The moment Squard moved, Zack reacted.
Steel flashed as he drew his blade in a single, fluid motion—he had never let his guard down around Squard.
Clang!
With a sharp metallic cry, Zack's sword intercepted Squard's strike. He stepped forward, placing himself squarely between Squard and Whitebeard, his eyes burning with fury.
"Damn it!" Zack roared. "Squard! Marco warned me you might try to assassinate Pops—but I never thought you'd actually do it! You bastard! Why would you betray him?!"
Though the assassination failed, the attempt itself sent shockwaves through the battlefield. Both pirates and Marines turned their eyes toward the Moby Dick in disbelief.
"Damn it… he failed?" Akainu cursed under his breath, teeth clenched. "Useless trash."
"What just happened?!"
"Squard tried to kill Pops?!"
"He's been with us for twenty years—how could he do this?!"
The Whitebeard Pirates were stunned. Fear, confusion, and disbelief rippled through their ranks. No one could accept it—Squard had sailed under Whitebeard's flag for decades. How could such loyalty crumble in an instant?
Squard stared at Zack's blade blocking his path and understood immediately—
I've lost my chance.
His face twisted with anguish as he shouted hoarsely,
"I was forced into this! You drove me to it!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Zack snapped, shaking with anger and confusion.
At that moment, Whitebeard finally turned around.
Unlike the others, his expression was calm—almost sorrowful.
"So Marco was right," Whitebeard said quietly. "The Marines really did try to turn you.
Is it because of Ace?"
Squard froze.
Whitebeard's words struck him harder than any blade. The fact that Whitebeard already knew the truth made doubt flicker in his heart—but that doubt was instantly consumed by burning hatred.
He clenched his fists and roared.
"That's right! It's because of Ace!"
Then, abandoning all restraint, Squard shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice carrying across the battlefield:
"Everyone, listen to me! We've all been deceived!
Whitebeard has already colluded with the Marines!"
The surrounding pirate crews stiffened.
"He's decided to sacrifice the captains and crews of our forty-three allied pirate fleets… all to save Fire Fist Ace!"
Squard's voice cracked with fury.
"I didn't even know Ace was Roger's son! My comrades were slaughtered by Roger—yet you never told me the truth! Instead, you let me become friends with Ace like a fool! You want to groom him as the next Pirate King, while the rest of us are nothing but expendable pawns!"
He raised his arm, pointing wildly toward the battlefield.
"Look around! The Pacifistas are only attacking our allied crews!
The retreat is sealed by massive ice walls—we can't even escape if we wanted to!"
His breathing grew ragged as fear and rage surged together.
"In the end, only we—the allied pirates—will die!
When we're wiped out, your Whitebeard Pirates and Ace will walk away alive!"
Squard's eyes burned with desperation as he screamed:
"We trusted you! We followed you into this hell!
And this is how you repay us?!"
His voice broke as he roared one last accusation:
"We're all going to die—while you and your sons survive!
Tell me, Whitebeard… how could I ever forgive you for that?!"
"Idiot! You've been deceived, Squard!" Zack roared the moment he heard those accusations.
"That's right!"
"How could you fall for such an obvious lie?!"
"You've been played, Squard!"
The Whitebeard Pirates erupted in angry rebuttal.
Yet among the allied pirate crews, doubt began to spread.
"Pops… is it true?"
"Say something, Pops!"
"Captain Marco, what's really going on here?!"
Unlike the core Whitebeard Pirates, the allied crews didn't share deep bonds with Ace. What they shared was respect—faith—in Whitebeard himself.
But now, faced with the overwhelming terror of the Pacifista, with their terrifying firepower and iron defenses, fear gnawed at them.
Marco raised his voice, shouting across the battlefield.
"This is nothing but a Marine scheme! Trust Pops—please, just trust him!"
Whitebeard finally spoke, his voice calm yet heavy with authority.
"So this is Sengoku's plan…"
He looked at Squard, his gaze steady.
"Marco warned me that you might try to assassinate me. That surprised me. I wondered what kind of price the Marines would offer one of my sons to betray me."
A pause.
"But I never imagined you'd swallow such a poorly crafted lie."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"You truly are… an incorrigible fool of a son."
As he spoke, Whitebeard reached out.
Squard trembled, convinced his life was about to end. He squeezed his eyes shut—but instead of pain, he felt arms wrap around him.
Squard froze.
Whitebeard pulled him into a firm embrace and said quietly,
"Even so… you are still my son."
With his free hand, Whitebeard produced a recording transponder snail and activated it.
Marco's voice echoed across the deck:
"Old Man, I've confirmed it.
The Marines are indeed planning to turn Squard.
Their story is that you made a secret deal with the Marines—sacrificing the forty-three allied pirate crews in exchange for Ace's life—so they want Squard to assassinate you."
The recording cut off.
Squard's face drained of color.
"…How could this be?" he whispered, disbelief flooding his eyes. "So everything I heard was…"
Whitebeard looked down at him, his voice firm yet gentle.
"I know your hatred for Roger. The Marines used that hatred against you."
He continued, his words carrying the weight of the sea itself:
"Whether it's you… or Ace… you are all my sons."
"Why should a son bear the sins of his father?"
"Ace wasn't even born when Roger died.
Tell me—has Ace ever harmed you?"
"You and Ace endured hardship together. You fought side by side. You shared the same ship."
His gaze swept across the deck.
"We are all children of the sea, brought together by the ocean."
"Didn't you and Ace become friends?"
"Ace isn't special," Whitebeard declared. "You all are."
Then—
Whitebeard drew back both fists.
BOOOOOOM!
Tremendous shockwaves erupted outward as he struck the air, shattering the towering ice walls—hundreds of meters high—on both sides of Crescent Bay into countless fragments.
His voice thundered across Marineford:
"If you are pirates—then choose for yourselves what to believe!"
"Those with resolve—follow me!"
"Crush the Marines!"
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then—
"I knew it!"
"How could Pops ever betray us?!"
"We swear to follow you to the end!"
"Take down the Marines!"
Morale surged like a tidal wave as the Whitebeard Pirates and their allied crews roared in unison, their fighting spirit reignited by the words of the man they called Pops.