Boom!
Rumble!
Shock met shock.
The strongest against the fiercest — two overwhelming forces collided in a cataclysm of power.
A pure white shockwave clashed with a devouring black gravitational storm, both surging outward in wild defiance. The ruined ground of Marine Headquarters shattered again and again; massive craters tore open as chunks of land were thrown skyward by the titanic blast.
Hundreds of thousands of tons of debris soared into the air, only to be silently crushed into dust under the collision's unimaginable pressure.
For a moment, the entire world seemed divided — black and white, light and shadow.
No one knew how long the clash lasted.
In the breathless awe and shock of tens of thousands both on the battlefield and across the live broadcasts, the duel between the Four Emperor Whitebeard and Blackbeard Teach reached its final, decisive stage.
Where black met white, an apocalyptic explosion erupted.
"AAAHHHHH!"
A shrill scream tore through the thunderous roar.
From the endless smoke, Blackbeard Teach was hurled backward, blood spraying from his mouth as he fell.
"Fly! Fly, Blackbeard, fly!"
At Sabaody's live broadcast plaza, the crowd of spectators shouted gleefully.
"Hahaha! I knew it would end like this!"
"Blackbeard can't compare to Whitebeard!"
"The Four Emperors are still the Four Emperors — not some clowns you can provoke!"
"Whitebeard's the strongest man alive!"
"He may not be in his prime, but not just anyone can challenge him!"
Most of the viewers took it for granted. To them, the result was obvious — inevitable.
A few, eager to sound different, spoke against the tide.
"Don't speak too soon — the results of that clash aren't clear yet!"
"Yeah, we only saw Blackbeard get blasted away, not Whitebeard's condition!"
"At least Blackbeard's still alive… maybe Whitebeard isn't!"
But their contrarian remarks didn't last.
The next instant—
"Whoa! Whitebeard! Whitebeard's unharmed!"
The deafening cheers of the masses drowned out the doubters completely.
At Marine Headquarters, atop the shattered battlefield—
Endless clouds of smoke and dust billowed skyward, choking the air.
Then—
Kaka!
The haze trembled.
A heartbeat later, it shattered like glass.
Through the drifting fragments of dust, a towering figure walked forward with calm, deliberate steps.
It was Whitebeard.
"Ohhhhhh!"
The Whitebeard Pirates and their forty-three allied crews erupted into thunderous cheers.
"As expected — the victor is Whitebeard!"
"Blackbeard never stood a chance!"
"That fool thought he could harm Whitebeard?"
"This is his result!"
Even among the Marines, many could only sigh in regret and reluctant admiration.
High above, the sky reverberated with laughter.
"Thief-hahahaha! At least he didn't embarrass himself, oyaji!"
From the broadcast in the clouds, Golden Lion Shiki's voice echoed.
"Don't forget, Newgate! You owe this chance to Chairman Sugisawa Yuuto's blessing! Don't waste the opportunity he gave you to create your own legend!"
Whitebeard's voice rumbled like distant thunder.
"You talk too much, Shiki. I don't need your reminders."
He strode forward, every step shaking the ground beneath him, his gaze locked on the fallen Blackbeard.
"Teach—" his tone was cold as steel, "—it's time to pay the price for what you've done! For Division Four's Sachi, and for every comrade who fell here today—your blood will be their requiem!"
"Damn it!" Blackbeard snarled, his voice trembling with rage and fear. "Why do these dying men still have so much power?!"
He tumbled backward, scrambling on hands and knees, fleeing in panic like a wounded beast. The collision had shattered more than his body — it had broken his spirit.
Only now, as he stumbled through the debris, did he truly remember what kind of monster stood before him.
Only now did he grasp the terror that was Edward Newgate, the Four Emperor known as Whitebeard.
And only now did he finally realize—
how reckless, how foolish, and how utterly arrogant he had been…
to ever believe he could challenge a man of that legend head-on.