A thick fog suddenly appeared outside Marineford's plaza. Out of it, ship after ship of pirates emerged one by one.
"Everyone! Prepare for battle!"
The sudden appearance of the pirate fleet made every Marine instinctively tighten their grip on their weapons.
The dark barrels of the coastal cannons turned in unison, aiming squarely at the entrance. From the watchtowers, Marines peered nervously through their telescopes, staring wide-eyed at the pirate ships across the water.
"Riding Knight Doma!"
"Thunder Lord Makugai!"
"The Decalvan Brothers!"
"The Great Whirlpool Spider, Squard!"
One infamous pirate captain after another was recognized, each name sending tremors through the voices of the watchtower sentries. Their voices trembled, as though just speaking those names pressed heavily on their hearts.
From beneath the waves, forty-three pirate ships slowly emerged, confronting an enemy fleet that outnumbered them many times over..
The suffocating tension spread steadily through the air above Marineford.
"Where's Whitebeard? Has anyone spotted him yet?"
The Marines frantically searched for Whitebeard's presence. Until he appeared, the tension strangling the battlefield could not be eased.
"Fufufufufu…! Now this is fun! How thrilling!"
Doflamingo let out a wild, manic laugh, his face twisted with excitement. Not a trace of fear showed—only bloodthirsty ecstasy.
Suddenly, the calm sea beneath Marineford's crescent-shaped plaza began bubbling. A torrent of frothing bubbles surged upward, echoing like a drumbeat of doom. Every fighter present sensed exactly what this meant.
Ripples spread across the water's surface, widening in white concentric circles. Then, with a tremendous crash, a massive ship, its hull wrapped in shimmering bubbles, burst from beneath the waves. It leapt high into the air before descending into the bay.
"The Moby Dick has appeared!"
The Marines along the shore gaped in shock, their jaws hanging open at the sight of the flagship.
Following closely behind, three more ships of the Whitebeard Pirates rose from the depths and sailed into the bay.
From the watchtower, Marines raised their scopes toward the freshly arrived vessels.
"First Division Commander Marco! Third Division Commander Diamond Jozu! All fourteen division commanders are on board!"
The announcement, half shouted and half trembling, shook the air.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out from the Moby Dick. The entire battlefield, the world watching, collectively held its breath, eyes fixed forward.
"Gurararara… It's been decades since we last met, Sengoku!"
At the Moby Dick's bow, a towering figure finally appeared. With countless eyes upon him, he climbed to the deck's highest point, his gaze confident and fixed upon the execution platform.
The man in the white coat, gripping his massive naginata Murakumogiri, was none other than Edward Newgate—the Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors of the New World.
"Whitebeard!"
Sengoku glared down at him, his teeth clenched, his eyes heavy with dread.
"My beloved son… He's unharmed, isn't he?"
Whitebeard's calm voice carried across the battlefield. He spoke as if the Marine Headquarters before him was an insignificant crew. His confidence was absolute, his towering presence unshaken by the immense forces arrayed against him.
Elsewhere, near the Gates of Justice, Jiang Lin watched Buggy posturing at the bow of his ship. A helpless smile tugged at his face.
"So, Whitebeard should've shown up by now."
He moved toward the prow, peering through the dense fog at the distant figure.
At the far end of the mist, Whitebeard turned to Ace, smiling faintly. Crossing his massive arms over his chest as though embracing the very air, he stood and launched his attack.
He thrust both fists outward, striking the space to either side of him. Fine cracks appeared in the air, spreading rapidly outward, shaking even the surrounding sea.
With a roar, colossal waterspouts rose skyward, sending the Marines into stunned silence.
"A tsunami!"
From either side of Marineford, two towering walls of water surged into existence, the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit on full display. The sheer, impossible scale of it left Marines paralyzed with terror.
"So it begins?"
Jiang Lin's face lit with excitement as he watched the seawater pull back, the waves retreating unnaturally fast.
"What's happening?!"
The violent draw of the sea pulled at the Marine warships, dragging them backward as if hurled in reverse gear.
Within moments, the tidal pull intensified. The retreating warships were suddenly flung forward, sucked toward Marineford at breakneck speed.
Then it came—the towering waves, surging toward the plaza with world-ending force. The overwhelming pressure made everyone present realize a single truth:
"The war has officially begun!"
The horns of a new era blared, the drums of war thundered. On this monumental battlefield, Whitebeard and Sengoku, the Admirals and the Whitebeard Pirates, every figure stood upon the pages of history itself. The outcome of this war would shake the world to its core.
The roaring waves seemed to dance in chorus with the war's song. The surging waves rose higher and higher until the towering wall of water loomed over Marineford, reaching its zenith.
RUMBLE!
The ocean itself crashed down with unstoppable might. Marines on the plaza stared upward in raw terror—if those waves fell, nothing could save them.
But just before the tsunami struck, the golden throne above the execution platform stirred. A figure vanished in a blur, reappearing high in the air.
From the sky, massive ice pillars spread outward, piercing straight into the heart of the waves.
"Ice Age!"
With a sharp cry, Aokiji released cold from his body. The chill raced along the ice pillars, freezing the tsunamis solid before they could descend. The colossal ice wall radiated biting frost, sending waves of relief through the Marine fleet.
"Aokiji! You brat!"
Whitebeard scowled up at him, his brow furrowing.
"We… we're saved!"
Many Marines collapsed in relief, trembling as they stared at the frozen tsunamis overhead. Without Aokiji's timely action, the disaster could not have been prevented.
"Two-Spiked Spear!"
Without hesitation, Aokiji followed up with an attack aimed straight at Whitebeard.
CRACK!
Whitebeard merely swung his massive fist into the air. The quake shattered the ice spears instantly.
Unfazed, Aokiji dove from the sky, landing on the bay waters. The cold radiating from his body spread instantly, freezing the entire surface of the harbor solid.
Every ship within Marineford's bay—pirate and Marine alike—was now trapped, unable to move.
"Attack!"
"Attack!"
With both sides raising their weapons, the great war that shook the world had truly begun.