The unrestrained laughter of Shiki loomed over the heads of the crowd.
Everyone gazed at the three legendary Marine figures standing beside Ace on the execution platform.
The three of them wore different expressions, but their faces showed no change in response to Shiki's taunts.
"Shiki! You old bastard!"
"Did you come here to stir up trouble because the world was too quiet? Do you want us to capture you again?" Sengoku's eyes were glaring at him, his voice steady yet icy as he spoke.
Ever since Shiki had escaped from Impel Down, the Marine's intelligence departments had been searching for traces of this great pirate, but they had obtained no valuable information.
If it weren't for the occasional sightings of black animals in the East Blue, they wouldn't even have known what Shiki had been up to all these years.
"Hmph!"
"If it weren't for you and Garp ganging up on me back then, would I have been captured by you?" Shiki glanced at Sengoku with disdain, his tone full of contempt.
By the execution platform, Garp expression turned complex when he heard Shiki mention him.
After a pause, he spoke.
"Although I don't know how you escaped, last time we captured you in this very place!"
"This time... there will be no exception!"
Hearing this, Shiki seemed to have heard the biggest joke of all.
He clutched his stomach, his whole body shaking with laughter.
It took him a while to finally calm down.
"Last time I was alone, but this time, look behind me!" Shiki's face was full of amusement as he pointed with his right hand to the numerous pirates behind him.
"Worororo you're right, Shiki!"
"These Marines are all talk! They're nothing but trash!" Kaido, who had transformed into human form, stood beside Whitebeard.
His hearty laughter rang out, deafening to the ears.
"Hmph!"
"Petty pirates, last time we defeated you!"
"In this battle of Marineford, you will all be buried here!" Kong's goat-like beard trembled incessantly as he crossed his arms over his chest.
A terrifying aura emanated from him, spreading a sense of overwhelming pressure.
Although the pirates had displayed formidable strength earlier, their side still had the Pacifistas, the CP0 and the three of them who had yet to make a move.
And behind them, the Five Elders were the final trump card.
Ace, standing beside them, felt the aura of the Marine legends. His heart was filled with regret and guilt for the Whitebeard Pirates' rescue mission.
"If our words don't scare you,"
"What would happen if Bob were standing here right now?"
Kaido expression suddenly turned solemn as he spoke slowly.
Hearing this, Kong's face changed drastically, as if he had heard something earth-shattering.
At the same time, he kept murmuring those two words.
Bob... Bob!!
Beside him, Sengoku and Garp also wore grim expressions, as if those two words had touched a forbidden chord.
The Marines below, as well as some of the pirates, had been closely watching the movements of these powerful figures.
Upon hearing Kaido words and noticing the drastic changes in the expressions of the three Marine legends at the mention of Bob, they couldn't help but feel a surge of doubt in their hearts.
"Bob... Bob?"
"Who is this person? Is he really that powerful? Why do even the Former Fleet Admiral like Kong seem a bit afraid of him?"
"Earlier, during such a huge battle, they didn't show any change in expression. Why is it that just mentioning this person..."
"..."
For a moment, murmurs of discussion erupted both in the square and within Marineford Bay.
The sudden mention of this name felt completely unfamiliar, yet it carried an air of mystery.
The reactions of the three Marine legends were far too abnormal.
At the same time, inside the Marineford fortress, the Five Elders, who had been closely monitoring the battlefield, also stiffened.
"Bob... standing here..."
"What does this mean? Could it be that Bob will come to Marineford?" Saturn furrowed his brows and spoke slowly to the other four elders.
"Unlikely, but it's possible the pirates are deliberately using this name to intimidate the Marine!"
"Using his name to crush the Marine's morale! To make them feel fear!" Ju Peter pondered for a moment before voicing his speculation.
"Those damn pirates!"
"If that's really their goal, then the events of God Valley... might not stay hidden for long!" Marcus Mars eyes flickered with anger as he spoke.
"It'll depend on how Sengoku handles it. If the God Valley incident is mentioned differently, it could mean something entirely new!"
"After all, with Bob's disappearance, the narrative is in our hands! As a Fleet Admiral, he surely knows this!"
"By then, those foolish insects will not only believe it unconditionally but also boost the World Government's authority once more!" Topman snorted disdainfully.
History, after all, is always controlled by those with the highest power.
The so-called pitiful secrets that the lowly masses love to gossip about are nothing more than intentionally leaked information.
"Let's hope so." Nusjuro touched the hilt of his Shodai Kitetsu and gazed out the window at Shiki and Sengoku, murmuring to himself.
For some reason, he felt an uneasy premonition in his heart.
***
"Bob?"
"Why should we fear someone who doesn't even exist?" Sengoku steadied his emotions and spoke with disdain.
"Jihahahaha!"
"After forty years, you Marines haven't changed—still stubborn, still betraying the world's trust!"
"So even your 'justice' has its day of silence!" Shiki threw his arms wide with a wild laugh, his voice laced with venomous mockery.
The moment the words left his lips, the already tense scene erupted into chaos.
"Who exactly is Bob? Why does it seem like every legendary figure knows him?"
"This person seems crucial to both sides!"
"Deceiving our trust? Could the World Government really be hiding something monumental?"
"..."
The young Marine's officers in the square were filled with confusion. They knew nothing about this person, but from the conversations, they could sense his significance.
***
At the same time, in a modest room, a bald man held a teacup in his hands watching the live broadcast of Shiki in Marineford on the screen.
A faint smile hung at the corner of his lips.
"You somehow look exceptionally handsome today, Shiki!"
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