"What?" Whitebeard turned to look at him, his expression filled with confusion.
Squard gripped the long sword at his waist, his head lowered. The stray hairs on his forehead obscured his face, leaving only the tight line of his mouth visible.
"Stop playing this farce, Whitebeard!"
As the words fell, he snapped his head up. His eyes were bloodshot, with veins crawling across the whites.
He questioned with grief and indignation, "Haven't you already reached an agreement with the Navy? You guaranteed that the Whitebeard Pirates and Ace would be safe, but you treated us as pawns to be discarded, didn't you?!"
Hearing this, Whitebeard's brow furrowed sharply, his eyes filled with shock and incomprehension.
He shifted his body slightly, leaning his massive frame forward. His gaze fell upon Squard's distorted and agonized face, his voice heavy yet tinged with bewilderment.
"Squard... what are you talking about?"
This sentence completely ignited the long-suppressed rage in Squard's heart.
He took a sudden step forward, his chest heaving violently, and his grip on the long sword tightened further.
"We were all tricked! Only now do I know that Ace is actually the son of Gol D. Roger! When you took me in, I was all alone!"
His voice choked, and tears finally began to well up in his eyes.
"You knew very well that all my comrades were slaughtered by Roger. You know better than anyone how much I hate Roger! Yet you kept it from me. You wanted Roger's son to become the King of the Pirates and were willing to sacrifice all of us!"
Whitebeard's expression instantly darkened. The shock in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by heartache.
He was about to speak and explain, but Squard was already completely consumed by hatred, unable to hear another word.
Suddenly, Squard drew his long sword and stabbed resolutely and viciously toward Whitebeard's back!
The strike was fast and ruthless, containing all of his pain, as if he wanted to pour years of hatred into this single blow.
Had he been facing the elderly Whitebeard, he might have actually succeeded in the sneak attack.
But he was facing Whitebeard in his prime!
Before the blade could even touch Whitebeard's robes, Whitebeard simply reached back and gripped the sharp blade with his bare hand.
The keen edge could not even pierce his palm; the sword was rendered immobile.
Having easily subdued Squard, Whitebeard's expression remained steady, completely unmoved.
Squard froze, the hand holding the hilt trembling violently. No matter how much force he exerted, the long sword remained motionless, pinned in place.
Whitebeard slowly turned around. Looking at the bloodshot eyes of Squard before him, he asked word by word:
"Do you distrust me that much? When have I ever abandoned my family?"
These words struck Squard's heart with immense force.
The aura of the prime Whitebeard pressed down upon him without reserve. Although Whitebeard did not use Conqueror's Haki, the sheer pressure of his presence alone left Squard unable to move.
He looked up at Whitebeard, his eyes filled with dread.
Just as he thought Whitebeard would kill him with a single strike, Whitebeard's reaction far exceeded his expectations!
Whitebeard reached out his massive hand and placed it on Squard's head, saying with heartache:
"Silly child, do not be deceived by the Navy any longer. I will never abandon any member of my family, and of course, I will forgive a family member who has made a mistake!"
Hearing Whitebeard's words filled with love, all the hatred and obsession in Squard's heart collapsed in an instant.
Looking at the surging emotion in Whitebeard's eyes, he finally realized how horribly wrong he had been.
Tears could no longer be suppressed; they streamed wildly down his cheeks and dripped onto the deck.
Squard abruptly let go of the hilt, his legs giving way as he collapsed to the ground. He clutched his head with both hands and began to sob loudly.
"I was wrong, Old Man! I am a traitor, please kill me!"
He wept and repented continuously, his entire body trembling. That bone-deep remorse infected every member of the Whitebeard Pirates around them.
Looking at the collapsed and sobbing Squard, Whitebeard showed no disappointment or anger in his eyes.
He slowly bent down and opened his arms, pulling Squard into a tight embrace. His voice was gentle and heavy.
"Silly child, do not be afraid of making mistakes. You are also my son! Ace was never special; to me, all of you are equally important, because you are all the sons of Edward Newgate!"
Squard cried heart-wrenchingly in his arms. All his pain gradually dissipated within this embrace, leaving only a heart full of guilt and gratitude.
The surrounding members of the Whitebeard Pirates watched this scene, their shock gradually turning into emotion. The morale, which had dipped due to Squard's betrayal, was completely ignited at this moment and surged back to its peak.
"Long live Old Man!"
Someone shouted first, and immediately, the roars of countless pirates rose one after another, echoing throughout the inner bay of Marineford.
"Follow Old Man and rescue Ace!"
"We will follow Old Man to the death!"
That spirit of unity pressed down on the Navy, leaving them breathless.
After comforting Squard, Whitebeard straightened up. The Conqueror's Haki pressure around him surged again, more terrifying than before.
His gaze swept across the chaotic battlefield, locking precisely onto Sengoku on the execution platform.
"Sengoku, your tricks haven't grown old. To think you could come up with such a sinister plot to sow discord between me and my sons."
On the execution platform, Sengoku's expression was solemn. Facing Whitebeard's questioning, he did not shrink back, stating resolutely:
"Against ferocious and brutal pirates like you, no tactic is excessive. As long as you can be completely eradicated to protect Justice, any means are reasonable."
"Justice?" Whitebeard sneered. "That may be so, but you dared to slander me, saying that I am a man who would sell out his own sons. I cannot simply ignore that!"
As the words fell, Whitebeard suddenly raised his fist and struck the air in front of him with immense force.
Boom!
In the next instant, it felt as if heaven and earth were collapsing; all of Marineford trembled violently.
The moment the fist landed, the air was filled with dense cracks, and a terrifying shockwave spread frantically in all directions.
Two thousand-meter-high icebergs in the distance shattered instantly under the impact of this force.
Countless chunks of ice plummeted from the sky, crashing violently into the Navy's positions.
Seeing this, the Navy soldiers were terrified out of their wits and scattered in all directions, their faces filled with fear.
At this critical moment, a white figure descended from the sky, appearing between the ice fragments and the Navy.
Ivan held Snowfall in his hand. A deep blue light enveloped the blade, which then grew thicker and darker, eventually turning pitch black.
Once the power had gathered, he shouted in a deep voice:
"One Sword Style: Black Azure Thousand Blades!"
As the words fell, Ivan violently swung down his long sword!