None of that mattered to Marco.
It did not matter if only three Warlords had arrived today. Anyone who stood with the Dawn would be buried alongside Squard and the Dawn Pirates.
That confidence was not arrogance.
It was the certainty carried by the commander of Whitebeard's First Division.
Because behind him stood the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard himself.
Marco chose to intercept White Lion Sali not because he underestimated him, but because he knew Whitebeard only had one true target today.
Ash.
The man responsible for Squard's death.
Well... perhaps there were two targets now.
Ash, and Youki, the Storm Sovereign.
But the moment Marco clashed with Sali, he immediately realized something was wrong.
Boom!
Blue flames burst apart in the sky as Marco was blasted backward. He quickly stabilized himself in his hybrid Phoenix form, blue fire flickering around his body.
"This guy hits hard."
Marco frowned slightly.
Sali looked irritated after being interrupted, but he had no choice except to deal with Marco first.
Even though his combat power had already reached the level of an Admiral or Emperor, he was not Kaido. He did not possess that absurd level of physical durability.
There was no way he would ignore Marco and recklessly charge Whitebeard while exposing himself to attacks from behind.
That would just be stupidity.
Sali clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned fully toward Marco.
Still, trying to finish Marco quickly was unrealistic.
Marco's offensive power might not be overwhelming, but his regenerative abilities were monstrous.
The Mythical Zoan, Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix, granted him terrifying recovery abilities, arguably among the best regeneration powers in the world.
At that moment, Sali finally understood the frustration Kaido used to feel while training them.
You could not kill Marco quickly, and Marco would never let you leave.
It was unbelievably annoying.
Meanwhile, Wyper, who had rushed halfway across the battlefield, was overjoyed seeing Sali tied down.
Pini and Youki had already taken most of the spotlight during previous battles, while Sali was now occupied by Marco.
Wasn't this the perfect chance for him to fight Whitebeard himself?
Wyper instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot toward Whitebeard at terrifying speed.
But before he could reach him, a shockwave from Whitebeard shattered the lightning apart.
Wyper barely managed to reform his body before a sharp sword slash swept toward him.
It was Vista, captain of the Fifth Division.
The Flower Sword attacked relentlessly, his twin blades creating a storm of slashes that forced Wyper to evade continuously.
While dodging, Wyper glanced toward Whitebeard and saw the old man already moving against Youki.
Wyper sighed in frustration.
Another opportunity wasted.
On the other hand, Pini and Youki were delighted after stopping midway and seeing the situation develop.
It was not their fault the others failed to seize the chance.
The two exchanged glances before advancing together.
Even they did not dare underestimate Whitebeard.
As the main fighters aboard the Dawn and the Moby Dick engaged each other, the surrounding allied pirate crews finally reacted.
More than a hundred pirate ships unleashed a nonstop barrage of cannon fire toward the Dawn.
"Attacking my ship?!"
Ash's eyes widened.
He casually swung his hand toward the left side of the battlefield.
A colossal flaming wind blade instantly formed between the heavens and the sea.
The gigantic slash tore through the battlefield diagonally, grazing over twenty pirate ships in an instant.
The ships were sliced cleanly in half.
Moments later, endless explosions erupted as flames ignited cannonballs and powder stores aboard the destroyed vessels.
"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?! We agreed not to wipe them out immediately!"
Dicken and the Daly brothers rushed over in panic and grabbed Ash before he could launch another attack.
"Ow! Let go already!"
Dicken nearly lost his mind.
"One attack erased a quarter of them!"
At the same time, Kirk raised both hands.
Invisible spatial walls expanded outward around the Dawn.
Countless cannonballs slammed into the barriers and detonated violently.
Kirk frowned slightly.
He had never blocked attacks on this scale before.
Even though stabilizing Whitebeard's shockwave earlier looked effortless, it had already consumed a large amount of stamina.
Restoring space was far more exhausting than destroying it.
Seeing the Dawn protected successfully, Ash finally shoved Dicken and the others away.
"All the strong opponents are on the Moby Dick anyway. The surrounding ships are mostly cannon fodder."
"Stop hanging onto me and go fight already."
Kirk added immediately,
"And clear out the surrounding trash quickly. I'm not planning to maintain these barriers forever."
"We'll leave the cleanup to Tsuki and Fidel!"
Dicken and the Daly brothers instantly rushed toward the Moby Dick without looking back, terrified someone else would steal all the good fights.
Kirk rolled his eyes at them before glancing toward Tsuki and Fidel, who were still standing nearby.
Following Kirk's gaze, Ash suddenly remembered something.
"Tsuki, do you remember the name of Whitebeard's Fourth Division commander?"
"Huh? What's his na..."
Tsuki froze halfway through his sentence.
His expression immediately darkened.
Back when Daly Jack had encountered Jack, everyone mocked him endlessly for sharing the same name.
Now it was Tsuki's turn.
(Tsuki name is also Thatch, To avoid confusions, I made it Tsuki.)
Of course he knew Whitebeard's Fourth Division commander.
The entire crew had memorized the major members of every Yonko crew after entering the New World.
Back then, Pini and Youki had already laughed at him over the coincidence.
Fortunately, Ash had not been present at the time.
Now this bastard was bringing it up again.
"What does that have to do with me?! It's just the same name!"
"My full name is Okenpo Thatch Tsuki, damn it!"
"The other Thatch is mine! Nobody steals him from me!"
Tsuki roared furiously before launching himself off the Dawn at full speed.
His voice was loud enough for fighters across the battlefield to hear clearly.
The others instantly realized Ash had successfully provoked him again.
Everyone collectively rolled their eyes.
Fidel laughed and pointed behind him with his thumb.
"This kind of battlefield is perfect for the newcomers."
Kirk turned and looked behind the bow.
There, sixty-seven newly recruited fighters stood lined up neatly on the lower deck, their faces full of excitement.
All of them had consumed Star-Lord Fruits.
Unlike the main fighters, they did not have the freedom to charge recklessly into battle.
By now, nearly every captain had already rushed ahead, leaving the recruits anxious and restless.
Fortunately, Fidel still remembered them.
Kirk slowly shifted his gaze toward Ash.
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