BOOM—!
Their Conqueror's Haki collided again—both already at the brink.
Now it was about who still had a hidden card.
Who still had more endurance.
Shura's greatsword continuously spilled ghostly aura—an eerie, dim green pressure that battered White Ghost like waves of poison.
White Ghost's blade answered with its own violent force.
Two demonic energies plus what remained of Conqueror's coating—
the space around them visibly warped, as if something unnatural might be born from the distortion.
"This is terrifying…" Bellemere murmured.
She'd always known White Ghost was strong—
but not this strong.
Now, with Nami following him, Bellemere finally felt truly at ease.
"Come on, White Ghost…!" Nami clenched her tiny fist, face tight with worry.
She couldn't see clearly at this distance—
but she could feel the pressure pressing down on her bones.
CLANG—CLANG—CLANG!
They stopped defending.
They stopped being careful.
They simply traded cuts—one for one—
betting the other would fall first.
"This… even beasts don't fight like that," Tashigi whispered, eyes wide.
Shura's blade carved another gash across White Ghost's chest, crossing the old wound.
White Ghost let out a savage roar, eyes turning red—
and seized the opening to hack off Shura's left arm.
"AAARGH—!"
Blood burst like a fountain.
Shura's remaining back-arm no longer held his waist—his wound had partially closed.
He gripped the sword with both hands again and swung—
BOOM!
White Ghost was thrown back, smashing into a ridge.
A new straight wound opened in the center of the crossed scars.
But the next second, White Ghost surged forward again, hacking like a madman.
At close range, White Ghost held a slight advantage—
because his weapon was a black blade.
Shura's sword wasn't fully forged into one.
He'd gone into hibernation before reaching that stage.
So he was paying the price now.
Everyone watched, breath caught.
Two humanoid beasts—
killing each other inch by inch.
High above, on a hot-air balloon, Morgans was losing his mind with excitement, camera snapping nonstop.
A video Den Den Mushi recorded everything.
"YAHAHAHA—!"
"I didn't come for nothing!"
"These two—these two are absolutely top-tier!"
"They're already comparable to the monsters of the New World!"
"And White Ghost… his growth is insane!"
"Even Red-Haired Shanks isn't as terrifying as him!"
Another violent clash—
CLANG!
No grand Conqueror's shockwave this time.
They were almost out.
Only scraps of strength remained.
Senior Pink stared with fanatic admiration.
"They're real men…"
This style—
You cut me. I cut you.
It was everything he loved.
Container clenched his fist.
"Captain will win. I believe it."
Brook laughed lightly, eyes sharp.
"Yohohoho… looks like the Captain is about to finish it."
"So this time… the Captain wins against that faction."
Both fighters stood, heaving.
White Ghost's expression turned feral.
"Any last words?"
Shura, drained to the bone, still forced a smirk.
"Kid, you think you've got me?"
"Dream on."
"You don't have any tricks left either."
White Ghost crouched and exploded forward.
"Then let's see who wins!"
Shura lunged too.
Their final collision—
CLANG!
White Ghost twisted with perfect timing, deflecting Shura's blade—
then planted a heavy kick into Shura's chest.
Shura grunted, pain flashing—
and swung his sword like a club in retaliation.
White Ghost slipped aside—
BOOM!
The ground where he'd been exploded into a crater.
Shura's eyes widened.
"I got baited!"
He realized it—
but his body was too far gone to react in time.
White Ghost's blade came down—
and severed Shura's last remaining back-arm.
Blood sprayed.
Shura roared, agony tearing through him.
He swung a desperate sweep with his only remaining right arm—
White Ghost threw his black blade up to block.
CLANG—!
White Ghost was blasted away, skidding across the earth.
Shura charged after him, roaring.
"This is the end!"
He thrust—
White Ghost had just stood—
SHK!
The sword punched through White Ghost's chest and burst out his back.
"Captain—!!" Zango and the others cried out.
White Ghost's women panicked.
Kuina and Bai Hezi launched into the air.
But—
"GAAH—!"
White Ghost grabbed the blade with both hands, stopping Shura from slicing sideways.
Steel shrieked.
Blood ran from White Ghost's mouth as he looked up, eyes blazing.
"Missed my heart by a hair."
He grinned—brutal, delighted.
"Too bad."
"Any last words?"
Shura's pupils shrank.
"…Again?!"
He tried to wrench the sword free.
He couldn't.
Then White Ghost opened his mouth.
Energy compressed—
violent, dense—
lightning packed to the extreme until the air itself screamed.
Shura shut his eyes.
"I… lost."
BOOOOM—!!
A concentrated lightning blast erupted from White Ghost's mouth, punching through Shura's chest.
The bolt tore out his back and stabbed into the sky.
Thunder detonated.
Electric arcs crawled through Shura's body, shredding what little life remained.
Shura's sword slipped from his hand.
He fell backward—
THUD!!
The ground shook.
White Ghost ripped the blade out of his own body—
blood spraying.
The greatsword fell with a heavy clang.
White Ghost staggered toward Shura's head and loomed over him.
Shura smiled weakly.
"You win, kid."
"Go on."
"Take your victory… and the glory that comes with it."
His voice was faint, but satisfied—almost peaceful.
"This is the best fight I've had in two hundred years."
"WE WON!!" White Ghost's people started to cheer—
And then—
a flash of light streaked toward White Ghost.
Kizaru.
At the same time, the two CP0 agents sprang upward to move.
"Oi oi oi—" Zango blurred in front of them, fist already swinging.
"Are you pretending we don't exist?"
Senior Pink blocked the bird-mask agent as well.
White Ghost's crew—anyone who could fly—shot forward.
Those who couldn't used Geppo.
White Ghost lifted his blade toward Shura's neck—
he had no strength left to talk.
Only to finish it.
But—
FWOOSH!
Kizaru appeared in front of White Ghost, smiling lazily.
"You can't kill him~"
"If you do, I can't complete my mission~"
His foot rose—
aimed straight at White Ghost's sword.
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