It was such a plain, straightforward punch, colliding with his fist that contained the power of tremors and peerless Haki.
Yet the result was completely beyond Whitebeard's expectations.
With the first punch, his tremor halo was shattered.
With the second punch, his Haki was broken apart.
With the third punch, he felt as though his arm no longer belonged to him at all.
At that moment, Whitebeard immediately realized it.
He had lost.
The other party's physical constitution was terrifyingly strong. It might even be stronger than Kaido's, and stronger than that Marine, Garp's!
Whitebeard could feel it. In terms of raw strength, he and the other party were not on the same level at all.
No wonder Roy had the combat power to easily kill someone at the level of a Marine Admiral. No wonder he could invade Mary Geoise and carve through its guard forces. No wonder the World Government's repeated operations had all ended fruitlessly, forcing them to adopt a strategy of trying to overpraise him into ruin.
Whitebeard understood it all at once.
Since he had sensed the gap in strength between the two sides, Whitebeard naturally would not make an unwise choice.
He still had a whole bunch of sons to support, after all.
However, after victory and defeat had been decided, that did not stop Whitebeard and Roy from having a friendly spar.
After all, Whitebeard had carried the title of the strongest for quite some time, and as his age increased, his strength had gradually begun to decline instead of improve.
Being able to spar and test himself like this still brought him certain benefits.
And so, while the battle outside was still ongoing, Whitebeard and Roy had already sat down together, drinking and chatting, gradually becoming more familiar with each other.
"The brats outside must be getting impatient too. This works out perfectly. I'll announce Fish-Man Island's new sovereignty in front of them."
Whitebeard drained the Seven Treasures Glazed Wine in one gulp, then picked up Murakumogiri.
"Aside from our crew members, there are also some righteous rats peeking from the sidelines, and wild dogs hiding in the shadows hoping to snatch some scraps. Those need to be cleaned up too."
"Oh? The Marines came too? Gurarararara! Perfect. After resting for three days, my hands were starting to itch too."
…
When Whitebeard and Roy appeared on the ice once again, they drew everyone's attention.
"They look completely unharmed. Whitebeard, and that brat called Roy too. Neither of them seems to be injured at all. Did they really fight?"
On the deck of a distant Marine warship, Garp rubbed his chin, expressing deep suspicion.
Meanwhile, Aokiji beside him was still studying the sea surface that had been frozen over, while comparing it with the cold air released from his own hand.
"Don't tell me the two of them were only drinking on the island, or eating snacks like doughnuts? That would be the worst possible situation for us."
The adjutant beside Garp's mouth twitched. Very wisely, he did not speak, though he still grumbled inwardly, "How could they possibly sit down and drink together?! Those two are both dangerous great pirates!"
However, what neither the adjutant nor Garp knew was that what Garp had said was already infinitely close to the truth.
"Pops!"
"Captain!"
The people from both pirate crews all shouted at once.
"Weehahahaha! Captain, what was the result?!"
Burgess could not hold back his impatience and was the first to ask.
Aside from him, everyone else also looked toward Roy.
Only the Whitebeard Pirates all firmly believed that their pops was the strongest, and that he would never lose.
Among them, however, there was only one person staring at Roy with burning eyes.
"Zehahaha! If he can stand side by side with Pops, then no matter how it ended, after today's battle, nobody will be able to suppress the Thunder God's reputation anymore. At the very least, he'll become an existence on par with Pops and Kaido!"
Marshall D. Teach, who had always been on Whitebeard's ship and had merely watched silently during the previous great battle, had thoughts surging wildly in his mind.
"Everyone!"
Roy took in all their expressions, whether expectant or fanatical.
Far away, at a location some distance from Punk Hazard, the Big Mom Pirates, hidden in the shadows, were also gazing in this direction.
On the deck of the Queen Mama Chanter, Katakuri, standing in the front row, had a red light flash through his eyes. Then his eyes instantly widened.
"How is that possible?!"
"From now on, Fish-Man Island is our territory!"
Katakuri's voice and Roy's voice rang out at the same time.
However, the former was only muttering to himself, while the latter's voice resounded through the heavens.
A deathly silence followed.
Whether it was the Whitebeard Pirates or the Thunder God Pirates, at this moment, both crews fell into an eerie silence.
Everyone in the Thunder God Pirates looked at Roy with dazed eyes, as if they thought they had heard wrong.
Even Burgess, who had just asked the question, had his mouth wide open at this moment, his eyes filled with shock.
That was Whitebeard!
A great pirate who had roamed the seas for decades, a man spoken of in the same breath as the Pirate King, Roger, and the strongest man in the world!
The countless titles piled upon Whitebeard's head had made most people instinctively feel that the result of this battle had been decided from the beginning.
After all, Whitebeard's fame had lasted far too long. He had held the title of the world's strongest for years. Challengers had come one after another, but all of them had failed.
And their own captain, counting this year, was only in his thirties, wasn't he?
Putting aside the Thunder God Pirates, on the other side, Whitebeard's sons also froze instantly after hearing Roy's words.
"Pops?!"
Marco opened his mouth. A drop of sweat slid down the side of his face as he looked at Whitebeard and murmured.
"Gurarararara! My sons, this is the sea. You never know what will happen in the next moment, or what kind of powerful person will appear. The title of the world's strongest? I don't give a damn about it!"
Whitebeard's heroic laughter resounded across the entire sea.
There was no doubt that his words set the tone for what Roy had said.
In this battle, he, Whitebeard, had lost!
Not only did this awaken the people of both pirate crews from their shock, it also carried his words into the ears of everyone nearby.
With trembling hands, the reporters picked up their Transponder Snail receivers, swallowed, and spoke in hoarse, dry voices.
"President? There's big news here!"
On the Marine deck, Garp quietly listened to Whitebeard's great laughter with a calm expression. Then he raised his head and looked toward the horizon.
"I never thought even that guy Whitebeard would lose. Heh, Roger, you bastard. Just how many monsters will the Great Pirate Era you started create?"
(End of Chapter)
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