Seeing Blackbeard attempting to flee, Sengoku refused to let the opportunity slip away.
"Don't even think about escaping!" he roared. "After him—pursue at once!"
"Chase him!"
"Capture Blackbeard!"
The Marines surged forward in a roaring tide.
At the front of the pursuit, Akainu charged ahead, his body blazing with molten fury.
"You think you can escape right in front of me?!" he bellowed. "Great Eruption!"
"Catch him—do not let him get away!" Sengoku shouted again. "Other than Blackbeard, all remaining enemies may be executed on the spot!"
Sengoku's mind raced. If Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit truly possessed the ability to steal other Devil Fruit powers, then Blackbeard alone was worth more than all the pirates killed today. And if the rumors of three hearts were true—then capturing him would more than compensate for the staggering losses of this war.
Meanwhile—Trailing at the very rear of the Marine forces, Marco finally reached Whitebeard's body.
By now, Marines had already surrounded it. After all, this was the corpse of the strongest man in the world—a symbol they could exploit to proclaim absolute victory.
Marco approached silently.
Noticing that Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, and Akainu had all moved some distance away in pursuit of Blackbeard, Marco's eyes sharpened.
"Phoenix Flame!"
Blue fire erupted violently from his body, blasting away the Marines guarding Whitebeard in all directions. In one swift motion, Marco seized a massive Justice flag, wrapped Whitebeard's body within it—and took to the sky.
"It's Marco!"
"How is he here?!"
"Damn it—he was disguised as a Marine! He blended right in among us!"
The Marines erupted into chaos.
"He's taking Whitebeard's body!"
"Stop him!"
"That corpse is proof of Marine victory—we can't let him escape with it!"
"Fire the cannons! Shoot him down!"
Carrying Whitebeard, Marco shot upward at full speed. Though speed was currently his weakest attribute, flight more than made up for it—this was no domain where the Marines held an advantage.
"Marco… you bastard…"
Sengoku turned back just in time to see Marco soaring higher and higher into the sky, his expression darkening further. For the first time in years, he felt as though he had been thoroughly outplayed—despite all his careful planning.
The exhaustion finally caught up to him.
Aokiji assessed the situation quickly and spoke decisively.
"Sengoku-san, Marco can fly. If he gains too much altitude, there's nothing we can do. We should prioritize capturing the Blackbeard Pirates."
Sengoku clenched his fists.
Right now, only one thing mattered.
Capturing Blackbeard.
"Pursue them!" he barked. "We must capture Blackbeard at all costs! We cannot allow those criminals to escape!"
Akainu followed the order, though contempt simmered in his heart. The Marines had held every advantage—yet under Sengoku's command, the war had descended into humiliation. Still, he said nothing. As long as they could seize the Blackbeard Pirates, some semblance of Marine dignity could be salvaged.
High above, Marco broke through the clouds.
The battlefield below vanished beneath the white sea. A grin spread across his face.
"At this height, even Moonwalk won't be able to catch up," he muttered. "Next, I'll rendezvous with everyone and retreat."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Though I still need to watch out for that old monkey, Kizaru."
With that, Marco spread his wings and soared toward his crew.
At the same time, the paddle steamer, now fully loaded with its crew, surged forward across the frozen sea. Watching the paddle steamer rapidly pull away from Marineford, Kizaru scratched his head in mild frustration.
"This is really troublesome~ I never expected the Whitebeard Pirates to have a paddle steamer hidden away like this."
"Don't let them escape—destroy the ship!" Yamakaji shouted, immediately giving chase.
Now that everyone had boarded, the paddle steamer's speed increased dramatically. Ordinary Marines were left far behind almost instantly; only elite officers at the Vice Admiral level could even hope to keep up.
"Don't let them damage the ship!"
"Fire the cannons—fire immediately!"
From the deck, the pirates turned their cannons toward the pursuing Marines and returned fire without pause. Shells roared across the ice, forcing the Marines to slow down as the distance between them steadily widened.
Seeing the Marines grow smaller and smaller behind them—while Marine warships remained completely immobilized by the ice—the pirates burst into cheers.
"We've put real distance between us and the Marines!"
"They can't move at all, but we can run freely across the ice!"
"We're saved this time!"
Relief washed over the deck, smiles breaking out everywhere. But Jozu raised his voice sharply, cutting through the celebration.
"Don't let your guard down!" he warned. "Until we make it back to the New World, the Marines could ambush us at any moment. This is our only ship—we absolutely cannot let it be damaged!"
"Yes!"
"Don't worry!"
"Even if it costs my life, I won't let the Marines touch this ship!"
"We actually made it… we saved Ace and survived!"
Cheers erupted once more.
Buggy and the Impel Down prisoners also let out long, shaky breaths. At the very least, they had escaped Marineford alive.
"By the way…" someone suddenly asked, "where's Captain Marco? He'll be alright, won't he?"
The mood shifted slightly. Vista's expression darkened as he answered solemnly,
"Have faith in Marco. With his strength, even if he fails to retrieve Pops' body, escaping on his own won't be a problem. Right now, we need to focus on protecting ourselves."
"Wait just a moment~"
A lazy, familiar voice drifted down from above.
"Kizaru…!"
The Whitebeard Pirates looked up sharply, their expressions tightening.
"He's still chasing us?"
"We're already this far from Marineford!"
Hovering in the sky, Kizaru sighed theatrically.
"I don't really have a choice~ Sengoku-san gave the order. If I let you all escape, the Marines would lose far too much face this time."
He raised a glowing hand, golden light gathering at his fingertips.
"So… let me sink your ship first, okay?"
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
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