Chapter 577

The death of the great captain is broadcast everywhere, and at the Sabaody Archipelago a tearful Rayleigh smiles at the news. Marineford itself now lies cleaved in two with a summit risen between the halves, where Sengoku and Garp study the fallen man as the Warlords and the Pacifista ranks watch and Marco mourns. Teach's crew throws a black sheet over the corpse, and Teach ducks beneath it, prompting Shiryu to ask whether they scatter if this fails. Laffitte declares the spot off limits to the Marines. Unable to bear the slaughter any longer, Buggy bolts away weeping, his Impel Down followers trailing him, carrying off the broadcast snail so the watching crowd at Sabaody can still see the war conclude.

Cradling the shattered Luffy, Jinbe recalls Ace's final plea to guard his brother, to which he had replied that he shields only those he truly treasures. Aokiji ices over the harbor, sealing the pirate fleet in place. A bloodied Akainu rises from smoke and flame and orders Jinbe to surrender Dragon's son, but the fish-man swears to defend the boy with his own life, and Ivankov arrives to fling a Hell Wink at the admiral. With the sheet drawn aside, Teach opens a Black Hole through the darkness fruit, then adopts the late captain's stance and unleashes the quake power, leveling the plaza once more. Gazing at his two empowered hands, he proclaims himself the supreme being and bellows that the age belongs to him.

By taking the quake fruit from the body, Teach becomes the first man to bear two Devil Fruits at once, which Marco credits to his abnormal physiology. Akainu walks away alive from his earlier clash with the dead captain. The issue is dated March 15, 2010, runs seventeen pages, and adapts into Episode 486. The cover shows Zoro leaping across crocodiles to ford a river over a broken bridge while a frightened Chopper grips his leg.