"Always pretending to be tough, huh?"
Chaton bit down on his cigar, shaking his head with a bitter smile.
But he didn't stop Gion.
To be fair—
He used to be solidly stronger than her.
But after Gion married Nao and ate the Float-Float Fruit, their strength ranking flipped completely.
Even if King truly was the strongest of the Calamities, it was unlikely he could beat Gion.
"In that case…"
Chaton crushed his cigar and turned his gaze toward Plague Queen, his lips curling.
"My target… can only be you."
As for Sena —three Giant Vice Admirals were holding her back, so he didn't need to worry.
Whoosh!
In a flash, Chaton used Soru, disappearing as he drew his blade.
His figure streaked forward like a specter, cutting straight toward Queen!
...
With two Admiral Candidates entering the east-side battle, the tide shifted instantly.
Plague and Wildfire were both pinned down by Gion and Chaton.
The outco was uncertain—but without their commanders, the Beasts Pirates could no longer push through the Giants' defensive line.
"This is getting tricky, Kaido brat."
Red the Aloof—Patrick Redfield—gave a creepy little laugh as he turned his head.
"Looks like this Beast Army you carefully built… is still far inferior to that old man Whitebeard's crew."
Kaido shot him a cold sideways glance.
"You're an old man with one foot already in the grave, save your breath from making sarcastic remarks."
Redfield chuckled twice, unfazed.
But then his brows lifted, as if sensing sothing. He turned around:
"Oh? Those useless fools… finally broke through?"
Kaido followed his gaze.
The "useless fools" Redfield referred to were the over one hundred allied pirate crews following Whitebeard's main force—led by the 39 subordinate crews.
Under Marine heavy artillery, they suffered devastating casualties…
But with more than 100,000 people, their sheer numbers pushed them through layer after layer of firepower.
At last, they broke through the outer defenses and stord into the frozen bay.
"We finally made it!"
At the front was the veteran Maelstrom Spider—Squard.
Seeing the main Whitebeard division at a disadvantage, he grew anxious, baring his weapon and roaring:
"Everyone—charge with !
Carve a path of blood for Pops!!"
"Charge!!"
"It's ti to show those Marines the true strength of New World pirates!"
...
Countless pirates roared as they leapt from their ships and rushed into the icy battlefield.
Seen from above, the horde was like a black tsunami—endless, overwhelming, deafening.
Below the execution platform, among the three Admiral seats—
Nao and Akainu still didn't move.
They only stared calmly at the massive pirate wave closing in.
"It's about ti."
Akainu suddenly spoke in a low voice, as if speaking to Nao, or perhaps just muttering to himself.
"To think they still have such montum…
Even after losing nearly half their number under artillery fire."
As he spoke.
The tip of his right arm gradually took on a crimson glow. The red light rolled, and the temperature sharply increased, causing scalding, scorching magma to begin erupting from his fist.
"Truly, facing death…"
In a low voice, the hot, fiery magma dramatically intensified as Akainu suddenly clenched his fist, and he violently slamd it toward the sky at a terrifying speed!
The flaring red light illuminated Akainu's expressionless, grim face:
"…Yet they remain oblivious!"
Boom!
Endless magma erupted, arcing across the sky.
At its highest point, it suddenly split apart like a teor shower, falling densely toward the region where the pirate horde was charging!
teor Volcano!
This was one of Akainu's widest and most terrifying large-scale attacks—an earth-shaking technique.
For a mont, all of Marineford's sky echoed with the hissing roar of falling teors.
From the bay interior to the frozen outer rim, both sides—pirates and Marines alike—instinctively looked up, their faces filled with shock.
Those outer pirate crews caught beneath the falling teor Volcano panicked completely.
"My goodness… What is that!"
"Move aside! Quickly, move aside!"
"It's too big—we can't dodge sothing that wide!"
…
"No way out now…"
Aboard the Moby Dick, Whitebeard narrowed his eyes at the sky, expression dark.
With his strength, the falling teor Volcano naturally couldn't harm him in the slightest. The teors heading toward the few white whale ships could also be easily intercepted by swinging his Naginata with his Tremor-Tremor Fruit power.
But the area covered by the teor Volcano was too vast. Even a powerhouse like him was powerless against the volcanic teors heading toward the outer pirate crews.
Just at this critical mont.
"Fuwa!" (Wind-Roar - Note: This is the sound Kaido makes when using his Boro Breath or other strong attacks/roars)
A low roar suddenly rang out.
"Hm?"
Whitebeard instinctively turned his head.
On the deck of the ghost ship, Kaido suddenly burst upward—transforming into his massive azure dragon form.
Air swirled around him, drawn into a furious, spiral rotation as his dragon body spun like a giant top.
Within monts, over a dozen enormous tornadoes ford.
As they expanded, it felt as if all the air above the frozen bay was being dragged with them—
violent winds roared forth and collided head-on with teor Volcano.
Whoooshhhh—!
Countless magma teors wavered and shattered within the storm.
A portion disintegrated completely into ash, scattering into nothing mid-air.
The remaining majority managed to break through, but their power had been drastically reduced—no longer enough to threaten the New World pirates on the ground.
"We… we're saved!"
"As expected of a man known as one of the Sea Emperors…"
The outer pirate crews exhaled in relief, gazing up at the fading fire and smoke.
But a few unlucky ones, though spared from the teors, were caught too close to a tornado.
They shrieked as they were sucked into the sky, flung far across the horizon, vanishing without a trace.
"Yast!!"
A bald, muscular pirate captain watched his crewmate get pulled into a tornado.
His eyes went bloodshot with rage and terror as he roared:
"Damn it, Kaido! Look what you—"
THUD!
His words stopped abruptly.
A giant foot descended from the sky, crushing the man into paste instantly.
"Too noisy."
Kaido's cold face was reflected on the frozen bay.
Falling from the sky, he had already transford into his half-beast, half-human form.
Under the terrified gazes of the surrounding pirates, he walked step by heavy step toward the execution platform.
He ignored the cannon barrels aid at him.
Ignored the Marines surrounding him.
His chilling gaze stopped on the seats below the platform—the three Admiral positions.
"It's been a long ti, White Dragon Nao…"
Beast-form Kaido grinned, revealing a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth gleaming with cold light.
"Lately, rumors have been spreading everywhere—saying I ran away from Wano because I was scared of you. That I abandoned that country and fled with my n in panic…"
"Now you should understand… just how ridiculous those rumors really were, right?"
Thud!
His fists tightened, and Kaido fixed his eyes on Nao, laughing wildly:
"Now then, White Dragon! Get down here! Crawl down from that platform and fight properly!!"
Are you sick or sothing?
Nao frowned slightly.
He didn't bother replying—he simply uncrossed his legs and was about to stand, when an arm suddenly reached out and stopped him.
It was Akainu's.
"This kind of guy isn't qualified to make you act personally."
Akainu's deep voice ca quietly:
"Leave him to . In this war… the only one worthy of being your opponent is that old man. Isn't that right?"
Nao glanced at him and smiled, saying nothing.
Then he crossed his legs again and made no further move.
Akainu, silent as ever, rose to his feet.
Beneath his white cap, his emotionless eyes stared coldly at Kaido in the distance.
"What, you want to take White Dragon's place and fight ?"
Kaido sneered, his contempt unhidden.
"Did you forget how you were beaten so badly by ten years ago that you had to run from the New World?"
"With just you? You're not qualified!"
"Qualified or not…"
Akainu lowered his gaze slightly.
In the eyes no one could see clearly, there was only icy indifference.
"We'll know… once we fight."
Swish!
Before his voice even faded, he stomped the ground—
launching forward like a cannonball.
His landing shattered the ice into a spiderweb of cracks as he shot upward into the air.
"Hellhound!!"
With his roar, his right arm—already molten magma—clenched into a blazing fist.
At a speed too fast to track, he smashed downward toward Kaido's head!
"Only this much…"
Seeing Akainu rushing at him, Kaido snorted coldly.
A flash of frost shot through his eyes as he hurled his enormous fist forward to clash head-on with the magma blow.
"Know your place!"
BOOM!
A muffled explosion—like thunder brewing within storm clouds—echoed in all directions.
Under countless watching eyes, the two figures—so mismatched in appearance but equal in ferocity—collided violently.
Both were blasted back dozens of ters, carving two deep, bottomless trenches across the thick ice.
"You've definitely improved since back then…"
Amid the flying ice shards, Kaido raised his head.
His face, wrapped in swirling heat and fla, looked even more ferocious.
"But like I said—if this is all you've got… it's still not enough."
"Not nearly enough!"
"Too much nonsense," Akainu replied coldly from the opposite side, steadying himself and raising his head.
Clearly, that first exchange had ignited both their tempers.
With one look at each other—
they roared simultaneously and clashed again, engaging in a fierce, explosive battle!
BOOM!
The shockwave from the explosion shattered an enormous chunk of ice, sending it whistling toward a spiky-haired man currently fighting several pirate officers.
"Ahh… that was dangerous."
Aokiji dodged lightly, freezing a sneak-attacking pirate behind him with a casual gesture.
He glanced at the distant figures of Akainu and Kaido and muttered, "Hey, hey… what are you guys doing? One after another—why make such a big scene right from the start…"
Thud!
Another kick sent a pirate officer flying apart like brittle ice.
Aokiji scratched his hair.
"Looks like I should… get so real work done too."
"Real work?"
The remaining pirate officers surrounding him froze for a mont—then erupted with rage.
"Don't look down on us, Aokiji!"
"We're your opponents!"
"Take this!"
The air whistled sharply.
Aokiji seed unaware—then his figure flickered like a ghost.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind every pirate officer at once.
Mist-like cold swirled, and he materialized back in his original spot.
Aokiji yawned lazily and picked at his ear.
All around him, the pirate officers who had charged with full killing intent were frozen mid-swing—hair, brows, and beards coated in thick frost, eyes stiff and lifeless.
The next mont, cracks spread across their heads—
crash—
and they shattered into piles of ice.
...
On the deck of the crimson giant ship, Red the Aloof witnessed the scene from afar and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"So this is the Marine's Admirals nowadays?"
He clicked his tongue.
"One after another… they're all young, but none of them look easy to deal with. I wonder how they compare to Garp and Zephyr…"
"That would be far too disrespectful."
A lazy voice suddenly ca from above him.
"When it cos to comparing myself to Mr. Garp or Zephyr-sensei… I don't think I'm qualified."
When did he—?
Red the Aloof's pupils shrank.
He lifted his head and saw Aokiji standing above him amidst drifting cold mist, looking down calmly.
"But compared to an old guy like you… I'd say I do have the qualifications."
Pop!
Before the last word fully faded, Aokiji vanished.
Using the Marine Six Styles technique "Soru," now perfected to its peak, he moved with near-teleportation speed—appearing behind Red the Aloof.
He raised his hand.
A sharp ice blade ford instantly, Haki condensing onto its tip, as he stabbed toward the pirate's back.
But—
Just as the blade was about to touch him, Red the Aloof's wrist twisted.
A long blood-red sword appeared, releasing a terrifying sword energy he had clearly been condensing for so ti.
"Ah-lah, did I fall for it…"
As the sword energy erupted, Aokiji sighed faintly.
He instinctively tried to raise an ice wall, but before it could form, his entire body was swallowed by the violent burst of energy.
BOOM!!
The fully charged sword energy exploded outward—
centered on Aokiji—
sweeping across the battlefield like a tidal wave.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!
Deafening explosions shook the sky.
Around the seven massive pirate ships, over ten gigantic water pillars erupted at once, and even the surrounding glaciers—previously frozen solid—shattered and collapsed completely!
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