Sengoku could no longer respond to Lucian Thorn's teasing.
Or rather—he was so stunned he couldn't hear anything anymore.
Because in this moment—he was literally speechless from shock!
The golden Den Den Mushi slipped from his trembling hand with a clack, hitting the floor hard.
The man who had always schemed from behind the scenes, who once manipulated even the Four Emperors like pieces on a chessboard—the Fleet Admiral himself—had lost all calm. The composed, calculating look that once ruled his face was gone, replaced by disbelief.
He pointed at the two identical yet utterly different figures standing on the frozen sea, voice breaking into a shriek of panic and horror:
"Wh—why?!"
"Why are there two Whitebeards?!"
One knelt on the battlefield, his breath fading away—the remnant of an old era, exactly as Sengoku had planned.
But the other…
The other stood tall before three gigantic rifts of time and space!
His frame towered like a mountain, muscles coiled with explosive power. Not a single wound marred his body, no trace of age on his face. In those fierce eyes burned a Haki and confidence fierce enough to burn the sea itself.
That was—in his prime, the man who could overturn the entire world with his own hands: the Strongest Man in the World.
"No…"
Sengoku's lips moved soundlessly. His throat felt filled with molten sand—he couldn't force out a single word.
The wisdom he was proud of, the strategies he had spent a lifetime honing—
all shattered in this instant.
'An illusion?'
'Impossible! That Conqueror's Haki… that aura—it's even stronger than the old, kneeling Whitebeard! It's real!'
'Why… why is this happening?!'
His roar tore through the dead silence—like a spark reigniting motion. The frozen battlefield came to life again.
But this "life" only plunged the Marines deeper into chaos and fear.
"Two… Pops?"
"That—was that Pops when he was young?!"
"And… Rayleigh?! That's the Pirate King's Vice-Captain!"
"Wait—why are there two Straw Hats?!"
From Jozu to Vista, every member of the Whitebeard Pirates was frozen. Their eyes were wide, their minds blank.
The Marines, on the other hand, were collapsing completely.
Hero of the Marines, Garp, stood gaping, his jaw wide enough to fit a fist.
His gaze jumped between Prime Whitebeard, Prime Rayleigh, and the two versions of his grandson—his eyes full of bewilderment.
'This can't be real… this has to be a nightmare!'
Meanwhile, the Navy's strongest force—the Three Admirals—were struck speechless.
Admiral Kizaru—Borsalino—the eternal smirk on his face was gone for the first time.
He pressed a hand to his temple, staring at the blond, composed "Dark King" through his tinted lenses, and muttered unconsciously:
"Oh dear… this isn't going to be easy…"
Admiral Akainu—Sakazuki—the face usually frozen in fury now twitched with something new: fear.
He couldn't make sense of it.
He couldn't understand it!
'This… this goes beyond any Devil Fruit power I've ever known!'
'What is this?! A miracle?!'
Admiral Aokiji—Kuzan—straightened from the ice wall he'd been leaning on.
Facing Prime Whitebeard, feeling that overwhelming pressure that made even the sea tremble, sweat rolled down his forehead.
'If that Whitebeard moves… not even the three of us together could stop him for more than a moment.'
As for the Warlords of the Sea—
"Celestial Demon" Donquixote Doflamingo's trademark fufufufu laugh died in his throat.
The muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably, eyes wide behind his sunglasses.
The most powerful information broker in the underground world—
even he couldn't process what he was seeing.
'What kind of joke is this?!'
'Summoning someone's peak form through time and space?'
'This isn't power. This is something only gods could do!'
But in the eyes of "Hawk Eyes" Dracule Mihawk, there was no fear—only blazing excitement.
His hand had already gripped the hilt of his black blade, Yoru.
And his gaze wasn't on Whitebeard.
It was fixed on the blond man in glasses who stood lazily with a hand resting on his sword—Silvers Rayleigh.
And the other figure beside him, the green-haired swordsman radiating a demonic killing aura—Roronoa Zoro.
As the world's greatest swordsman, Mihawk could feel it clearly—
the sword intent from those two was terrifying.
He didn't know what was happening, but one thing was certain—
this trip had been worth it.
"Pirate Empress" Boa Hancock no longer saw the battlefield.
Her eyes were locked on the boy with the straw hat who had just fallen from the sky.
"Luffy…"
She looked at the newcomer still chewing meat, then at the bewildered Luffy on the ice, her face a mixture of longing and confusion.
"Why… are there two Luffys?"
"Which one… should I marry…?"
In Marineford, a hundred thousand Marines and tens of thousands of pirates all stood frozen in disbelief and awe.
At Sabaody Archipelago — Shakky's Bar
The bar that had been loud and lively moments ago was now dead silent.
Every pirate and bounty hunter watching the live broadcast had turned to stone, holding their drinks midair, mouths hanging open.
Only the blinding white glow from the screen reflected off their stunned faces.
Behind the counter, "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh sat quietly.
The glass in his hand was covered in cracks.
As the Den Den Mushi's live broadcast slowly panned toward the younger, vigorous version of himself emerging from the temporal rift—
Crack.
The glass shattered to dust in his grip.
He stared at that familiar yet foreign figure on the screen, and waves roared within his cloudy eyes.
After a long silence, his hoarse voice murmured like a dream:
"So that's…"
"So that's the surprise you mentioned… Lucian Thorn…"
'It seems this old man has to make the trip after all.'
At the Center of the World — Holy Land Mariejois
Inside the Chamber of Authority.
The Five Elders, the pinnacle of the World Government, stood in silence before the giant transponder screen.
The room was deathly still.
The Elder with the samurai sword gripped the hilt tightly, veins bulging.
The one with the long beard beneath a flat hat trembled, unable to form words.
Prime Whitebeard.
Prime Rayleigh.
Two names that had weighed on the World Government's heart for decades—
now standing side by side in Marineford.
"What kind of power is this?" rasped one Elder at last.
"It surpasses… everything we've ever known."
"Time and space? Or… creation itself?"
"Whatever it is…" murmured the bald Elder holding the First Kitetsu, his eyes closing with heavy gravity.
"The Navy's plan may fail."
"We must think of how to salvage this war."
Back at Marineford
After endless silence and chaos, the battlefield filled again—with the sound of countless sharp gasps.
It was the collective fear of a hundred thousand Marines awakening from shock.
They looked at the four figures standing like gods of war…
and then at Lucian Thorn, smiling brightly in the center of it all.
Weapons trembled in their hands.
Fighting spirit—crumbled completely.
'How are we supposed to fight this?'
'With what?!'
An aged Whitebeard alone had already forced the Navy to mobilize its full strength and prepare a grand trap.
Now, a Prime Whitebeard, a Prime Rayleigh, and two other monsters of unknown power stood before them—
'How… do we fight this?!'
As the endless wave of terror spread through the ranks—
The Prime Whitebeard stepped forward from the temporal rift.
He slowly raised his head, gaze sweeping past the trembling Marines, past the kneeling older self, and said mockingly:
"Old man—take a good look at your younger self's performance!"
The elder Whitebeard snorted back, "Damn brat!"
Prime Whitebeard's eyes scanned the battlefield and finally settled on the towering Execution Platform.
A wild grin spread across his face.
He slammed his Naginata, Murakumo Giri, into the ground.
Then—he made that iconic motion.
In that single moment, the frozen sea and the entire island of Marineford quaked violently!
Countless deep fissures spread from beneath his feet in all directions.
And then—
His thunderous laughter, the same that once shook the seas of the previous era, erupted once more:
"Gurararara—!!!"
"Sengoku! Garp!"
"Long time no see!"
Prime Whitebeard's voice rolled over the battlefield like divine judgment, echoing in every ear.
"I'm here…"
"To play with you all again!!!"