Looking at the man standing on the execution platform, Sengoku narrowed his eyes and said, "Alright, Whitebeard, let me see if you dare to come here and rescue him!"
After speaking, Sengoku intended to climb the execution platform to announce some news.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, important intelligence!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing the communications soldier's words, Sengoku instinctively stopped in his tracks, then frowned as he looked at the other and said, "What is it? Speak."
"Just now, the Gates of Justice opposite Marineford suddenly opened for some unknown reason." The communications soldier said with a grim expression, "And we've lost contact with the control room."
"What did you say?!"
Sengoku's expression immediately changed. Could it be that everyone in the control room had been eliminated?
Was it the work of the Blood-Eyed Ninja?
But as soon as this thought appeared in Sengoku's mind, he dismissed it.
After all... if the Blood-Eyed Ninja could leave the Basin Current, there would be no need to open the Gates of Justice. They could simply bypass them from the side!
So that means... it must be Whitebeard's group!
Sengoku carefully considered the intelligence about the Whitebeard Pirates and immediately thought of those Fish-Man race members.
Did those guys secretly infiltrate the control room and take it over? Sengoku wondered to himself.
That possibility couldn't be ruled out.
However, this also confirmed one thing for Sengoku.
That was... the Whitebeard Pirates must be approaching Marineford soon!
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, what should we do?" the communications soldier asked.
"Proceed with the public execution as planned." Sengoku suddenly raised his head, his sharp gaze falling on Ace's back as he said, "Whitebeard should be arriving soon."
"Eh?!"
The communications soldier was stunned for a moment, then said in shock, "You mean the control room was taken by the Whitebeard Pirates..."
"Most likely." Sengoku said.
After that, the man paid no more attention to the communications soldier and turned to walk toward the execution platform, quickly arriving beside Ace.
Glancing at Ace who was being forced to kneel on the ground, Sengoku said, "Bring me the Den Den Mushi."
"Yes!"
Taking the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku asked, "Is the Visual Den Den Mushi activated?"
"Yes."
"Good, I understand." Sengoku nodded.
Then, the man walked over to Ace with the Den Den Mushi, looking down at the 100,000 elite Marines below, and said, "Everyone, I am Sengoku."
"Now, I have something to tell you all."
"Portgas D. Ace - this man's identity is not simple." Sengoku declared. "And having him die here today holds extremely significant meaning!"
"Gulp~"
Listening to Sengoku's words, the Marines below instinctively swallowed, feeling that Fleet Admiral Sengoku was about to reveal something that would shock the world.
Taking in the reactions of the Marines below, Sengoku nodded, then glanced at Ace and said, "Ace, speak your father's name."
Ace fell silent for a moment before resolutely declaring, "My father is Whitebeard!"
"No, that's wrong!"
"How could it be wrong!" Ace shouted loudly, "My father is Whitebeard, and no one else!"
"Is that so?" Sengoku said calmly, "But unfortunately, we have now investigated all the information thoroughly."
Hearing Sengoku's words, Ace's pupils instantly contracted.
Ignoring Ace's reaction, Sengoku continued, "Over twenty years ago, we received crucial intelligence!"
"On a certain island, there might exist the bloodline of a certain man!"
"To find this existence, the World Government invested enormous manpower and resources, yet ultimately came up empty-handed."
"In the end, we even began to believe that this man couldn't possibly have any descendants left in this world!"
At this point, Sengoku paused and closed his eyes.
After a moment, he opened them again and said, "Until we obtained the name of a woman... Portgas D. Rouge!"
Glancing at Ace, whose body had begun to tremble, Sengoku continued, "This woman, to protect the child in her womb, used willpower beyond common sense to keep the child inside her for twenty months!"
"Only after twenty months did this woman exhaust all her strength to give birth to the child, after which she collapsed and died."
"Thus, the child who inherited the world's most evil bloodline was born!"
"And that person is you, Portgas D. Ace!"
"You couldn't possibly not know," Sengoku said coldly, "that your father is the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!"
As Sengoku spoke, the entire Marine Headquarters fell into deathly silence.
They never could have imagined that the man who triggered this major incident was actually the descendant of the Pirate King Roger!
"Fire Fist Ace is actually the Pirate King's descendant?!" A journalist watching the broadcast on Sabaody Archipelago stared at the screen in disbelief, "This is too shocking!"
"Hey, that man actually has descendants in this world?"
"Big news, this is huge news!"
"Hurry, notify the newspaper!"
"Kishishishi, what astonishing information," Moria grinned widely, "To think that man had a son."
"Truly shocking," Absalom said, "Captain, are you going to join the fray?"
"Maybe there's a chance to take out that Akainu!"
As he spoke, Absalom revealed a bloodthirsty expression.
He remembered the conflict between his captain and Akainu - if they could use Whitebeard's hands to eliminate Akainu, that would be perfect!
Not only would they get revenge, but it would also make their captain famous across the seas!
"Forget it."
Moria shook his head, "I have no interest in being Whitebeard's pawn."
This was a war between Whitebeard and the Marines - he had no interest in becoming cannon fodder for Whitebeard.
Moreover... with their pirate ship's speed and capabilities, it would be impossible to reach Marine Headquarters before the public execution.
As for Akainu...
"I see."
Absalom nodded and didn't bring it up again.
"Hmph, if I had known this news earlier, I would have gone to assassinate that guy," Capone Bege said.
If he had the chance to kill the son of Pirate King Roger, he would definitely become famous across the seas!
Upon hearing Capone Bege's words, the others instinctively moved away from him, clearly not wanting to provoke this madman.
"Interesting, truly fascinating!" Apoo laughed heartily. "I'm looking forward to this war more and more."
After his laughter subsided, Apoo glanced at Hawkins, who was fiddling with his cards nearby, and said, "Hey, Hawkins, did you see Fire Fist Ace's death in your cards?"
"I'm looking at it now," Hawkins replied calmly.
But as he continued to look, his brow furrowed.
"What's going on?"
"What's wrong?" Apoo asked curiously, leaning closer. "Are your cards malfunctioning?"
"Hey!"
Watching Apoo brazenly approach, Hawkins's subordinates were stunned. How could this guy have no sense of boundaries?
However, Hawkins didn't mind and simply waved his hand to signal his crew not to worry about Apoo.
"Tell me, what's the matter?"
"His survival probability and death rate are both incredibly high," Hawkins said, looking up at Apoo. "Both are ninety-nine percent."
"What does that mean?"
Apoo was momentarily confused, clearly not understanding.
Hawkins sighed upon hearing this, then put away his cards and said, "The probability of death is as absurdly high as the probability of survival. This means an extremely unusual variable has appeared."
"And this variable directly affects Fire Fist Ace's life or death!"
Apoo burst out laughing upon hearing this and said, "Isn't that stating the obvious!"
"Who doesn't know by now that the Whitebeard Pirates might show up at Marine Headquarters?"
Anyone with half a brain could figure that out.
Hawkins fell silent, feeling a bit unwilling to engage with this guy.
Apoo didn't mind and walked off on his own, saying, "Ah, let's find a higher spot to watch the battle."
"Doflamingo!"
Watching the scene at Marine Headquarters, Law muttered, "I hope you survive and leave Marine Headquarters, so I can personally take your life!"
Thinking of the memories that man had given him, the veins on Law's arms bulged.
"Captain?"
Seeing Law like this, Bepo's face showed a trace of concern.
"I'm fine."
Forcing himself to calm down, Law slowly said, "Let's just watch the broadcast."
"Okay!"
Not far from them, on the roof of a building, Shakky and Rayleigh were sitting there.
"I never thought Ace was the captain's son," Rayleigh murmured, holding a liquor gourd. "Why didn't that bastard tell me back then?"
"Only he himself would know the answer to that."
Rayleigh fell silent upon hearing this, then raised the gourd and began drinking heavily.
Shakky shook her head helplessly at the sight and then turned to the surveillance screen, saying, "I wonder how Xiao Meiser and the others are doing now."
Since Ace had appeared at Marine Headquarters, it meant that Xiao Meiser and Little Straw Hat's rescue mission had failed.
At least they didn't manage to rescue him from Impel Down.
Now there are only two possibilities,' Shakky thought to herself.
The first is that the World Government took Ace away earlier, so Xiao Meiser and the other arrived too late. They might still try to make their way to Marine Headquarters to join the battle!
The second is that those two died fighting in Impel Down!
I hope it's the former,' Shakky murmured inwardly.
Just then, Rayleigh stood up and began walking away without a word.
"Where are you going?" Shakky asked.
Glancing at Sengoku, who was loudly declaring, "We will publicly execute Ace even if it means all-out war with Whitebeard," Rayleigh replied with a grim expression, "You already know the answer to that."
"Do you really think you can make it in time now?" Shakky countered. "Have you forgotten how long it takes for an ordinary ship to reach Marine Headquarters?"
"I can commandeer a warship!"
"Commandeer a warship..." Shakky shook her head. "Do you think the Marines haven't considered the possibility of the Pirate King's first mate doing exactly that?!"
"Have you forgotten you appeared before an Admiral just a week ago?!"
At these words, Rayleigh's expression shifted immediately.
"Don't tell me..."
"Yes." Shakky nodded. "I received word yesterday morning that all warships have left Sabaody Archipelago. Clearly, they don't intend to give you any chance to steal one."
She sighed before continuing, "Don't lose your composure just because this involves that man, Rayleigh. This isn't like you."
"This matter concerns that man, I..." Rayleigh began, but before he could finish, the sound of a Den Den Mushi came from Shakky's pocket.
"Buro buro buro~"
"Buro buro buro~"
"Buro buro buro~"
Taking out the Den Den Mushi, Shakky's eyes showed a flicker of confusion.
Who would be calling her at a time like this?
Could it be... Xiao Meiser?
Thinking this, she answered without hesitation.
"Kacha~"
"It's me," Meiser said.
Hearing Meiser's voice, Shakky visibly relaxed. "So you're safe."
"Yeah, we fought our way out of Impel Down alive," Meiser replied. "Right now, we're planning to head to Marine Headquarters for the rescue."
Shakky nodded to herself. It seemed her earlier assumption was correct—the Marines had indeed taken Fire Fist Ace away beforehand.
"Then you should prepare yourselves mentally," she said. "They've gathered all their military strength there."
"I know," Meiser replied calmly from where he sat alone in the ship's cabin. "But that won't stop us."
"True enough," Shakky said with a light laugh. Given their boldness, they certainly wouldn't fear Marine Headquarters.
"Meiser."
Rayleigh, who had walked back over, looked at the Den Den Mushi and said, "I just heard that Ace is—"
"Ah, I know," Meiser cut in. "Luffy already told us."
Rayleigh fell silent for a moment before sighing. "I'm sorry, I can't make it there in time. It's impossible with the time we have."
Using an ordinary pirate ship, there was simply no way to reach Marine Headquarters quickly.
"I figured as much."
Meiser showed an expression that said he'd expected this. It seemed they really couldn't rely on this person's combat power.
Then Meiser said, "Don't worry. With the cooperation of the Whitebeard Pirates, we'll definitely be able to rescue Ace."
"Whitebeard, huh." Rayleigh nodded as he recalled that man's strength. "Alright, I understand."
With them involved, the probability of successfully rescuing Ace was indeed very high.
"Mm, just wait for my good news."
Click~
Looking at the disconnected Den Den Mushi, Rayleigh let out a long sigh.
"Xiao Meiser's purpose in making this call was probably to reassure you," Shakky said. "To stop you from doing something irrational."
She could tell that Meiser still cared quite a bit about them.
Hearing this, Rayleigh nodded, then looked toward the distant live broadcast footage and said, "I hope they can successfully rescue him."
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