But the prerequisite was having enough Haki to protect oneself.
Otherwise, even Whitebeard's defense could be broken by a flintlock bullet!
And during fierce combat, the amount of Haki one had would drop rapidly.
The pirates on Whitebeard's side realized the problem and launched wave after wave of charges through the artillery fire.
They forced the Marines atop the bay to jump down from the coast and enter the ice field to intercept them.
"Stop them! Buy time for the cannons!"
"Hold them back! Hold them back!"
The situation on the battlefield changed by the second.
A portion of the pirates and Marines tangled together. The Marines held their battle line, refusing to let the pirates penetrate and disrupt their formation.
The pirates charged forward madly, trying to make the Marines hesitate and stop the bombardment.
However, even more pirates were still struggling miserably under the cannon fire.
Outside the bay, the affiliated grand fleet blocked outside by the ice also launched an attack.
Fighting them were those famous Marine vice admirals and a large number of elite Marines.
However, because their numbers were enormous, a portion of Whitebeard's pirates approached the ice under the cover of their comrades and began advancing toward the main battlefield.
"Gurararara, freezing the inside of the bay, huh? You thought it through pretty well."
As Whitebeard watched the situation, he mocked Kuzan's earlier move as having created convenience for them.
"You gain some, you lose some."
Kuzan calmly replied, and before disappearing, his gaze swept toward the front line of the bay.
Then, what are you planning?
Ren!
Even though the situation had already entered a formal war, Kuzan, who knew quite a bit about Ren, still did not dare shift too much of his attention away.
He understood very clearly that that man would absolutely never stand on the World Government's side.
To him, the Marines were also enemies at a certain stage.
Since he had participated in the Marineford War, he had surely come with some kind of objective. There was even a possibility he had already interfered.
It was just that Kuzan had no means, no evidence, and no direction for deduction. All he could do was keep watching and continue pressuring him.
And so, when he appeared again, he had arrived at the Warlords' position.
"From here on, I'll be counting on you all."
Perhaps because of his ice transformation, Kuzan's voice was somewhat cold, and his gaze fell on Ren.
The icy vapor he had released earlier had probed the faint golden mist Ren had sent out.
It did not seem to be a weapon, but he did not believe Ren would make a meaningless move.
However... the one who responded to Kuzan was not Ren.
It was Mihawk, drawing Yoru!
"I would have acted even without you saying so."
Mihawk was eager to try. Gripping his black blade tightly, he wrapped it in Armament Haki. "I also want to know exactly how far the man before us stands from people like us."
The two Admirals watching from afar both twitched at the corners of their mouths, seemingly a little surprised.
"What a rare sight."
Kizaru's mouth tilted crookedly, but his gaze landed on Ren. He had originally been somewhat looking forward to this one making a move.
He would not forget so quickly what had once been influenced into forgetfulness.
Akainu was equally surprised. "That self-willed Hawk-Eye is actually taking the initiative to join the battle..."
In the next instant, Hawk-Eye's slash erupted.
Boom—!
The air twisted and burst with a sharp cry.
The slash once seen in the East Blue was reenacted once more. Amid the darkened sky and earth, dazzling green sword energy flashed!
It was as if only one color remained in the world!
A green light connecting heaven and earth exploded outward, like the scorching breath spat from the mouth of an enraged dragon, rising from the ice field.
Both sides locked in battle on the ice field pulled away at the same time, their faces changing drastically as they watched the terrifying slash pass nearby.
The ice surface along its path was plowed open into a long trench. Countless shards of ice flew everywhere, and several pirates were unlucky enough to be standing within the range of the incoming slash wave.
The moment they used Armament Haki to defend themselves, they were cut down in an instant!
"Hawk-Eye, huh..."
On the Moby Dick, Whitebeard grinned, calmly watching that astonishing slash wave.
If it had been before that incident, this slash really would have given him a headache.
Now, it was merely a matter of one punch.
But there was no need for him to block it either. The Whitebeard Pirates were not so weak that he was their only pillar.
A burly man with developed muscles, a broad chest, dark skin, armor, and no eyebrows stood in the path of that slash.
The captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' Third Division, the Paramecia-Type Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit user—Diamond Jozu, jokingly known as the most expensive man in the world.
Amid the dazzling green light, he made his fierce entrance.
"Heh! Like I'd let you get your way, Hawk-Eye!"
He stood horizontally on the ice before the bow of the Moby Dick and transformed into shining diamond. Immediately afterward, he used his body as a shield and directly took Hawk-Eye's slash wave head-on.
That terrifying slash wave, which could cut through mountains and split the sea, now seemed to have slammed into an unmoving mountain, unable to advance even half a step.
The incomparably sharp sword energy continuously cut into the Haki-covered diamond body, yet it could barely leave any obvious marks.
"Ooooooh!"
Jozu roared again and again, gripping the solidified slash wave with both hands. Then, with brute force, he forcibly threw that slash wave into the sky.
The slash spun upward, circling into the heavens, then transformed into a massive shock wave and released.
A huge hole was torn open in the thundercloud layer, and the rolling roar made even the ground tremble.
"If you want to deal with Pops, then get through us first. And I'm only one of them."
Jozu stared coldly at Mihawk, who stood with his blade in hand. "Until then, don't go thinking of yourself as someone on Pops' level!"
"Captain Jozu, beautifully done!"
"Hahaha, so that's all the world's greatest swordsman's slash amounts to? It can't even break through our captain's defense!"
Members of the Whitebeard Pirates burst into laughter, and their morale clearly rose by quite a bit.
'Still a little forced, huh? Maybe I can use that...'
On the harbor coast, Hawk-Eye looked expressionlessly at Jozu, who had blocked the slash wave with his body alone.
A long-range slash wave, even wrapped in Haki, would not be absurdly powerful unless one disregarded everything and poured a huge amount of Haki into it.
But that would be far too inefficient. Compared to using an enormous amount of Haki on a wide-range slash, it was better to wrap it around the blade and fight at close range...
However, at this moment, everyone no longer had time to marvel at the splendid exchange between the two sides.
"What's that in the sky?!"
"L-Lightning! It's Demon Ren!"
Because the thunderclouds flattened by the shock wave had disappeared, the thing hidden within them was revealed.
It was a mass of electric charges winding across the sky, shining like a cluster of brilliant stars—in other words, countless tiny arcs of lightning.
They were not enough to produce rolling thunder, yet they gathered like a surging sea in the sky and possessed an equally terrifying power!
No matter who it was, the instant they saw it, they could realize the truth.
This was not natural lightning, but lightning being controlled by an ability.
And the source...
"Ara, ara, are you preparing to make a move too?"
Kuzan deliberately set the tone, practically writing "I'm forcing you to act" across his face.
"Mm, this timing isn't bad either."
Ren grinned and raised his hand, gripping the bladeless hilt within everyone's sight.
A large amount of lightning arcs leaked from the hilt and rose upward. Then they connected with the sea of lightning in the sky.
On the execution platform, a strange light flashed through Sengoku's eyes. "He's finally preparing to act?"
That was fine.
As long as this powerful fellow made a move, the pressure on the front line would be reduced by a great deal. No matter what, he should be able to take out several hundred enemies, right?
"Another Warlord of the Sea!"
"Great! Strike those pirates dead!"
Quite a few Marines cheered.
Still on the whale-headed great ship, Marco raised an eyebrow. Looking at those cheering Marines, a trace of pity inevitably appeared in his eyes.
How do you know—
who that lightning is going to strike?
The same went for Whitebeard himself, who knew the truth in his heart. His gaze toward Sengoku carried a hint of mockery.
What does that mean?
As their gazes met, Sengoku, who understood his old opponent well, felt a chill in his heart and instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
However... violent thunder exploded in the very next instant.
Rumble—!
Before that sound could arrive, Ren switched his Trait and changed the blade into plasma.
The surging sea of lightning covering the sky transformed along with it, then launched its attack.
Raise the hand—slash down!
"Thunderflame Greatblade: Scorching Light!"
Countless rays of white light fell from the sky, covering the entire bay at astonishing speed.
The Marines' gun emplacements, coastal batteries, cannons, and other firepower facilities vanished instantly within the white flash, turning into pools of melted iron!
Everyone who witnessed that instant froze for a moment.
"What happened?!"
"The batteries... the batteries are all gone!"
"Why did he attack our side...?"
The Marine soldiers let out voices of disbelief, and the reporters at the Sabaody Archipelago were just as shocked as they were.
They quickly realized one fact.
A Warlord had rebelled!
In this war of immense significance, a war that had to be fought and carried immense pressure, he had rebelled in front of countless people and dealt the Marines a head-on blow!
On the execution platform, Sengoku sucked in a long breath of cold air, feeling as if all the blood in his body was rushing into his brain.
His entire head was buzzing!
How dare you?!
"How dare you?!"
That was Kuzan's furious roar. Holding half a military saber, he stared fixedly at Ren, who was clutching his own head in front of him.
In the literal sense—clutching his head!
At the very instant Ren launched the slash, Kuzan, having reacted, had swung a Haki-coated slash and decapitated him.
However, Ren, who had already transformed into a plasma body, had no vital points.
"What's there to be afraid of?"
Ren chuckled. His entire body transformed into lightning particles, collapsed, and vanished.
There was no need to fight an Admiral right now.
At that instant, Demon Ren temporarily exited the stage, and Kuzan, vaporized into icy mist, instantly pursued him.
"Hey, hey! What the hell just happened?"
"A Warlord rebellion..."
The abnormal change left both sides somewhat at a loss.
The Marines' artillery offensive had been directly silenced, because nearly all their gun emplacements had been destroyed.
On the other hand, the Whitebeard Pirates realized the key point. Although they did not know why the other party wanted to stand on their side, with the artillery gone, they had regained an advantage.
"The advantage is ours! Charge!"
"Long live Pops!"
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates cheered and launched another wave of charges.
Without artillery support, the Marines immediately found it difficult to hold on.
"Show the world the meaning of your existence! Warlords of the Sea!"
At this moment, Sengoku swiftly took remedial action. Demon Ren's rebellion had indeed exceeded his expectations.
It had removed a huge portion of the Warlords' total combat strength, but after all, there were still three Warlords who had yet to make a move.
(End of Chapter)