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Whitebeard's figure was immense, towering more than three times Arthur's height. A body that massive—perhaps he had the blood of giants in him.
His shadow fell over Arthur, blocking out all light, and his terrifying aura was as oppressive as hell itself.
He said nothing, his disdainful eyes simply looking down on the man before him.
They stared at each other, the silence stretching, the pressure building...
"Hmph." A cold smile touched Arthur's lips.
Whitebeard's aura was overwhelming, but that was only enough to frighten ordinary men or small-time pirates. To him, it held no threat at all.
For men of their caliber, the intimidation of Conqueror's Haki—unless it reached the level of Roger's—was nothing more than a trick to scare children.
"Are you going to block my path, old man Whitebeard?" Arthur asked, his voice indifferent.
Although the wound in his chest had robbed him of all but a tenth of his strength, he would certainly not lose the bearing of one of the New World's mightiest emperors.
"Gurarararara." Whitebeard gripped his naginata and threw his head back in a booming laugh.
"Lightning brat, I won't take advantage of your injuries. If you can take a single punch from me in your current state, our old scores will be wiped clean. If you can't take it—"
"Then you will die."
It was in Whitebeard's nature to be disdainful of everything.
To ask him to attack a grievously wounded man was an insult. But the grudge for his son, Squard, could not be set aside, no matter what.
The New World was vast. If they parted ways today, the chances of them meeting again on the boundless sea were incredibly low. And besides... Arthur might not even survive the day.
Setting aside his injuries, how many pirates were circling in the outer sea, coveting the Thunder Emperor's head, hoping to use it to make a name for themselves and shake the world? No man could refuse such a temptation.
The Arthur of now—how many could he fend off? Especially with those monster-like Supernovas lurking.
Therefore, he had to act, even if he didn't want to. One punch to settle all past grievances, regardless of whether they would be enemies again in the future.
"Take one punch and our scores are wiped clean?" Arthur was silent for a moment.
In truth, it was a simple proposition. Whitebeard's own stamina was nearly depleted; the power of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit would be nowhere near as terrifying as it was when he was at his peak.
And besides... this seemed to be the only way for Arthur to leave here alive.
Suddenly, he covered his face with his hand, his body shaking as he burst into a fit of insane laughter.
"I have to take your punch just because you tell me to?? DO YOU THINK I'M ONE OF YOUR SONS, YOU FOOL?? Cough, cough, cough!"
"Thunder Emperor, you're the fool, aren't you?? Pops is trying to let you go, and you refuse his kindness!"
"Pops, kill him! Avenge Squard!"
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates, at some point, had all disembarked onto the Sabaody Archipelago and gathered around their father, glaring at Arthur with pure hatred.
"Hmph."
Whitebeard waved his hand, cutting off his sons. He continued to look at Arthur with an indifferent expression, his heart as vast as the sea itself, not angered in the slightest by a few simple words.
"WHETHER YOU TAKE IT OR NOT ISN'T YOUR DECISION TO MAKE! IT'S MINE!!!"
"QUAKE SHOCK!!"
The moment his words fell, Whitebeard launched his attack, giving Arthur no time to prepare.
A white halo appeared around his impossibly strong arm. The very atmosphere seemed to solidify under the terrifying pressure. The colorful bubbles dancing in the air froze in place.
Suddenly, the suspended bubbles began to tremble violently, and with a soft pop, they burst.
The sound was like a signal. Spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread across the sky.
The colossal figure of Whitebeard swung his fist, a force capable of shattering all creation, and brought it crashing down on Arthur.
"LET'S SEE IF YOUR STRENGTH HAS FADED WITH AGE, WHITEBEARD!!"
Even grievously wounded, Arthur would not allow his presence to weaken. They were equals. No one was higher than the other.
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"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
Whitebeard's earth-shattering punch flew out. The surrounding sea instantly began to boil, churning into monstrous waves. The spreading cracks covered everything in front of Arthur, leaving him nowhere to run.
A true sky-rending, earth-shattering blow.
In terms of sheer destructive power, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, capable of causing landslides and tsunamis with a single move, was undoubtedly number one in the world. No other fruit could compare.
The spreading cracks, that terrifying quake shock—a few days ago, Arthur could have stood his ground and taken it head-on. But his current injuries would not allow for any further aggravation. Even breathing was excruciatingly painful.
What he needed most right now was to find a top-tier doctor and recuperate.
He sighed internally.
His Observation Haki took in the sight of the countless over-excited pirates in the outer sea, their fervent eyes fixed on his image in the Video Den Den Mushi, as if they wanted to eat him alive.
"I warned Redfield not to be a lone wolf—and yet here I am."
Arthur laughed at himself, his face growing paler and paler, without a single trace of color, just like Garp, who was being carried by Sengoku.
An invisible, intangible field of force instantly spread out, its defenses focused on the spot where Whitebeard's horrifyingly massive fist was about to land.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!"
A deafening roar echoed, the earth shaking, as if two mountains had been pushed by a savage, immense force and then collided.
The all-shattering vibration was somehow negated by an invisible force. It was as if Whitebeard had slammed his fist into a curtain that was not hard, but was somehow impossible to break through.
"PFFT!!!"
Arthur's mouth opened, and a spray of red blood mixed with organ fragments shot out several meters. He clutched his chest and staggered back.
Whitebeard's attack had been stopped, but negating that unparalleled impact required stamina.
At this very moment, he was truly at the end of his rope. Perhaps any pirate with a decent bounty could walk up with a sharp sword and take his head.
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"The Thunder Emperor can't hold on! Has my moment to become famous finally arrived??"
"HAHAHAHAHA! WHEN WHITEBEARD LEAVES, EVERYONE CHARGE WITH ME!!"
Countless pirates could already see themselves stepping on the corpse of Thunder Emperor Arthur to reach the pinnacle of their lives.
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Far away in the New World, the commanders still conquering territory for the Thunder God Pirates watched the broadcast and simultaneously grabbed their weapons.
"Set sail immediately! We're going to bring the Captain back, meow!" Avalo Pizarro roared, his expression ferocious.
"We can always retake lost territory, but the Thunder God Pirates cannot exist without Captain Arthur!" Shiryu sheathed his Seven Star Sword, his eyes instantly filling with blood.
"It's too far! The journey is simply too far! There's no way we can make it to Sabaody in time!" Catarina Devon said, extremely anxious.
The commanders who had been with Arthur from the beginning, who had witnessed his supreme power with their own eyes, were like ants on a hot pan.
"Quack! There is one way!"
Big News Morgans, who had recently joined, suddenly said, stroking his chin with a wing.
"I have the contact information of a certain Supernova near Sabaody—he has long wanted to cooperate with the Thunder God Pirates..."
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