As Garp fixed his gaze on him, the old man nad Balu's expression stiffened unnaturally. Clearly, he was intimidated, but a second later he still let out a cold laugh:
"Don't brag so shalessly, Garp! Things now aren't like they were twenty-plus years ago. You're old. Do you really think you're still the sa as back then…?"
"Nonsense!"
Before he could even finish, Garp snorted impatiently. His figure flickered and vanished on the spot.
Not good!
Balu's pupils shrank, every hair on his body standing on end. He let out a beast-like roar from deep in his throat, and in an instant his body swelled dramatically, transforming into a massive blue dinosaur.
An Ancient-Type Zoan — the Carnotaurus Devil Fruit user!
At the sa mont, Garp's figure suddenly appeared above the Carnotaurus' head. He clenched his fist and punched straight toward its face.
Boom!
It was a simple, straightforward punch—no flourish, no tricks—but under the force of that blow, even the air along its path seed to twist and crack.
Crack! Crack!
The Carnotaurus' iron-hard skin lasted barely two or three seconds before splitting apart. With a pained beastly howl, Balu was sent flying more than ten ters, crashing heavily and carving out a giant crater.
Inside the crater, the enormous Carnotaurus' head bled nonstop, its low groans filled with agony. For the mont, it couldn't even lift itself off the ground.
Just one punch!
Balu—who had a bounty exceeding 800 million berries twenty years ago and whose strength was top-tier even among the Level 6 prisoners—was seriously injured in an instant!
Among the crowd, the legendary pirates who had yet to take action glanced at one another, their expressions turning strange.
What monstrous strength...
This old geezer is clearly well into his years—so why does he still feel as terrifying as he did twenty years ago?
But one person's reaction stood out from the rest.
Douglas Bullet.
"Hey, hey, hey—things are getting more and more interesting!"
He slamd his fists together in front of his chest, eyes burning with excitent as he stared at Garp like he had discovered a priceless treasure.
"Garp… If I rember correctly, you were one of the people involved back then. Hey, I'm saying this now: leave the old man to . You guys handle the other Marines. No need to worry about this side!"
After the Roger Pirates disbanded, Bullet had still been young. Unlike Rayleigh, he didn't choose seclusion. Instead, he continued to roam the seas alone, causing massive chaos—and finding few who could stand against him.
The Marine launched a Buster Call, and even Sengoku and Garp personally joined the operation. After months of effort, they finally captured Bullet and threw him into prison.
This "favor" was sothing Bullet had never forgotten.
And now that Garp was right in front of him, it was undoubtedly the perfect chance for revenge.
"Don't be ridiculous."
A white-haired legendary pirate beside him folded his arms and sneered, "You think you're the only one with a grudge against that old man? Besides, why should we trust you alone to hold him off? If you can't keep him busy and you ruin our timing, I—"
"What?"
Douglas Bullet slowly turned his head, narrowing his eyes at the "senior." "Want to test my strength? Old man, do you want to try first?"
"Both of you, shut up. Let's trust this kid."
A rough, heavy voice suddenly echoed from above. The pirates looked up to see the giant—Sanjuan Wolf—the one who had spoken.
"I was stuck right across from this guy on Level 6."
Sanjuan Wolf pointed at Bullet, grinning. "For ten years, this guy never once stopped his hellish training. His current strength… is probably way more terrifying than you all think."
He never stopped training for a full ten years?
All the legendary pirates were stunned. They glanced at Bullet with surprise, while the white-haired old man who had mocked him earlier only snorted coldly and said nothing more.
"Thanks for the trust."
Bullet burst into hearty laughter. He couldn't be bothered to waste more words on the others and strode straight toward Garp. Hearing the exchange, Garp raised an eyebrow.
"You kept up hellish training for ten years in prison?"
Garp snorted. "Looks like you're even more troubleso than I expected. That brat Nao was right—the Impel Down prison… really shouldn't be allowed to exist at all…"
Buzz!
The mont his words ended, the ground exploded beneath both n as they kicked off simultaneously. Their fists clashed head-on, driving straight into each other's chests.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dull thuds echoed nonstop. Fist shadows rained down like a storm. The ground around them cracked apart like fragile glass. Even the legendary pirates watching felt chills run down their spines.
If I recall correctly…
This guy is a Devil Fruit ability user, isn't he?
He hasn't even used his Devil Fruit power yet, but he's already fighting Fist Garp to a standstill using only physical combat. Neither his speed nor his strength seems to be falling behind?
Even if this situation couldn't be sustained for long, lasting even a short ti was terrifying enough.
"With his Devil Fruit ability added in… this guy really might be able to hold off Garp by himself for a good while."
The eyes of the forr Level 6 prisoners flickered. Having reached a silent agreent, they shifted their attention away from Garp and toward the surrounding Marines.
Earlier, the Pacifista unit had appeared in ti to delay them, and together with the ti Garp had bought, the Marines inside the harbor had recovered their footing. Reinforcents flooded in, sealing the breach the Impel Down escapees had opened.
In terms of top-tier fighters, Kizaru, Gion, Chaton… along with several elite Vice Admirals, had already defeated the enemies blocking their way and were rushing in from all directions.
The freshly freed prisoners, however, were all cracking their knuckles in excitent, scanning the encircling Marines with unrestrained bloodlust.
"Ha! Plenty of familiar faces here!"
"That guy flying up there—Borsalino, right? I rember him… Why's he still just a Vice Admiral?"
"Hey! Get yourselves together! The real fight starts NOW!"
"Hmph, you don't need to tell that—the old man's been itching for this!"
Figures dashed out impatiently, each picking a target to et Kizaru and the others.
Whether through one-on-one duels or group assaults, fierce combat instantly erupted in multiple directions, a feast for the eyes.
…
At the rear of the plaza, atop the execution platform—
Fleet Admiral Sengoku held a Den-Den Mushi, eyes narrowed as he observed the battlefield, face dark and solemn.
Zephyr's voice crackled from the receiver:
"Nothing's happened at Headquarters' rear flank. It's been perfectly calm. Looks like the Pirate Alliance has no intention of splitting forces for a sneak attack. With here, you don't need to worry about this side."
"But on your end—the war's already progressed this far. There's no more need for you to stay back and supervise the big picture. It's about ti for you to take the field yourself, no?"
"I was already planning to."
Sengoku's tone was steady as his gaze drifted into the distance.
Inside the plaza, the Marines were still firmly holding the upper hand against the Pirate Alliance. But the outer harbor was a completely different story.
Though Kizaru, Gion, and the others had managed to halt the charge of the Impel Down escapees…
The strength of the Level 6 old monsters wasn't a joke—and there were many top-tier fighters among them. After barely ten minutes of fighting, the Marines' disadvantage was already becoming clear.
And Garp still hadn't managed to subdue the troubleso Bullet. At this rate, the front line would collapse sooner or later.
Sengoku's mind spun rapidly, and he reached a decision.
He had to enter the battlefield himself!
He would join forces with Garp, defeat Bullet as quickly as possible, then the two of them could turn their combined strength on the other Impel Down monsters. Only then could they reverse this precarious situation.
"Tsuru!"
Sengoku turned his head and shouted in a deep voice.
"From here on, you'll take my place on the execution platform and command the battlefield."
"Understood. Go."
The calm voice ca from behind—Vice Admiral Tsuru had appeared silently at so unknown mont.
Sengoku t her eyes. After decades of partnership, no extra words were needed. They nodded to each other, and Tsuru stepped forward, arms crossed, taking up Sengoku's forr position.
Sengoku, anwhile, shot into the air, using Moonwalk to race toward the outer harbor at top speed.
"It's Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
"Damn it… even that old guy is joining the fight himself?!"
Along the way, Marines and pirates locked in battle noticed him, so thrilled, others unsettled.
Sengoku took everything in stride, and aside from swatting aside a few idiots who got in his way, he didn't slow down at all.
He knew clearly: the outer harbor was the true key to this war. If he and Garp joined forces and quickly crushed the Level 6 monsters, the scales of victory would tip decisively toward the Marine.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Sengoku's physical prowess was slightly inferior to Garp's, but he too had trained to an extraordinary, near-perfect level. At full power, his speed was terrifying.
His afterimages flickered across the battlefield. In just a few dozen seconds, he had crossed more than half the warzone and reached the outer harbor.
In his field of vision, the Impel Down pirates below were clearly visible. Sengoku's focus locked imdiately on Bullet, not far away.
After fighting Garp for so long, Bullet was clearly beginning to buckle under the pressure. Noticing Sengoku in the sky from the corner of his eye, he suddenly let out a roar, forcing Garp back by brute force.
Then he threw his head back and howled. A thick layer of dark-blue Haki instantly coated his entire body, his muscles bulged massively, and ghostly aura surged around him. He looked like a demon crawling out of hell.
"His 'Devil Form,' huh…"
Sengoku narrowed his eyes. Having participated in the Buster Call against Bullet years ago, he knew Bullet extrely well. This form was the combination of Bullet's monstrous Armant Haki, Conqueror's Haki, and his unique ghostly aura—far beyond normal Haki enhancent.
Because of this, Bullet had long been known across the seas as "the Devil's Heir."
"Compared to ten years ago, he has gotten much stronger."
Sengoku snorted in his heart, his gaze sharpening. "But if this is all he has, then it's nowhere near enough to withstand both and Garp! Not even close!"
End this fight imdiately.
Fast.
It must be fast!
With that thought, golden light suddenly erupted around Sengoku, and his body expanded at a rapid rate.
With a thunderous crash, a towering golden Buddha more than twenty ters tall materialized on the battlefield!
Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit!
Sengoku had gone all-out the mont he arrived—using his fruit power to transform into his Great Buddha form!
"Oi oi oi… going serious right from the start?"
Garp, thrown back monts earlier, steadied himself. Seeing Sengoku's Buddha form, he imdiately understood the plan and grinned.
"I get it…"
As he spoke, his right fist tightened. A terrifying aura condensed around him, thick and solid like it had weight. Garp was clearly preparing his strongest punch to strike in tandem with Sengoku—ending Bullet in an instant.
But at that mont—
BOOOOM!!!
A deafening explosion suddenly erupted from high above. The sound was so imnse it shook the entire world. From south to north, east to west, everyone on the battlefield instinctively covered their ears and looked up.
Sengoku, Garp, and Bullet all froze mid-attack, staring upward in shock.
And their expressions were the sa as the hundreds of thousands witnessing this war.
—They saw the sky-island ten thousand ters above them shatter apart, splitting open and collapsing, turning into countless fragnts swirling in the air.
But even more striking was the massive figure blown out of the cloud of debris—hurtling downward like a teor, smashing through the fractured ice, passing over Sengoku and Garp's heads, and finally crashing with a thunderous impact at the very center of Marineford Plaza.
Dust rose like a storm. Smoke filled the air.
From within ca violent coughing—soone struggled desperately to stand, but couldn't manage it for a long ti.
At the sa mont—
A figure wearing a white Marine "Justice" cloak appeared silently in the sky. Lightning wrapped around his body as he floated above the plaza, looking down upon the shattered ground.
For several heartbeats, hundreds of thousands of people were struck mute.
The entire battlefield plunged into deathly silence.
Only after several long seconds—
—did a heart-wrenching scream finally tear the silence apart.
"POPS!!!"
"Whitebeard Pops!!"
Diamond Jozu, Commander of the Third Division, Flower Sword Vista, Commander of the Fifth Division… Led by these core commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, they were on the verge of breakdown and madness, frantically pushing back the surrounding Marines and converging on the center of the plaza.
"OUT OF MY WAY!"
"DON'T YOU DARE BLOCK !"
Most of the Marines were still stunned by what had happened and instinctively held back, allowing several pirates close to the center to break through.
Soon, nearly a hundred mbers of the Whitebeard Pirates had gathered around the massive crater. Jozu was the first to arrive, rushing into the fading smoke to lift the barely-breathing Whitebeard.
Vista moved in from the other side to support him as well. Their hands were instantly stained red with blood—Whitebeard's blood.
"Pops…"
Seeing Whitebeard's body, covered in wounds with almost no intact flesh left, Jozu felt a sting in his nose, his voice choking, tears threatening to spill.
All these years following Whitebeard across the seas—he had never once seen their "Old Man" injured like this.
The invincible man in their mories, the towering figure who shielded them from storms, who laughed with open arms—now couldn't even push them away.
"What're you doing… you bunch of foolish sons…"
Whitebeard tried several tis to move them, but couldn't. He let out a strained grin. "Let go. I can still stand on my own. Being held like this… what does that make look like…"
"But, Pops—"
"I said—LET GO!"
"Let go, Jozu."
Vista took a deep breath and spoke calmly.
Jozu glanced at him, gritted his teeth, and finally stepped back. Both he and Vista released Whitebeard's arms at the sa ti.
Without their support, Whitebeard staggered, nearly falling. But after several seconds of shaking, he forced himself upright—towering and proud—gazing up at Nao in the sky.
"Whitebeard."
Nao watched the scene unfold but showed no change in expression. He spoke calmly:
"Your body has reached its limit. The tide has turned. Stop resisting. Surrender, and take your n with you."
"That way, perhaps many lives that don't need to be lost will be spared."
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak, the Whitebeard Pirates behind him erupted in rage:
"Bullshit!"
"Who do you think we are! Who do you think Pops is! How could we possibly surrender to the Marines!"
"Who cares about dying! We'll fight until the very last breath!"
Nao didn't respond. He simply watched Whitebeard quietly.
"Gurarararara, you heard them, brat Nao…"
Whitebeard grinned. He had expected this reaction and was proud of his sons. Laughing loudly, he said:
"Surrender? That word has NEVER existed in my vocabulary…"
"Bring my blade!"
His laughter stopped abruptly as he shouted.
A blade?
A blade—where is it?!
Jozu and the others frantically searched. Soon, they found the massive naginata Murakumogiri lying over ten ters away.
The Supre Grade Blade that had accompanied Whitebeard in countless battles, shaking the seas—now stained deep red, just like Whitebeard's weathered body.
"Pops!"
Thud!
Jozu threw the blade. Whitebeard reached out with his right hand and caught it firmly.
As his familiar weapon settled into his grasp, Whitebeard's body—like a candle about to go out—seed to flare back to life. He stood tall, raising the blade, his aura surging once again!
Surrender?
Impossible.
Even if this war was already lost, even if the era of great pirates was ending, even if he had only one breath left—his choice would never change.
"I am a remnant of the Old Era. And the New World…"
Whitebeard laughed wildly, his laughter echoing across the sea. And within that laughter, he stomped the ground and launched himself forward with the last of his strength, slashing toward Nao!
"… has no ship that can carry !"
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