Next Bonus, 100!!
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BOOM! BOOM!
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The heavy naval artillery opened up, transforming the battlefield of Marineford into a blazing inferno. The earth shook, and the sheer volume of explosive firepower scattered the Marine formations.
In the entire world, only Jin's lavishly funded, technologically advanced fleet possessed the raw firepower necessary to match the Marines barrage for barrage.
"CHARGE!"
Under the cover of the relentless bombardment, the Revolutionary Army launched their assault.
It wasn't just them.
Seeing the arrival of Jin and the revolutionaries, the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates instantly rallied, launching a vicious counter-attack.
These men weren't soldiers of the Revolutionary Army or the Winter Blossom Kingdom. But they had their own burning reasons to fight.
First, the execution of Ace!
Second, Whitebeard's sacrificial final stand!
Third, the sudden appearance of the traitor, Blackbeard!
Any one of these factors was more than enough to drive them back into the meat grinder. They fought for the honor of the Whitebeard Pirates. They fought for their 'Pops.'
Caught off guard by the sudden, coordinated surge from the pirates and the revolutionaries, the Marines—who had been aggressively pursuing the retreating forces—were forced to fall back and establish defensive perimeters.
It wasn't that they were terrified. They were executing a tactical retreat ordered by Sakazuki.
Sakazuki possessed a sharp tactical mind. He saw instantly that the Marine formations had become dangerously overextended and disorganized during the pursuit. They had to reform their lines immediately.
If they didn't, the impact of these fresh, highly motivated enemy forces would shatter their ranks completely.
He needed to buy time for the Marines to regroup.
"Assaulting Headquarters? Don't be so damn naive!"
Sakazuki roared, blasting Crocodile away with a single, magma-infused punch.
He then aimed a massive, molten fist straight up at the sky.
"Great Eruption!"
A colossal pillar of magma rocketed upward, arcing through the air before plummeting directly toward the steam-powered warships laying down suppressing fire from the bay.
SPLASH!
A massive geyser of seawater erupted from the bay.
Jinbe burst from the surface, bringing a torrent of ocean water with him.
"Fish-Man Karate: Arabesque Brick Fist!"
BOOM!
Jinbe threw a rapid-fire barrage of punches, launching massive, condensed spheres of seawater into the sky to intercept the falling meteor of magma.
Hssssss...
The moment the two elements collided, the seawater instantly vaporized into thick clouds of steam.
But the sheer volume of water successfully extinguished the burning magma.
Jinbe didn't stop there. He launched himself out of the water, rocketing straight toward Sakazuki. Mid-air, his body rapidly expanded and shifted as he activated his Devil Fruit!
The Ancient Zoan, Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Tyrannosaurus Rex!
Jinbe's inherently powerful Fish-Man physique, combined with the catastrophic strength of an Ancient T-Rex, granted him unparalleled offensive power.
He drove a fist forward.
This single strike was a flawless amalgamation of Fish-Man Karate, Fish-Man Jujutsu, high-tier Haki, and overwhelming Zoan power. It was fueled entirely by his blinding rage over Ace's death!
"ACE!"
He roared, his voice shaking the island.
DOOOOOM!
The punch tore through the air with apocalyptic force. It was terrifyingly swift and impossibly heavy, like a flaming asteroid breaking atmosphere, intent on shattering the earth below.
"Ace, Luffy... I don't care who they are. As long as they are pirates, they have no right to exist!"
Sakazuki's expression was a mask of cold, unyielding iron.
He didn't care about the political maneuvering of the high command. He didn't care about the sinister agendas of the World Government.
He was standing on a battlefield!
And as a soldier, his duty was absolute: annihilate the enemy.
His body transformed entirely into churning, superheated magma, radiating a heat so intense it visibly warped the air around him.
The very stone and concrete beneath his boots began to liquefy and melt.
Sakazuki threw a punch. The magma beneath his feet violently propelled him forward like an erupting volcano. He became a towering colossus of molten rock, his fist coated in dense Armament Haki, radiating hellfire that threatened to incinerate the world.
The two devastating fists collided in mid-air!
WHAM!
A dull, deafening detonation echoed across the sky.
Instantly, a massive shower of magma exploded outward, like a meteor shattering upon impact.
The collision was catastrophic.
Violent shockwaves and waves of searing air ripped through the plaza.
Pillars of fire erupted, and rivers of magma spilled across the battlefield.
Any Marines, pirates, or revolutionaries caught in the immediate vicinity were violently blasted away, slamming into the ground. If they weren't killed instantly, they were critically wounded.
Jinbe was sent tumbling backward through the air.
Still in his half-dragon form, his chest heaved violently as he gasped for air, his reptilian eyes locked on his opponent.
A massive chunk was missing from the shoulder of the magma colossus, but the molten rock rapidly flowed and hardened, restoring the missing limb in seconds.
This was the terrifying resilience of a top-tier Logia user!
Crocodile swept in from the flank, teaming up with Jinbe to launch a coordinated, two-on-one assault against Sakazuki.
Yet, despite being outnumbered by two formidable powerhouses...
Sakazuki continued to fight with overwhelming, aggressive dominance.
But ultimately, his personal strength wasn't enough to turn the tide. With him successfully pinned down, the entire battlefield descended into a chaotic, bloody melee of close-quarters combat.
Jin remained perched on his vantage point, observing the carnage. Neither he nor Hancock made a move. They were holding their positions, maintaining a vigilant guard against the potential arrival of the Five Elders or the God's Knights.
Only top-tier Conqueror's Haki could reliably damage those monsters. Therefore, preserving his stamina and keeping his ultimate trump cards hidden was absolutely critical.
The war hadn't yet reached its final, decisive phase. You don't play your king until the endgame.
Jin's gaze swept methodically across the plaza, taking in the grand tactical layout of the war.
Whitebeard was locked in a brutal deathmatch with Sengoku.
Bullet was clashing furiously with Garp.
Redfield was crossing blades with Shiryu.
Meanwhile, the surviving division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates were actively hunting down the Blackbeard Pirates.
The sudden intervention of the Revolutionary Army and the Winter Blossom Kingdom forces had effectively tied down the bulk of the Marine infantry, creating isolated pockets across the battlefield for these high-level duels to play out.
Marco and Jozu were executing a coordinated pincer attack on Blackbeard Teach.
Vista was engaging Laffitte.
Izo was locked in combat with Catarina Devon.
Vasco Shot was trading blows with Speed Jiru and Fossa.
Burgess was brawling with Blamenco and Rakuyo.
Doc Q found himself under heavy assault from Blenheim and Curiel.
Avalo Pizarro was fighting a bloody two-on-one against Namur and Atmos.
The remaining division commanders were swarming the Colossal Battleship, Sanjuan Wolf.
Simultaneously, the numerous allied pirate captains had joined forces with the revolutionaries and the Winter Blossom elite, launching a massive offensive against the elite Marine forces commanded by the Vice Admirals.
Borsalino, still nursing the injury from Jin's devastating punch, had re-entered the fray, only to find himself fiercely double-teamed by Sabo and Karasu.
"Dragon! You haven't changed a bit!"
Kuzan materialized, a wall of solid ice blocking Dragon's path.
He stood tall, clad in a white vest over a dark blue shirt, his Marine coat billowing behind him.
"You shouldn't be doing this," Kuzan stated coldly. "Dragging the entire world into the fires of war for some illusory, unattainable goal!"
"It's far better than being a man lost in a fog of his own indecision," Dragon retorted evenly. "A man who doesn't know what to do, so he simply chooses to run away from the reality of the world."
"I will stop you! With everything I have!"
Half of Kuzan's body instantly crystallized into solid ice.
Tendrils of absolute cold radiated outward from him, plummeting the ambient temperature of the surrounding air to sub-zero levels.
"If you want to destroy Marine Headquarters, you'll have to step over my dead body first!"
"Justice will not be tainted!"
Dragon met his gaze without flinching. "What exactly is Justice? And who gets to define it? Is Marine Justice nothing more than acting as a meat shield for the Celestial Dragons?"
"If that is your 'Justice,' then this world doesn't need it!"
Absolute, freezing cold.
Piercing, howling wind.
The duel began.
"Ice Glove!"
"Wind of Freedom!"
Kuzan was Garp's most prized disciple.
Dragon was Garp's own son.
Their respective fighting styles—their "Iron Fists"—were forged by the exact same master. Only their elemental affinities differed.
One was ice.
The other was wind!
The coldest ice often concealed the gentlest heart.
The most burdened man wielded the freest wind.
The two titanic forces collided. The sheer elemental output instantly transformed their immediate vicinity into an apocalyptic wasteland of freezing blizzards and tearing gales.
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