"Whitebeard... is he dead?"

"This... it looks like he's dead..."

"This can't be real, can it?"

"How could he die? Whitebeard's still standing! Have you ever seen someone die on their feet?"

"There's that saying, right? Even in death, his body didn't fall. He died standing!"

"And judging by his injuries, with all that blood, there's no way he could've survived, right?"

"It'd be better if he's dead. Whitebeard is finally gone!"

At that moment, in the plaza of the Sabaody, a massive crowd stared at the broadcast from the ravaged Marineford, the screen showing the ruins of the Marine Headquarters.

The once proud and imposing Marine Headquarters was now completely leveled.

Yet no one was focused on that. What held everyone's attention was Whitebeard, still standing despite his countless wounds and the blood covering him.

He stood there... eyes closed.

Was he dead?

But how can someone die standing up?

Or was he still alive?

But if so, why wasn't he moving?

"Whitebeard..."

Sengoku murmured, frowning as he stared at him. The other marines who'd stayed behind rather than chasing the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates also gazed silently.

Was Whitebeard truly dead?

Yet he remained standing.

"Whitebeard, any last words?"

On Elior's side, he was closest to Whitebeard — barely five meters away. Naturally, he could still sense faint breathing; Whitebeard's chest was rising and falling, ever so slightly.

But Elior knew well — it wouldn't be long now. Whitebeard was almost done.

"Will you go after... the Whitebeard Pirates?"

Whitebeard's voice was weak, his arms trembled faintly — a sign to all that he wasn't dead yet.

Some had already begun celebrating Whitebeard's death, but now they were struck silent in fear.

Whitebeard, aware that he had no strength left to fight, seemed to be surrendering to Elior. But it wasn't for his own life — it was for Marco and the others. Throughout his life, Whitebeard saw his crew as his greatest treasure — not wealth, not power, not fame.

Not even Laugh Tale.

To Whitebeard, family was everything.

And now, he could no longer protect them from Elior.

All he could do was beg that Elior wouldn't kill Marco and the others.

"I won't."

Elior's voice was calm. But his mercy came with conditions — so long as Marco and the others didn't provoke him, he wouldn't pursue them.

Still, the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates were formidable.

In the original timeline, they suffered crushing defeat at the hands of Blackbeard — then faced destruction again by Weevil.

Even without Whitebeard, their core strength remained.

It was a potential threat Elior couldn't ignore.

"The victor takes all. I lost... I only ask that you don't slaughter them all..."

Whitebeard's voice was filled with loneliness. Despite his hatred for Elior, all he cared about now was his family. He knew they stood no chance against Elior.

Memories washed over him — of meeting Marco after the fall of the Rocks Pirates, of encounters with the Ice Witch... decades of family memories aboard the Moby Dick.

"My life... it should be enough. They gave me everything, but I failed to give them a new era. Ace... Roger... in the end, I couldn't protect your bloodline either... he was my son too."

"My beloved sons... forgive your father for leaving behind a monster that even I couldn't defeat... If I had been in better health... just don't provoke him in the future... he's too strong... My sons, live on. Dad... can't protect you anymore..."

Only Whitebeard knew these words in his heart.

"Whitebeard... is he still alive? He's still standing."

Sengoku was uneasy. Only when Whitebeard fell would they truly confirm his death — yet he stood.

But what Whitebeard said next would horrify Sengoku.

Gathering the last ounce of his strength, Whitebeard roared:

"ONE PIECE... DOES EXIST!"

"Whitebeard!!"

Sengoku shouted, his expression morphing into shock and panic. He couldn't believe Whitebeard would say that!

Whitebeard's roar drained the last of his life — yet his voice echoed across all of Marineford and reached the Sabaody Archipelago through the broadcast.

In that instant, across the Marine Headquarters and the Sabaody plaza, everyone froze, barely daring to breathe.

These were Whitebeard's last words. Unlike in the original timeline where he spoke of someone inheriting Roger's will to challenge the World Government, here he only declared:

"ONE PIECE DOES EXIST!"

Even in death, Whitebeard landed a heavy blow on the World Government — though he could no longer strike at Elior.

Whitebeard had been the man closest to the throne. A dear friend of Roger, the Pirate King had once revealed the treasure's existence and location to him.

If Whitebeard said it existed, it must exist. There was no doubting it.

One Piece truly exists.

Upon hearing those words, countless people across Sabaody wore expressions of terror, as if they'd fallen into a nightmare.

People hadn't yet realized it, but just as Roger's last words had launched the Great Pirate Era, Whitebeard's last declaration would push it to its absolute peak.

The World Government and the Marines believed this execution would signal the end of the pirate age — yet the death of the King of the Old Era was instead the prelude to the rise of the King of the New Era.

But that was a story for another time.

"Whitebeard..."

Rayleigh murmured to himself, shaking his head. Roger's bloodline was gone. Now, Whitebeard was too. Rayleigh knew those words had been his final will.

"One Piece really exists? Then I'll be the Pirate King!"

Kid was ecstatic. He hadn't expected Whitebeard to say that, but hearing it now felt like an injection of adrenaline.

Many pirates felt their blood boil.

The Great Pirate Era had lasted over twenty years. Every day, countless pirates poured into the Grand Line chasing One Piece, yet no one had found it. Some even started to believe that Roger had been lying — that One Piece didn't exist at all.

But with Whitebeard's confirmation, there was no more doubt.

One Piece exists.

How could the pirates not be excited? Of course, the common people were terrified.

At Marineford, Sengoku was trembling with rage, while the other marines were gripped by fear.

They knew just how dangerous that one sentence was — how much it meant, and the consequences it carried.

Garp and World both paused.

Dragon and Bullet stopped.

Redfield and Kong stood still.

Every top powerhouse on the battlefield was shaken by those words.

The Red-Haired Pirates, who had just arrived at Marineford's bay, heard them as well — and they, too, couldn't help but be moved.

So the One Piece does exist.

Shanks once missed the treasure because when the Roger Pirates reached Laugh Tale, Buggy fell ill with a severe fever. Shanks stayed behind to care for him, so he never set foot on Laugh Tale.

But even so, Shanks knows the One Piece is real — though it's definitely not the endless wealth that so many pirates imagine it to be.

"The war has gone far beyond what I expected."

The red-haired peacekeeper stood solemn, his expression heavy.

As his crew sailed into the bay, Shanks saw the surviving members of the Whitebeard Pirates escaping, their faces soaked with tears and grief. A grim guess formed in his heart.

"Marco!"

Shanks called out to Marco, who glanced back at them, his face a portrait of sorrow.

"What happened?"

Though he already had an idea, Shanks still wanted to ask.

Marco, his voice heavy with grief, said, "Ace... Ace was killed by that man, Elior. Then Pops... he chose to stay behind and die fighting Elior. But... Pops... he..."

Whitebeard couldn't defeat Elior — let alone kill him.

In the end, Whitebeard gave his life.

"I see."

Shanks let out a long sigh.

As the Red Force entered the bay, neither the Marines nor the pirates dared to act recklessly. Standing before them was Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, with his elite crew.

The Red-Haired Pirates — the crew with the highest average bounty and the highest collective strength among the Yonko.

Their overall power was simply terrifying.

"Kizaru. Don't move."

At that moment, Ben Beckman pointed his gun directly at Kizaru, who had been about to fire a laser.

"Oh? Beckman..."

Kizaru froze immediately, raising his hands with his usual lazy expression.

"Shanks!"

Smoker clenched his fists in frustration, but in the end, he could only glare helplessly. He knew very well that against Shanks and his crew, he was nothing but an ant.

Shanks and his men advanced, anchoring the Red Force amidst the melting ice. They disembarked onto the devastated Marineford plaza.

It was at this moment that the red-haired crew came fully into view — both for those at Marineford and for the civilians watching from Sabaody Archipelago.

They weren't a large group, but their presence was overwhelming. As one of the Four Emperors, their mere arrival was enough to strike fear into countless hearts.

"The Red-Haired Yonko actually showed up!"

"Red-Haired Shanks!"

"Are we... are we still going to fight?"

The weaker marines were filled with despair, while civilians felt as though the world was collapsing around them.

Today's events at Marineford were nothing short of a nightmare.

"Shanks! You bastard!"

Even Sengoku was shaken when Shanks appeared. Thankfully, he wasn't a man with heart problems — otherwise, today's events might've killed him outright.

Everything had spiraled far beyond what the Marine Headquarters and World Government had anticipated.

Though one thing went according to plan: Ace and Whitebeard were both dead.

After Whitebeard's final words, there was no further movement from him.

He died standing — his body refusing to fall, proud even in death.

A tragic yet heroic end.

Every marine watched Shanks warily.

Shanks scanned the marines, then his gaze settled on Elior, who stood some distance away — across the massive chasm that Whitebeard had created.

But ten minutes earlier, when Whitebeard declared his final words, his life had come to an end.

Yet he never fell.

His cloak, adorned with the Whitebeard Pirates' symbol, still fluttered in the breeze.

In that moment — Whitebeard was dead.

His life had ended.

But his body stood unbowed.

Elior couldn't help but admire him.

Not just anyone could die standing.

Perhaps in this world, only Whitebeard could accomplish that.

Truly, the strongest man in the world.

[Ding! System notification detected. Do you want to sing in?]

Suddenly, the familiar voice of his system echoed in Elior's mind. Just like when Blackbeard died, Whitebeard's death had triggered a sign-in opportunity.

Was it that every time a "boss" level opponent died, the system would activate?

Naturally, that meant the rewards would be significant.

"Sign in!"

Elior accepted without hesitation. Though he wondered — would the reward be the Tremor-Tremor Fruit?

[Sign-in complete. Reward: [Honkai: Awakening]!]

"Honkai?"

For a moment, Elior was puzzled by the name. But soon, a surge of power flooded his body, along with the knowledge of how to use it.

He quickly understood — this ability was akin to the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, but with key differences. Unlike Whitebeard's fruit, which required hands or weapons to release its power, Honkai could be triggered purely by thought. Of course, he could still activate it through his hands, feet, or weapons — but the sheer ease of activation by thought alone was terrifying.

If Elior stood still and simply willed it, Marineford could crumble on the spot.

It was reminiscent of Golden Lion Shiki levitating islands — no one knew how he managed it, either.

Elior couldn't help but marvel at the power he'd gained.

In truth, Honkai was like obtaining an evolved, alternative version of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

Ten minutes later, Elior now faced the Red-Haired Pirates.

"If you still want to fight... then I'll take you on, Elior!"

Shanks drew his sword, Gryphon, and pointed it at Elior, his stance ready for battle. Beckman and the others followed suit.

"Red-Hair... don't think for a second that I'm afraid of you."

Elior smiled coolly.

Though he'd been fighting endlessly, killing countless top-tier opponents, if it came to a battle against Shanks, he might very well get beaten to the ground.

Still — he wasn't afraid of Shanks and his crew.

His pride wouldn't allow it.

"Heh... so arrogant! But he's got the power to back it up."

Doflamingo chuckled from the sidelines. Elior was truly an existence beyond comprehension.