Chapter 525: A Father’s Stand at Navy Headquarters
by xennovel“Is this… Navy Headquarters?!”
“Everyone came here to rescue me.”
“Listen up! I’m already out, so everybody fall back now!”
The moment Ace regained consciousness, he grasped how dire the situation was. He scrambled to his feet and yelled anxiously.
Every second wasted meant more comrades risking their lives. Right now, escaping was more important than fighting. Ace had been saved—the pirates no longer needed to push deeper into the fray.
His eyes darted up toward the sky, where Whitebeard was still locked in a brutal airborne clash with Sengoku and the others.
“Dad!”
Bang!
Whitebeard’s ears caught the familiar cry below. He clenched his left fist tight and slammed it forward. Crack!
The space around him shattered in chunks. Kong and the others quickly pulled back, trying to avoid the raw power unleashed in that instant.
“Gurararara! My beloved son’s been saved!”
“Now I give my final command as captain—everyone, evacuate Navy Headquarters. Move!”
“Dad!”
“Dad!!”
“Dad, he…”
Marco, standing closest, understood exactly what Whitebeard meant.
Their old man was ready to lay down his life, holding back the Navy’s top powerhouses so the rest of them could escape.
After all this time fighting, the lower ranks on both sides were evenly matched, but the Navy still held more commanders. Worse still, those two Holy Knights hadn’t even joined in yet.
No one really knew why those two Holy Knights were standing motionless, but if they jumped in, the tide of battle would turn in a heartbeat. The Whitebeard Pirates could be wiped out.
What none of them realized was that Whitebeard’s order wasn’t just tactical—it was to keep his crew out of an even bloodier fight ahead. He couldn’t bear to watch his children fall, one after another, right before his eyes.
“Whitebeard, you’re not as young as you used to be.”
“Trying to shield your juniors from harm? Don’t kid yourself. You’re our target.”
Sengoku made no effort to hide his intent.
He’d always wanted to take down Whitebeard. Without their leader, the pirate crew would soon splinter, and the New World’s other pirates would swarm in like sharks. The collapse of the Whitebeard Pirates would be only a matter of time.
“Gurarara, we’re both old foxes, Sengoku. Who are you trying to fool?”
Whitebeard Newgate knew exactly who the Navy was after.
That knowledge was why he had faith he could singlehandedly block the Navy, giving his sons the window they needed to escape.
“But if you want to take me down, you’d better show me what you’ve got!”
“Quake!”
Up until now, Whitebeard had only used his basic strength. He’d never unleashed the full power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
He’d held back, fearing Sengoku would target Ace in secret. If anything happened during the execution, his old friend’s son could be killed. Not knowing Roger was alive, all he wanted was to protect Ace. But with Ace out, he could finally stop holding back.
A shockwave more than ten times stronger than before tore through the void. In the air, deep black cracks appeared, and through those fissures, you could even glimpse starlight beyond.
“What the—?”
“Is this for real?”
“No way—he wasn’t even going all-out before?”
“What changed? Why now?”
Kong, Garp, and Sengoku were all floored. Whitebeard Newgate had just been on the ropes, ready to be overwhelmed by their attack.
So how did he suddenly erupt with such overwhelming force?
Could it be that the Tremor-Tremor Fruit’s side effects never touched him? But how was that possible?
If those side effects could be shrugged off so easily, someone else would’ve mastered this fruit long ago. Only Whitebeard had ever truly wielded its full might.
That’s because at its peak, the fruit gave maybe ten or twenty years of true power—after that, its strength dropped off a cliff. If it were any different, the Giants would have claimed it as a national treasure. Given their natural strength, the fruit would make them unstoppable.
Even with doubts swirling, the trio pushed back as hard as they could—if the tremors reached the ground, Navy Headquarters would be ruined forever.
Worse, the Navy’s own noncombatants around the battlefield would be caught in the crossfire.
“Iron Fist—Meteor!”
“Buddha Shockwave!”
“Bone Fist—Meteor!”
Boom!
The clash of their attacks cracked the sky with thunder, despite the midday sun.
Down below, the pirates had already started a hasty but organized retreat at Whitebeard’s command.
The Navy fought tooth and nail to hold them back, but it was no use. The further they pressed, the more pirates regrouped and escaped.
Though the fighting was fierce, from above, the armies were now sharply divided—distinct lines drawn between Navy and pirate forces.
When the last few pirates merged into the dock area, the separation was complete. On the left, hordes of pirates; on the right, the massive ranks of the Navy.
“Are you ignoring my orders? I’m still your captain! Pull out of Navy Headquarters, all of you!”
Whitebeard’s booming command was aimed at Marco, urging him to lead the others away. But that shout had another effect—it forced Roger to lift his pressure from the two Holy Knights.
“Go on then, you’re free for now. Makes no difference—the outcome’s the same.”
Roger, now fully conscious, knew he had a different assignment: to keep the battle at Navy Headquarters raging. He couldn’t keep suppressing the Holy Knights.
Worst case, he’d deal with them personally later. Either way, he’d settle the score.
“Dad, if you’re leaving, we’re leaving together.”
“That’s right, Dad, the Whitebeard Pirates will never abandon a single member—and that includes you.”
“Let’s go back to the New World together, Dad.”
Whitebeard’s deep affection for his crew was clear to everyone.
The entire crew gathered at the harbor, shouting up to Whitebeard, wanting him to escape alongside them.
But Whitebeard knew the truth about his own condition. If they didn’t leave now, if the war spread any further, it was impossible to say how many of his children would survive.
“Then… ugh—”
For a moment, Whitebeard let his guard drop. Instantly, a golden spear was rammed into his chest.
“Think you’re getting away? None of you are leaving!”
Meadow held the other end of that golden spear. He twisted it, grinding it deeper and causing even greater damage inside Whitebeard.
Whoosh!
Whitebeard recovered in a flash, eyes wild. Swinging Cloud Cutter upward, he slashed Meadow away—sending him and his reckless right hand flying.
“Dad!”
Marco flared his wings and rushed to Whitebeard’s side, pressing his palm to the wound and channeling his powers to heal him.
As he felt his wounds closing fast under Marco’s treatment, Whitebeard stared resolutely ahead. “Marco, get everyone out.”
“That’s an order, not a request.”