At his peak, Whitebeard possessed the power to split the sea into fragments with nothing more than a roar.
Although the current Whitebeard was no longer at his absolute peak, the burst of strength he displayed under the effects of the Senzu Bean and his raging fury was not inferior to what he once possessed.
Marineford and the surrounding ocean tilted violently. Aside from the strongest fighters, even slightly weaker ones could barely keep their footing.
Boom!
Countless buildings collapsed. Even the towering Marine Headquarters structure showed signs of crumbling.
Sengoku's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.
"Damn that Whitebeard!"
Garp had also stepped onto the execution platform.
He looked at Ace—who was kneeling on the ground, staring at Whitebeard's towering figure with excitement—and his expression became extremely complicated.
On one hand,
Garp hoped Whitebeard would unleash his might and rescue Ace.
But on the other hand,
The cloak on his back bearing the word "Justice" constantly reminded him that he was a Marine—and that Marines and pirates were mortal enemies.
If Whitebeard really succeeded in rescuing Ace, especially after the destruction of Impel Down, then the authority of the Marines would completely collapse.
And he, the so-called Hero of the Marines, would become nothing but a joke.
Garp was torn apart by the conflict in his heart.
He didn't know what he should do.
Meanwhile, on the Sabaody Archipelago—
Luo Xing was watching the live broadcast of the Paramount War. Even he couldn't help but click his tongue at Whitebeard's strength.
The ability to tilt heaven and earth and tear apart the sea…
Even his father-in-law Kaido couldn't do something like that.
Of course,
Whitebeard's attack was a massive AoE technique. It crushed ordinary soldiers, but it couldn't truly harm the strongest fighters.
Marine Vice Admirals of elite level merely staggered slightly. None of them were thrown into serious disarray.
Luo Xing then turned his attention to the grandfather of the so-called child of destiny—Straw Hat Luffy.
Garp was said to have pushed the Pirate King Gol D. Roger into desperate situations countless times.
He had also fought alongside Roger at God Valley to destroy the Rocks Pirates.
From those two feats alone, Garp should possess strength equal to Roger himself.
Just how powerful Garp truly was had always remained one of the great mysteries of the pirate world.
Even Luo Xing, as a transmigrator, didn't know the full answer.
The only thing he did know was that if Garp didn't defend himself with Armament Haki, the hardness of his body was inferior to Kaido and Big Mom.
After all, he had once been slashed across the chest by Axe-Hand Morgan while standing there asleep—bleeding badly.
It was somewhat similar to how the Lord of the Coast had bitten off Shanks' arm.
In short—
Garp was destined to be one of the greatest obstacles Luo Xing would face when sweeping away the Marines and the World Government.
One of the most important reasons Luo Xing had sold Senzu Beans to Whitebeard was precisely to use Whitebeard to test Garp's true strength.
But looking at Garp's conflicted expression now, it seemed he had no intention of making a move.
Luo Xing wasn't worried.
Garp, bound by the word "Justice," would definitely take action.
Just like in the original story, when he knocked back Marco as Marco tried to fly toward the execution platform.
The only person in the world who could truly stop Garp from acting…
Was his own grandson—Straw Hat Luffy.
Unfortunately, Luffy wasn't even on the battlefield right now.
Could Garp still pretend to hold back and intentionally let himself be knocked down by Luffy like before?
Marineford—
The massive air-quake caused by Whitebeard finally began to settle after a long time.
The Marine formation had been completely shattered and scattered, making it easier for the Whitebeard Pirates to advance.
Whitebeard raised his arm and shouted:
"My sons! My beloved sons! Those who trust their old man—follow me and destroy the Marines!"
Whitebeard once again led the charge.
It had to be said—the Senzu Bean had greatly improved his condition.
Not only had Squard failed to stab his chest, but Whitebeard could now run and leap rapidly without too much strain.
The only discomfort he felt was a faint pain in his heart, which seemed unable to handle prolonged high-intensity movement.
But Whitebeard no longer cared.
He had already prepared himself for death.
He would trade his life for Ace's!
A crimson figure suddenly appeared in front of the unstoppable Whitebeard.
It was Admiral Sakazuki—Akainu.
Akainu clenched his fist and said coldly:
"Whitebeard. If you keep rampaging like this, all of Marineford will be destroyed."
Whitebeard laughed loudly.
"Gurararara! If you want to protect it, then protect it with everything you've got, magma brat!"
Whitebeard raised Murakumogiri.
Vibration energy gathered along the blade as he swung it down toward Akainu.
"Great Eruption!"
Akainu answered with a massive magma fist.
The two attacks collided head-on.
Boom!
A violent shockwave burst outward from their clash, blasting Marines within a hundred meters away.
The two men's overwhelming presence dominated the battlefield, neither willing to give ground.
In the end—
Whitebeard, whose condition was far better than in the original timeline, gained the upper hand and forced Akainu backward.
Whitebeard pressed the advantage.
With another slash—
He cut off Akainu's head.
"Admiral Sakazuki!"
The Marines cried out in terror.
Had Admiral Akainu just died?!
Of course not.
Whitebeard's Haki was no longer what it had once been.
Akainu had already transformed his body into magma beforehand.
The molten lava writhed and reformed as Akainu restored his body.
He hadn't suffered serious injury, but his face looked extremely grim.
Although he had successfully manipulated Squard earlier, that useless fool had failed to seriously injure Whitebeard.
As a result, Akainu was now at a disadvantage.
"Meigo!"
Akainu's Absolute Justice would never allow him to fight lazily like Aokiji or slack off like Kizaru.
Even if he might lose to Whitebeard, he had no intention of retreating.
This fearless determination caused Akainu's prestige among the lower-ranking Marines to rise even further.
...
...
Meanwhile—
In Whitebeard's territory in the New World.
The battle between Kaido and Shanks was no less intense than the clash between Whitebeard and Akainu.
Whitebeard possessed the Gura Gura no Mi—the Devil Fruit with the greatest destructive power.
Akainu possessed the Magma-Magma Fruit—the Devil Fruit with the greatest offensive power.
Their battle was a collision of Devil Fruit abilities.
But Kaido and Shanks—
Were fighting purely with Haki.
Every strike they exchanged was coated with Conqueror's Haki.
"Three Worlds: Ragnarok!"
Kaido had transformed into his strongest hybrid dragon form.
Gripping his kanabo with both hands, he descended from the sky.
Black lightning crackled as arcs of electricity danced around him.
Facing such a terrifying attack, Shanks did not dare take it lightly.
He inhaled deeply.
The Conqueror's Haki known as the strongest in the world surged into the saber in his hand.
Then he raised it upward to meet Kaido's kanabo.
Bzzzz!!
The saber and the kanabo never actually touched.
A layer of air separated them.
This was the unmistakable sign of Conqueror's Haki clash.
BOOM!
The ground beneath Shanks collapsed under the overwhelming pressure.
Grinding his teeth, Shanks roared:
"The one who will ultimately sit upon the throne isn't you, Kaido!"
"The one who will change this world isn't your son-in-law Luo Xing either!"
Kaido grinned wildly.
"And who is it then, Red-Hair brat?!"
Shanks answered without hesitation:
"The inheritor of Captain Roger's will."
"The destined Sun God!"
Kaido sneered.
"You mean Joy Boy?"
"Too bad. Only the one who defeats me has a chance to become Joy Boy."
"But someone like that simply does not exist in this world!"
The muscles in Kaido's mountain-like arms bulged as he exerted more strength.
Shanks pushed back with everything he had.
Boom!
A massive shockwave exploded from the center of their clash.
When the dust settled—
A crater hundreds of meters deep had been carved into the ground.
Both of them were blasted backward by the shockwave.
Shanks breathed heavily, his stamina clearly draining.
Kaido was also breathing harder, but with his monstrous recovery ability, this level of exhaustion meant almost nothing.
If this stalemate continued—
The final victor would undoubtedly be Kaido.
The title of "Strongest Creature in a One-on-One Fight" was not given lightly.
In the original timeline,
The reason Straw Hat Luffy eventually defeated Kaido was because Kaido had already fought more than a dozen rounds of battles beforehand.
On top of that, Luffy's allies all seemed to possess the miraculous ability to stand back up no matter how many times they were knocked down.
It nearly drove Kaido insane before he was finally defeated.
Staring at Shanks, Kaido revealed a sharp dragon-toothed grin.
"The inheritor of Roger's will. The destined Sun God."
"You weren't talking about yourself just now, were you?"
"But no matter who it is—"
"Even someone stronger than you."
"Even that old man Whitebeard."
"None of them can defeat me anymore!"
"Do you know why, Red-Hair?"
Shanks frowned.
Of course he knew why.
Because Kaido not only possessed terrifying strength—
He also had the absurd tools invented by his son-in-law Luo Xing.
For example—
Senzu Beans.
They allowed Kaido to recover endlessly, just like someone constantly getting back up after being knocked down.
Unless you could kill him in a single strike—
You would never defeat him.
But what Kaido was referring to wasn't the Senzu Beans.
It was another item.
The Fusion Earrings.
"Even though I'd rather not fuse with that old hag…"
"But to show you what true terror and despair look like, I'll have to do it."
Kaido suddenly turned toward Big Mom, who was currently playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Beckman and the Red Hair Pirates.
"Hey! Linlin! Stop playing around!"
"Come here!"
"Let them experience what hell truly feels like!"
Big Mom was already furious.
Because Beckman and the others refused to confront her head-on, constantly dodging and avoiding her attacks.
Speed was her greatest weakness.
She couldn't catch them, and her temper was exploding.
When she heard Kaido's words, Big Mom immediately agreed.
"Fine! I'll kill every last one of them!"
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