The Fallen Soldiers

After the three Admirals returned to the square, the Division Captains were not focused on them anymore.

Marco, who noticed that Little Oars Jr. was in danger, immediately transformed into a Phoenix and flew toward him.

Fortunately, Marco was fast. Before Onigumo's blade could reach Little Oars Jr.'s arm, he kicked Onigumo away with his talon.

Bang!

Onigumo was smashed into the thick wall of the square.

Marco, who had reverted into human form but still retained two flaming blue wings on his back, laughed, "I already told you that there's a price to pay for attacking our comades."

"Hooo, as expected of Whitebeard's 1st Division Captain – Marco the Phoenix. You're really scary. But, have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?" Kizaru said with a smirk.

Kizaru turned into a golden light and suddenly appeared next to Marco in the next second.

Bam!!!

A dazzling golden light burst out, and Marco was instantly sent flying and fell on the ice.

However, the blue Flames of Regeneration ignited on Marco's body, and he quickly stood up as if nothing had happened.

"That's really dangerous, Admiral-sama. I was nearly kicked to death." Marco said with a smile.

Kizaru raised one of his eyebrows. He didn't expect that he would meet a bird of the same feather. Marco turned out to be as sarcastic as him.

Swish!

Little Oars Jr. suddenly swung his gigantic sword at Kizaru, who was floating not far away from him.

Kizaru pointed his finger at the incoming sword with a smirk on his face.

Siu!!

A laser beam was fired toward the incoming sword, piercing through both the blade and Little Oars Jr.s chest.

Even Little Oars Jr.s durable body couldn't block Kizaru's laser beam, and blood gushed out from the hole in his chest.

He was an Admiral, after all. Even Marco could only keep an Admiral occupied for so long, let alone Little Oars Jr..

But Nagasawa naturally would not just watch as Little Oars Jr. getting attacked by Kizaru like this. He used Tremor-Tremor Fruit's ability and aimed a punch at Kizaru.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The air exploded like a shattered mirror, and a powerful vibration force made its way toward Kizaru.

Kizaru, who was about to finish off Little Oars Jr., noticed Nagasawa's movement and instantly left.

Rumble!!

The vibration force hit the wall and destroyed it to pieces.

The other Marines rushed toward Nagasawa. Although they knew that they were no match for Nagasawa, they couldn't just watch as he destroyed the headquarters like this.

Nagasawa didn't waste his time on ordinary Marines. After forcing Kizaru back, he also began to command his men to engage the incoming Marines.

For some reason, the Marines in the bay began to retreat toward the square.

Garp, who was sitting at an Admiral's seat, heard the notification from the Den Den Mushi. He trembled as he clenched his fists.

"Cancel the initial execution plan and execute Ace in advance."

This was an emergency order for all the Marines.

Garp stood up and walked to the execution platform. The scene of him hugging Ace for the first time in his life came into his mind.

The crying Ace miraculously stopped crying and slept peacefully once he held him in his arms.

Garp walked toward Ace's side in the execution platform and focused his gaze ahead as if he was observing the battlefield.

"Gramps." When Ace saw Garp, he immediately addressed him with his usual nickname.

"What are you doing here? Do you have any objections to this war?" Sengoku questioned Garp when he saw him walking to Ace.

Although he and Garp had been friends for decades, and he trusted Garp very much, it was hard not to doubt Garp considering the relationship between Garp and Ace.

Because, at this moment, Garp's position was too important. If Garp betrayed, the Marines would be finished in more ways than one.

Was there anything more shameful than the Marine Hero betraying the Marines?

"No, he is a pirate. He is not worthy of sympathy." Garp said in a deep voice.

"Then..." Sengoku assumed that he didn't have any objections, but he was interrupted by Garp.

"Shut up!" Garp's voice suddenly became louder.

In the whole of Marineford, the only one who dared to do this to the Fleet Admiral was only Garp.

"So what if I want to sit here?" Garp sat down cross-legged and looked ahead.

He recalled Ace's childhood in his mind.

One time, he first heard Ace say that he wanted to sail to sea and become a pirate. Garp gave Ace his iron fist of love without hesitation before telling Ace to become a Marine in the future.

But Ace was not afraid of him at all. Although he was beaten black and blue, he still resolutely said that he wanted to become a pirate, and instead of calling him grandpa, he just addressed him as Gramps. Garp was so angry that he wanted to give Ace another iron fist of love, but he just let it go. Before long, Luffy actually said that he wanted to sail to sea with Ace. This drove Garp crazy, and he smacked Luffy immediately. Seeing that Garp actually hit Luffy, Ace protected Luffy and yelled at Garp. At night, Garp took Ace and Luffy out for dinner. He repeatedly stressed that they would be a Marine in the future and they could eat as much as they wanted if they became a Marine. However, it fell on deaf ears as they only cared about food.

"Criminals are not worthy of sympathy, but a family is different." The tears from Garp's eyes couldn't stop after saying this.

The man who once destroyed Rocks Pirates and drove Roger into a corner several times, the man who was called the Marine Hero, cried.

Although he and Ace were not related by blood, he had always thought of him as his grandson.

And now, his grandson was about to be executed, but he couldn't help him. Even Garp couldn't bring himself to look at Ace. He was afraid that he would see Ace's face and he couldn't help but attack.

"What should I do? Ace, you bastard, why don't you live according to what I said?"

Garp's tears and snot came out uncontrollably. At this moment, he was not the famous Marine Hero, he was just an old man who was overwhelmed by sadness.

At this moment, it was as if Garp's suit was so heavy that he could hardly breathe.

"Gramps..." Looking at Garp, who usually smiled like a fool showing such a painful expression, Ace felt guilty.

Although he called him gramps, Ace regarded Garp as his own grandfather.

"If you get any funny idea, I will never forgive you, Garp."

Sengoku looked at Garp, who was in grief. He was afraid that Garp would do something stupid when he was so emotional, so he reminded him.

Although he also felt sorry for Garp, and the two had been friends for decades, this was not the time to get personal. He had to think about the big picture.

"If I wanted to do it, I would have done it long ago," Garp said in a deep voice. The justice he believed in didn't allow him to do it.

This execution was too significant that it could affect the world situation.

With Whitebeard Pirates defeated, the momentum of the pirates would be significantly reduced.

Since Roger started the Era of the Great Pirates, there were too many pirates. The Marines needed a decisive victory to curb this situation.

At this moment, suddenly, there was a loud sound from the sky.

The pirates looked up, and a warship fell into the bay.

The warship landed very quickly, and it landed right where Jozu had scooped out the ice earlier.

That place was the only water surface in the bay right now as it was covered in ice.

Most of the pirates on the ship fell into the water, but fortunately, Jinbe was there. Otherwise everyone aboard would've drowned aside from Crocodile.

After being rescued by Jinbei, Luffy quickly ran to the bow and looked for Ace.

Soon, he saw Ace kneeling on the execution platform.

Luffy's eyes lit up, and he shouted: "Ace!!"

Ace saw Luffy calling him and responded loudly: "Luffy!!"

Sengoku saw Luffy, two Seven Warlords of the Sea, and Ivankov of the Revolutionary Army, along with a large number of criminals in their inmate attire.

"Garp, not one of your family again!" Seeing this scene, Sengoku was surprised, but he assumed that Luffy must've escaped from the prison with many other inmates.

"Luffy!" Garp covered his head with his hands and stared at Luffy in shock. He was also shocked by Luffy's arrival.

Nagasawa didn't rush toward the square because he was waiting for this. Now that the last reinforcement was here, he could launch a proper attack.

Although it seemed like Whitebeard Pirates were evenly matched with the Marines, Nagasawa knew this wasn't the case.

The Seven Warlords of the Sea hadn't made their moves, and neither did Sengoku and Garp. Moreover, the hidden Pacifista hadn't appeared either.

The Marines hadn't used their full power yet, but Whitebeard Pirates had already used all their cards except for Nagasawa.

All fourteen Division Captains had made their move, and the forty-three Subordinate Pirates outside were also fighting with all their strength.

The reason why there were so few Vice Admirals here was that most of the Vice Admirals were fighting outside.

Although Luffy himself was not a decent combatant at this point, the people he brought were quite good.

Two Seven Warlords of the Sea, one of the Revolutionary Army executives, and many other criminals from Impel Down. Even if their strength had declined after being imprisoned for quite long, they were once well-known pirates regardless.

This war was about to reach its climax. In order to lure them into the trap, the Marines would execute Ace in advance.

Although Nagasawa knew that this was the Marines' ploy, he had to step in because he couldn't let Ace die.