"Hey, hey, what's happening now?!"
"You've got to be kidding me! That Blackbeard—"
"That Blackbeard actually withstood the shockwave from one of the Four Emperors, Whitebeard!"
"What the hell… what's going on here?!"
"That's the power of the Gura Gura no Mi—the strongest quake-ability in the world!"
The crowd that had mocked Blackbeard Teach's arrogance earlier now stood frozen, mouths open in disbelief.
"Correction—Whitebeard isn't the world's strongest anymore! The strongest man alive is Fairy Tail's guildmaster, Sugisawa Yuuto!"
"Forget that for now—Blackbeard just tanked Whitebeard's full-force strike and even managed to counterattack!"
"No way. He's just Blackbeard! How could he be that strong? It must be because Whitebeard's gotten weaker!"
"That's right—it has to be lingering effects from the War of the Singing World that slowed Whitebeard down!"
"Whatever the reason, the fact is—Blackbeard can actually stand toe-to-toe with Whitebeard!"
"Could this really be the start of another legendary clash?"
Tens of thousands of spectators and reporters in the plaza leaned forward, eyes glued to the massive live-feed screens, hardly daring to blink.
"What a bunch of idiots," Captain Eustass Kid sneered, folding his arms. "It's just a temporary swing in momentum. Way too soon to call it."
"Even if Blackbeard's darkness powers are strange, there's no way he beats Whitebeard," muttered fallen Marine Rear Admiral Drake.
"Of course not. It's Whitebeard we're talking about!" said Capone Bege, captain of the Fire-Tank Pirates, with absolute certainty.
"In this battle, Blackbeard's chances of victory—or survival—are zero," declared the magician Hawkins, his tone flat, as though reading a sentence of death.
Then—
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A roar swept through the plaza. The big screen flickered, and the crowd erupted in confusion.
Just a second ago, Whitebeard had been on the defensive after Blackbeard's counterattack—
Now, suddenly, the tables turned.
Whitebeard, the Emperor of the Seas, exploded with fury.
This time, he didn't even use the power of his Paramecia-type Shock Fruit.
It was pure physical strength and swordsmanship.
His supreme-grade blade swung down, slicing the clouds apart.
A whirlwind slash struck Blackbeard's shoulder with unstoppable force—
Pshhhkk!
A crimson spray burst into the air, blood arcing over a meter high.
"AAAHHHHH!!!"
The scream that followed was raw and animal, like a pig being butchered.
A heartbeat ago, Blackbeard Teach had been laughing, swaggering, confident in his power—
Now he was rolling on the ground in agony, howling, flailing, utterly humiliated.
"Who do you think I am?!" Whitebeard's roar thundered across the battlefield. "I am Whitebeard!"
The might of his Haki made the air tremble.
"WOOOOAHHH!!!"
"Pops is unstoppable!!!"
"Father's overwhelming Haki!!!"
"That fool Teach actually dared to provoke Pops!"
"This is the price for challenging him!"
"So what if he got some weird Devil Fruit power? Pops' strength isn't limited to that!"
"Now do you get it, Teach? You're twenty thousand years too early to challenge him!"
"Pops has always been the strongest man in the world—what made you think you could touch him?!"
"Teach, you really forgot the terror of the Division Commanders!"
The entire Whitebeard Pirates roared in triumph, cheering wildly at the sight of their father reclaiming dominance.
In stark contrast, the faces of Blackbeard's crew—Buggy, Lafitte, Van Augur, and the others—had gone pale.
Their laughter died in their throats.
"…So, it didn't work after all," murmured Shiryu of the Rain, unsurprised.
"If anyone's to blame, it's Teach himself," said the corrupt king Avalo Pizarro with a cruel grin. "Of all the Devil Fruits to covet, he just had to go after Whitebeard's."
Sabaody Archipelago
"Hah! Didn't I say it? There's no way Whitebeard loses to that upstart Blackbeard!"
"Exactly! That's the Four Emperors' Whitebeard—Edward Newgate himself!"
"Even if his Devil Fruit gets countered, his raw strength can't be restrained!"
"Funny—you weren't saying that a minute ago!"
"Didn't half of you claim Whitebeard was too old?"
"Hahahaha—what a joke!"
The spectators burst into heated debate, their excitement echoing through the square.
"Forget the chatter—look! The final moment's coming!"