"The sky... it's splitting open!"
Mid-air, King, engaged in a meaningless skirmish with Marco, couldn't help but gaze up at the sky.
Just like when Shiki and Roger clashed a year ago!
Has Boss finally reached that realm too?
King wasn't the only one stunned.
Bullet, who was being besieged by the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders, stopped his brutal assault on them and looked up in astonishment. "That Haki!"
Boss, he's gotten even stronger!
Compared to them, who had witnessed the sky-splitting phenomenon and knew what it meant, the Whitebeard Pirates, who had always lived under Whitebeard's protection and had never experienced clashes between top-tier powerhouses, were much calmer at this moment.
Marco even took the opportunity to dive down, large swaths of blue flames scattering from his wings.
While not able to heal as rapidly as he himself could with his near-immortal body, Marco's blue flames could still provide some healing to others.
"Good job, Marco!"
Vista shouted loudly, "Now, let's start round two!"
Bullet's eyes once again focused on them. "Foolish."
"Then, let's get serious too."
King flapped his wings, slowly descending. He had already put on his Tengu mask, and his wings had grown wider.
The Whitebeard Pirates' commanders immediately braced themselves.
But, it was at this moment.
"Alright, brats, that's enough!"
Wang Zhi turned around, scolding coldly. "If this keeps going, it'll be hard to put an end to it."
He finally understood what Roa meant by "the right time."
Even with further advancement, Roa at this moment was definitely no match for Newgate.
Wang Zhi was absolutely certain of this.
Conqueror's Haki Infusion was undoubtedly a powerful force, but it wasn't invincible.
He himself had mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion, yet hadn't he also been defeated by Roa, who hadn't mastered that power yet?
Roa could absolutely not win.
Therefore, someone had to mediate this meaningless battle.
Roa knew that he would never risk fighting Whitebeard to the death with him, but acting as a peacemaker was still fine.
Cunning, yet crazy brat.
Wang Zhi sighed.
So, the battle among these brats couldn't continue.
Otherwise, if Newgate's children were truly killed, it would be difficult to stop Newgate.
However, the elder's authority seemed to have no effect at this moment. Bullet and King still charged towards the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders without hesitation.
Since they had attacked, the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders naturally wouldn't be outdone. While they might lack in individual quality, they had numbers!
If it really came to a fight, no one knew who would win!
"You damn brats!"
A vein throbbed on Wang Zhi's forehead.
It was one thing for Roa to be arrogant in front of him, but what were they?
Boom!
A violent aura instantly swept across the entire field.
Under the powerful Conqueror's Haki impact, which already possessed physical destructive power, even the entire Moby Dick trembled.
"Didn't you hear me? That's enough!"
Wang Zhi's voice was cold. "If you still want to fight, then I'll be your opponent!"
Bullet and King suddenly paused.
The two previously at odds youths simultaneously looked at each other with an understanding.
Then.
"Mercury Heavy Cannon!"
A gigantic mercury fist slammed towards Wang Zhi.
"Then we shall be so bold, Mr. Wang Zhi! Wind-Fire Dragon Emperor!"
Wind propelled fire, fire enveloped wind, and a gigantic flame dragon followed closely behind.
They definitely couldn't compare to top-tier powerhouses, but they still wanted to see how big the gap was between them and a secondary expert like Wang Zhi!
Wang Zhi's mouth twitched. "I really am being underestimated, aren't I?!"
Forget it, Roa probably still wants to play for a while. I'll take this opportunity to properly gauge the level of these two young cadres under Roa!
On the coastline.
No, this could no longer be called a coastline.
The previous collision had directly shattered this entire section of the coast, causing a huge chunk of the island to collapse, riddled with gullies and fragments as the seawater surged in.
Whitebeard stood at the edge of a colossal crater, his expression one of extreme annoyance. "You little brats, making me your training partner?!"
"So, thank you, Old Man Whitebeard!"
Accompanied by the address of "Old Man," a black shadow soared into the sky from the giant crater.
Roa laughed heartily.
He was quite disheveled now.
His clothes were tattered, and his right forearm was broken, looking like a Longarm Tribe member with three segmented arm bones.
However, he laughed with unrestrained joy, casually resetting his broken arm. The intense pain made Roa, who rarely got injured, force a smile.
Of course, he still spoke stubbornly, "Finally learned it! I've been looking forward to this for so long!"
This brat!
Whitebeard's eyes were filled with displeasure.
He had the audacity to use himself to hone his Haki!
Even more infuriating was that he actually succeeded in mastering Conqueror's Haki Infusion!
How old was he when he mastered this technique?
It was a long time after joining the Rocks Pirates, wasn't it? It was achieved under Rocks' guidance!
At that time, he was already almost thirty!
This brat's age wasn't even half of what he was back then!
Roa's chest continuously heaved violently. On a level unseen by Whitebeard, large amounts of black energy poured into his body like a funnel.
His twisted right arm rapidly returned to normal, and the scrapes and bruises on his body disappeared in the blink of an eye. His internal organs, which had been injured by Whitebeard's tremors and Haki, were also completely healed.
"Alright, let's start round two!"
Roa plunged downwards.
Having finally mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion, of course he had to test it out thoroughly!
Whitebeard, of course, was still the best choice!
The Tiger Soul in his hand let out a loud cry.
At this moment, what was infused into it was not just Armament Haki; Conqueror's Haki also flowed into the blade at will.
This time, there were no red lightning bolts leaping up, only the crimson blade emitting an even more dazzling light.
"You damn brat! Can't you tell your own strength anymore?!"
On the Supreme Grade Meito Murakumogiri, Haki lightning and tremor waves simultaneously surged. Whitebeard roared and swung his blade.
The very atmosphere was directly severed by this single slash, creating a gigantic vacuum zone.
Clang!
The two Supreme Grade Meito truly clashed this time.
The air no longer exploded, but was violently torn apart by two destructive forces!
Two destructive forces, dark as an abyss and crimson as a blood prison, transformed into ferocious giant pythons tearing through the sky. They carried materialized pressure and destructive will, violently intertwining and colliding as they shot upwards!
The surging shockwave, like an invisible heavy hammer, utterly pulverized the already fragmented ground!
Before this destructive power, even the ocean let out a wail, forcibly pushed back by this overwhelming force, raising monstrous waves and frantically receding into the distance!
Roa soared into the sky once again.
"Phew! Awesome!"
The youth's face was filled with exhilaration.
Proper Conqueror's Haki Infusion was far stronger than the half-finished version achieved through Enma!
Both offense and defense were on completely different levels!
However, even so, there was still a considerable gap between him and Whitebeard!
Even after mastering Conqueror's Haki Infusion, he had only progressed from being utterly helpless and sent flying to being slightly stalemated and pushed back.
Hm, at this moment, purely in terms of close-quarters combat lethality, I should be at a similar level to Rayleigh and Gaban, if they don't have hidden trump cards.
Since that's the case, let's go all out and try it!
Roa crashed to the ground with a roar.
Before Whitebeard could do anything, boom! A volcano erupted, and scorching lava instantly engulfed Roa.
What is this brat planning now?
Within the scorching molten rock, Roa was enveloped by red substance.
Come, the evolved Flame War God!
With blood energy, controlled by willpower, as its bones.
With lightning, flames, strong winds, and lava filling it as flesh, the amount of elements that could be controlled also increased after gaining proficiency in willpower!
Then, Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki were injected, and then solidified through willpower.
Finally, compression!
Controlling various elements through willpower, compressing the massive size that was completely unsuitable for high-end battlefields to the extreme.
So, when the lava dissipated, what Whitebeard saw was a crimson warrior of similar size to him, wielding a gleaming red longblade, clad in armor, with many black cloud-like patterns on the armor's surface—the product of Haki.
"This technique is called,"
Inside the warrior, Roa's lips curved upwards, "Calamity Warlord!"
"Here I come, Whitebeard!"
Whoosh!
The massive Warlord transformed into an afterimage without warning. The next instant, the crimson longblade had already slashed down directly at Whitebeard.
Fast!
Faster than what ordinary people could imagine!
However, for Whitebeard, it wasn't that fast!
Whitebeard's eyes were like lightning, and he returned the strike with a slash.
Clang!
A deafening, terrifying roar sounded, even more alarming than the previous collision!
A visible, massive impact ring, mixed with vibrating white light and crimson blood energy, suddenly spread out!
With the two as the center, the ground within a thousand-meter radius instantly collapsed and disintegrated as if slammed by an invisible giant hand!
Countless huge boulders were vibrated into the air, then torn into powder by the violent force in mid-air! Smoke and shattered Haki energy shot into the sky, forming a gigantic mushroom cloud!
The Moby Dick, anchored near the distant coast, could no longer withstand the surging shockwaves. Its anchors were forcibly ripped out, and it was pushed out into the ocean.
After the fierce collision, the Calamity Warlord stumbled backward.
However, Whitebeard's majestic, mountain-like body, having lost its footing, also retreated, falling to the bottom of the large crater they had created!
"Hahahaha! It really works!"
Roa laughed heartily. The Calamity Warlord directly defied physics. Before even stabilizing, it charged towards Whitebeard again.
"What are you gloating about?!"
Whitebeard stood firm, once again charging forward.
Murakumogiri in hand, as the blade swung, space emitted a chilling, glass-shattering "crackle"!
Around the blade, fine, space-distorting white cracks instantly formed and spread, leaving a shattered trajectory in the air.
Boom!!
Heaven and Earth trembled violently.
On the deck of the Moby Dick, which had been completely pushed out into the ocean by the aftershocks of their battle.
Wang Zhi looked at the two figures continuously clashing in the distant ruins, unable to help but suck in a cold breath.
"That brat Roa, he can actually reach this level?"
Although still at a disadvantage, he indeed possessed the power to barely fight Newgate head-on!
To have grown so strong in one go, was just Conqueror's Haki Infusion really enough?
As he marveled, behind him, the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders were silent, as if in awe.
Bullet and King each held a bump on their heads, standing to one side without a word.
The difference in strength was still too great.
King sighed inwardly. His Diamond Body couldn't completely withstand Wang Zhi's punches.
"Hm?"
Wang Zhi's eyes narrowed.
The situation of the battle had changed again.
Newgate was starting to dodge!
The time, it seems, has come!
On this battlefield.
Roa laughed heartily, continuously clashing with Whitebeard.
The improvement in his strength had never been so clear!
But.
Just as he was enjoying the fight, Whitebeard suddenly twisted his body, avoiding Roa's full-powered slash.
Then, he retaliated with a heavy slash to the Calamity Warlord's chest.
It's Observation Haki predicting the future again!
Unfair, unfair, he's cheating!
Didn't we agree on a fair fight between real men?
The Calamity Warlord was directly sent flying by one slash.
It should be said that the willpower secret technique learned from Wang Zhi was truly effective. The solidified Haki and extremely compressed elements maximized the Calamity Warlord's defense.
Otherwise, this slash would probably have landed on Roa himself.
However, even so, the Calamity Warlord was still split open with a huge gash.
Roa clicked his tongue.
Indeed, learning to predict the future and Haki killing were both urgent matters!
Otherwise, even if his strength was already close, he still couldn't win!
Just like Gear Fourth Luffy against Katakuri, the advantage of being able to predict the future against someone who can't is simply too great!
Moreover, Whitebeard probably hadn't even used his full power yet, he hadn't even activated his awakening.
Whitebeard, in his forties, couldn't possibly still not know how to use awakening, could he?
If that's the case...
"That's enough, Newgate, Roa!"
Wang Zhi descended from the sky, landing beside the two, raising both hands. "It's a small matter, no need to fight to the death."
Is this the old generation pirates' entrance timing? Perfectly timed!
Roa secretly gave Wang Zhi a thumbs-up in his heart.
"Get lost!"
Whitebeard showed no courtesy to Wang Zhi, as this bastard was clearly here to interfere.
"Oh, oh, oh, don't be so harsh on an old friend, Whitebeard,"
Roa said. "Old Man Wang Zhi is just warm-hearted."
Oh, I'm truly so warm-hearted.
Wang Zhi rolled his eyes inwardly. He looked at Whitebeard and spoke in a deep voice, "Roa has achieved his goal. The testing of his new technique should also be over."
"Next, if he wants to leave, Newgate, can you stop him?"
Whitebeard's eyes sank.
"You should know how petty this brat can be."
Wang Zhi knew exactly how to handle Whitebeard. "Before his strength surpasses yours, even if he doesn't come looking for trouble, what about Sphinx, your hometown?"
Whitebeard instantly pursed his lips. Wang Zhi's words indeed hit his sore spot.
Defeating Roa was not difficult for him; there was still a clear gap in their strength.
However, keeping this brat would be difficult. His mobility was on a completely different level, not to mention Wang Zhi, that meddling scoundrel!
And with this brat's personality, retaliation was 100% guaranteed.
In that case!
Then, it's over.
Roa's lips curved into a smile.
Whitebeard, you know, isn't as uncompromising as people generally believe.