"AAAHHHHH!!!"
The shrill, animalistic scream — like a pig being slaughtered — echoed across the war-torn battlefield.
"Damn it! It hurts! It hurts so much! It's killing me!"
Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach writhed across the shattered ground, rolling in agony, covered in blood and dust.
From his right shoulder down to his lower waist stretched a long, jagged sword wound — deep enough that glimpses of torn organs showed beneath the shredded flesh.
"Teach," came the cold, rumbling voice of the Emperor. "You've always been like this — arrogant, reckless. That is your greatest flaw. No matter how strong you become… you'll never be the strongest."
Whitebeard's calm tone carried the weight of judgment — and finality.
Crunch.
He stepped forward, both boots pressing down on Blackbeard's hands, pinning him firmly to the ground and sealing off any chance of him using his dark abilities.
Then, Whitebeard's massive hand reached down and clamped over Blackbeard's face.
A blinding white shockwave began to hum and ripple around his palm.
Blackbeard's body went rigid. With his hands crushed beneath Whitebeard's feet, he couldn't activate his Dark-Dark Fruit — couldn't absorb, couldn't resist, couldn't escape.
"No… don't—don't do this, Pops!" Blackbeard howled, eyes wide with panic. "Father, I'm your son! Are you serious?! You're really gonna kill your own son?!"
He thrashed desperately, playing the only card he had left — family.
But Whitebeard's eyes didn't soften. His expression was calm. Almost sad.
"Teach," he said quietly, "I told you long ago. You are the only one… not worthy of being my son."
And then — without hesitation —
Whitebeard unleashed the full force of the Gura Gura no Mi, the strongest Paramecia power in existence.
BOOM!!!
RUMBLE!!!
The very earth split apart.
A massive crater erupted beneath them, the air rippling from the blast.
The entire Naval Headquarters shook violently — buildings cracked, debris flew, and Marines stumbled as the shockwave thundered outward.
When the tremors finally faded, the battlefield went still.
At the bottom of the crater lay Blackbeard Teach. His face was drenched in blood, half-smashed, his mouth bubbling with red-black froth.
He had taken Whitebeard's overwhelming strike head-on — and survived.
He was broken, battered, and barely breathing… but alive.
Against all reason, against the might of the world's strongest man — he still lived.
Sparks hissed in the air.
The stunned silence was broken by a chorus of gasps echoing all the way from the Sabaody Archipelago.
Sabaody Archipelago — Live Broadcast Plaza
"H-He's still alive!"
"That Blackbeard… he's still alive after taking Whitebeard's full-force quake to the head!"
"That last attack wasn't for show! Whitebeard didn't hold back at all!"
"But Blackbeard's still breathing! That's insane!"
"I thought his head would've exploded like a watermelon!"
"He was just a no-name pirate before… who would've thought he could endure this much?"
Reporters and onlookers gawked at the broadcast, unable to believe what they were seeing.
"What terrifying endurance," one murmured. "But… what's the point? No matter how tough you are, what good is it against absolute power? It just means suffering longer before you die."
Capone Bege, captain of the Fire Tank Pirates, spoke with cold logic.
"Exactly," said the fallen Marine Rear Admiral Drake with a nod. "The gap between a Shichibukai and a Yonko isn't even close. Especially not when that Yonko is Whitebeard — the man once called the strongest in the world."
"In a fight between equals, resilience might matter," added the Magician Hawkins, voice low and detached. "But in a battle of overwhelming disparity, clinging on only prolongs the agony. Better to die cleanly."
"Still," murmured Haiming Skullachmanap, frowning, "this is the perfect time for Whitebeard to finish him off. Why isn't he moving? Is he… hesitating?"
"No," said Killer Kira, eyes narrowing. "Something's wrong."
Captain Eustass Kid clenched his fists, his expression grim. "He's right. Look at him—"
"Whitebeard's body… it's shaking. Is his illness acting up again?"
The words spread through the square like wildfire.