Because Kizaru had blocked Whitebeard's attack, the Marines were overjoyed.
But in the end...
He had only blocked one strike.
The pirates immediately fired back.
"Oh? So this is the Marines? Haven't seen you for a few days and you've gotten this weak?"
"You're celebrating just because you managed to block one of the old man's attacks?"
"You damned pirates, looking for death!"
As expected, the Marines reacted like cats whose tails had been stepped on and instantly exploded in anger.
"Looking for death? More like your Admiral is the one looking for death!"
For a moment, both pirates and Marines became even more vicious.
Neither side cared about survival anymore.
They fought with reckless abandon, trading life for life.
The casualty count surged in an instant.
"With only you here... it's not enough."
Akainu had finally arrived.
He stepped up beside Kizaru.
"Yeah... not enough."
Kizaru gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
If he had not dodged that last strike quickly enough, it might not have killed him, but it would have left him in a miserable state.
Kizaru was not surprised by Akainu's arrival.
This had been part of the Marines' plan from the beginning.
Although the Marines looked battered right now, their strategic objective had never changed.
"If it's the two of us together... I wonder whether we can make Whitebeard get serious."
"Who can say?"
Even the confident Akainu gave an uncertain answer.
"So another little brat has arrived?"
Whitebeard leapt down directly from the deck of the Moby Dick.
A Yonko was stronger than an Admiral.
But stronger did not mean overwhelmingly stronger.
To fight two Admirals at once, even Whitebeard, the strongest among the Four Emperors, needed to become serious.
He gripped his Bisento with both hands.
Sharp light and murderous intent burst from his eyes.
In an instant, overwhelming pressure crashed down upon Kizaru and Akainu.
"What immense pressure."
"What terrifying Conqueror's Haki."
Kizaru and Akainu both involuntarily took a step back.
They could not help but voice their amazement.
"Shocking! With only a glance, Whitebeard forced Admirals Kizaru and Akainu to retreat!"
"This headline will definitely sell!"
The reporters who had been spectating nearby once again began writing furiously.
This war between the Marines and the Whitebeard Allied Fleet had become the greatest source of news material they had seen all year.
So many headlines... and the battle was only getting started.
They absolutely had to organize all of it properly.
"Amazing! Whitebeard truly deserves the title of strongest man on the seas!"
"Unbelievable! Who exactly is the one that set the trap here?"
All kinds of headlines flowed from the reporters' pens.
"Whitebeard, don't get too arrogant."
At the far rear of Marineford, Sengoku watched the battlefield with killing intent in his eyes.
At this moment, the objective of splitting apart the Whitebeard Allied Fleet had already been achieved.
He picked up the Den Den Mushi once more.
"Transmit the order. Prepare Marineford's walls."
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Soon, the sound of machinery rang out.
Marineford itself was shaped like a crescent moon.
The place where Whitebeard had emerged from beneath the sea was right in the opening of that crescent.
The land behind it was lined with defensive walls.
Now, as the machinery roared, enormous wall panels of unknown material began rising from underground.
Each slab was five meters thick.
They extended across nearly the entire Marineford coastline.
The intention was obvious.
They wanted to completely trap the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies on the coastal battlefield.
"This is bad! We fell for it!"
Marco had already defeated two of the three elite vice admirals blocking him.
Sweeping his gaze around, he instantly understood what was happening.
He transformed into his phoenix form and shot into the sky.
One look was enough to shock him.
The Whitebeard Allied Fleet of more than fifty thousand men had already been divided into several isolated groups.
The Marines clearly intended to separate them and wipe them out one section at a time.
"Everyone, be careful!"
"Regroup immediately! Don't get split apart!"
"So you noticed?"
At the rear of Marineford, Sengoku had already stepped onto the execution platform beside Portgas D. Ace.
He calmly watched everything unfolding below.
"But noticing it only now... is too late."
"Ace!"
At that moment, a gigantic figure appeared in the center of the battlefield.
Nearly forty meters tall, even higher than the walls the Marines had built around Marineford.
Little Oars Jr..
The only being still carrying the bloodline of the ancient giants.
"I came to save you!"
Seeing Little Oars Jr. arrive, Ace immediately lowered his head against the wooden platform in anguish.
Tears streamed down Portgas D. Ace's face and onto the execution platform.
"Why... why did you come?!"
At that moment, memories of his time with Little Oars Jr. flooded Ace's mind.
They were friends.
They were brothers.
Ace had even made him a straw hat.
That hat had been enormous.
To weave it, Ace had spent a long time searching for suitable grass, then even more time crafting it by hand.
"Oars!"
"You shouldn't have come!"
"Run!"
"With a body that huge, you'll only become a living target for their cannons!"
Ace roared with all his strength.
He truly was worried for Oars.
"No!"
Little Oars Jr.'s answer was equally firm.
His eyes held only Ace.
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
From the moment Oars appeared, countless cannon shells exploded against his body.
Because Marines and pirates had become tangled together in close combat, many artillery batteries had been unusable earlier.
But now they had found their purpose again.
Cannons, bullets, and explosive fire rained down on Oars like a storm.
The sheer volume of bombardment turned the battlefield around him into a zone of destruction.
Even Whitebeard would have been injured standing there.
Little Oars Jr. was suffering far worse.
Before long, blood covered his entire body.
Yet Oars showed no sign of retreat.
He did not even spare a glance for the shells and bullets tearing into him.
In his eyes, there was only Ace.
"We're brothers!"
"How could I stand by while my brother suffers?!"
"That straw hat you made me..."
"It fits perfectly."
Little Oars Jr.'s voice echoed across the battlefield.
Its sincerity moved even the Marines, causing the barrage to hesitate for a brief moment.
But an enemy was still an enemy.
To show mercy to the enemy was cruelty to their own side.
The next second, even fiercer artillery fire crashed toward him again.
Yet Oars did not waver.
Instead, he broke into a faster run.
"Ace!"
His roar thundered through all of Marineford.
"I came to save you!"
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