Crack!
After an intense clash of energy, Whitebeard and Sengoku stopped fighting by unspoken agreement.
The two figures stared intently at each other.
They recovered their stamina and regulated their breathing to prepare for the next attack.
Whether it was pirates defeating the Marines or the Marines capturing pirates, most fighters preferred to ensure their own safety first.
This was exactly like Whitebeard and Sengoku's current approach: securing their defense before using their full power to defeat the enemy.
Raleigh's method of fighting was too risky and did not match Sengoku's careful nature.
Both men slowly regained their strength.
"Die, Christian Raleigh!!!"
An angry voice echoed from above.
Raleigh's expression changed dramatically as he looked up at the sky.
Rayleigh was closing in on the young Marine at near-light speed.
His sword gleamed coldly, completely coated in Conqueror's Haki.
Raleigh had no doubt that even in peak condition, blocking this strike would be hard.
Now, he was severely injured with low stamina.
He did not even have enough energy to maintain his Elemental Transformation—though that would be useless against Rayleigh's Haki anyway.
'What to do? What do i do?'
The threat of death loomed over Raleigh, made obvious by the pirate's furious aura.
If Rayleigh got close, the young Marine might not even leave a complete corpse behind.
Raleigh instantly sped up.
He recklessly drained his own life force, trying to widen the gap between himself and his attacker.
However, what happened next filled him with despair.
Sensing the Marine's intention, Rayleigh ruthlessly burned his own life force to speed up as well.
"You cannot escape, Marine!"
"Gaban is already dead—now you will join him!"
Across the rough sea, their figures skimmed the sky like swift birds.
Yet the distance between them kept shrinking.
BOOM!
A loud crash echoed.
Another wound split open on Raleigh's body.
If he had not blocked with his sword, Mikazuki Munechika, behind his back, that single strike might have killed him.
Even though he blocked it, Raleigh coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell toward the ocean.
But by using the force of the impact, Raleigh once again created distance between himself and Rayleigh.
A flash of surprise passed through Rayleigh's crimson eyes.
Soon, however, he closed in again.
This time, he decided not to use a sword beam.
Instead, he aimed to get as close as possible to Raleigh and cut him in half with his sword, which was filled with both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki.
'Almost there! Almost!!!' Rayleigh was now less than three meters away from Raleigh.
He suddenly sped up, appearing instantly behind the Marine at a diagonal angle.
His eyes burned with the thrill of revenge, as if he could already see Raleigh cut in half at the waist!
Clang!
Two black swords crashed together in mid-air and the violent shockwave threw Raleigh backward.
Rayleigh's pupils widened suddenly.
He gritted his teeth and snarled, "You!"
...
"We are almost there."
Commotion broke out on the decks of the arriving Marine warships.
Officers familiar with the sea had already figured out their position and distance by looking at the islands along the way.
Those who were unfamiliar received explanations from the navigators.
"I can already hear the sounds of battle!"
"To hear it from this far away... it must be a terrifying fight!"
"Hahahaha! Kelly, if you are scared, you can stay on the ship. I will go fight the pirates myself!"
The man named Kelly glanced at his teasing friend and replied with a laugh.
"Bastard, do not look down on me! Want to bet who kills more pirates later?!"
Hearing this, his competitive friend immediately got fired up. "Bring it on! I will not lose to you!"
Listening to the noisy commotion on the deck, Staff Officer Tsuru's mood was much more complicated.
During the journey, she had been constantly receiving various intelligence reports from Fleet Admiral Kong.
If all the intelligence was accurate, no one could predict how large this operation to capture Whitebeard would become.
But for now, there were already four people with Admiral-level strength present: Whitebeard, Sengoku, Roger, and Garp.
There were also about twenty people at the elite Vice-Admiral level.
In addition, major pirate crews from the New World were rushing over, along with Marine officers and soldiers gathered from Marine Headquarters and the branches in the Four Blues.
Without a doubt, this was the biggest conflict between pirates and the Marines since the God Valley incident.
The only difference was that the World Government was not involved this time.
"Staff Officer Tsuru, we have spotted a large pirate fleet in the distance with thirteen pirate ships of various sizes," the lookout suddenly reported.
Taking the binoculars handed to her by Gion, Tsuru looked toward the distant sea.
Among them flew a pirate flag with bull horns on one ship.
Even though she could not see anyone clearly, Tsuru already knew who had arrived.
"It is a former member of the Rocks Pirates: Kaido of the Beasts!"
Tsuru lowered her binoculars.
She had actually considered that Kaido might come to support Whitebeard.
After all, they had been crewmates back in the Rocks Pirates days.
If the Golden Lion Shiki had not been killed by Raleigh, and Kuzan working together, he certainly would have come too.
"We will not enter the main battlefield. Let us intercept these pirates first. We cannot let them disrupt the balance of the combat zone."
Tsuru immediately ordered all Marine ships to turn and prepare to intercept the dozen or so pirate ships led by Kaido of the Beasts.
While the Marines had spotted Kaido, Kaido had also noticed them.
"Kaido-san, what should we do?" King asked. "Judging by their movements, the Marines seem to be targeting us. They are probably planning to intercept us."
Kaido's eyes were filled with a dark gloom.
Ever since he narrowly escaped from the Marines last time, he had developed a deep hatred for them.
Truth be told, Kaido had not come to rescue Whitebeard in this battle against the Marines.
His only purpose in coming was to ruin the Marines' plans and kill as many Marine soldiers as possible.
If his body had not still been recovering to its peak condition, Kaido would have already attacked Marineford to cause chaos.
Now, his chance for revenge had arrived.
"King, when the fighting starts, try to keep our people attacking from the back."
Then, Kaido casually glanced at the surrounding pirate ships and said.
"These people are not with us. Let them waste the Marines' ammunition and stamina first."
Do not mistake Kaido's muscular appearance for a lack of intelligence.
In the future, once Kaido became powerful enough, he would not need to use his brain and could just smash through everything.
However, the current Kaido had not yet reached that terrifying level of strength.
Therefore, he felt no guilt about sacrificing pirates from his own side.
"Understood, Kaido-san," King nodded.
Kaido grabbed a jar of alcohol from behind him and poured it down his throat.
'Gulp, gulp...'
Large mouthfuls of liquor went down Kaido's throat.
After wiping his lips, Kaido gripped his weapon, the Hassaikai in his hand.
"That damned Marine vice-admiral! If he shows up again, I am going to smash his head in!"
Kaido held an intense hatred for Raleigh who had captured him the last time.
He hated Raleigh, who made him recall his nightmare!
"This time, I am definitely going to kill you!"
Kaido knew Raleigh would definitely appear on this battlefield.
So, he had a great chance to face Raleigh again!
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