marineford to halt the war—but he was intercepted by Dragon and the Revolutionaries.
Even though Shanks insisted his purpose was to stop the fighting, Dragon blocked him regardless.
In fact, at one point, both Shanks and Dragon even joined forces briefly against agents of the World Government who attempted to meddle in the war. Yet despite that, Dragon never allowed Shanks to pass.
Shanks, for his part, seemed equally unwilling to escalate into all-out battle with the Revolutionaries, and his actions suggested he also intended to prevent Dragon from intervening directly. Thus, the famous scene of "Give me face" never occurred in this world's war.
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The third and most important backup plan was entrusted to the Fallen Monk Pirates.
Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 30 – Commercial District.
People knelt on both sides of the street as a Celestial Dragon, Saint Shalulia, strolled arrogantly through.
Hidden among the crowd, Mad Monk Urouge and his winged crew of the Fallen Monk Pirates watched closely.
Before the war, Ace had personally met with Urouge, rejecting his request to participate directly at Marineford. Instead, Ace assigned him a critical mission:
If anything went wrong in Marineford, Urouge and his crew were to kidnap Saint Shalulia as leverage against the Navy.
To ensure success, Ace had even arranged for Silvers Rayleigh, retired Dark King of the Roger Pirates, to secretly stand by as a last resort in case of unforeseen Celestial Dragon guards.
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"Captain!!"
One of Urouge's men rushed up, breathless with excitement.
"News from Marineford! Boss Ace did it—the pirates won!!"
"Hohohoho…" Urouge nearly burst into laughter but suppressed it, his grin wide.
"So Captain Ace has triumphed. That means our mission here is complete."
"Then we don't need to touch the Celestial Dragon?" one monk asked eagerly.
"That's right." Urouge straightened up, his voice booming. "Boys, set sail! To the New World! Let's reunite with Captain Ace!!"
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From a rooftop overlooking the scene, Rayleigh leaned back, bottle of wine in hand.
He chuckled as he watched Urouge and his crew depart.
"So… Ace actually defeated the Navy Headquarters.
From this day on, you've truly stepped onto the world's greatest stage, Ace…"
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