Elbaph was located near the far end of the New World, even deeper along the sea route than Totto Land, the territory of Big Mom, and Wano Country, where Kaido ruled.
Kirk originally wanted to head to Elbaph to meet Loki, the notorious prince who had been captured and dragged back by the meddlesome Red Hair Pirates. Still, nobody knew how long that situation would last, or whether the Giant Prince, branded by the world as a patricide, would even survive until then.
"Forget about Loki for now. You already saw Oars III, so hurry up and deal with him."
Ash tilted his chin toward Little Oars Jr. in the distance. After realizing he had already been exposed, the giant abandoned any attempt to hide his movements. He lifted his enormous forty meter greatsword and charged toward the Dawn.
"Other than being huge and strong, this guy is useless. I seriously don't know what the Marines were thinking, giving trash like him a bounty of 550 million Berries. If we don't cash in on that stupidity, we're wasting an opportunity."
Kirk rolled his eyes again.
Normally, Ash was fine, but whenever a battle dragged on and he started getting bored, his mouth became increasingly unbearable. The smartest response at times like this was simply to ignore him.
Standing at the bow of the Dawn, Kirk planted his feet firmly and raised both hands. He connected his index fingers and thumbs in reverse, forming a square while narrowing one eye to aim directly at Little Oars Jr.'s chest.
A faint tremor rippled through the air.
In the next instant, a hollow square made from intersecting Spatial Cracks silently appeared in front of Little Oars Jr.
Completely unaware, the giant roared and charged forward with his massive cleaver raised high, clearly intending to split the Dawn in half.
Pfft!
The sound was soft, nearly drowned out by the giant's roar.
Still, Little Oars Jr. suddenly froze.
His movements slowed as he lowered his head toward his chest.
There, a slanted square cavity had appeared through his torso. His heart, along with chunks of flesh, bone, and blood, had vanished entirely.
If he had enough strength left to turn around, he would have seen the missing parts of his body lying behind him like discarded meat across the ground he had just crossed.
Unfortunately, he no longer had that chance.
Clang!
The giant blade slipped from his hand.
Blood poured uncontrollably from Little Oars Jr.'s mouth and nose as the light faded from his eyes. His gaze instinctively shifted toward the Dawn, or perhaps beyond it, toward Whitebeard himself.
His massive hand slowly lifted halfway before falling powerless to his side.
Then his enormous body collapsed onto the barren island with a thunderous impact, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
"Damn, Kirk, that move was incredible," Ash said with genuine praise.
Kirk shook his head.
"It only works against idiots. The attack needs proper aim and a short charge time. Any real expert would activate Observation Haki immediately. Charging straight into obvious spatial fluctuations like that is pure stupidity."
Ash nodded seriously.
"Yeah, I said the move looked awesome. I never said it had to be practical."
Kirk stared at him speechlessly.
Trying to have a serious conversation with Ash whenever he got bored was completely pointless.
Naturally, Whitebeard witnessed Little Oars Jr.'s death.
Veins bulged across his forehead as overwhelming fury surged through him. Unfortunately, Youki and Pini kept him locked down with relentless assaults in their Mad Dog Mode, leaving him no opportunity to vent his rage toward Ash and the others.
Just as Youki and Pini had predicted, scenes like this would continue from the moment the battle started.
One by one, Whitebeard would watch his sons fall.
Eventually, he would either become numb to it or completely lose control.
Either outcome suited them perfectly.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Sali had already abandoned the idea of fighting Whitebeard personally.
Marco was simply too difficult to put down quickly.
Although Sali was confident that using his full Hybrid Form would let him finish Marco within several hours, there was no point anymore. By now, both of his younger brothers had already entered Mad Dog Mode. Even if he broke free now, there was no chance they would let him take Whitebeard from them.
Besides, maintaining his dignity as the eldest brother mattered.
More importantly, Sali understood the difference between this battle and the training sessions they had held in Wano last year.
Wano's isolated environment allowed them to fight recklessly without worrying about collateral damage or outside interference.
This battlefield was completely different.
The Dawn had already clashed with the Red Hair Pirates before this encounter, and now the entire world was watching the Whitebeard Pirates.
Under those circumstances, this battle needed to end quickly.
They had to crush their enemies, clean the battlefield, eliminate any witnesses if necessary, and retreat immediately.
As Ash often said, time was limited and the mission came first.
If the battle dragged on too long, additional pirate crews, News Coo, or Cipher Pol agents might arrive. Those problems were manageable.
Marine reinforcements, however, were another matter entirely.
Besides, Ash had already made their position clear. They had no intention of openly declaring war on the World Government yet. Even if they eventually did, their true enemies would be the Celestial Dragons and the forces standing above the Marines.
And even in a direct conflict with the Marines, their targets would only be the hardline high ranking officers.
The Dawn Faction neither wanted nor needed to slaughter ordinary Marines.
Since he couldn't quickly defeat Marco and Whitebeard had no chance of targeting him, Sali slowed down for the first time since the battle began.
Marco instantly felt the pressure lessen.
Only he understood how difficult the fight had been until now.
Throughout the exchange, every ounce of his concentration had been focused entirely on the man standing before him, White Lion Sali.
Any arrogance Marco held at the beginning of the battle had long disappeared.
The strength displayed by Sali was far beyond the level of an ordinary Warlord of the Sea.
The difference was obvious.
After all, the Seven Warlords weren't strangers to Marco.
He had fought Crocodile before, the man who challenged Pops eighteen years ago, and honestly, Crocodile's strength was nothing remarkable.
He had also exchanged blows with Jinbe. Although Jinbe wasn't officially part of the Whitebeard Pirates, his relationship with Pops and the crew was excellent.
On land, Marco was confident Jinbe wasn't his match.
As for underwater combat, only a suicidal Devil Fruit user would willingly challenge a Fish-Man in the sea.
Then there was the former Warlord known as Hanavza the Lizard King, one of Kaido's subordinates in everything but name. Marco considered that idiot a complete joke. Fighting him was so easy that Marco could practically pick his nose with one hand while battling him.
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