The Whitebeard Pirates, frozen on the outskirts of the square, watched in stunned silence. The classic pose, the familiar tremor—it was all too familiar to these sons. Their division commanders collapsed, trembling, to the ground. Confusion, panic, and shock swirled through their minds, an incomprehensible maelstrom of emotions. No one could explain what they were seeing.
"Damn it, it's true. I was actually used by him!" Sengoku's face contorted with a mix of shock and fury. Adrian's actions had confirmed his worst suspicions. This kid's schemes and methods were terrifying, and if he wasn't eliminated soon, he would become another Roger. Sengoku, the man known as "The Resourceful General," felt his life's work crumbling before his eyes.
Boom!
He sent the Corrupt King flying with a single punch, then, without looking back, stretched his Haki-wrapped arm behind his head. He seized the staff-sword Laffitte had used in a sneak attack, yanking him backward.
"Hey, Sengoku, let go of Laffitte!" Blackbeard tensed, seeing his confidant trapped. Laffitte, like Burgess, was a key member of his crew, the one who had bravely gone to the Warlord meeting alone to volunteer for the position. Blackbeard valued him immensely.
Sengoku gasped for breath. Hijacking Laffitte had bought him a moment's respite. Even with his superior physical strength and Conqueror's Haki, the siege and sneak attacks from these despicable pirates had left him exhausted and seriously wounded. His thoughts, however, weren't on his own life or death. He ignored the Blackbeard Pirates and roared across the fiery wall at Garp.
"Garp, leave me! You must not let Adrian go! Do not let him leave Marineford alive, or the order of this world will be destroyed by him!"
Sengoku now saw Adrian as a greater threat than Blackbeard—a ruthless careerist. He couldn't allow this man to escape with the "Shock-Shock Fruit," the world's most destructive force. He would risk his life to stop him.
Thrust!
Sengoku gripped Lafayette's back wings and, with a savage roar, tore him in half. Blood splattered everywhere, a scene of pure horror. Bathed in the carnage, Sengoku looked like a Vajra God of War.
"Marineford is not a place for scumbags like you to act freely! If you don't want to die, get the hell out of here immediately!" he bellowed at Blackbeard's crew.
"Sengoku, you old bastard! You killed Laffittte!" Blackbeard's eyes were bloodshot, his face a mask of ferocious rage. He had lost too much today to let Sengoku go. A black, swirling mist appeared in his palm, and he roared, "Sengoku, hurry up and die for me!"
He also cursed Adrian silently. That bastard dares to steal my Shock-Shock Fruit? I'll never spare you!
On the other side, Garp's face was a mixture of sadness and torment. He knew Sengoku had already chosen death.
"Adrian, this old man will never let you go!" he yelled, all the old and new hatreds converging. The Haki on his fist shifted, a faint mist rising as he prepared an advanced form of Armament Haki.
"Then come on!" Adrian grinned, slamming his fist down. "Shock Wave Shattering Space!"
Crack!
The air before his fist shattered like a broken mirror, a web of cracks spreading outward. A torrent of destructive energy surged toward Garp and the Marine Headquarters building behind him.
"Don't even think about it!" Garp leaped forward, his angry voice echoing across Marineford. He met the attack head-on with a high-level Haki punch.
Boom!
The two forces clashed violently, the air filled with endless explosions. The entire square trembled.
Click—
Garp's fist punched a hole in the shock wave, breaking through and continuing its assault on Adrian. With Garp no longer obstructing it, the residual energy from Adrian's attack slammed into the Marine Headquarters building.
Boom!
The towering building, a symbol of peace and order that had stood for centuries, collapsed into a pile of rubble.
"The… headquarters building… was smashed?!" The Marines stood in stunned disbelief, rubbing their eyes.
"So… is that really the Shock-Shock Fruit's ability?"
"Damn it, Whitebeard is dead, so how does that kid have his power?!"
"Impossible! Don't Devil Fruits reappear in the sea randomly after death? How did he get it from Whitebeard?"
"And isn't he a Coffin-Coffin Fruit user? How does he have so many abilities?"
"Didn't they say a person with two abilities would explode and die?"
"I don't know how that bastard did it, but he seems to have stolen Whitebeard's ability! The threat of the Shock-Shock Fruit isn't over yet!"
A sense of despair and confusion washed over them. They had thought the war was over, that victory was theirs. Now, a new nightmare had emerged, and no one could explain it.
Meanwhile, on the Sabaody Archipelago, a hush fell over the crowd of nearly ten thousand people watching the giant screen. They had just witnessed the end of Whitebeard, and now they were watching Adrian's shocking attack. The war had spiraled out of control. Who would be the final winner? Marine? The Pirates? Or Adrian, the new rising star?
"This… this is big news!" A reporter screamed, pulling out his phone bug. His voice trembled with excitement. "President Morgans, something… something has happened!"
"What could be more shocking than Whitebeard's death?" Morgans' imagination ran wild. "Did Fleet Admiral Sengoku get killed?"
"No, no, he's not dead yet!" the reporter shouted. "After Whitebeard's death, an astonishing situation occurred. The newly promoted Warlord, the Corpse Collector Adrian, joined with Blackbeard to fight Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Marine Hero Garp!"
"But that's not all! This guy Adrian… he showed the same fruit ability as Whitebeard! In just one blow, he completely destroyed the Marine Headquarters! This time, Marine has been utterly humiliated!"
"What did you say?!" Morgans leaped to his feet, his eyes gleaming. This news was incredible, with even more potential for hype than Whitebeard's death.
"Former Warlord Defects, Destroys Marine Headquarters with a Single Punch After Inheriting the 'Shock-Shock Fruit'!"
"Whitebeard Falls, Corpse Collector Rises: Marine, Pirate, Who Is the True Winner?"
"The Shock-Shock Fruit's New Heir: The Secret Behind His Attack on a Marine Hero!"
Morgans rattled off a dozen possible headlines. "This sea is destined to never be calm again," he muttered. "What's happening now? Did Marine shoot him? Who's winning? Where are Sengoku and Blackbeard?"
"Because of Empress Boa Hancock's obstruction, no one on Marine's side is moving for now," the reporter said. "But Fleet Admiral Sengoku seems to be in trouble. His right arm was blown off by the Blackbeard gang, and he should be there soon… oh my god!" The reporter's voice broke into a scream of sheer terror.
"Damn it, what happened now? Was Sengoku killed?!" Morgans demanded, regretting more than anything that he wasn't there to witness it himself. The possibility of Sengoku's death and a decisive blow to Marine thrilled him.
"No… not that!" the reporter's voice returned, laced with a new kind of dread. "President, Fire Fist Ace… he's… alive?!"
"What did you say?!"