"Quick! Activate the wind propulsion system at full power!!"
The Wicked King Pizarro's face twisted with panic as he barked the order to his subordinates. He no longer cared about Barrett or the others—self-preservation was the only law that mattered now.
The same thought raced through the minds of Crescent Hunter Katerina and Big Barrel Jot. The Navy's main fleet was already enough to make them turn tail, but now the Whitebeard Pirates—who held a grudge against the Arlong Crew—had appeared and blown apart several of their airships.
It was a disaster. And a very bad one.
Whitebeard was clearly out for revenge against Arlong, serious enough to wipe out anyone affiliated with him.
The arrival of the Whitebeard Pirates made the Beasts Pirates' Flying Five even more tense. There was only one option left.
Retreat—or die here.
Aboard the giant whale ship Moby Dick, Fire Fist Ace and the sixteenth division commander Izo stood brimming with anticipation. Finally, they could openly strike at the Beasts Pirates.
"Lord Oden, we'll avenge you!" Izo's eyes flared with hate. He had never forgotten Kaido's execution of Kozuki Oden. This was his long-awaited moment.
"Yamato, soon you'll be free from Kaido's chains, sailing across the seas without fear. And Otama, your village won't suffer under his tyranny again. You'll all get to eat your fill."
Ace's body erupted into roaring flames as he stared at Kaido, who was locked in combat with the legendary Garp.
"Gramps, I'm coming to help!"
Ace's feet ignited, flames surging beneath him as he shot skyward from the bow of the ship toward the battlefield.
"Wait, Ace!"
Marco the Phoenix shouted, his expression darkening as he watched the young man rush headlong into a clash between monsters. A war between emperors was no place for a twenty-year-old kid. Beating a Warlord didn't mean you could face a Yonko head-on.
"Old man…"
"Go protect him," Whitebeard grunted, frowning slightly. He didn't trust that reckless kid to survive Kaido's wrath.
"Yes, Pops!"
Blue flames burst from Marco's body as massive wings unfurled. He soared after Ace, determined to keep him from getting smashed into paste by one of Kaido's swings.
At forty-three, Marco was six years older than Shanks—he could practically be Ace's father—but still, the two were like brothers.
"Men! Your targets are the Arlong Pirates!"
Whitebeard's booming voice rolled across the waves. He wasn't interested in fighting the Navy today. He only wanted to collect a debt from Higashino Arlong. The kidnapping of Ace on Demon God Island and the assault on Hive Island—those debts would be paid.
"Yes, Pops!"
The Whitebeard Pirates roared back with fiery determination. With their old man leading, victory felt inevitable.
The Beasts Pirates and Arlong's subordinates were breaking. Desperation filled their eyes—they were seconds from bolting.
Then the sea itself shifted.
A fleet of bizarre, candy-colored ships loomed on the horizon.
"The Big Mom Pirates!"
"They're joining too?!"
The division commanders glanced at Whitebeard, waiting for his command. His expression hardened. Of course Linlin had to meddle.
"Keep attacking the Arlong Pirates!" he barked, raising his right fist. A bright white quake sphere pulsed in his hand.
"You meddling scavengers—get lost!"
Whitebeard slammed his fist forward. The very air shattered, and the ocean convulsed. A towering tsunami rose and crashed toward Big Mom's fleet.
Onboard the Big Mom Pirates' ships, Cracker and Snack went pale. They hadn't expected Whitebeard himself to strike first.
So the rumors were true—there really was some murky connection between the Whitebeard and Red-Haired crews and the World Government.
Whitebeard ignored the Navy but attacked fellow pirates? Something stank.
"Scatter!!" Cracker bellowed. He and Snack leaped onto flying Homies to escape the oncoming wall of water. No ship could survive that wave.
Fortunately, Whitebeard wasn't aiming to annihilate them entirely. He didn't want all-out war with Linlin—at least, not today. The tsunami hurled Big Mom's fleet dozens of miles away. Only a couple of unlucky ships splintered and vanished into the deep.
Meanwhile, the Wicked King and his companions had already abandoned several Arlong subordinates who hadn't made it back to their airships. Their vessels accelerated, fleeing from Whitebeard's wrath.
"Barrett! Enel! Shiryu! Find your own way out!" Pizarro roared down at the battlefield through his toothless maw. They weren't running because they wanted to—it was because Whitebeard's pressure was crushing. This was a tactical retreat, at least that's what they'd call it later.
Their boss, Higashino Arlong, hadn't even shown up.
"Damn it! How did it come to this?!" Enel's face twisted with fury. The chaos had spiraled beyond anything he'd predicted. They were supposed to suppress the Red-Haired Pirates for the Beasts—but now the Navy and Whitebeard had both joined the fray.
"Is this war over already?" Shiryu muttered darkly. He could see it too—stay any longer, and they'd be crushed between giants.
"Heh. A Yonko working with the Navy… laughable," scoffed King the Wildfire. His hatred deepened—not just for the Red-Haired crew now, but for Whitebeard as well. If the four emperors had ever united, they could have annihilated the Navy here and now. Instead, two of them chose to cooperate with it.
"Kaido and Arlong's dreams are too dangerous," Shanks said, his Conqueror's Haki flaring. "Why follow men who'd destroy the world?"
Even wounded and exhausted from his earlier battles against Kaido and Barrett, the Red-Haired Emperor still faced down four top fighters alone.
Whitebeard's sudden appearance had rattled the Navy too. After all, this was a Yonko fleet. Even if their goals aligned—to crush Arlong and Kaido—they still didn't trust each other. Not for a second.
When Whitebeard unleashed his attack on Big Mom's fleet, the admirals finally relaxed. The message was clear enough: the old man wasn't turning on them.
Truth was, the Navy's incursion into a Yonko war zone had been insane from the start. If Whitebeard or Shanks had changed their minds, the entire fleet would've been wiped out in minutes.
The sea trembled. The air reeked of ozone and blood. And above it all, the world's greatest powers clashed, shattering the balance of an age.
...
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