Chapter 506: The Bloodline of the Pirate King Revealed

“Ace, state your father’s name.”

Fleet Admiral Sengoku held up the Transponder Snail in his left hand, his eyes locked straight ahead as he spoke with solemn authority.

Ace’s expression darkened instantly. He turned his head to the left to glance angrily at Sengoku standing beside him.

“Old man?”

“What’s going on? Why now, of all times?”

“Besides, doesn’t everyone know Whitebeard is Ace’s old man?”

People watching Sengoku’s every move through the Visual Transponder Snail couldn’t help but question if he was just stalling for time.

Ace guessed Sengoku might have learned his real father’s name, but he’d always hated the blood that man left him. He turned his head back, closed his eyes tight.

“My old man is Whitebeard.”

“Wrong!”

Sengoku’s unwavering tone shattered Ace’s last hope. The man before him was set on tearing open his most painful wounds, but Ace still wanted to deny it one more time.

“There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“It’s only Whitebeard. Nobody else.”

This time, Sengoku didn’t respond. Instead, he steered the conversation in another direction.

“Back then, we searched with our eyes wide open, desperate to find if that man had left a child somewhere on an island. We relied on the last scraps of intelligence from Cipher Pol and the slimmest possibility.”

“We thoroughly investigated every newborn and every expectant parent, leaving no child unchecked, but found nothing at all.”

“No wonder. Your birth came at the cost of your mother’s life. You could even say it was a calculated scheme on her part.”

“She fooled our eyes—no, she fooled the eyes of the world.”

“On an island in the South Blue called Baterilla, your mother, Portgas D. Rouge, did something far beyond our imagination.”

“All for her child, she carried you in her womb for twenty months.”

“And when you were finally born, she was utterly exhausted. She died right then and there.”

“A year and three months after your father died, the child who inherited the world’s most notorious bloodline was born.”

“That child was you.”

“There’s no way you didn’t know.”

Sengoku lowered his gaze to look at Ace, who was kneeling on the ground, gritting his teeth in anguish.

Down below, Garp suddenly recalled Roger’s request to him back in the prison. “Garp, I’ll leave my child in your care.”

“Your father is the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!”

With those words, every Marine present was stunned. Even the crowds watching through the Visual Transponder Snail were struck speechless.

Ace is really Roger’s son?

“Fire Fist Ace—he’s the son of Gol D. Roger.”

“That’s huge news. Notify headquarters and get the special edition ready, now!”

“Is he… still alive?”

“The Pirate King’s bloodline!”

Journalists all over the world scrambled to issue breaking news reports.

At Navy Headquarters, the likes of Boa Hancock, Hawk Eyes, Moria, and Doflamingo—all members of the Seven Warlords—turned in shock to look at the man on the execution platform.

“Roger’s son?”

“His real son survived? That’s a miracle. Anyone connected to Roger should have been executed back then.”

Koby: “I heard he was Luffy’s brother, so I figured he was Dragon’s kid, just like Luffy.”

“Wait, what’s the deal? Aren’t they real brothers?”

“Wasn’t it two years ago?”

“That’s when you started using your mother’s name as the captain of the Spade Pirates. As you raced across the sea with your strength and speed, you finally caught our attention.”

“Roger’s bloodline hadn’t ended after all. At the same moment, Whitebeard realized this and set out to raise you as the next Pirate King.”

“He made his old rival’s son one of his own crew.”

Ace roared in anger. “That’s not true! I only joined Whitebeard’s crew so I could help him become Pirate King!”

“That may be what you think, but the truth is we couldn’t move on you recklessly because Whitebeard was protecting you.”

Hearing ‘protecting’ made Ace freeze in surprise.

“If we’d left you alone, you’d definitely have risen to stand at the very top, just like the pirates of the last era.”

“That’s why taking your life here today matters so much. Even if it means total war with Whitebeard, we won’t hesitate.”

“Fleet Admiral Sengoku, report! The Gate of Justice just opened on its own, no orders given. We can’t reach the control room.”

“What did you say?”

When it rains, it pours. Sengoku never dreamed that Navy Headquarters had already been infiltrated like a sieve. One Gate of Justice swinging open was enough to leave him speechless.

That meant there was a spy inside the Navy. Now there was a gaping hole for the Whitebeard Pirates to exploit.

Boa Hancock: “It’s way too quiet!”

Doflamingo: “Something’s definitely off.”

The sea inside Marineford’s curved inner bay was eerily calm, not a sound anywhere. Not even a single bird flew overhead. A heavy, murderous tension filled the air.

A Marine lookout, stationed high atop a watchtower, peered into the distant fog through his telescope. Suddenly, shadow after shadow appeared—on closer inspection, they were pirate sails.

“They’re here!”

The shout rang out as the harsh alarm blared, throwing all one hundred thousand elite Marines into combat readiness.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

The defensive cannons locked onto the looming shapes in the distance.

“They came out of nowhere. Where did they come from?” Sengoku stared in disbelief at the sudden appearance of the pirate fleet.

Even if the Gate of Justice opened, pirates shouldn’t have arrived this quickly.

“It’s the pirates’ grand fleet.”

“Find Whitebeard! Now, confirm his position!”

“There’s Doma the Cavalier, Lightning Makugei, the Decalban Brothers, the Great Whirlpool Spider Squard—each one a top master from the New World, all famous captains from the Four Seas.”

“That’s forty-three ships in all. No sign of the Whitebeard Pirates themselves, but there’s no doubt these ships serve under Whitebeard.”

Decalban Brothers: “Have you seen Ace?”

“Don’t be afraid, Ace! We’re here for you!”

“Even you all showed up…” Ace’s heart twisted—he never wanted these men to come try and rescue him.

After all, getting out of Navy Headquarters in one piece is no easy feat.

It might mean huge losses, and seeing his crewmates die would be the last thing Ace would wish for before he died.

“Shall we attack?”

“No, not yet. Wait. Whitebeard must be close by.”

“He has to be planning something. Everyone, keep sharp and watch the sea.”

“Heh, heh, heh!”

Suddenly, Doflamingo let out a low laugh. “Now this is interesting. I can hardly sit still!”

“Come on, Whitebeard Pirates. Show us what you’ve got.”

Gurgle, gurgle…

All three Admirals crossed their right legs over their left. Admiral Udyr twitched his left ear as he listened intently to a bubbling sound, his gaze fixed on the inner sea.

At that moment, bubbles began rising all over the sea inside the harbor. Sengoku stared at the lake with disbelief. “Don’t tell me…”

Behind him, Garp glanced at Vice Admiral Tsuru, sweat beading on her forehead.

“That guy… you don’t think he’s going to show up from some completely unexpected place, do you?”

“Did we set up our defenses wrong?”

Vice Admiral Tsuru immediately realized—if the main Whitebeard Pirates appeared inside the harbor, then all their firepower and manpower deployed around the island would be useless.