Less than an hour after the World Government announced War Demon Zaraki's death, a battered emergency craft appeared on the horizon outside Marineford.
The vessel looked as though it had barely survived the journey.
Half its paint had been stripped away by seawater, one side of the hull had been cracked badly enough to require makeshift reinforcement, and the engine coughed black smoke every few minutes as it limped toward the harbor.
Standing alone near the bow was the supposedly dead man himself.
Zaraki looked almost as battered as the ship carrying him.
His black clothing had been torn in multiple places and stained dark with dried blood.
Creation Rebirth had repaired the injuries most likely to kill him, but the Strength of a Hundred Seal had consumed a considerable portion of its stored chakra in the process.
More importantly, regeneration had done nothing to replenish the enormous amount of Reiatsu Nozarashi had devoured during his battle with Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro.
Every muscle felt heavy.
His spiritual reserves were frighteningly low.
Even breathing too deeply reminded him of the repeated blows and sword wounds his body had endured before the seal repaired them.
Still, he remained upright.
Marineford grew larger in front of him.
The familiar fortress should have felt ordinary after everything he had seen over the last several days, yet Zaraki found himself staring at it longer than expected.
He had submitted his resignation before leaving on the Fish-Man Island assignment.
Then the World Government had dragged the situation into Mary Geoise, declared him a traitor, announced his death, and attempted to use one of the Five Elders to make that lie reality.
Whatever happened after he stepped onto that dock, there was no chance his relationship with the Marines would ever return to what it had been.
'Might as well finish things properly.'
The emergency craft struck the dock with a rough scraping sound.
Several Marines turned toward it.
One sailor frowned.
Another dropped the crate he had been carrying.
Then someone recognized the black-haired figure stepping onto the pier.
"W-Wait..."
His face went white.
"That's..."
More heads turned.
The reaction spread rapidly across the harbor.
"WAR DEMON?!"
"ZARAKI?!"
"HE'S ALIVE?!"
The announcement rippled through Marineford almost faster than any official alarm.
Men who had spent the last hour staring blankly at the World Government bulletin now abandoned whatever they were doing and rushed toward the harbor.
The official statement had been explicit.
Former Marine Headquarters special envoy War Demon Zaraki had rebelled.
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro had pursued and executed him.
His body had been destroyed.
Yet Zaraki was now walking up the dock in broad daylight.
Very much alive.
The World Economic News Paper had already stationed Visual Den Den Mushi outside Marineford after the Government's announcement.
Morgans had apparently smelled a much larger story behind the official report and refused to rely entirely on information provided by Cipher Pol.
The instant one of his correspondents spotted Zaraki, the live feed began.
Within minutes, images of Marineford were already being relayed across the sea.
Zaraki had barely taken a dozen steps when someone came rushing from the fortress.
Vice Admiral Momonga stopped dead in front of him.
"Zaraki?!"
For several seconds, the normally composed Vice Admiral looked as though he had seen a corpse climb out of its grave.
Then he moved closer and lowered his voice.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
His gaze swept across Zaraki's bloodstained clothing.
"No—forget that. You're alive?"
"Looks that way."
"That isn't funny!"
Momonga's expression tightened.
"The World Government issued its highest-level announcement less than an hour ago. They said Saint Nusjuro killed you after you fled Mary Geoise."
His voice dropped further.
"CP0 has already moved into Headquarters. If they know you're here—"
"They know."
Zaraki looked beyond him.
Momonga followed his gaze.
Several figures had appeared at the far end of the dock.
White suits.
Featureless masks.
CP0.
The leading agent stepped forward.
"Zaraki."
His voice carried no emotion.
"By direct order of the World Government, you are to be taken into custody for the murder of Saint Charlos, destruction of Government property within Mary Geoise, violent resistance against Cipher Pol, and open rebellion against the supreme authority of the World Government."
Marines throughout the dock gradually stopped moving.
Confusion spread through the crowd.
The Government had just told them Zaraki was dead.
Now CP0 had somehow arrived with an arrest order for the supposedly deceased man.
The masked agent continued.
"Place your weapons on the ground and surrender."
His gaze briefly swept across the Marines gathering nearby.
"Any individual who obstructs this arrest will be treated as interfering with a direct World Government operation."
Momonga's expression darkened.
Zaraki merely yawned.
"Could've at least let me get a drink first."
The CP0 agent's body tightened.
Then the temperature began rising.
There was no dramatic warning.
The dock simply grew hotter.
Stone warmed beneath everyone's boots, and several Marines instinctively stepped away from a patch of pavement that had begun glowing faintly red.
Momonga's face changed.
The CP0 agents turned.
A broad figure was walking toward them from inside the fortress.
A Marine coat marked with Justice rested over his shoulders.
A cigar burned between his teeth while molten magma flowed slowly over one forearm, radiating enough heat to distort the air around him.
Marine Headquarters Admiral—Sakazuki.
Akainu.
Every Marine nearby knew Sakazuki and Zaraki had never been particularly close.
Their temperaments clashed.
Their ideas of Justice were almost completely incompatible.
Zaraki treated authority like an inconvenience whenever it interfered with what he wanted to do, while Sakazuki considered order and duty essential to the Marines' existence.
Now Zaraki had murdered a Celestial Dragon and fought one of the Five Elders.
By every reasonable expectation, Sakazuki should have been the first man in Marineford willing to arrest him.
Sakazuki stopped directly in front of Zaraki.
The dock became so quiet that the faint crackling of cooling magma could be heard.
For several long seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Sakazuki drew deeply from his cigar and exhaled.
"You came back."
Three ordinary words.
Yet the reaction they produced across the harbor was almost absurd.
Momonga stared.
Several Marines exchanged bewildered looks.
Even the CP0 agents hesitated.
Zaraki raised an eyebrow.
"Disappointed?"
Sakazuki's eyes narrowed.
"Don't push your luck."
For the first time since reaching Marineford, Zaraki laughed.
...
Far away, Morgans nearly crushed the receiver in his wings.
"KEEP THAT CAMERA ON THEM!"
His eyes gleamed.
"This is it!"
"BIG NEWS!"
"THE WORLD GOVERNMENT DECLARES A MAN DEAD, AND HE WALKS INTO MARINE HEADQUARTERS AN HOUR LATER!"
Every Visual Den Den Mushi under his control began distributing the image.
The World Government's carefully constructed story had lasted less than a day.
Now the entire world was watching it collapse.