Ace and Whitebeard

On the Tarai Current, Ivankov wonders whether Dragon and the Revolutionaries will appear, reasoning the man would not let his son be killed, and Luffy quietly admits he already knows the bond between Roger and Ace, swearing the crew to secrecy. At Marineford, Whitebeard punches the air and cracks it with the Gura Gura no Mi, sending a tremor rippling through the Marine ranks and erupting in two harmless but terrifying explosions.

Ace then sinks into memory. A young Ace announces his departure to become a pirate over Garp's objections, soon earning worldwide infamy as captain of the Spade Pirates. He seeks out Shanks simply to thank him for looking after Luffy, delighting the Emperor. Later Jinbe blocks his path to Whitebeard, and the two battle for five straight days without a victor before Whitebeard himself arrives.

Whitebeard overpowers Ace but spares him, offering him a place as a son rather than letting him die. Once aboard, Ace makes more than a hundred attempts on the sleeping Whitebeard's life, all rebuffed, until a talk with Marco about why the crew call the captain Pops shifts his heart and he accepts the mark. Ace rises to Second Division Commander, and Whitebeard laughs off learning of his Roger lineage, insisting everyone aboard is a child of the sea. The arc darkens when Blackbeard murders Thatch and Ace tears off in pursuit against orders.

In the present, Ace berates the crew for coming to save him, but Whitebeard and Marco both confirm they told him to go. The men roar that no one harms one of their own, and Whitebeard's quake unleashes two tsunamis on either flank of Marineford, opening the Summit War.

Chopper's separation cover story begins with him fleeing natives who want to cook him. The chapter unveils the Gura Gura no Mi as Whitebeard's power and confirms he wields Haki, since he can strike Ace, a Logia user. It also establishes Ace as the first pirate ever to decline a Warlord seat.