Chapter 578

The headquarters tower at Marineford finally gives way, its upper floors raining down as horrified Marines and onlookers across the archipelago weep. With the ground heaving from the quakes, Blackbeard boasts that he will drive the entire base under the sea using his stolen ability. Before he can act, Sengoku strikes in his golden Buddha form, crushing the pirate's shockwaves twice and scattering the Blackbeard crew across the rubble. The fleet admiral warns that as long as the headquarters survives the Marines can rebuild, and he refuses to surrender the heart of the world.

Along the shoreline, Akainu repays Ivankov's earlier assault and demands Jinbe surrender Dragon's boy. Jinbe leaps for the water only to find Aokiji has frozen it solid, and the magma admiral hammers him, the blow carrying through into the unconscious Luffy's body. As Akainu closes in, Crocodile slices him apart with sand and launches the pair skyward, ordering them loaded onto a ship. Buggy collides with them mid-flight, dodging a molten fist. The Whitebeard commanders, Marco and Vista among them, plant themselves between Akainu and the boy, vowing to deliver Luffy to the coming age. Then a submarine surfaces from the thawed sea and Trafalgar Law steps out, calling for the wounded captain to be brought to him as a doctor.

Sengoku's transformed body produces concussive blasts comparable to Kuma's Ursus Shock. Akainu inflicts severe damage on both Jinbe and Luffy, and the straw hat slips from Luffy's grip. Law and the Heart Pirates reach the battlefield aboard their vessel, which is revealed to double as a submarine. The cover is a color spread showing the Straw Hats reclining atop a dragon while parrots circle overhead.