Just as Allen and his crew descended toward Fish-Man Island.
On the surface, about a dozen ships were anchored in the waters near Marineford. The gathered Supernovas stood at the bows of their ships, witnessing the conclusion of the war with their own eyes.
Inside the bay, with the Red Hair Pirates' *Red Force* leading the way, the pirate ships of the Whitebeard Grand Fleet slowly sailed out one by one.
In the rear, the Marines did not pursue them. Sengoku had already received a ceasefire order from the higher-ups, even though Ace had been taken away by the Red Hair Pirates.
With this, the war came to a complete end. The various factions gradually withdrew, and the Warlords of the Sea departed one by one.
Having fought high-intensity battles continuously for nearly several days from Impel Down to the Summit War, Luffy fell into a deep coma. He was taken away from Marineford by the Impel Down escapee army led by Jinbe, Ivankov, and Buggy.
Aboard the *Red Force*.
Aside from Shanks' crew, the division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates had also boarded this ship, as the *Moby Dick* had been destroyed in the war.
At this moment, Marco and the others all hung their heads in dejection. Some remained silent, while others sobbed quietly. It was clear that Whitebeard's death had dealt them a massive psychological blow.
"Hongo has already checked on Ace. Although his body has reached its limit, fortunately, there are no major issues. He's just temporarily unconscious."
Shanks walked out from the ship's cabin and approached Marco, who was sitting by the ship's railing. He spoke in a low voice,
"I'm sorry, there was only so much I could do. Regardless, I hope you all can pull yourselves together. It won't be long before a storm of blood and carnage sweeps across the New World."
"Now that Whitebeard is gone, your former territories will face onslaughts from various factions, and your subordinate pirate fleets will likely be gradually dismantled."
"Whether you can overcome this crisis will depend entirely on yourselves. In particular, whether Ace can step out from the shadow of this war will be the key to your future."
*Pat, pat.*
Saying this, Shanks patted Marco's shoulder and concluded, "Until then, it's up to you all to carry the banner of the Whitebeard Pirates."
"Yeah... I know what to do..."
Marco replied absentmindedly. He slowly raised his head, his gaze fixing on Red Hair as he said quietly,
"Thank you for everything this time. The ship's doctors in our crew have finished resting, so you can leave Ace's subsequent treatment to us."
"Yeah. What are your plans moving forward?"
Red Hair asked further.
Marco fell silent for a moment before replying,
"We'll go to the Sabaody Archipelago to get the ship coated first, then take everyone back to the New World to regroup."
"I understand. That's for the best. After all, the Marines won't be able to interfere there in the short term," Red Hair nodded in response.
Soon, the silhouettes of the ships gradually disappeared over the horizon.
Meanwhile, in a spacious hall in Mary Geoise, high atop the Red Line.
"Whitebeard has been successfully eliminated, along with Teach, who is suspected to be of the Davy Jones clan..."
"Although Roger's bloodline, who was supposed to be executed, managed to escape, we didn't expect to reap another unexpected harvest."
"With this, the war can be considered to have achieved sufficient results."
The Five Elders sat around several sofas, monitoring everything happening at Marineford through a Visual Transponder Snail, speaking up one after another.
"However, since we previously published reports about Ace's public execution, the failure to execute him will inevitably spark some negative public opinion in the world below."
"Exactly. Especially since it was revealed that he is of Roger's bloodline, I'm afraid it will tempt certain ambitious individuals to make a move."
"I have an idea regarding this issue. Perhaps we should make the matter of Rocks public."
At this moment, Saint Saturn suddenly spoke up, proposing,
"We can use Teach's death to spread the story of the God Valley Incident from back then. Coupled with the reappearance of the long-vanished Golden Lion, it will be enough to overshadow the public discourse regarding Ace."
"God Valley..."
"Modifying the details of the incident and republishing it shouldn't be a problem."
The Five Elders pondered and voiced their agreement. Then, Saint Nusjuro raised a doubt, saying,
"However, it hasn't been confirmed whether Teach is actually Rocks' son. What if he isn't?"
"It doesn't matter. No one will care about the evidence, and no one can verify it. Even if Rocks' son is someone else, there's no way they would jump out and expose their own identity."
"Indeed. Whether Teach is or isn't is no longer important. The World Government needs him to be, so the world should believe that he is."
"Agreed."
"Then let's do it. Contact the World Economy News Paper. I'm sure Morgans will be thrilled to hear this news."
In just a few words, the Five Elders finalized the subsequent public relations strategy regarding the Summit War.
Failing to execute Ace was definitely the only regret of this war, but the results they had already achieved were sufficient.
Considering the cost of starting a war with the Red Hair Pirates under those circumstances, forcibly pursuing Ace would have resulted in heavy casualties for the Marines, even if they managed to kill him in the end.
War was not just about winning or losing; it was about weighing risks against benefits.
If it ended up delaying their upcoming plans for the New World, then this war would lose its meaning even if it was a total victory.
The current outcome was already good enough.
...
After the Marineford incident concluded, the results of the war spread rapidly from the Sabaody Archipelago to the rest of the world via Transponder Snails.
The storm known as the [New Era] accelerated its brewing.
At the same time, deep within a pitch-black expanse of the ocean floor.
"Water pressure readings indicate we've reached the ten-thousand-meter mark."
"The current brightness is insufficient, and our visibility is obstructed. Should we increase the lights?"
The exterior of the *Freewill* was painted with red fluorescent paint, relying on its faint glow to slowly advance through the darkness.
As the voices of her subordinates rang out from the navigation room, Nami frowned in thought for a moment before ordering,
"Yeah, turn on the lights."
Although turning on the lights might attract Sea Kings, Allen and the others could at least handle them.
But if they moved forward in the dark and crashed into a coral reef or something similar, damaging the ship's coating, they would all die even faster.
Before long, the two high-beam headlights at the bow turned on, sweeping up, down, left, and right to illuminate the path ahead.
Standing on the balcony, Nami carefully observed the terrain while relaying operational commands to the navigation room.
Suddenly, she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. Frowning slightly, she narrowed her gaze toward the back of a massive coral reef.
A colossal black shadow, comparable to a small mountain, was shifting behind the coral reef. Nami's expression filled with confusion, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear.
They were completely unfamiliar with everything here, including the environment. If they were suddenly attacked by a Sea King or a sea monster, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Thus, she ordered,
"Turn the lights to the right. There seems to be something over there."
"Understood."
A crew member immediately complied. The two beams of light slowly moved along the massive mountain of underwater coral until the light crossed over the coral peak...
...and fell upon a gigantic, horrifying human face with wide-open eyes staring right at them!
"Waaaaah!!!"
*Thud!*
An ear-piercing scream rang out. Nami's face turned green with terror. Frightened by the sight, she stumbled backward, her back slamming heavily against the wall.
"A s-s-sea... sea monster has appeared!!"