"These old men really are full of energy..."
Squinting at the blinding nuclear-like explosion, Ozz shook his head and could not help sighing.
With that single clash, the earth trembled and the sea roared.
Marineford, already battered to the breaking point, was torn open by a massive fissure. The entire island was split in two from the center of the blast.
Countless fodder fighters caught too close screamed as they were dragged in. Only the strong managed to survive.
"So that is the Pirate King's power?!"
"The aftermath alone almost destroyed Marineford. Is this what a legendary figure looks like?!"
"Get back!!!"
Using the force of the explosion, the three brothers were blasted farther away.
The strength of it was just right, not too much, not too little.
It was hard not to suspect that the two old men had coordinated the whole thing in advance.
"Garp, you bastard...!!"
In his golden Buddha form, Sengoku looked at the ruined remains of Marineford and the three brothers who had been sent flying far away. He was so furious his veins nearly burst.
But this was not the time to lose his temper.
The threats on the pirate side kept growing. Roger's reappearance, in particular, had dragged the war toward an even more dangerous edge.
At first, they had only needed to deal with the Whitebeard Pirates, and perhaps at most the half-hearted Ozz and the Warlords.
But now every new arrival was more outrageous than the last.
First Shiki. Then Kaido, Bullet, and Redfield.
And finally, even Roger had shown up.
With just the fighting power of Marine Headquarters, forget winning. Could they even survive this war intact anymore?
A worried look crossed Sengoku's face as he turned toward the heavily wounded Whitebeard before him. He immediately prepared to go all out and bring Whitebeard down first.
Only then would he be able to free up his hands for the even more troublesome monsters on the field.
But to his surprise, a figure suddenly appeared and blocked the full-force shockwave of his Great Buddha attack.
"How long has it been, Sengoku? You've gotten old too."
"Redfield!!! You bastard!!!"
The one who had leaped forward and forcefully intercepted Sengoku's strike with his sword was none other than the Lonely Red, one of the monsters on their level.
"Redfield..."
Whitebeard clutched his chest and panted for a moment, giving the red-clad figure a deep look before turning away.
He still had something more important to do.
The moment he turned, his vicious gaze locked onto several figures.
They were the Blackbeard Pirates, who had been lurking and hiding ever since they arrived.
"Ze... Zehahaha, I never thought even Pirate King Roger would come back to life. Marineford has become a war meat grinder now."
"And it just keeps growing bigger and bigger."
Beside him, Hades looked displeased, tightening his grip on the two axes in his hands.
"Captain, all those powerful monsters are fighting, and we're hiding here like dogs?"
"If you ask me, let's go after Roger and take the Pirate King's head!"
Hades said it with absolute confidence.
What he got in return was silence from the entire Blackbeard crew.
"Don't be hasty, Hades. Roger and Garp are still too tough right now, and Black Gun and the Warlords are watching too. This isn't the time to take the heads of those two old monsters."
"Compared to them..."
Blackbeard was about to continue his analysis when a buzzing vibration interrupted his train of thought.
"Nani?!"
The quake force instantly shattered the air and exploded inside the Blackbeard crew's hiding place like a natural disaster.
The weak deadweight members of the crew coughed up blood on the spot.
Spitting a mouthful of blood, Blackbeard dropped to the ground and writhed in agony.
Then he opened his eyes and saw a face twisted like a demon's.
"Old man??? How can this be? Weren't you fighting Fleet Admiral Sengoku?!"
"Teech, only you are unworthy of being called my son."
"Stop, old man!!!"
Under Blackbeard's horrified gaze, Whitebeard, already on the verge of death, completely snapped. One slash opened Blackbeard up like a flower.
"Captain, I'll save you!!!"
One of the few Blackbeard crew members still capable of moving after taking that quake wave, Hades, immediately rushed forward to rescue him.
That gave Teach a glimmer of hope.
Holding two axes coated in flowing Armament Haki, he charged over at once.
Good!!!
If he finishes him now, then I can absorb a second Devil Fruit ability...
A bloody grin spread across Teach's face.
Unfortunately...
Bang!!!
A crisp gunshot rang out and shattered all of Blackbeard's hopes.
In midair, Hades' eyes rolled back white. Blood spilled from his mouth as a gunshot wound tore straight through his abdomen.
"Oh dear, my gun seems to have gone off by accident."
Blackbeard jerked in shock and looked toward the source of the voice along with Hades.
There stood a smiling man, the muzzle of the black gun in his hand still smoking.
"Black Gun Ozz!!!"
Hades roared, then collapsed to the ground with fury and unwillingness in his eyes, no longer able to fight.
Facing Whitebeard's gaze, Ozz only smiled faintly, his eyes distant.
Then, sounding almost regretful, he spoke softly.
"As expected... that body has already reached its limit."
As if to prove his words, Whitebeard suddenly coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, splattering them across the ground beside the still-captured Teach.
That made Teach ecstatic.
"Zehahaha... your era is over, old man!!!"
"Newgate..."
Not far away, Roger had also noticed just how terrible Whitebeard's condition had become. But with Garp tying him down, he could not get away at all.
And in response to Roger's concern, Whitebeard only answered stubbornly.
"Don't get cocky, Roger. I don't need you worrying about me!!!"
From the beginning, he had come to Marineford fully prepared to die.
"Old men really do have strange tempers..."
At that moment, Ozz slowly approached the battlefield and finally stopped beside Whitebeard and Blackbeard.
"What do you say? Want me to send you off myself?"
Ozz asked calmly.
"..."
Whitebeard fell silent.
Because he too had realized it.
With his body in its current state, there was no way he could leave Teach here behind.
His hand, already powerless, slowly loosened from around Teach's throat.
His body had already been pushed to death's threshold after enduring countless shells, endless gunfire, and repeated battles against powerful foes.
Just as Teach was about to launch a sneak attack, a figure appeared in an instant and kicked him in the stomach.
The force was so great that he spat blood, his vision already going blank.
"Behave yourself..."
Ozz stood there with his hands in his pockets, his eyes full of disdain.
"The business of relics from the old era is not something brats of the new era are qualified to interfere in."
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