Normally, two 20-meter-tall Giant Vice Admirals would naturally inspire absolute confidence in their subordinates. However, this time was different.
Standing before the nearly forty-meter-tall Little Oars Jr., the two men, whose heads only reached his stomach, appeared completely devoid of any imposing presence.
"To think you'd try to stop me from saving Ace! Get out of my way, you bastards!"
Faced with the interception of the two Giant Vice Admirals, Little Oars Jr. gripped his sword with both hands and roared as he unleashed a sweeping horizontal slash.
One of the Giant Vice Admirals took a massive stride forward, furiously swinging his battle axe to meet the attack.
Clang!!
The deafening sound of clashing weapons echoed in the ears of everyone nearby. In the mere instant of contact, Little Oars Jr.'s unrivaled, terrifying strength shoved his opponent back.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The webbing between the Giant Vice Admiral's thumb and forefinger split open and bled from the shock. Gritting his teeth, he staggered backward until his back slammed heavily against the bay wall with a resounding boom.
Taking advantage of the moment before Little Oars Jr. could retract his blade, the other Vice Admiral took a huge step forward, raising his serrated greatsword high and bringing it down with a vicious chop!
"Die!!"
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, a dark shadow cast over the ground, accompanied by the howling sound of something tearing through the air overhead.
Just as the serrated blade was about to strike Little Oars Jr., an impossibly massive crimson dragon descended from the sky, crashing down violently onto the Giant Vice Admiral's back!
Boom!!
"Blergh—!!"
Under the fierce impact, as if struck by a comet, the Giant Vice Admiral's face twisted in agony as he coughed up a massive mouthful of blood. His eyes rolled back, losing consciousness on the spot, and his body collapsed heavily onto the ground.
This sudden turn of events startled everyone present. When they turned their heads to get a clear look, their eyes practically popped out of their sockets in shock.
Standing upon the ice was a giant dragon over forty meters tall—a full head taller than Little Oars Jr.—its body covered entirely in crimson scales!
Allen had transformed into the Ember Dragon. The giant dragon spread its bat-like wings, blotting out the sun, and opened its jaws to reveal two rows of dense, ferocious fangs. With every breath, a cluster of flames danced within its mouth.
"Could... could this be...!!"
"It's a fire-breathing dragon!!"
As Luffy yelled, his jaw dropped so hard it practically hit the ground. His eyes widened as he stared at the red dragon blocking their group's path.
He wasn't the only one. Seeing such a rare creature that usually only existed in storybooks, everyone around wore expressions of sheer, unbelievable shock.
"Hey, Straw Hat kid! Leave this to Little Oars Jr., we need to keep moving!"
Seeing Luffy and the others halt, the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Eighth Division, the Fish-Man Namur, hurriedly shouted to urge them on.
"Yeah, I know!"
Snapping back to reality, Luffy gave a resolute nod and immediately turned to continue sprinting forward.
Behind him, Jinbe and Okama King Ivankov, who were providing cover, cast one last glance at the giant dragon before quickly moving to follow Luffy toward the plaza.
Allen's golden, slit-like pupils shifted slowly, glancing at the few people bypassing his feet. He paid them no mind and turned his gaze back to Little Oars Jr.
"The lingering bloodline of the Ancient Giant Tribe... let me test your strength."
"Eh! The dragon spoke! Just what kind of monster are you?!"
The sudden voice startled Little Oars Jr. He stared at him in shock with his mouth wide open, but then his expression shifted, glaring back angrily.
"I don't care what you are! No one is going to stop me from taking Ace out of here today!"
With that, Little Oars Jr. gripped his sword with both hands, raised it above his head, and brought it down in a fierce vertical chop!
Allen's slit pupils narrowed. His muscles tensed, and the overlapping, hard scales on his body glowed with a red light.
Clang!!
The steel blade struck viciously against Allen's body, scraping across with heavy resistance and sparking wildly, yet it only left a shallow scratch.
"So tough...!!"
Little Oars Jr.'s eyes filled with astonishment, his expression reflecting disbelief. With his immense strength, he actually couldn't completely cut through Allen's defenses?!
A hint of satisfaction appeared in Allen's eyes. This form of his was a fusion of several giant creatures he had previously collected on Demonic Beast Island.
It used the Ember Dragon, capable of breathing fire and magma, as the base, combined with the wings of a Pteranodon, the terrifying bite force of a Tyrannosaurus Rex's jaw, the tough skin of the Red-Scaled Ankylosaurus... and so on.
It could be said that he had blended the strongest parts of various powerful creatures together, utilizing the Demon Brain and Life Return to assist in perfectly adapting the spliced torso and limbs.
Compared to the Azure Dragon form Kaido transformed into, it might still be lacking quite a bit, but aside from that, it would probably be hard to find a stronger creature in the world.
He could even continuously collect new abilities to fuse into it in the future, or gather stronger abilities of the same type to update and replace the current ones.
Iterating step by step like this, sooner or later, he would surpass Kaido and become the brand-new Strongest Creature on Land, Sea, and Air!
"Damn it! If slashing won't work..."
Anger flared in Little Oars Jr.'s eyes. He simply tossed aside his greatsword, raised his thick arm, clenched his fist, and threw a fierce punch!
Bang!!
Allen's thick forelimb flashed with sharp claws, meeting the attack with an open palm to steadily catch the opponent's fist, while his other forelimb viciously tore into Little Oars Jr.'s chest!
Rip!!
"Gwaaah—!!"
Allen's ruthless claws easily tore through flesh and skin, spraying a large amount of blood into the sky as Little Oars Jr. threw his head back and howled in pain.
"You bastard!!"
A ruthless glint flashed in Little Oars Jr.'s eyes as he raised his foot and delivered a fierce kick to the giant dragon's body!
Bang!!
Allen staggered back two steps, planting his hind foot heavily to brace his body. Twisting his footing, he spun his body and swiftly whipped out his thick tail, which ended in a spiked club bone!
Bang!!
The tail club smashed heavily into Little Oars Jr.'s face, its spikes piercing his cheek and drawing blood.
Little Oars Jr. gritted his teeth, enduring the agonizing pain, and wrapped both hands around the tail.
However, in the next second.
Allen turned his head back, reared up, and suddenly opened his jaws to spew out a burst of explosive flames!
Boom!!
Little Oars Jr.'s pupils shrank in terror as the surging flames instantly engulfed his upper body!
"Uwaaah—!!"
Agonized wails echoed from within the roaring flames. A few seconds later, the fire gradually died down, revealing a charred, blackened figure inside.
Little Oars Jr.'s eyes rolled back, wisps of white smoke rising from his scorched body.
Allen spread the wings on his back and flapped them forcefully, sending out a shockwave of gale-force winds. Combined with a leap from his legs, his massive body launched forward into the air.
Bang!!
Allen bent his legs and then kicked out fiercely against Little Oars Jr., sending him flying backward.
Boom!!
The colossal body crashed heavily onto the ice, crushing countless Marines and pirates who couldn't escape in time, and kicking up a violent gust of wind mixed with freezing air.
"Little Oars Jr.!!"
Seeing him fall, countless pirates around cried out in panic and worry.
Bang!!
Allen landed heavily on the ground, retracting his wings. With a casual swipe of his sharp claws, he scraped a few drops of blood from his opponent's body.
With that, the Ancient Giant Tribe bloodline was secured.
However, right at that moment.
"You damn brat!!"
Before Allen could begin analyzing the blood, an angry shout suddenly rang out from above. Alarm bells instantly blared in his mind, and he snapped his head up to look.
He saw Whitebeard descending from the sky, his face contorted in fury. He wielded Murakumogiri in one hand, while his other hand was clenched into a tight fist, wrapped in a sphere of white, translucent energy!
"What have you done to my foolish son?!"
"Hey, hey, hey, you've got to be kidding me..."
Gulp...
Allen's pupils gradually dilated. His throat bobbed as he couldn't help but swallow hard, a drop of cold sweat seeping from his temple.
At this moment, only a single thought remained in his entire mind.
*'I'm screwed—!!'*
"Tremor!! Shatter!!"
Whitebeard roared in fury, a ferocious red light blooming in his eyes. The muscles on his arms bulged as he violently slammed his massive fist into the empty air!
BOOM!!!
Accompanied by a terrifying, deafening boom, all objects between heaven and earth seemed to cease moving for a split second. Cracks shattered through space, spreading densely like a spiderweb.
Then, with a sound like shattering glass, the world in Allen's vision suddenly fractured like a mirror!
Rumble!!
The earth trembled, the sky tilted, and all of Marineford shook violently.
A terrifying tremor force surged forward, instantly swallowing the massive dragon body and blasting him away, slamming him violently into the plaza wall!
Boom!!
From this single strike, Allen's entire colossal body was embedded directly into the exploding wall, his expression twisting in agony as he coughed up a massive mouthful of blood!