Due to Whitebeard being impaled, the battlefield fell into deathly silence.
All members of the Whitebeard Pirates stared at Squard with disbelief, never expecting one of their own to attack their father.
Akainu, the mastermind behind this, looked at Whitebeard with a mocking gaze.
"Hah, so this is Whitebeard," Akainu sneered. "Nothing special after all."
It seemed this old man was truly finished.
In that case... today he would send this man on his final journey!!
After letting out a cold laugh, Akainu turned and left the area.
"Father!!"
Marco stared incredulously at the wound on Whitebeard's body, his entire form beginning to tremble.
Then he flew over in rage, grabbing Squard and pinning him to the ground.
"Squard!"
"Why did you do this, you bastard?"
"Answer me!"
Marco's expression was twisted with fury at this moment.
He simply couldn't understand why this bastard Squard would suddenly attack their father - wasn't he the one who respected their father the most!
"Enough!" Squard said. "You're the ones who forced me to do this!"
"Bullshit! When did we ever force you to do something like this?" Marco roared. "Do you even realize what you've done, you bastard?"
This was their most respected father!
At that moment, Whitebeard began coughing violently, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Cough... cough..."
This towering man, due to his severe injury, uncontrollably half-knelt on the ground.
"Father!" Marco looked anxiously at Whitebeard. "Your body..."
"I'm fine."
Whitebeard raised his hand to stop Marco from speaking further, then turned to look at Squard, wanting an explanation from him.
He desperately wanted to know why his son would suddenly attack him.
When Squard met Whitebeard's gaze, flames of anger ignited in his heart.
"Stop acting, Whitebeard!" Squard said furiously. "Haven't you already made a deal with the Marines!"
"Deal... deal?"
Looking at Squard whose veins were bulging on his neck, Marco was momentarily stunned.
What deal? How come he didn't know about it?
Seeing Marco's reaction, Squard grew even angrier.
"Still playing dumb!" Squard said. "If I hadn't gotten the information, I wouldn't even know how I died!"
"What the hell are you talking about, you bastard?" Marco cursed.
"Of course it's the deal I just mentioned!" Squard said. "I never dreamed that we, your subordinate pirates, would become bargaining chips in your deal with the Marines!!"
As these words were spoken, all the pirates below froze.
"Bargaining chips... in a deal with the Marines!?"
"Hey Squard, what do you mean by this? Explain yourself clearly!"
"Squard, you..."
"Let him finish." Whitebeard spoke.
Upon hearing Whitebeard's words, Marco's body stiffened momentarily before he lowered his hand, glaring intensely at Squard.
Unfazed by their stares, Squard resolutely walked to the ship's bow and looked down at his comrades below.
"Listen carefully, everyone! We've all been deceived!" Squard roared. "This guy Ace is actually the son of Pirate King Roger!"
"Ace is... Roger's son?"
"We never heard about this before."
The pirates showed shocked expressions upon hearing Squard's words.
"Of course you didn't know! This was something that absolutely couldn't be revealed!" Squard declared.
Then he turned to Whitebeard and said, "You knew about this from the very beginning, didn't you? And you planned to groom him to become the next Pirate King!"
"But you should know how much I hate that bastard Roger!"
"All my comrades died because of that man!"
Squard shouted these last words with all his might.
After roaring, he took several heavy breaths before continuing, "You knew everything, yet you let me interact with Ace like a fool... What does this mean?"
"Squard..."
"Don't look at me with those eyes." Squard coldly glanced at Marco. "You're no different."
In Squard's eyes at this moment, everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates was just like Whitebeard - they had all deceived him!
Veins bulged on Marco's forehead, and he desperately wanted to rush forward and beat Squard up, but he couldn't move without the old man's permission.
"Can't you all see?!" Squard turned and pointed to the side. "Since those Marine Human Weapons appeared, they've been targeting only us!!"
"The reason is simple..."
After scanning all the pirates on the battlefield, Squard shouted loudly: "Whitebeard has sold us out!"
"To exchange for the Pirate King's son, he traded all our heads for Ace's life!"
Upon hearing this, all the pirates showed horrified expressions.
Then, some pirate captains shouted incredulously: "Old man, is what he said true?"
"Old man, please say something!"
"Old man!"
The pirates showed panicked expressions, terrified that what Squard said might be true.
After all... that would mean they would die here, and for nothing!
"Alright, make your move." Squard turned back to look at Whitebeard. "I'm prepared!"
Being able to strike him once was already a miracle - he didn't expect anything more.
"Squard, you bastard, you've been deceived!" Marco glared angrily at Squard. "How could the old man possibly do such a thing?"
"Save your breath! Do you think you're innocent?"
"Bastard!Veins bulged on Marco's forehead as he desperately wanted to eliminate this bastard on the spot.
"It's Sengoku's scheme, isn't it."
Whitebeard gasped heavily as he glanced at Sengoku, who was staring back expressionlessly. "As expected of the Resourceful General, you precisely identified the easiest person to manipulate... If it were anyone else, they might not have cared that Ace is Roger's son. But Squard is different—all his comrades were killed by Roger."
At this thought, Whitebeard sighed silently.
"This old man actually got wounded over something like this? How surprising," Jack laughed heartily. "But this means he'll die at Marine Headquarters, right? Whitebeard isn't a Zoan Devil Fruit Ability User—an injury like this would either kill him or leave him severely wounded! And on a battlefield like this... severe injury means death!! Once Whitebeard dies, all the Whitebeard Pirates' territory will be ours!"
The thought made Jack laugh even more joyfully.
"Don't underestimate Whitebeard," King said impassively. "Even with such an injury, that man might not necessarily die there." After all... this was the very enemy Big Brother Kaido himself acknowledged as powerful!
"True, but the guy's gotten old," Queen grinned. "The fact that he got stabbed by a pirate like that is proof enough!" This time, King didn't refute him and simply nodded. No matter what, Whitebeard really had aged.
Just then, King caught sight of a sudden ice pillar in the footage! Was that... an attack by Marine Admiral Aokiji?! The moment this thought crossed his mind, the surveillance feed abruptly cut out.
"Damn it, why's the footage gone again?!" Queen cursed.
"Probably Aokiji's doing," King replied. "I saw his ice."
"Why would he do that?"
"Most likely because of that clown earlier." Recalling the clown who'd introduced himself so bizarrely, King's expression turned odd. Broadcasting live in a war of this scale... that guy's really something else.
"Phew~"
Aokiji exhaled a cold breath as he looked at the frozen Buggy and his group. "Done." He had no idea where these guys got their hands on a Visual Den Den Mushi, but secretly setting up a live broadcast here was just absurd. Shaking his head, Aokiji turned his gaze to Whitebeard and murmured, "I never thought that plan would actually work." Remembering the idea Akainu had mentioned earlier, his eyes grew complex. He truly hadn't expected Whitebeard to be wounded by such a simple scheme.
At that moment, Crocodile, standing below the Moby Dick, roared, "To be stabbed by one of your own Subordinates... how disgraceful, Whitebeard! I refuse to accept that I lost to someone so weak!" Why would the man who could effortlessly handle any attack be pierced by something so straightforward? He couldn't understand why Whitebeard had grown so feeble! The thought that he'd once been defeated by this man made Crocodile's veins bulge with rage, nearly driving him to roar at the sky.
Marco remained silent as he observed the furious Crocodile.
He also realized one thing: the old man's physical condition must have truly deteriorated to a certain extent.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been unable to dodge Squard's attack.
Old man...
Just then, Whitebeard, who had remained silent for a long time, slowly turned his gaze to Squard and said, "You know what you've done, don't you, Squard?"
"Raising your blade against your own father... What a foolish man you are!"
As his words fell, the man reached out a large hand to grab Squard!
"Come on, I don't regret it!" Squard roared.
He had already done what he needed to do. Even if he were killed by the other party, he wouldn't regret it!
But to his surprise, Whitebeard didn't kill him. Instead, he pulled him into an embrace.
Then, the man said slowly, "Silly son."
"Although you've hurt your father... I still love you all the same."
Feeling Whitebeard's heartbeat, cold sweat instantly broke out on Squard's face.
Could it be...
No, impossible. He couldn't possibly be wrong!
Thinking this, Squard said, "Stop pretending! You're the one who..."
"Tell me," Whitebeard interrupted Squard's words, "who made you, ever so loyal, do such a thing?"
Squard fell silent for a moment, then replied, "It was a rebel from the Marines—Marine Admiral Akainu!"
"He said that if I agreed to assassinate Whitebeard, our subordinate pirate crews would be spared!"
"A scheme to sow discord."
Staring at Meiser in the distance, he frowned and said, "He really knows how to play dirty."
But there was no denying it—the opponent's tactics were highly effective, at least enough to make Whitebeard cough up blood.
"If Whitebeard is killed, it would be very disadvantageous for us," Ivankov said with a grim expression.
"Yes, I know."
Meiser nodded, an idea forming in his mind.
"Meiser," Luffy turned to look at him and said, "Can your Medical Ninja Technique help this old man?"
This old man was Ace's favorite person. He didn't want him to die so easily here.
"Yes," Meiser nodded.
This was the idea that had just occurred to him.
After all... Whitebeard's fate was tied to the outcome of this war!
Then, Meiser created a Shadow Clone.
"Poof~"
As soon as the Shadow Mud Body appeared, it dove headfirst into a nearby ice hole without hesitation, swiftly making its way toward Whitebeard's Moby Dick from below the surface.
At that moment, Whitebeard released Squard and began walking step by step toward the crowd.
After a few steps, Whitebeard stopped and said, "Squard... I know very well how intense your hatred for Roger is."
"But don't you think it's absurd to make the son pay for the father's debts?"
"Think carefully. Has Ace ever done anything to you?"
Hearing Whitebeard's words, Squard froze, scenes from the past flashing through his mind.
"As comrades, you overcame difficulties together and faced countless challenges side by side... Were all those moments fake?"
"Squard, whether Ace is Roger's son or not doesn't matter at all. What matters is... we're precious family!"
Clatter
The long sword fell to the ground as Squard's body began trembling uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.
In that moment, he realized he had been deceived.
"You're still as sharp as ever, Sengoku," Whitebeard said coldly, staring at the Marine. "You really played me this time."
"But...
"You actually thought I would betray my own son?!"
"What a joke!"
BOOM!!
The enraged Whitebeard punched the air on both sides, shattering the atmosphere itself!
ROAR!!
The terrifying tremors directly shattered the mountain-like icebergs on both sides, revealing escape routes!
"So he opened an escape route for the pirates," Sengoku frowned. "What an old fox."
With this, their carefully laid plan had been completely foiled.
"Pops broke through the ice walls on both sides for us!" a pirate shouted. "The obstacles are gone!"
"There are still usable warships - we can escape easily now!"
"If that's the case..."
After glancing at the towering figure, the pirates immediately understood what this meant.
At that moment, Whitebeard roared: "You're all pirates! You decide what to believe for yourselves!"
"It was all lies!" pirates shouted. "Damn Marines!"
"That's right! There's no way Pops would betray us!"
"Bastard Marines, we'll kill you all!"
The pirates roared with fury, their expressions twisting with rage.
Just then, a man suddenly shattered the ice surface below and emerged, moving at incredible speed to board the Moby Dick. This sudden development immediately caught everyone's attention.
"That's... the Blood-Eyed Ninja?"
"What's that guy suddenly going to Whitebeard for?"
Watching Meiser appear on the Moby Dick, all the Marines showed confused expressions.
The pirates grew tense, fearing this man might suddenly attack their captain.
After what happened with Squard, they had become understandably nervous.
"What do you want?" Marco asked, watching him closely.
Meiser glanced at Squard weeping on the deck, then turned to Marco. "I've come to treat this old man."
"I know Medical Ninja Technique. I can heal his injuries in a very short time."
Hearing this, Marco froze momentarily before his face lit up with wild hope.
If this man could truly heal Pops... it could potentially change the entire course of the battle!
After all, a healthy Whitebeard and a severely injured Whitebeard were completely different concepts!
Upon hearing Meiser's words, Squard immediately turned toward him. "Please!"
"Please help Pops."
"I'll do anything you want, just save Pops."
"Yeah, that's exactly why I'm here."
Meiser then looked at Whitebeard. "Old man, my Medical Ninja Technique can heal you completely in a very short time, though it might cost you some lifespan."
"Is that acceptable?"
"Lifespan, you say?"
Whitebeard fell silent for a moment, then laughed heartily and said, "Come on, Ninja kid, give it your all!"
He didn't care about his lifespan—even if this war cost him his life, it wouldn't matter!
As long as... that fool Ace could be saved!!
"Old man, your lifespan—"
"It's fine."
Whitebeard raised his hand to stop Marco, signaling him not to interfere and to let Meiser do as he pleased.
Marco fell silent, then wordlessly retreated to Squard's side.
"Come on, Ninja kid," Whitebeard said.
"Alright!"
With that, Meiser quickly approached Whitebeard and began using Chakra to examine his injuries.
After a moment, Meiser said, "Hmm, the condition is better than I expected."
At least his heart wasn't damaged—otherwise, even he wouldn't have been able to pull Whitebeard back from the brink of death.
Then, without hesitation, Meiser activated the Medical Ninja Technique and began treating Whitebeard's wounds!