The moment the word "ancestor" left Blackbeard's mouth—

The entire battlefield erupted.

Every pair of eyes widened in shock, staring in disbelief at the two figures in the arena—so utterly mismatched in scale, yet now revealed to be… connected?

All across the world, the transponder snails broadcasting from Marineford transmitted this moment live.

And with it, a massive storm was unleashed worldwide.

The newly instated Warlord of the Sea, Blackbeard, had just called that monstrous creature his ancestor.

It was simply beyond belief.

---

Sabaody Archipelago — High in a tree, Rayleigh sat watching the broadcast. His eyes widened as the image of that titanic beast appeared on screen.

Staring at the living mountain of a creature, his voice trembled slightly:

"D. Ghidorah…?"

"Roger..."

Back when he and Roger reached the final island, Laugh Tale, they had uncovered everything. And so, he too knew of the secret that should have never been known.

Now, recalling Roger's wistful words—

"What a shame I wasn't born in that era. I would've loved to witness the legendary 'Ghidorah' myself!"

—it hit him hard.

Roger's regrets… had come to life.

Rayleigh whispered, eyes narrowed:

"Roger… The legends have awakened. The World Government's end may already be upon us."

From this moment forward, the name "Ghidorah" would be forever burned into the memory of the world.

---

North Blue — the darkest and most chaotic of the four seas.

An island near the Calm Belt, home to a small town, had gathered in its square to watch the live broadcast.

At the front sat a hunched old man in a wooden chair, white-haired and wrinkled, but with fierce black eyebrows. His cloudy eyes snapped wide open when Ghidorah appeared on screen. His grip on his cane trembled.

"The Guardian… the Guardian has returned…"

Tears shimmered at the corners of his eyes.

After a long pause, he slowly stood and turned to leave.

"Lord Mu (OC), aren't you watching?" someone asked.

"I'm tired. You all can watch."

And with that, he hobbled away.

Similar scenes played out all across the world.

Among the ancient bloodlines hidden within society, reactions varied—some in awe, others in dread.

With the reawakening of a monster that had slumbered for 800 years, the world itself was beginning to stir… and that included certain forgotten kingdoms.

---

"Heh…"

"Teach…"

"Let's get something straight—don't throw that title around."

"I'm no ancestor of yours. You're not my descendant."

"Joy Boy himself excommunicated the 'Marshall' lineage from the Clan of D."

Ghidorah grinned wickedly as he gazed at the trembling Blackbeard beneath his claw. Then, he opened his jaws, ready to finish him off.

Panicked, Teach screamed, struggling in terror:

"W-Wait!! Wait!!"

"I know where 'Rodan the Sky Lord (OC)' is sealed! I know his location!"

Rodan…?

Ghidorah paused, his mind flooded with memories of that flame-following tag-along from a thousand years ago. For a moment, he lost focus.

Opportunity.

Teach's heart leapt. He roared:

"Vacuum!!"

With a crackling pop, a visible disturbance swept through the air. A milky-white barrier rapidly expanded outward, encompassing the area in a kilometer-wide dome.

"Ugh… help…"

"Gah… I… can't… breathe…"

Several unlucky soldiers caught within the barrier instantly went red in the face, eyes pinpricked in panic, choking and clawing at their throats.

"Zehahahaha!!"

"Surprised, Ghidorah?!"

"This is my second ability—the Gasu Gasu no Mi (Air-Air Fruit). Within this vacuum domain, I control every molecule of air."

"No oxygen, no survival. Let's see how long you last."

"This era belongs to me… the era of Blackbeard!! Zehahahaha!!"

Bloodied but grinning, Teach stood tall before Ghidorah, drunk on his own madness.

Behind him, several marines caught in the vacuum lay dead—faces blackened from asphyxiation.

The sight sent fresh shockwaves through the battlefield.

Everyone's expressions were pale with fear.

---

"Hehehe…"

Just then, from deep inside the suffocating vacuum, a cold laugh echoed out.

"Who ever told you… I needed oxygen to survive?"

"And by the way… that's not how you use the Air-Air Fruit."

Gasps broke out as all eyes snapped toward the source of the voice.

Through the airless field, the colossal beast moved—completely unaffected.

Then, with a thunderous BOOM, Ghidorah's wings spread wide and slammed down like a curtain of night toward Blackbeard.

He was no ordinary creature.

He was a pure-blooded Ghidorah.

His biology had no dependency on oxygen.

So long as his body held together, even space itself wouldn't stop him.

Though… one question still lingered in his mind:

Hadn't Joy Boy hidden the Air-Air Fruit long ago?

Why was it in Teach's hands now?

Whatever the case—this power had to be reclaimed.

If awakened, it would become catastrophic.

---

CRACK—BOOM!!

Ghidorah's massive wings crashed down, unleashing hurricane-force winds that tore the vacuum domain apart like paper.

Caught off guard, Blackbeard was sent flying again, eyes filled with terror.

In that instant, he made his choice—flee.

No more hiding. Using his control over the air, he tried to lift his non-elemental body and fly out of Marineford.

"Hmph. Running? In front of me?"

Ghidorah sneered.

With three simultaneous roars, all three heads unleashed a synchronized electromagnetic blast—

"ZHHMMM!"

Three golden beams laced with buzzing arcs of electricity shot through the air, slamming directly into Blackbeard's escaping form and detonating.

The Graviton Beams shredded through his vacuum defense without hesitation.

BOOM!!

The resulting explosion ignited the very sky, orange flames and shockwaves erupting in all directions.

"Aaaahhh—!! It burns!!"

Blackbeard's body, engulfed in flames, rolled helplessly across the ice.

A moment later, a milky ripple pulsed from his body, extinguishing the fire—using the residual vacuum power.

But when the flames cleared—

What remained was a charred husk.

Blackbeard was covered in burns, unrecognizable, twitching, and broken.

Terrified, he looked up at Ghidorah, crawling, falling to his knees, trembling.

"Cough… Cough… Please… Don't kill me…"

"Ancestor… I am your descendant!"

---

WHOOOSH~!

Ghidorah landed with a booming gust, his golden eyes cold, merciless.

"I already told you—I'm no ancestor of yours."

"And for the record—I don't even have the surname 'Marshall'…"

"Go to hell and beg 'Saki' for forgiveness."

At his final word, Ghidorah's left head, Kevin, roared to the sky.

His golden eyes gleamed with hunger as he lunged forward, razor fangs opening wide.

"No—NO!! Wait!!"

"I'll tell you where Rodan is—just don't—"

"I'll find Rodan myself."

Kevin had no mercy in his heart. His jaws snapped shut, biting down hard on Blackbeard—and the shattered ice beneath him.

CRUNCH…

The grotesque, wet sound of chewing echoed across the battlefield.

---

"Holy shit!!"

"Did… didn't that thing just EAT another Devil Fruit user?!"

"That's TWO now!!"

Onlookers—marine and pirate alike—screamed in horror.

As Ghidorah sensed two new Devil Fruits pulsing inside Kevin, he gave a cold grunt.

Teach was finished.

With that, he turned his piercing gaze toward the Marineford stronghold.

"What are you planning to do, Uranos D. Ghidorah?!"

From the ramparts, Sengoku's face was darker than storm clouds.

In his panic, he'd uttered the monster's forbidden full name aloud.

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