"BOOM—!"
A deafening, thunderous roar, not of nature, but of thousands of tons of steel and wood displacing water, echoed across the sea.
One after another, a fleet of menacing pirate ships, like a pack of scarred, ancient sea monsters, cut through the waves.
They advanced in a grand, chaotic, and terrifying formation, their destination: New Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
"Wororororo—!"
Kaido, in his towering human form, stood at the prow of his flagship.
He gazed at the gradually approaching fortress, his eyes gleaming with a manic, drunken excitement.
'Marines… World Government… it doesn't matter! Let me wreak havoc upon you all! Let's have a war that will finally, finally be worthy of my death!'
He raised his massive, spiked kanabo, the "Hassakai," high into the air, his voice a guttural roar that dwarfed the sound of the ocean itself.
"Listen up, you brats!"
"CHARGE FORWARD!"
"ROOOAR!"
"CHARGE! CHARGE! KILL THEM ALL!"
The Beasts Pirates, a horde of savage, half-human brutes, responded with an earth-shaking roar of their own.
Each member, from the lowly Gifters to the mighty All-Stars, was practically vibrating with bloodlust, eager for the glorious battle to come.
"Hurry!" Jack the Drought, a mountain of muscle and rage, stood at the very front of the ship, swinging his massive sickle-like mammoths tusks.
"Bring the ships closer! I'll tear their fortress down myself!"
The dark, menacing fleet drew nearer, like a colossal, dark cloud pressing down on the world, a suffocating, overwhelming wave of pure, nihilistic oppression.
And then, suddenly…
"Click—"
Across the entire world—in bustling city squares, in remote, sleepy villages; in noisy, smoke-filled taverns, and in silent, holy churches—countless Video Transponder Snail eyes lit up as one.
Their pupils focused, reflecting the exact same scene, as if a billion eyes had opened at once, all staring at the impending, historic battle.
Everyone on the seas involuntarily halted.
Spoons stopped midway to mouths.
Hammers paused over anvils.
Shouts died in throats.
Every single gaze was drawn, as if by an unseen force, to the glowing, projected images.
The first thing that appeared before their eyes was the aggressive, terrifying fleet of the Beasts Pirates, charging headlong toward Marineford.
"Huh…?! What's going on?!"
"Is the battle starting already?!"
"Look! It's the Beasts Pirates! It's Kaido!"
"My god, so many ships… The Beasts Pirates have mobilized their entire force!"
"Wait… hold on…" a confused voice piped up in a bar in the West Blue. "Wasn't it supposed to be the Whitebeard Pirates attacking Marineford? Why is it Kaido?!"
"Who cares if it's Whitebeard or the Beasts!" another patron roared, slamming his mug down.
"They're both Emperors of the Sea! This is going to be wild! We're in for a show!"
Gasps and murmurs erupted across the globe, a wave of speculation and excited discussion boiling over like a pot of hot water.
"Bzz—"
The perspective on the Video Transponder Snails suddenly shifted.
It was no longer focused on the approaching fleet.
It was now at Marineford, slowly, dramatically, panning across the defenders.
The camera moved from the bottom up, a deliberate, arrogant showcase to the entire world, a declaration to the old era:
'You are obsolete. You are about to be swept into the dustbin of history.'
The first thing to come into view was the towering, ice-white outer walls of the fortress.
On those walls, in dense, perfect formation, were hundreds of newly-installed, pitch-black artillery emplacements, their massive muzzles gleaming with a cold, intimidating light.
And lining the walls, standing in perfect, silent, disciplined formations, were thousands of New Marine soldiers, their red-and-white uniforms immaculate, their new rifles held at the ready.
They were motionless, a fortress of steel and flesh, their eyes resolute, exuding an aura of iron and blood.
The camera's perspective continued to move, rising higher, past the soldiers, settling on the massive, newly constructed execution platform.
"Gulp…"
Somewhere in the world, someone nervously swallowed, and the sound was so loud in the collective, anticipatory silence that it seemed to echo.
There, kneeling on the platform, heads bowed in defeat, were the living legends of the seas.
Men whose names were used to frighten children, former overlords who had struck fear into the hearts of nations.
Now, they were just… lambs awaiting slaughter, bound in Sea-Prism Stone, stripped of all power and all dignity.
"…Is… is that Golden Lion Shiki?!" a sharp-eyed historian shrieked, recognizing the disheveled old man with the ship's rudder embedded in his skull.
"Didn't he escape from Impel Down?! How was he captured again?!"
"Look! Next to him! That's 'The Lone Red' Redfield!"
"And 'The Demon's Heir' Bullet! These… these are all legendary pirates from Roger's era!"
"This is…"
"Could it be… are the Marines going to execute all of them? All at once? This is… this is madness!"
Gasps and murmurs rose and fell, a wave of shock and awe spreading across the world.
And at that exact moment, the camera shifted again, panning upward from the execution stand, to the first tier of the grand, imposing viewing platform built above it.
"Hiss—"
A collective, sharp, unified intake of breath, as if from a single, global lung.
"W-wait a minute!" someone cried out, their voice cracking with an impossible, dawning horror.
"That… that's…"
The camera's view finally settled.
There, seated in the center of the first platform, in the section clearly marked for the New Warlords of the Sea, was an immensely tall, towering, and all-too-familiar figure.
He sat at ease, his presence so overwhelming that it seemed to bend the very light around him, exuding a suffocating pressure even through the projection.
"'WHITEBEARD' EDWARD NEWGATE!!!"
Someone, somewhere, uttered the name in a trembling, terrified whisper.
"H-how… how is he sitting there?!"
"WHY?!"
"..."
The world was stunned.
Utterly, completely bewildered.
What were they seeing? The "World's Strongest Man," one of the Four Emperors, Whitebeard… was seated with regal, authoritative authority on the high platform… at Marine Headquarters? As a guest of honor?!
Behind him, standing like loyal sentinels, were the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates—Marco the Phoenix, Diamond Jozu, Flower Sword Vista—their expressions relaxed, showing not a single trace of tension.
Given this… given this impossible, reality-breaking alliance… even if the remaining three Emperors joined forces, they would be effortlessly crushed.
Let alone…
Let alone just the Beasts Pirates.
Kaido isn't an invader, the world realized in a collective, cold sweat.
'He's the appetizer.'
"Could it be…" A terrifying thought, the one they had all dismissed as "fake news," now surfaced in countless minds, spreading like a virus.
"Has the Whitebeard Pirates… truly… allied with the Marines?!"
"This… how is this possible?!"
But the evidence was right there, being broadcast to the entire world.
There was no room for disbelief.
"So that's it!" someone shouted, their voice filled with a dawning, horrified comprehension.
"The so-called 'Whitebeard Pirates assembling to attack Marine Headquarters'… from start to finish… it was all a grand spectacle! A trap! An enormous, planet-sized bait!"
And Kaido, the "World's Strongest Creature," had taken that bait.
Hook, line, and sinker.
The camera's view didn't pause.
It continued its remorseless sweep across the rest of the Warlords seated beside Whitebeard.
"Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk, his expression cold and stern, the Black Blade Yoru standing silently at his side.
"First Son of the Sea" Jinbei, steady as a mountain, his fists clenched.
"Desert King" Crocodile, a playful, cruel smirk on his lips, a cigar pinched between his fingers.
"Pirate Empress" Boa Hancock, her stunning face an icy, arrogant mask, her long, beautiful legs casually crossed.
"Heavenly Yaksha" Doflamingo, grinning his wild, manic grin, his fingers splayed wide, as if already pulling the strings of the world.
"Tyrant" Kuma, silent, massive, and unmoving, exuding an overwhelming, immovable pressure.
"!!!"
"The Warlords of the Sea are all joining the battle!!!"
Those who witnessed this scene couldn't help but gasp in shock.
The sheer, assembled might of the New Marine, just on this one platform, was already more than enough to annihilate the entire Beasts Pirates.
'But…' their eyes drifted upward.
'There are still two higher platforms above the main stage?!!!'
'Kaido… oh, Kaido… you are so, so done for.'
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Please Read My new One Piece fic : You call this a Pirate ?
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