"Damn it!"
The instant Sakazuki's life force flickered weakly within the scope of his Observation Haki—
Sengoku understood.
The Navy's ambitions for this battle had completely crumbled.
God only knew why. Two pirates locked in a death match… and yet, after their fight, they still had strength to spare!
But now, the Navy couldn't afford another loss.
If any of the three—Sakazuki, Kuzan, or Borsalino—died here, it would be a blow Sengoku could not accept.
His greed had cost them too much.
The Golden Buddha shot toward where Kaido stood, but not before unleashing one last strike as he departed.
Fueled by bitter frustration, a massive shockwave erupted, growing stronger as it surged forth, engulfing the Moby Dick entirely.
"Sea Quake!"
Whitebeard, mustering the last of his strength, wrapped his fist in a faint glow of energy and struck out.
"Boom!!"
A towering wall of water roared like a tsunami, shoving the Moby Dick backward.
The shockwave and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power clashed violently—neither overpowering the other.
Even so, the battle-hardened Moby Dick now showed visible cracks along her hull.
"It's finally over…"
Watching Sengoku retreat, Whitebeard let out a long, heavy breath.
If this dragged on any longer, even if he fought with everything he had left, he'd collapse here and now.
Several of his sons hurried to his side, their voices full of worry.
"Pops! Are you okay?!"
"Gurararara! Let's go home, boys!"
Whitebeard's hearty laugh echoed back at their concern, as bold as ever.
"I knew it!"
"Pops is invincible!"
Their cheers masked what none of them noticed.
In that moment, as Whitebeard gripped Murakumogiri, his massive naginata, his hand trembled ever so slightly.
...
"I'll go first!!!"
Ice crystals bloomed across Kuzan's face as bitter cold spread outward in waves.
The moisture in the air froze into shards of ice, and the once-scorched earth rapidly cooled, turning the battlefield into a frozen wasteland where no ordinary man could survive.
Close combat was off the table now.
His ally Kizaru's kicks couldn't break through Kaido's defenses, and Kuzan wasn't any tougher than Sakazuki. A direct clash would only be suicide.
No—his only option was to stall Kaido!
With his thoughts racing, Kuzan launched his assault.
"Pheasant Beak!!"
A massive ice bird burst into existence, summoned from the moisture in the air, and shot toward Kaido like an arrow of death.
"Wororororo! That's not gonna cut it!"
Kaido bellowed with laughter, swinging his Kanabo to meet the icy onslaught head-on.
At the same time, Kizaru moved.
Light bullets formed in his hands, raining down on Kaido while he dashed forward in a flash, heading straight for the fallen Sakazuki, whose fate still hung by a thread.
"Boom!"
The ice bird shattered on impact, shards flying in every direction.
Kizaru snatched up the barely breathing Sakazuki and zipped away at the speed of light.
"Ice boy, you got the speed to match that flashy guy?"
Kaido's eyes locked on Kuzan as his massive form vanished from sight in a blur.
Kuzan felt the shadow loom over him—the telltale sign of death descending from above. His temples throbbed, a primal alarm bell screaming in his skull.
Desperately, he unleashed all the power he'd stored, forming an ice sphere around him at the last second.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Kaido's club came crashing down from the sky, slamming into the ice shield.
"Boom!"
The sphere shattered instantly.
But Kuzan's body wasn't inside.
"Logia types... really are handy little things."
Kaido's gaze drifted to the frozen surface dozens of meters away, where the scattered ice was already reforming into a human shape—Kuzan's emergency escape trick.
Sweat beaded on Kuzan's face, only to freeze instantly.
The gap between them... was just too big.
"Wororororo! Try dodging this one!"
Kaido, slightly amused now by Kuzan's slipperiness, grinned wide. Hitting a moving target was always more satisfying than smashing a stationary one.
Gripping his club with both hands, Kaido's muscles bulged, thick veins snaking down his powerful arms. Conqueror's Haki flowed like liquid darkness into his weapon.
The ground split apart as Kaido vanished again.
Kuzan finally understood how Sakazuki must've felt earlier.
It wasn't that he didn't want to dodge—it was that dodging was impossible.
Kaido's blow sealed off every escape route as if he could see the future itself.
At that desperate moment, a flash of golden light tore through the sky.
Admiral Sengoku arrived just in time.
Kaido's club smashed into the Golden Buddha's chest with bone-rattling force.
"Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!!"
The ringing echoed endlessly, like a bell tolling over a battlefield.
Through the smoke, Sengoku's face twisted in strain. Even he couldn't shake off that hit without consequence.
Snarling, he countered with a palm strike, sending a shockwave wrapped in black lightning and Conqueror's Haki straight into Kaido's chest.
"Boom!"
Kaido was sent flying like an arrow loosed from a bow.
"Worororo! Long time no see, Sengoku!"
Wiping the blood from his mouth, Kaido stood tall again, grinning like nothing had happened.
Behind Sengoku, Kuzan finally exhaled, relief washing over him.
For a second there, he thought he was a dead man.
...
While Kuzan was saved—
Elsewhere on the battlefield, their mentor, Zephyr, wasn't faring much better.
"Cough! Cough!"
His chest seized painfully, and Zephyr hacked out a ragged cough.
He barely managed to dodge the razor-sharp threads whipping toward him.
His breathing grew heavier, more labored.
What Zephyr failed to notice was how the threads around him were knitting together, weaving into a massive cage that enclosed both sky and earth.
In this world of pirates—
Age had never been the enemy of the strong.
But illness? Illness could bring even titans to their knees.
It was far harder to capture a man alive than to kill him outright.
Which only proved just how terrifying Zephyr had once been, back when he earned his name as the man who refused to kill.
But that was the past.
And Doflamingo's grin only widened as he saw the moment he'd been waiting for.
His chance... had arrived.
"Fufufufufu... All your struggling is just pathetic!"
Doflamingo clenched his hand into a fist.
It was only then that the desperate Zephyr realized—
The threads had sealed off every exit.
Sky and ground alike were wrapped tight.
He was a bird trapped in a shrinking cage.
Panic surged through him.
Without hesitation, Zephyr lashed out, smashing back the incoming threads that tried to bind him.
"Huff!"
Sucking in a deep breath, he charged toward the cage's edge.
His muscles swelled, arms bulging as black-purple Armament Haki coated them like armor.
With a roar, he smashed his fists against the cage.
"Boom!!"
The shrinking threads faltered, their advance slowing as the impact warped and cracked them slightly.
This was the crushing force of internal destruction—advanced Armament Haki at its finest.
But the master of this cage wasn't about to let his prey escape so easily.
Doflamingo's arms split apart, transforming into sixteen colossal tendrils, each thick as a mountain.
Dark-red lightning crackled around them, pulsing with ominous energy.
He'd been waiting for this.
"Whoosh! Bang!"
The tendrils shot forward at supersonic speed, breaking the sound barrier as they moved.
Like sixteen shooting stars, they ripped through space, crossing distance in the blink of an eye—
And came crashing down to swallow Zephyr whole.
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg