Scarlet, burning rays sizzled through the air, radiating endless heat. In a single instant, they could cut those powerful pirates into pieces.
"Damn it, this guy is too strong…"
Facing Jovian's heat vision, which cooked anyone caught in his line of sight, the pirates felt utterly powerless.
They wanted to turn back and fight Jovian to the death, but reason told them that if they ran, there was still a chance to live. If they turned around, it would be a dead end.
"Damn it…"
Ace watched one crewmate after another fall around him. His brows tightened, and flames kept rising from his body.
"Ace, don't stop! Don't disobey Pops' order!" Marco warned, staring at Ace as anger burned around him.
"I know, but…"
Ace wanted so badly to turn around and have it out with Jovian, but Whitebeard's order was still echoing in his ears. If he turned back now, then everything Little Oars Jr., Vista, Diamond Jozu, and all the allied captains who had come to save him had done, all the endless blood they had shed, would be wasted. That was something he could not bear.
"Ace, I know you're furious, but right now you need to keep that anger under control. The biggest slap in the face we can give the Marines is to make it out of here alive."
Izo held his pistols, occasionally firing back at the pursuers behind them.
"Are we really just going to watch him slaughter everyone here?"
Ace asked the two men beside him. Even if he could no longer save his father, at the very least, he had to help more of his crewmates escape.
"Of course not. I'll handle the rear! The rest of you focus on running…"
After hearing Ace, Marco thought for a moment and realized he was right. If they kept letting Jovian run wild, then even if they escaped in the end, barely anyone would be left.
"Marco…"
Ace's expression changed when he saw Marco preparing to do something. He did not want this man he respected to stay behind on the battlefield alongside the father he loved.
"Leave this to me. Don't worry, I'm not dying here."
As Marco spoke, he transformed into a blue flaming bird and stopped in place, covering everyone's retreat.
The scarlet rays kept sizzling through the air.
Jovian paid no attention at all to Marco stopping behind them. He could not even be bothered with the phoenix. His targets had always been people with weak Observation Haki and no powerful Devil Fruit abilities. People like Marco, Ace, and Crocodile, Mythical Zoan and Logia types, were not within Jovian's target range, because attacking them had no obvious effect and was terribly inefficient.
However, just because Jovian did not go looking for trouble with Marco did not mean trouble would not come looking for him.
Just as Jovian was tearing through the battlefield, blue flames instantly intercepted his attack.
"Hah?"
Jovian stared at the owner of those blue flames, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Marco, what the hell are you doing?! I didn't even go after you, and now you're attacking me first?!"
Jovian looked at Marco and asked in irritation.
"I'm the one who looks after these people. How could I just stand by and watch them get hurt? Besides, if I didn't step up now, wouldn't the Whitebeard Pirates lose all face?"
"Don't worry, Jovian. From this point on, I won't let you hurt another member of the Whitebeard Pirates…"
Marco clenched his fists, his eyes filled with the resolve to fight Jovian to the death.
"You…"
Jovian frowned. It was not that he was actually angry at Marco. He had no personal grudge against him. He was only killing all this high-bounty garbage on the seas for money…
Cough, no, to rid the world of evil.
Being blocked by Marco now merely annoyed Jovian because it stopped him from cashing in faster.
At the same time…
"Hahahaha…"
Sakazuki stood before Whitebeard. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the fleeing pirates being routed and cut down by the Marines, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"What a shame, Whitebeard. Your sons are about to be wiped out…"
Sakazuki stepped on Edward Newgate's naginata and smiled as he spoke.
"Hmph…"
Edward Newgate only snorted. He had Observation Haki, so he clearly knew the situation on the battlefield. What he had to do now was keep this brutal monster in front of him from going off to harm his sons.
Just as Whitebeard was about to continue attacking Sakazuki, a flash of light streaked past and pierced straight through his arm.
"Urgh…"
Large beads of sweat instantly broke out on Whitebeard's forehead from the intense pain.
"Oh, you let your guard down, Whitebeard."
At some point, Borsalino had arrived beside Edward Newgate. He smiled as he looked at Whitebeard, while Whitebeard, because of his concern for his sons and Sakazuki's interference, had failed to notice the extremely troublesome Kizaru in time.
"Hm? Borsalino, what are you doing here?"
Sakazuki looked at Borsalino's arrival and asked in confusion. In his view, dealing with the aged Whitebeard only required him alone.
"Because I had nothing to do. After all, Kuzan and Jovian are over there. Those two should be enough to completely wipe out the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates, right?"
Borsalino stood beside Sakazuki and Edward Newgate, speaking as though it had nothing to do with him. According to his calculations, as long as nothing unexpected happened, Kuzan and Jovian alone were enough to destroy the entire remaining Whitebeard force.
"Hah?! Seriously, even when the job looks easy, you don't half-ass it. Can you people take fighting the Whitebeard Pirates a little more seriously, damn it…"
Sakazuki's head started to ache when he heard Borsalino say "as long as nothing unexpected happened." From what he knew of this old friend, whenever Borsalino said something like that, it usually meant something unexpected really was about to happen.
"Oh, let it go. We should just focus on Whitebeard."
"Look, even Fleet Admiral Sengoku is quietly watching from the rear."
Borsalino glanced back at Sengoku, who had pulled Garp out of the rubble and was now standing there stroking his beard as he observed the battlefield, then smiled.
"Hm?"
Sakazuki turned around when he heard that and saw that Sengoku really was standing there with Garp, chatting and laughing as if they were commenting on the battle.
"Seriously, why do none of you have any sense of urgency?"
Sakazuki was speechless. This was supposed to be his promotion match, yet Garp had gone straight-up AFK, Sengoku talked tougher than anyone but barely lifted a finger, Kuzan was his rival so that went without saying, and even Borsalino had only taken his hands out of his pockets a handful of times so far. Whether he was actually trying or not was painfully obvious to Sakazuki.
"Brats! Do you understand who you are facing?! Take this seriously!"
Edward Newgate, Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world, glared furiously at Sakazuki and Borsalino, who still dared to chat on the battlefield. In his hands, the Supreme Grade Blade Murakumogiri carried a terrifying quake powerful enough to destroy all of Marineford as he swung it toward Sakazuki.
"What a pain…"
Sakazuki watched that terrifying quake approach, and once again, magma powerful enough to burn everything erupted from his body.
When the quaking blade collided with Sakazuki's enormous magma fist, Marineford began to shake on the verge of collapse once more.
"How scary…"
This time, however, things were different, because Borsalino was standing beside Sakazuki. Dazzling light began to shine from his body.
"Damn it…"
If Whitebeard had been in his prime, or if the only person in front of him right now had been Borsalino, he would still have had a way to deal with this. But with Whitebeard's current aged body, insufficient Haki, and the need to face the astonishingly powerful Sakazuki, it was very difficult for him to free up his hands to deal with Borsalino as well. Whitebeard knew exactly what was about to happen to him.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Borsalino flew into the sky. In an instant, blinding golden light illuminated half the heavens.
"It's over…"
Sengoku and Garp stood beneath the execution platform, looking at that dazzling light as they shook their heads.
"Yeah…"
Garp agreed. Only when Borsalino got serious could one truly understand just how terrifying he was.
Even top-tier fighters like them had to be extremely cautious when facing Borsalino, who held absolute control over speed. They needed to use Observation Haki to predict his movements in advance so they could dodge or attack the rain of lasers he unleashed.
But when they could not dodge…
One Yasakani no Magatama after another came raining down, completely piercing through Whitebeard along with Sakazuki.
As Edward Newgate, still locked in a clash with Sakazuki, faced that endless rain of light, his body was continuously destroyed. Countless small holes glittering with crystalline light appeared across him.
"Cough, cough…"
After enduring that terrifying attack, Edward Newgate gripped his naginata and planted it against the ground, dropping to one knee as blood spilled from his mouth.
"Whitebeard, you've lost…"
Once Borsalino's Yasakani no Magatama stopped merely lighting up the edges of the battlefield and actually started hitting, even the strongest man in the world could only fall to one knee while blood kept dripping from his mouth.
"What a monster…"
Edward Newgate looked at Borsalino, helplessness flickering in his expression.
"No one in this world can stay the strongest forever…"
The man recognized by the entire world as its strongest looked up at the sky and sighed. Whitebeard had made his debut in the era of the Rocks Pirates. He had once competed with Roger and the Golden Lion, and in the present age, he was recognized as the greatest pirate in the world. As he gazed at the blue sky and white clouds, countless thoughts surged through his mind.
"Gurarararara…"
Edward Newgate laughed loudly and rose to his feet. The next second, all of Marineford began to tremble with him.
"This is bad! That madman Whitebeard is planning to sink all of Marineford into the sea!"
"We can't let him succeed. How many people would die if that happens?!"
Sengoku's eyes sharpened as he watched Edward Newgate finally unleash the full power of his Devil Fruit. His clothes were instantly soaked with sweat, and his body could not help trembling.
Before this, because Whitebeard's sons had still been on Marineford, the strongest man had held back out of concern. But now, that restraint was completely gone.
At the docks…
"Look, we made it!"
"We can finally get out of here…"
"Victory is ours…"
The pirates ran to the inner bay docks. When they saw their pirate ships, expressions of joy appeared on their faces.
"Man, as if I'd let you run off that easily."
However, just as the pirates arrived at the docks and were about to board their ships, a tall man was already waiting there.
"It's Marine Admiral Kuzan!"
One pirate's face filled with terror when he saw who it was.
With both hands in his pockets, the current Marine Admiral Aokiji, Kuzan, stood there calmly, his cloak bearing the word "Justice" fluttering behind him despite the absence of wind. As bone-chilling cold spread outward, he froze the entire sea solid. At the same time, he created an ice wall hundreds of meters high, blocking the pirates' path.
"All right. Checkmate. Surrender, all of you."
Kuzan kept his hands in his pockets as he looked at the remaining Whitebeard force, which now only had two or three big fish left while the rest were small fry. He seemed too lazy to fight and simply declared the Whitebeard Pirates' defeat, warning them not to resist pointlessly.
"How could we stop here?!"
"Fire Fist!"
Flames burned hot around Ace's body. Then he threw a fierce punch at Kuzan.
The astonishing blaze seemed ready to melt every bit of ice in the area.
Kuzan looked at the enormous fire fist before him and stretched out one hand. The next second, a massive pillar of ice rose from the ground and blocked Ace's Fire Fist.
"Tch."
With only that brief exchange, Ace felt the gap between himself and Kuzan.
"Seriously, wouldn't it be better to just surrender?"
Kuzan's whole body radiated incredible cold as he asked helplessly.
"How could we fall here?!"
Ace shouted and charged at Kuzan again. At the same time, several Whitebeard division commanders behind him attacked Kuzan together.
"Man…"
Kuzan scratched the back of his head. To be honest, these people did not understand the gap between themselves and a top-tier fighter at all.
Just as Kuzan was about to deal with them, a violent quake erupted. The hundred-meter ice wall Kuzan had created instantly shattered, and the frozen sea surface cracked apart with it.
"Whitebeard finally going all out?"
Kuzan looked toward Whitebeard in the distance, who was radiating endless power, and scratched the back of his head.
At the same time, the sound of a ship's whistle drifted across the sea and reached the ears of both Kuzan and the Whitebeard division commanders.
"Man, troublesome people have arrived…"
Kuzan turned and looked toward the unmistakable pirate flag with three red scars over the right eye. He sighed. If he only had to deal with the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates, it would not matter much. But if the Red Hair Pirates were added to the equation, then although the Navy still had enough top-tier combat power, its current forces seemed insufficient for a clash among the middle ranks. If the battle continued, those one hundred thousand troops might all be spent.
"Jovian, let's stop for now…"
"Jovian?!"
Kuzan intended to have Jovian stop temporarily, but when he turned around, he found that Jovian had already disappeared.
On another part of the battlefield, where Edward Newgate stood…
With a thunderous roar, Jovian stopped Murakumogiri, carrying Whitebeard's endless power, with one foot.
"Hm?"
Whitebeard frowned as he looked at the man before him, an unknown figure who had stopped his attack.
"Whitebeard, lend me that five-billion-berry head of yours!"
Jovian looked at the exhausted Whitebeard and smiled, showing his bright white teeth. Jovian had figured it out. Why should he chase after a group of guys with three-to-five-hundred-million-berry bounties and let the man worth five billion stand right in front of him?
Seeing the military credit that had practically been in his hands suddenly trying to run away, Sakazuki had nothing to say.
"…"
Borsalino, who had dealt Whitebeard a massive amount of damage, also had nothing to say.
"…"
"No, seriously, since when do people steal kills on a battlefield?!"
Sakazuki frowned. He did not know whether to say something or stay quiet. At the same time, he also noticed the Red Hair Pirates arriving late.
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