"Hmph, what a bunch of fools."
Watching the pirates charging toward the square below, Sengoku remarked coldly, "They actually chose to break through from the front."
Then, he picked up the Den Den Mushi and ordered, "Block them before they reach the square. Do not let them set foot on it!"
"Yes!"
Glancing at Whitebeard, who remained inactive, Sengoku narrowed his eyes and thought, 'Whitebeard, I hope you enjoy the grand gift I've prepared for you! As long as their plan succeeds, it will deal a devastating blow to the Whitebeard Pirates!'
"My, my, as expected of the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders~" Borsalino rose from his seat, tilting his head as he observed the battlefield below. "Each one is as strong as a monster~"
He then fixed his gaze on Whitebeard and said, "To minimize casualties... I'll have to try and take you out~ After all... capture the leader, and the gang will collapse!"
With that thought, Borsalino unhesitatingly transformed into light and vanished from his spot.
The next moment, he reappeared directly above Whitebeard!
Seeing Whitebeard calmly watching him, Borsalino launched his attack without delay.
"Yasakani Sacred Jewel!"
"Whoosh~"
"Rat-a-tat-tat!"
A barrage of light orbs shot toward Whitebeard, aiming to obliterate him.
Yet, faced with such an assault, Whitebeard remained motionless, his eyes calmly fixed on the distance as if... he didn't care about Borsalino at all.
Suddenly—"Whoosh~"
"BOOM!!"
A large bird wreathed in blue flames materialized in front of Whitebeard, forcefully intercepting all of Kizaru's attacks!
"BOOM!!"
"BOOM!!"
"BOOM!!"
Witnessing this, Whitebeard's lips curled into a smile, clearly pleased with Marco's prowess.
"He blocked all of Admiral Kizaru's attacks?!" a Marine exclaimed in shock, staring at Marco in his human form. "What's going on with this guy?!"
"His body is burning with blue flames... He's the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' first division, Marco the Phoenix!"
A pirate of legendary strength, rumored to possess an undying body!
"Hmm?"
Observing Marco's rapidly healing wounds, Borsalino remarked, "A Mythical Zoan, is it?"
Recalling the traits of the Phoenix Fruit, Kizaru thought, 'This ability is almost identical to that undying ninja kid.' Truly worthy of a Mythical Zoan!!
"Kizaru!" Marco, flames dancing around him, grinned and said, "Did you really think you could disturb our king so easily?"
"How terrifying, the Whitebeard Pirates," Borsalino tilted his head and replied. "My attacks were completely ineffective."
"Not really, it still hurt~"
"Don't lie."
In response, Marco simply smiled faintly, then spread his massive wings and flew toward Borsalino.
"Yasakani Sacred Jewel!"
"It's useless!"
Marco, who had forcefully charged through Borsalino's attack, delivered a whip kick.
"Clang!"
His long leg, imbued with Haki, struck Borsalino's arm with a harsh metallic clang.
"Hmm~"
"That really hurt~" Borsalino said, narrowing his eyes.
"Stop lying!" Marco shouted.
Then, the man flapped his wings, increasing his strength, and sent Borsalino flying!
"Whoosh~"
"Boom!!"
Borsalino, transformed into a beam of light, crashed into a building on the plaza, instantly shattering it!!
"Huh?!"
"Admiral Kizaru was sent flying?!"
The Marines were stunned seeing Borsalino destroy their own building.
"What a pain~"
Borsalino, having reformed into a ball of light and returned to the plaza, looked up at Marco in the distance and said, "It seems it won't be so easy for me to take down Whitebeard, huh?"
Facing Borsalino's gaze, Marco snorted and said, "If you're not convinced, you can try again."
But unfortunately, this time Borsalino ignored Marco and instead turned to command the Giant unit, telling them to watch out for Marco in the air.
"Watching me, huh?"
Hearing Borsalino's words, Marco narrowed his eyes, then turned to look at Ace on the execution platform in the distance and said, "That reminds me."
I'll find a chance to rush over and snatch Ace later!
Just then, Diamond Jozu moved.
With immense strength, the man shattered the ice surface below and tore out a massive piece of ice!
Then, using his monstrous power, he hurled the ice block, larger than a battleship, toward the Marine Headquarters plaza!
"Bastards, try blocking this!" Jozu roared!
"Hey hey hey, this is way too big!!"
"Dammit, how are we supposed to block this?!"
"Giant Vice Admirals, do something!"
"Do something..." one Giant said with a grimace. "Even if we try, we can't completely shatter an ice block this large."
Even if they split the ice, the fragments would still cause massive casualties.
Unless... unless that person acts!
Thinking this, the Marine Vice Admiral glanced toward the execution platform.
No... more precisely, toward Akainu sitting below the platform!
"Good thing I didn't charge out with those two," Akainu said, standing up. "Otherwise, there'd be no one left to guard this place!"
As he spoke, magma formed in Akainu's hand, rapidly expanding into a gigantic magma fist!
Then, he looked up at the approaching massive ice block and declared.
"If you want to destroy the execution platform, you'll have to get through me first!"
"Great Eruption!"
"Boom!!"
The enormous magma fist launched by Akainu grew visibly in mid-air before crashing into the giant ice block above!
"Boom!!"
"Wha...?!"
Watching the huge ice block rapidly vaporize, a pirate below exclaimed in disbelief, "Is this Akainu's power?"
This is terrifying!
As expected, it's not that easy.) Jozu frowned.
That's right. With Akainu, the Magma-Magma Fruit user, present, such attacks truly can't deal effective damage.
"Hmm?"
Taking a glance at the enormous magma fist that seemed ready to explode, Jozu's pupils contracted as he said, "Is this guy planning to..."
"BOOM!!"
Before he could finish speaking, the massive magma fist in mid-air suddenly exploded, transforming into numerous magma bullets that shot toward the distant pirates!
"Dodge!!" a pirate roared!
"Don't get hit by the magma bullets!!"
"BOOM!!"
"BOOM!!"
"BOOM!!"
One terrifying magma bullet after another slammed onto the ice surface, melting portions of the ice while taking out numerous pirates.
"BOOM!!"
"Damn it, one ship's been destroyed!"
Looking at the burning secondary ship, a pirate from the Whitebeard Pirates shouted: "Quick, everyone on board get off now!"
"Run! This ship is finished!"
Whitebeard silently glanced at the burning ship on the flank, then raised his Cloud-Cutting Scythe to block an enormous magma bullet. After using Haki to neutralize its force, he extinguished the smoking magma with a single breath.
Then, he looked at Akainu and said: "Magma brat... you're only fit to light candles on birthday cakes!"
Hearing Whitebeard's heavily sarcastic remark, Akainu showed no anger, only sneering coldly: "Whitebeard, I'll personally bury you right here!"
The two stared at each other, their eyes filled with icy killing intent.
"This is practically like the apocalypse," gasped reporters watching the live broadcast at Sabaody Archipelago, their faces shocked by the scenes unfolding before them.
The overwhelming tidal waves, enormous ice blocks falling from the sky, the destructive magma... each scene deeply shocked them.
"Hurry, record everything! We must break this news first!"
"Right!"
"Kishishishi, what an exciting war indeed!"
Moria laughed heartily while watching the battle footage: "Who's going to win?!"
"Probably Whitebeard," Absalom guessed. "After all, he's known as the World's Strongest Man."
Someone with that title must possess terrifying strength!
"Not necessarily," Moria shook his head. "No matter what, he's grown old."
Although this man holds the title of World's Strongest Man, he's already quite aged.
"Hmm... you've got a point," Absalom nodded.
Thinking carefully, facing the Marine Headquarters' military might, the elderly Whitebeard might genuinely struggle to prevail.
But... if Whitebeard gets taken down, the balance of power in the New World would undergo massive changes!
After all, one of the Four Emperors' seats would become vacant!
"In that case, could our captain also have a chance to claim a Four Emperor's position?!" Absalom murmured to himself.
At this thought, he grew thoroughly excited.
Those are the Four Emperors!
Once becoming one, his status would rise accordingly, placing him second only to his captain and above thousands of others!
The more he thought about it, the more excited Absalom became.
"Marine Admirals and Whitebeard..." Law said with a grave expression as he watched the figures on the screen. "They're all monsters!"
"Pretty thrilling, isn't it?"
Apoo grinned widely. "These are the opponents we'll be facing from now on!"
"Sea Scream?"
Bepo glanced at Apoo, his expression immediately turning wary.
"Sea Scream, are you aiming for the Four Emperors too?"
"Of course!"
Apoo's eyes flickered. "Aren't you?"
Seeing the look in Apoo's eyes, Law instinctively sensed danger.
"Hey now, no need to look at me like that." Apoo spread his hands. "I mean no harm."
"Hmph, who knows."
Apoo sighed in resignation; this guy's wariness was greater than he'd anticipated.
Whatever, it's not like he had to cooperate with this guy anyway.
Shaking his head, Apoo turned and left.
"Captain, what did he mean?"
Faced with Bepo's confusion, Law shook his head. "Not sure."
Who knew what that guy was thinking?
But regardless, the other party was also one of the Supernovas, so it was better to minimize contact.
After all... once they entered the New World, they would become enemies!
Just then, Bepo exclaimed, "Captain, look! An enormous Giant has appeared at Marine Headquarters!"
"A Giant?"
Hearing Bepo's words, Law instinctively looked at the screen, then his pupils contracted. "That big?"
What kind of monster was this that far exceeded normal Giant height?
It had to be dozens of meters tall!
Was this really still considered a Giant?
"Kishishishi!"
"How unexpected." Moria laughed heartily. "To think Country Wrecker Oars still has descendants living in this world."
That massive body spanning dozens of meters must possess terrifying destructive power!
"Captain, are you interested in zombies again?" Absalom glanced at his captain.
Based on his understanding of the captain recently, he shouldn't be having such thoughts.
After all... zombies really weren't very useful against true powerhouses.
"Of course not." Moria shook his head. "I have no interest in zombies now."
Having regained his confidence, he clearly understood the limitations of zombies - they were just toys to true powerhouses.
Even without flame-manipulating abilities, strong opponents could easily destroy his zombies.
So he wouldn't continue making those things.
"I see." Absalom sighed in relief.
He'd really been worried his captain might revive those strange ideas and become obsessed with zombie research again.
If that happened, the captain might revert to his former state of despair, which wasn't what he wanted to see.
"Don't worry, I've changed." Moria laughed.
Then he turned his attention back to the broadcast. "Let's keep watching."
"Right!"
Absalom nodded, then focused on Little Oars in the screen.
"Oars, don't come any closer!!" Ace shouted desperately. "Your huge body makes you an easy target - you'll be killed!"
"Don't stop me, Ace!" Little Oars roared. "I'm going to save you!"
"ROAR!!"
"This guy is way too big." The Giant Race vice admiral stared at Little Oars in shock and said, "This is the first time I've encountered someone I have to look up to."
"What, are you going to stop me?"
Glancing down at the Giant Race below him, Little Oars raised the massive blade in his hand and roared, "Move aside, don't get in my way!"
As his voice fell, the dozens-of-meters-long great blade in his hand came slashing down.
Watching the approaching blade, the Giant vice admiral immediately raised his own great blade to meet it!
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
After several exchanges of blows, the weapon in the Giant vice admiral's hands was shattered to pieces, making the man's expression turn extremely grim.
"Damn it, my weapon is..."
Taking one look at Little Oars raising his great blade again, the Giant vice admiral roared unwillingly, "Kisama!!"
"Die!!"
Accompanied by Little Oars' roar, the dozens-of-meters-long great blade came straight down on the Giant vice admiral's body, cleaving him in two!