When Blackbeard was about to leave, the Blackbeard Pirates' first captain, Burgess, suddenly pointed at the sky and shouted, "Governor, look! There's a ship flying up there!"
Everyone in the Blackbeard Pirates looked up—and sure enough, there it was. The ship was dazzlingly extravagant, golden and resplendent. You could even see a huge "God" character on the bow, along with Creed's emblem.
"Creed!"
Blackbeard's eyes lit up the moment he saw it.
What kind of existence was Creed now? Blackbeard knew better than anyone: the number one Emperor of the New World, the strongest king!
You could even say Creed already possessed the strength and prestige of the Pirate King!
No—after the Totto Land Grand War, countless newspapers had already started calling Creed the new generation's Pirate King!
They even described Creed as a pirate stronger and greater than Roger ever was!
Defeating Creed was also the Blackbeard Pirates' next major objective!
And today, the moment Blackbeard and the others saw this unprecedented golden flying ship, that enormous "God" character on it made a surge of anger rise in their hearts.
Calling him Pirate King was one thing—but calling himself a god? How arrogant! How disgusting!
"Zehahaha! Today, I, Blackbeard, will make that Creed understand who the strongest sea emperor really is!"
"I, Teach, am the god!"
Blackbeard clenched his fists, about to activate his Devil Fruit power—either to drag Creed's ship down from the sky, or blast it apart!
And it wasn't just Blackbeard who noticed Creed's arrival—Kong's side had noticed too.
"Creed… you finally came!"
Kong's feelings were complicated.
Back during the Totto Land Grand War, he hadn't gotten to face Creed. It had been a lingering regret. But when someone even stronger than him—Akainu—was later effortlessly killed by Creed, it snapped him awake: he was still far, far behind Creed.
Even so, today… he still wanted to try.
He wanted to know just how big the gap between him and Creed truly was.
"Yoo yoo yoo! How scary—Creed, the new generation's Pirate King, is coming, huh? Too bad Whitebeard is already dead, and Ace is about to—eh? Why hasn't the execution happened yet?"
Kizaru was still as careless and lazy as ever. Marine work, for him, never seemed to matter much.
"Whitebeard is dead. There's no need to keep Ace alive—execute him! Aramaki! Aokiji! Stop him!" Kong immediately ordered.
He stared up at Creed's ship, his mouth twitching slightly. "God… I didn't expect you'd become this arrogant, Creed!"
"Yes!"
On the execution platform, the two vicious-looking executioners instantly raised their long blades and slashed toward Ace's head.
"Whoosh!"
The blades tore through the air with a shrieking gale, like the scythes of reapers.
Ace, still drowning in grief over Pops' death—so devastated he was nearly collapsing—showed no sign of resistance at all.
If those two blades landed… even a god couldn't save him!
But in the next instant—an overwhelmingly ferocious pressure, carrying a bone-chilling killing intent, crushed down from above. The executioners' eyes rolled back as they toppled over, knocked unconscious on the spot.
That unmatched pressure didn't just lock onto the execution platform—it covered an area of over 31 miles centered on Marine Headquarters.
Thud! Thud!
Aside from elite Vice Admiral-level fighters and above, not a single person present could stay standing. They all collapsed—many passing out instantly.
The deafening battlefield, full of screams and slaughter, fell abruptly silent.
Those who could barely remain upright all stared up at the golden ship in the sky, terror flooding their hearts.
And then, that crushing pressure seemed to roar like a dragon—its intensity surged again, forcing even the remaining "survivors" to faint.
Creed… still had room to spare!
On the entire battlefield, aside from SSS+ level powerhouses or above, almost no one could stand!
This was a grand, magnificent clearing of the field—over a hundred thousand people dropping to the ground in an instant. A spectacular sight!
"Creed!"
Kong leapt onto the execution platform.
The moment Creed appeared, Kong knew things were about to go bad.
The public execution was being broadcast live. Until the moment Whitebeard died, the situation had been entirely in the Marines' favor.
Who could've expected a Blackbeard to appear midway, steal Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit power… and then Creed would arrive, suppressing the battlefield with sheer pressure?
Where would the Marines' face go after that?!
So—if they could execute Ace quickly, they could still salvage their dignity.
But Creed was no longer giving him that chance.
"Yami!"
A soft sword chime rang out.
A slash of sword energy fell from the sky, cutting down between Kong and Ace!
Boom!
The massive execution platform was split cleanly into two by that gray-white sword energy.
"One slash of sword energy and you think you can save Ace? Creed, you're looking down on me too much!"
Kong roared and threw a punch coated in pitch-black Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)!
He wanted to smash through that sword energy—and smash through everything it protected behind it, including Ace!
The reason he was called "Steel Bone" was because his Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) had reached the world's highest tier. In his youth, he was even comparable to Garp!
Ace had to die!
However—
Crack!
That punch—strong enough to blow apart a mountain—felt like it slammed into a gigantic glacier. The "ice" shook violently, but it didn't break!
At the same time, a vicious freezing force surged back along his arm, and his fist quickly went numb.
"Damn it!"
Kong understood what that meant and immediately pulled his fist back.
(End of Chapter)
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