The man known as the toughest man in the world was also distracted at that moment by the death of one of the Five Elders.
Fujitora seized that brief opening.
Puff!
Blood sprayed as Diamond Jozu was slashed by a blade.
The sword wound alone would have meant nothing to him, but the torrent of gravity embedded within the cut penetrated his body, and in an instant, his internal organs were crushed and twisted by the gravitational force.
With a heavy thud, Jozu coughed up blood, staggered a few steps, and collapsed to the ground.
"Jozu!!" Marco shouted.
The former Third Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, the Paramecia user "Diamond" Jozu... had died.
Fujitora tried to open his eyes, revealing only the whites of them, and declared:
"One of the Five Elders has fallen in battle, and I now possess the highest authority on this battlefield... All Marines! Retreat immediately!"
His actions drew everyone's attention.
Countless people shifted their gaze from Nusjuro's corpse toward him.
Charlotte Linlin sneered:
"You still want to leave after coming all the way here? What kind of place do you think this is, old man? Kill them all!"
The members of the Charlotte Family revealed their savage sides one after another.
Sengoku remained stern, staring at Straw Hat.
"You killed one of the Five Elders. That is not the same as killing a few Celestial Dragons, Straw Hat!"
"Sengoku, this is a battlefield. The life of an enemy has no value on this great chessboard."
Luffy smiled faintly and walked toward Nusjuro's corpse, stepping on his head.
Crack!
The skull was crushed.
At the same time, Luffy tore open space and pulled out all the empty fruits scattered across the battlefield.
At that moment, several Devil Fruits were being reborn.
And even more abilities were being absorbed into the blank fruits...
"Withdraw!"
Sengoku roared:
"Retreat immediately!!"
---
Whole Cake Island, Whole Cake Castle
Boom!
The door to the chamber where the Poneglyph was stored was violently blasted open.
The hallways were filled with corpses.
Blackbeard and his crew entered, and immediately the two historical texts on the second floor came into view.
"Zehahaha! So they really were here?" Blackbeard laughed wildly.
Lafitte instantly jumped forward, grabbed his tools, and began copying the contents of the stones.
"Captain, should I copy the next one too?"
"I don't care, as long as we get the Road Poneglyphs! Those Marines really helped us out quite a bit. What luck, getting all this so easily. Zehahaha!"
"I cannot allow you to take them."
Suddenly, behind them, an irritated voice sounded from the end of the corridor.
Blackbeard laughed and turned around.
It was a short old man dressed like a chef.
"What a surprise... there's still a notable man left here." Blackbeard narrowed his eyes and smiled. "One of the founders of the Big Mom Pirates? Gourmet Knight, Streusen."
"Who would have imagined there were still people who remembered my nickname..."
Streusen drew the dagger in his hand and charged at Blackbeard and the others.
"Zehahaha! You're over ninety years old already. What can you do now?"
Blackbeard mocked him, swinging his massive arm toward the old man.
Boom!
Though he had once been a famous pirate, he was now only a frail old man. Blackbeard's blow struck him and hurled him into the wall, making him vomit blood.
"Hahaha! Then why insist on obeying that old hag?"
"Damn it..."
Streusen's blood stained his chef's coat red.
"I'll gladly take your ability without hesitation!"
Blackbeard grabbed Streusen by the neck and ripped him away from the wall.
---
Top Floor of the Castle
Nami and the others had completely taken control of the wedding situation.
At that moment, a special microphone on the wedding stage was projecting the battle of Onigashima onto a giant screen.
"We won?" Yamato said expressionlessly. "So strong! Much stronger than my father!"
Luffy, in his Solar Dragon God form, had completely reshaped her understanding of power.
She had already considered Kaido monstrously strong.
But Luffy, who had defeated Kaido before, was even more terrifying.
And at that point, Luffy still seemed to have complete control of the battle.
"One of the Five Elders was just killed?" Vivi murmured.
The balance of the world had completely collapsed.
This was not the end, but the beginning of something else.
As the princess of Alabasta, she had a foreboding sense of the storms to come.
Suddenly—Boom!
A violent sound came from below, snapping the girls out of the broadcast.
Nami abruptly stood up.
She sensed countless presences invading the castle.
"Who are they? Such powerful presences..."
She and Vivi exchanged looks.
Vivi immediately walked to the edge of the platform and looked down.
She saw Blackbeard and his group leaving through the castle's main gate.
All the soldiers who had tried to stop them had been easily slaughtered. A true band of pirates!
"Acid Rain!"
Vivi frowned slightly and raised her hand, creating a unique climate phenomenon.
A dark cloud hovered above Whole Cake Island, and moments later, rain began to fall.
The droplets poured down upon Blackbeard and his men.
"It burns!!"
Blackbeard screamed in pain when the rain hit his face, producing a sizzling sound of corrosion.
Not only him, but everyone else was struck by the acid rain as well.
Cries rang out everywhere.
"It's raining? What kind of rain is this? Corrosive acid rain?!"
Catarina Devon looked at her shoulders. The rain had already eaten through part of her clothing, exposing her pale skin.
Soon after, even her skin began to burn, and an intense stinging pain spread across her body.
"Up there!"
Bullet snorted coldly and quickly fixed his gaze on Vivi at the top of the castle.
"Straw Hat's woman!"
The moment he finished speaking, he leapt violently toward her.
However, another figure was even faster and intercepted him instantly.
"Zephyr...?!"
Bullet's expression shifted slightly.
In the next moment, a pitch-black fist smashed into his face.
Boom!
Bullet was sent flying backward, carving a massive crater into the ground.
"Vivi!"
From the direction of the harbor, Uta was waving cheerfully at her friends.
Ahead of her, Garp was walking toward Blackbeard's group.
He carried another person in one hand.
Doc Q, half-dead.
Katakuri was also carrying something... a horse.
Seeing the miserable state of the castle gate, his face darkened.
"Blackbeard, how dare you attack this place?"
"Zehahaha! I already got what I wanted. I don't have time to play with you lot. It's time to fulfill my duties as a Warlord. I don't know what's happening over there... has Straw Hat died already?"
Blackbeard laughed.
Then he slammed his palm onto the ground.
Black mist instantly spread out, corroding the earth. In the blink of an eye, all the surrounding buildings—and even people—began to slowly sink, dragged downward by that dark gravity.
(End of Chapter)