After eating the Senzu Bean, Whitebeard's strength had indeed recovered considerably. At the very least, moving around was no longer much of a problem for him.
He raised Murakumogiri and unleashed a shockwave with a single swing, instantly knocking down dozens—no, hundreds—of pirates.
The destructive power of the quake was simply terrifying. Even the distant Marine Headquarters building collapsed in several places from the tremors.
Sengoku no longer had the time to think about Impel Down or the Sabaody Archipelago.
If this war in front of him wasn't handled with absolute seriousness, the entire Marine Headquarters might be destroyed!
Fortunately—
With Whitebeard sounding the horn of his charge, all the members of the Whitebeard Pirates had entered the encirclement Sengoku had prepared in advance.
Sengoku immediately gave his orders:
"Akainu, continue bombarding them with magma! Melt the ice they're standing on!"
The place where the Whitebeard Pirates currently stood was the frozen harbor surface created earlier by Aokiji.
The extreme heat of Akainu's magma could easily melt it. Once that happened, the Whitebeard Pirates would have nowhere to stand.
At the same time,
Sengoku ordered the more than ten Pacifistas that had long been waiting outside the encirclement to begin firing their laser cannons at the Whitebeard Pirates.
Endless waves of magma, lasers, and artillery fire immediately pushed the Whitebeard Pirates into a desperate situation.
Screams echoed everywhere.
Whitebeard's fury erupted.
He clenched his fist tightly, raising his right arm high. The muscles on it bulged like small mountains.
Buzz!
A transparent vibration wave wrapped around his fist before he punched straight toward the wall of the encirclement.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The air itself tore apart. The terrifying shockwave slammed into the wall, producing a thunderous echo.
Unfortunately—
The wall had been constructed from Seastone. Devil Fruit powers could not destroy it.
Standing on the execution platform, Sengoku shouted loudly:
"Whitebeard, stop wasting your strength! I prepared long ago specifically to counter your abilities!"
Whitebeard's expression darkened slightly.
However, the wall of the encirclement still had a single gap. The section had failed to rise because it was blocked by Aokiji's ice beneath the sea.
That was the Whitebeard Pirates' only exit.
After Marco pointed it out, the Whitebeard Pirates immediately surged toward the opening.
Naturally, Sengoku would not just watch.
He instantly ordered the Marines to clear the ice beneath the sea.
But the wall at the opening still failed to rise.
Because Little Oars Jr.'s massive body was blocking it.
At the same time, Little Oars Jr. was focused down and killed by concentrated Marine fire.
On the steps where the Seven Warlords stood—
Moria looked at Little Oars Jr.'s corpse and thought smugly:
"This Little Oars is too weak. Not even one-tenth as strong as the real Demon Oars!"
"When the Marines attack the Sabaody Archipelago, I'll make them see just how powerful the strongest zombie truly is!"
Thanks to Little Oars Jr.'s delay, the Whitebeard Pirates finally reached the plaza of Marineford.
They were now only halfway away from the execution platform where Fire Fist Ace was held.
But that remaining half of the distance would not be easy to cross.
Because blocking their path were not only one hundred thousand Marines—
But also the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Marines' highest combat power, the three Admirals.
However, among the Warlords, Moria and the Pirate Empress were already aligned with Luo Xing. They had no intention of truly risking their lives for the Marines.
As for the rest—
Blackbeard had already disappeared.
Edward Weevil was weak.
Mihawk preferred to act alone.
Which meant only the emotionless Tyrant Kuma would truly fight for the Marines.
Yet—
The first Warlord to make a move was not Kuma.
It was Mihawk.
The moment Mihawk stepped forward, the entire battlefield turned its attention toward him.
"That lone wolf Mihawk is actually going to fight? That's rare."
Among the three Admirals, only Kizaru was still sitting leisurely in his seat.
Even Sengoku turned his gaze.
Even the Pirate Empress glanced at Mihawk cautiously and thought to herself:
"The world's strongest swordsman… They say looking directly into his eyes is enough to make people tremble."
"Hmph. But in my opinion, he's nothing special. Not even close to my beloved man!"
The Pirate Empress had already fallen completely into her love for Luo Xing.
In this entire sea, no man could compare to even a single hair of Luo Xing.
Mihawk walked directly to the front of the steps.
His cold voice echoed across the battlefield.
"I simply want to test how far the distance is between myself… and the world's strongest man."
With that—
Mihawk swung his black blade, Yoru.
A massive slash hundreds of meters long tore across the battlefield.
The slash wave was overwhelmingly powerful, blasting everyone in its path away and carving a deep trench into the ground.
Facing such a terrifying slash, even Whitebeard narrowed his eyes.
At the critical moment—
Diamond Jozu suddenly rushed forward and blocked the attack head-on.
Mihawk frowned slightly and leapt down from the steps, seemingly preparing to attack again.
Whoosh—
Countless bright flower petals suddenly drifted toward him from the side.
Each petal carried deadly sword energy.
"Hey! Fight me instead! I've wanted to cross blades with you for a long time!"
Mihawk stopped and swung a slash that shattered the petals.
His sharp gaze turned toward the source.
It was the Flower Sword—Vista of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Before the Beasts Pirates rose to prominence,
The reason the Whitebeard Pirates were recognized as the strongest Yonko crew was not only because of Whitebeard's reputation—
But also because every one of his commanders possessed terrifying strength.
Marco the Phoenix.
Diamond Jozu.
Flower Sword Vista.
And even Fire Fist Ace, who was about to be executed.
All of them possessed the strength to briefly contend with fighters at the level of a Yonko Admiral.
Vista engaged Mihawk in battle.
Meanwhile, the Whitebeard Pirates continued their charge.
Admiral Aokiji prepared to attack Whitebeard—
But Diamond Jozu blocked him again.
Seeing this, Kizaru knew he could no longer remain idle.
He leapt into the air, bringing his hands together.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Countless golden light bullets rained down.
Yet every single one struck a massive blue bird.
Kizaru tilted his mouth lazily.
"Oh my, oh my… Marco the Phoenix. It seems my attacks are useless against you."
Wrapped in the blue flames of the Phoenix, Marco grinned.
"How could I let you interfere with our king?"
Kizaru was stopped as well.
However—
The most aggressive Admiral, Akainu, still had not attacked.
Instead, he appeared in front of a captain from one of the pirate crews allied with Whitebeard.
The captain was startled and immediately raised his sword toward Akainu.
Akainu sneered.
"You still want to fight me? I truly pity you all. Whitebeard is merely using your lives to satisfy his own selfish desires."
Akainu then claimed that Whitebeard had already secretly negotiated with the Marines.
That he planned to exchange the lives of tens of thousands of pirates… for the life of Fire Fist Ace.
The captain trembled in shock upon hearing this.
He was none other than Squard, the Great Whirlpool Spider.
Deep down, Squard didn't want to believe Akainu.
But he had long felt that Whitebeard favored Ace too much.
The more he thought about it, the more Akainu's words seemed plausible.
Especially when he saw the towering ice walls around them—created when the earlier tidal waves had been frozen.
Their retreat to the New World had been completely cut off.
Grinding his teeth, Squard began to believe Akainu's lies.
Blinded by rage, he gripped his sword and circled behind Whitebeard.
Since he was a well-known captain under Whitebeard's banner, none of the pirates suspected him or stopped him.
But Whitebeard felt a hint of confusion.
Why had Squard come behind him?
In the original timeline, Whitebeard's physical condition was so poor that he could barely use Haki.
But after being healed by the Senzu Bean, his Observation Haki had recovered somewhat.
He sensed Squard approaching.
However, Whitebeard paid it little mind.
He trusted his sons completely.
But Squard betrayed that trust.
With a furious roar, he thrust his sword toward Whitebeard's back.
"Old man! Why did you betray us?!"
Whitebeard's body instinctively shifted.
The blade only pierced his side instead of his heart.
Whitebeard turned around, his towering figure radiating authority.
Squard's body trembled in fear.
The entire battlefield froze at the sudden scene.
"When did I ever betray you… Squard?"
Whitebeard's heavy voice echoed.
Suppressing his fear, Squard shouted out everything Akainu had told him.
The Whitebeard Pirates were instantly shaken.
"Old man secretly worked with the Marines? Using our lives to save Ace?"
"No… impossible! The old man would never do that!"
"This must be a Marine conspiracy!"
"But then… what about the ice walls blocking our retreat?"
Doubt began to spread among the pirates.
Many of them had little personal connection with Fire Fist Ace.
They had come to this war purely to repay Whitebeard's kindness.
But if Whitebeard had sold them out to the Marines—
Then that bond would mean nothing.
"Old man, answer us! Did you really make a deal with the Marines?!"
The pirates looked at him with grief and demanded an answer.
Whitebeard said nothing.
Only after the voices gradually died down did he roar like a lion king.
"As pirates… what you choose to believe is your own decision!"
"But saying that I betrayed my sons?"
"What a ridiculous lie!"
Whitebeard's anger exploded.
He clenched both fists and smashed them into the air on both sides.
"Even if I die… I would never harm my sons!"
Crack! Crack!
The air shattered like glass.
Whitebeard's furious strike unleashed an unimaginable super-quake.
The massive ice walls instantly shattered.
The ground tilted.
The sea split apart into countless sections.
The entire world seemed to tremble violently.
This—
Was the true monster-level power of Whitebeard.
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