Marineford, the headquarters of the Marines, was engulfed in chaos. The air was thick with battle cries and the relentless roar of cannon fire. Steel clashed against steel, and blood painted the battlefield in a grim tapestry of war. Marines and pirates alike were locked in brutal combat, with severed limbs and lifeless bodies strewn across the icy ground—a harrowing testament to the carnage.
Beneath the execution platform, Akainu sat in a massive chair, his expression as unreadable as still water, though his brow was deeply furrowed. The Whitebeard Pirates and their allied fleet of forty-three crews had proven far more formidable than anticipated. Their combat prowess and unyielding morale had turned the tide into a grueling stalemate. Yet...
The Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates were still conspicuously absent. If the Marines didn't seize the advantage soon, the arrival of those two forces would spell disaster. Morale would plummet, and defeat would be inevitable. "This stalemate can't continue!" Akainu growled.
He surged to his feet, his arms igniting with a crimson glow. Black smoke billowed around him as molten magma erupted from his body, the searing heat distorting the air. "Meteor Volcano!" he roared.
With a single motion, Akainu hurled hundreds of massive magma fists into the sky. They arced high above the battlefield, raining down on the Whitebeard Pirates' rear positions at the military port bay. The pirates, who had been charging forward with fierce determination, now scrambled in panic as the fiery projectiles descended. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The explosions tore through the ice, carving massive craters and sending plumes of steam into the air.
The pirates' faces twisted in terror as they scattered, desperately dodging the molten onslaught. Their momentum faltered, their once-unstoppable advance now reduced to frantic retreat. Still, Akainu's attack had been telegraphed—its wind-up too obvious, its trajectory too predictable. Most pirates managed to evade the magma fists, though a few unfortunate souls were too slow to react and were incinerated on the spot. Others suffered burns when the magma exploded on impact, sending deadly shrapnel in all directions.
Despite the ferocity of Akainu's Meteor Volcano, the pirates' casualties barely surpassed a hundred. The attack was as dramatic as it was ineffective—a spectacle of power with little to show for it. "Marine brat," Whitebeard muttered, his voice low and dangerous. "Setting fires like a child. Seems I'll have to teach you a lesson later."
With that, Whitebeard reached into his pocket and pulled out a light yellow syringe. Without hesitation, he plunged it into his right arm, injecting its contents. This was a Life Strengthening Agent, a product of the Umbrella Corporation. Back when the Whitebeard Pirates had collaborated with the corporation, they'd received a steady supply of the drug each year.
The Life Strengthening Agent was a miracle cure—capable of rapidly healing both internal and external injuries. But its production had dwindled over time. In its early years, the Umbrella Corporation had used it to dominate the pharmaceutical market, but shortages of rare ingredients had forced them to scale back. Eventually, production ceased entirely. Now, a single dose of the agent fetched astronomical prices on the black market—hundreds of millions of Berries for a fleeting moment of recovery.
Marco once wanted to use this drug to treat Whitebeard's old hidden injuries and illnesses, but unfortunately, its effect on old injuries and illnesses didn't seem to be very good, it could only temporarily suppress those hidden injuries from flaring up for Whitebeard. But... This was already enough!
Whitebeard, free from the hindrance of pain, could fully utilize his Three-Color Haki and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability, completely unleashing combat power no less than when he was young! Whitebeard pushed off the deck of the Moby Dick with his legs, and his entire body shot out like a cannonball, reaching the edge of the military port bay wall in an instant.
Whitebeard first raised the long-handled greatsword in his hand, exerted force with both arms, his muscles bulging high, and Conqueror's Haki quickly wrapped around the blade. Immediately after, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability activated, and a white translucent sphere appeared on the tip of Murakumogiri's blade, continuously compressing and condensing. The next moment. Boom-!
The blade swung by Murakumogiri heavily slashed onto the city wall, causing the ground to tremble non-stop, and the city wall in front of Whitebeard was blasted into a large section of collapse, with dust and smoke rising everywhere. After the dust settled, the Whitebeard Pirates saw that a huge gap about a hundred meters wide had been opened on the city wall.
"Whitebeard, don't even think about getting past here!" A fifteen-meter-tall Marine Giant Vice Admiral raised a huge axe with both hands and chopped directly down towards Whitebeard's head, intending to cleave him in two. However... "Get lost!"
Whitebeard clenched his left hand in the air, a white transparent sphere enveloped his left fist, and he smashed it directly towards the giant's axe blade without dodging.
In an instant, the axe in the Giant Vice Admiral's hand shattered inch by inch, and Whitebeard's fist continued with undiminished force, directly smashing into his abdomen, causing him to vomit blood, roll his eyes, lose consciousness, and fly back over a hundred meters, crashing into the Marine crowd and hitting a large number of Marine soldiers.
Whitebeard actually instantly killed the Giant Vice Admiral with one blow! Seeing this situation, many Marines couldn't help but swallow, showing looks of horror, their legs trembling, their hearts filled with fear and unease. "Charge! Everyone, rush in through the gap Whitebeard opened and rescue Ace!"
The Whitebeard Pirates, who had originally seemed somewhat low in morale after being relentlessly bombarded with magma by Akainu, immediately regained their spirits after seeing how valiant their Whitebeard was, and swarmed in through the gap in the city wall, beginning a bloody slaughter with the Marines on Oris Plaza.
Seeing this scene, Akainu couldn't help but let out a cold snort, his eyes sharp as knives, staring intently at the world's strongest man who was leading the charge and had broken through the military port wall. He knew that if Whitebeard was allowed to continue acting recklessly, the Marine's momentum would be severely frustrated. Swish-!
Akainu's figure flashed, bringing up a wave of sonic boom, and he charged straight towards Whitebeard. At the same time, his hands lit up with crimson light, emitting scorching heat capable of melting steel, and Armament Haki quickly wrapped around them, enhancing his attack power. In an instant, Akainu had crossed hundreds of meters and appeared to the left of Whitebeard's body.
Dog Bite Crimson Lotus! As he raised his magma right fist wrapped in Armament Haki and swung it fiercely upwards, his arm instantly transformed into a dog head with its mouth open and roaring, directly targeting Whitebeard's head. However...
Whitebeard's eyes flashed crimson. With a slight tilt of his head, he effortlessly dodged Akainu's initial strike. His Observation Haki, honed to foresee the future, had already predicted the follow-up attack Akainu was preparing with his left hand. A translucent white sphere of energy coalesced around Whitebeard's fist, crackling with dark red lightning.
Akainu's eyes widened in shock as Whitebeard exploited the opening in his stance. The punch landed square in Akainu's ribs, the impact reverberating through his body. Blood sprayed from his nose and mouth as bones shattered with audible cracks. The force of the blow sent shockwaves through the battlefield.
The ground beneath them buckled violently, spiderweb cracks radiating outward. Akainu's body was driven deep into the earth, leaving nothing but a massive crater and jagged fissures stretching across the surface. His voice, faint and fading, echoed from the depths. "Damn Whitebeard!"
Silence followed. The Marines watched in stunned disbelief. Their Admiral, one of their strongest, had been utterly overwhelmed. "Admiral Akainu!" someone cried out. "Even a Marine Admiral?!" another shouted, voice trembling. "Whitebeard... he's a monster!" "A demon from hell!"
Whitebeard stood tall, his presence commanding. With a single punch, he had killed a Vice Admiral. Now, another punch had buried Admiral Akainu. His invincibility was undeniable, his strength unmatched. The morale of the Marines wavered visibly. Some turned and fled, their courage shattered.
Sengoku's face darkened as he watched the chaos unfold. His jaw clenched tight. "This Akainu..." His gaze shifted to Garp, silently urging him to intervene. But Garp remained motionless, his expression unreadable. Sengoku knew why—Garp was furious about Ace's public exposure.
Zephyr stepped forward, fists crackling with energy. "Let me handle him!"
"No," Sengoku cut in, his voice firm. "I'll go myself. Commander-in-Chief Kong, take command here." Without hesitation, he leapt from the execution platform, charging toward Whitebeard.
Golden light enveloped Sengoku as he activated his Devil Fruit powers. His body transformed, swelling into the colossal form of the Great Buddha. As Fleet Admiral, he preferred to avoid direct combat unless absolutely necessary. But circumstances left him no choice.
Zephyr, though formidable, was no longer at his peak. After losing his arm and battling asthma, his strength had diminished significantly. If he faced Whitebeard, the outcome would likely mirror Akainu's defeat. Another loss would devastate Marine morale entirely.
With Garp refusing to act, Sengoku had no option but to step into the fray himself. "Gurararara!" Whitebeard's laughter boomed across the battlefield. "Sengoku, finally decided to stop holding back, huh?" He raised Murakumogiri, the blade crackling with dark red lightning, and swung it toward the approaching Fleet Admiral.
Victory was within reach. Defeat Sengoku, and the Marines would crumble. Ace would be free.
Sengoku didn't flinch. Dark red lightning surged around his palms as he prepared to meet Whitebeard's strike head-on.
Just before the blade reached him, he immediately raised his right palm, channeling Haoshoku Haki into a powerful Shockwave. The clash of their Haki sent shockwaves rippling through the air.
If Whitebeard couldn't withstand this, he was no true top-tier fighter—just a pretender to the throne.
The moment the Fifth Sea Emperor claimed his throne, the skies erupted. Dark red lightning tore through the air in violent, unrelenting strikes, each collision echoing like a cannon blast. A maelstrom of wind and shockwaves radiated from the epicenter, scattering the clouds and carving a perfect vacuum into the heavens. The sheer force of the clash seemed to defy the natural order.
Nearby, the weaker Marines and Pirates were directly hurled off their feet, tumbling like ragdolls across the ground. They rolled helplessly, their bodies tossed like gourds in a storm, powerless against the overwhelming energy surging around them.