183 With the Justice System

Navy Headquarters.

"Heh—"

Sengoku hung up the Den Den Mushi and gave a soft chuckle.

The Navy was about to annihilate two Yonko crews at once — and at a time like this...

You want me to keep people back? Heh!

Do you realize that taking out two Yonko crews in one blow...

Would instantly wipe out nearly half of the top fighting power in that chaotic stretch of the New World?

This is the perfect moment for the Navy to push into the New World and impose order!

Don't worry about budget cuts — send the funds to Headquarters right now.

Shanks must die too!

"Dah—"

Sengoku rose from his chair, tore open a new pack of senbei, and, chewing, surveyed the situation.

The outcome of the battle was settled!

As Whitebeard's captains and the pirate captains under him fell one after another, the remaining rank-and-file of the Whitebeard Pirates were nothing to fear.

The veterans were efficiently reaping lives; even the rookies who had just tasted war were slowly acclimating, their blades flicking faster and faster.

Soon...

The frozen bay, the shattered hulls, the scorched earth, and the bodies strewn all across Marineford.

The Whitebeard Pirates had been nearly slaughtered to extinction!

The Den Den Mushi's image transmissions recorded everything faithfully, carrying this resolute "justice" to every corner of the world.

And at the center of that mountain of corpses and sea of blood, one figure still stood unbowed.

He was drenched in blood, his chest pockmarked with terrible caverns burned by molten lava.

Yet he still stood.

Whitebeard — Edward Newgate.

He slowly scanned the battlefield that had buried everything.

He wasn't looking at the ready Navy forces.

He wasn't looking at the distance where Hawke was locked in fierce combat with Shanks.

He was searching...

Searching for the faces of those he treasured as family.

Marco...

Jozu...

Vista...

Before his eyes: corpses one after another, cold and still.

His family, his sons...

All gone.

"Gururururu..."

A hoarse, low laugh.

There was no joy in that laugh, no madness — only endless sorrow and age.

He summoned all his remaining strength and let out his last roar, 

"Come."

"Whitebeard..."

Akainu's voice was cold and solemn.

"You are a symbol of an era."

"As a farewell to the old era and a gift to the new, I will personally—bury you!"

"Whaa—"

Akainu slowly raised his right arm, aiming at the sky above Marineford.

He did not punch immediately.

Instead, he pulled his arm violently back; every muscle in his body snapped taut like a drawn bowstring.

Dark red magma surged madly along his arm, bubbling and hissing; the intense heat warped the air around it.

"Huu—"

He exhaled a breath of scorching white vapor.

The next instant, his arm shot forward like a cannon!

A thick pillar of lava rocketed upward!

It climbed at speed, trailing a long tail of flame through the sky!

When the lava column reached its apex, it paused for a moment.

Then vast amounts of lava began collapsing inward, condensing.

A gigantic, somber lava sphere formed in midair, its surface covered with cracks.

The entire Marineford was dyed an apocalyptic deep red by this lava sun.

"..."

Whitebeard tilted his head; his clouded eyes reflected that lava sun.

He could feel the power within — enough to utterly incinerate him.

"Huu—"

Akainu spoke slowly, "The end!"

As the words fell, the lava sun in the sky moved!

The cracks on its surface suddenly widened; endless magma spurted from the fissures!

But the spouting magma did not scatter — it furiously converged toward the center!

Extreme heat and density caused the lava sun's volume to collapse rapidly.

Finally, all the energy and matter condensed into a lava core the size of a fist.

It hovered for a heartbeat.

Then...

With a long trailing flame, like divine judgment, it howled toward the earth!

There was only one target.

Whitebeard!

Facing this attack that would end everything, Whitebeard drove his legs hard, leaping high and meeting the falling "sun" head-on!

"Gururururu—!"

His final laugh rang through the sky.

The next second.

Lava swallowed him.

No scream, no struggle.

The man who had stood at the pinnacle of the old era, the man called "the strongest in the world," was utterly consumed before the eyes of the world!

His flesh, his bones — all turned to nothing but ash in that extreme heat.

"Boom—!!!"

The lava core exploded with a roar after devouring Whitebeard!

"Bang—!"

"Bang—!"

"Bang—!"

Huge, glorious bursts of molten fireworks blossomed across Marineford's sky!

The red light, like grand salutes, announced the end of an era.

And the arrival of a brand-new era dominated by the Navy.

Beneath the execution platform.

"..."

Sengoku stopped chewing his senbei.

He watched the fireworks silently.

"Farewell."

The old rival he'd tangled with his whole life was gone.

"!!!"

At the same moment, the color drained from the faces of the Red-Haired Pirates' crew.

Dead!

Whitebeard was dead!

The Whitebeard Pirates had been wiped out!

What did that mean?!

It meant that the Navy's top fighter who had been entangled with Whitebeard since the start of the war — Akainu — would finally have his hands freed!

"We have to do something!"

That thought flashed wildly through Beckman's mind.

"..."

His gaze swept the battlefield at lightning speed.

Aokiji had instantly defeated Jinbe and sealed off the bay.

That bastard Kizaru had locked down all of his own movements.

And that newly risen monstrous admiral — Hawke — was contending head-on with Shanks, not giving an inch!

We can't wait any longer!

If we wait, the Red-Haired Pirates will follow Whitebeard's fate!

"Mm—"

Beckman's eyes hardened. As the Vice-Captain of the Emperor, his decisiveness let him make the call in an instant.

He sidestepped sharply, driving his feet, his body a blurred afterimage as he tried to slip free of Kizaru's lock with a ghostly movement.

But he was fast.

Someone was faster!

At the spot where he was trying to flash to, a foot already shimmered with golden light, waiting quietly.

"Are are"

A lazy voice floated out.

"I told you not to move, Ben Beckman!"

"!!!"

Beckman's pupils contracted violently!

He tried to twist his body and raise his gun to block, but it was too late.

That foot, at a speed beyond his reaction limit, grew larger in his vision.

"Bang—!!!"

Kizaru's kick landed squarely on Beckman's face.

"Pft—"

A spray of blood, mixed with several shattered teeth, shot from his mouth.

Kizaru slowly withdrew his leg; beneath those tea-colored sunglasses, a cold murderous intent flashed.

"You think... where does that leave my reward?!"