Chapter 612: An Iron Fist Clashes With The Space Stone
Loki hugged the Tesseract tightly, peeking half his head out from behind Thor. "Is this lunatic's brain broken? Why on earth does he think a bunch of pirates are going to spit out what they've already swallowed?"
Thor tightened his grip on Stormbreaker, lightning violently dancing across the axe's blade. "Don't worry about whether his brain is broken or not, just be ready to fight!"
Doflamingo spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, a wildly arrogant grin stretching across his face. "Fuffuffuffu! Who the hell do you think you are? You dare try to lecture me? You want the stones? Come and get them yourself!"
The White Zetsu cells within Doflamingo's body were rapidly repairing his ruptured nerves and blood vessels. He forced himself to stand straight, weaving countless transparent strings into a defensive net around himself.
Shanks looked at Thanos with utter calm, lightly twirling Gryphon in his hand. "This belongs to me now, and I have no intention of giving it to anyone." The black-red Haki around Shanks surged once more, crushing the surrounding rubble to dust.
Thanos stared at them coldly. "Ignorant fools."
He slowly raised his left hand, and the blue light of the Space Stone began to flash violently. This time, the blue light carried a bizarre, overwhelming suction force. The surrounding space began to warp massively, forming a giant blue vortex. The center of the vortex was aimed directly at the stones in Doflamingo and Shanks's hands.
The Power Stone and Reality Stone in Doflamingo's grip began to vibrate fiercely. The purple and red lights were uncontrollably pulled toward Thanos. Doflamingo's expression shifted drastically as his hands clamped down on the stones like a vice. "Damn it! These things are trying to fly away!" His feet dragged through the earth, carving out two deep trenches.
The Soul Stone in Shanks's hand also let out a restless hum. Shanks immediately flooded his blade with Conqueror's Haki, forcibly severing the spatial suction. But the very ground beneath his feet was uprooted, hurtling toward the blue vortex.
Seeing this from a distance, Doctor Strange's face paled. His hands formed rapid seals, orange magical mandalas stacking layer upon layer in front of him. He turned his head and screamed at Tony in the air. "Stop him! Hurry up and stop him! He's going to use the Space Stone to forcibly drain the energy of the other stones! Once he pulls them all in, we're all dead!"
The blue vortex spun faster and faster. The ground beneath Doflamingo shattered, and his entire body was dragged forward. Both his hands were locked tightly around the Power and Reality Stones, the veins on his face pulsing wildly.
"Are you kidding me!?" Doflamingo roared. "I just got my hands on these! You think you can take them away with just one sentence!?"
The Power Stone vibrated so violently it was shredding his right arm in a spray of blood, while the Reality Stone burned searing hot against his palm. Doflamingo desperately wanted to curse. No, he couldn't curse anymore. Because that suction force wasn't just pulling the stones—it was pulling his bones and organs too.
Shanks wasn't having an easy time either. The Soul Stone on Gryphon's hilt glowed orange, resisting the Space Stone's pull. But the entire expanse of ruins beneath his feet had been uprooted. Shanks held his sword with one hand, pressing down wave after wave of black-red Conqueror's Haki. "This guy really knows how to pick his moments."
In the distance, Benn Beckman held his rifle steady, the muzzle remaining firmly locked onto the Five Elders. A cigarette hung from his lips, but his expression was anything but relaxed. "Captain, just say the word if you need a hand."
Shanks didn't look back. "Keep your eyes on those old fossils. Don't let them pick up a cheap win."
Hearing this, Saint Saturn's face instantly darkened. "Red-Haired, who exactly are you calling a thief?"
Beckman slightly adjusted his aim. "Whoever answers, that's who I'm talking about."
Saturn fell completely silent.
At that moment, Doctor Strange's voice echoed from mid-air. "Hurry up and stop Thanos! He isn't just grabbing the stones, he's pulling their authority right into the gauntlet!"
"Speak English!" the younger Tony yelled over the comms.
"If he succeeds, everyone is finished!" Strange roared back.
Tony cursed under his breath, deploying all his shoulder cannons. But before he could even fire, Thanos simply glanced up at him. A blue spatial rift materialized directly in front of Tony, swallowing all of his cannon muzzles. A split second later, his own micro-missiles popped out right behind him.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., intercept!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A ball of fire exploded in the sky. Tony was knocked into a series of tailspins, furiously shouting over the channel. "This cheating is way too obvious!"
Thanos ignored him. His gaze remained locked solely on the three stones. The blue light of the Space Stone grew blindingly bright, and a heavy, groaning rumble emanated from the vortex.
Doflamingo's right hand slipped. The Power Stone broke free from his palm, rocketing toward Thanos.
"Bastard!" Doflamingo's eyes went bloodshot. Transparent strings shot from his fingertips, tangling around the Power Stone. But the purple rock continued to inch forward. His entire right arm was stretched completely out of shape, the bones emitting sickening, unnatural pops. "Red-Haired! Are you just going to stand there and watch!?"
Shanks shot him a side-glance. "Didn't you say you were the winner today?"
Doflamingo was so furious he almost spat up a second mouthful of blood. "Is this really the time for sarcasm!?"
Just as Shanks prepared to draw his blade, Thanos clenched his gauntlet. Space compressed violently. The ground around Shanks ruptured once more, pinning him in place and slowing his blade's ascent by a half-beat.
"You do not understand the stones," Thanos said coldly. "They belong to someone who can bear the weight of the universe."
Hearing this, Garp picked at his ear. "Here we go again. Why do all you bastards who call yourselves cosmic-tier sound exactly the same?"
He stomped his foot. The air literally exploded.
Garp's green steam surged once more, the raw power unlocked by the Gate of Joy making the entire street tremble.
Sengoku's face paled. "Garp! Don't do anything reckless! Your injuries haven't healed yet!"
Garp flashed a massive, wild grin. "Stop nagging! I'm not retired enough to just stand around and watch a show!"
In the next instant, he vanished from where he stood. It wasn't teleportation. It was a speed so absolute that the human eye simply couldn't track it. Green steam tore a long trench through the ruins as Garp kicked off layers of compressed air, charging straight for Thanos's ribs.
Thanos finally turned his head. His left hand maintained the spatial suction, but his right fist had already shot out to meet the attack.
Garp threw his punch. Thanos countered with a backhand. Just before the two fists collided, the blue light of the Space Stone flashed. A layer of transparent barrier materialized at Thanos's side.
Garp's fist slammed directly into the barrier.
BOOM!
The entire field of ruins sank a full notch. The bones in Garp's right arm cracked like gunshots, the flesh and skin on the back of his hand tearing open instantly, sending blood flying into the air.
But he didn't step back. He continued to drive power through his legs, sinking them deep into the ground.
"Block?" Garp's laughter grew even more unhinged. "I want to see just how hard this turtle shell of yours really is today!"
A trace of coldness entered Thanos's eyes. "A mortal body cannot withstand this kind of recoil."
Garp let out a cold snort. "Mortal? Why don't you ask those bastards over there who dares to call me a mortal?"
Kizaru, floating lazily in the distance, chimed in slowly. "Oh my, my. With Vice Admiral Garp putting it like that, I certainly wouldn't dare argue."
"Cut the chatter and shatter it!" Akainu said, his face cold.
"Hold the line, Garp!" Sengoku roared.
The blue light on Thanos's gauntlet intensified. The spatial barrier thickened rapidly, compressing the air in front of Garp's fist until it shrieked. Garp's right arm began to tremble. It wasn't fear. It was his bones and muscles physically warring against the crushing laws of space.
Doctor Strange watched, his eyelids twitching wildly. "He's trying to push against the Space Stone with his bare fist!?"
Future Tony was silent for two seconds. "Doctor, do you wizards normally fight like this too?"
Strange kept his eyes on the green figure. "No. We usually consider surviving first."
Just as Garp was being pushed down to a single knee, a colossal figure stepped in from the flank. Whitebeard. He jammed Murakumogiri into the ground and spread his arms wide.
"Gurararara! Garp, you old Marine, why are you trying to show off all by yourself?"
Garp didn't look back. "Shut your trap, Newgate! Any slower and my fist was going to get flattened!"
Whitebeard took a massive stride forward, the ground shattering with every footfall. He arrived at Garp's side, the muscles in his right arm bulging to monstrous proportions, a white halo of tremors enveloping his fist.
Seeing this, Thanos's expression finally broke. "You intend to tear open space with brute force?"
Whitebeard grinned broadly. "I don't care about any of your rules. I only know that when something blocks my way, I smash it!"
The words fell. Whitebeard threw his punch. The strike wasn't aimed at Thanos. It landed precisely on the exact same point Garp was currently attacking.
BOOM!
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit surged through Garp's fist and poured directly into the spatial barrier. Two completely different forces collided. Haki pushed fiercely from the front, while vibrations tore madly from the inside.
The transparent barrier began to shudder violently. The blue light of Thanos's gauntlet flared brilliantly, and his arm was forced to shift backward slightly from the sheer shock.
"This is impossible," Thanos said, voicing those words for the very first time.
Garp's face was covered in blood, but his laughter only grew louder. "What's impossible!? I've hated looking at this flimsy glass of yours for a long time now!"
Whitebeard pressed down harder. "Again!"
The two men surged with power simultaneously. Garp's Armament Haki crept over his entire right arm. Whitebeard's tremor halos stacked layer upon layer.
Crack.
It wasn't loud. But the entire battlefield heard it. A fissure had appeared on the spatial barrier.
Tony stared at his frozen armor screens. "J.A.R.V.I.S., what was that?"
J.A.R.V.I.S. paused. "Sir, the spatial structure has been breached by an external force."
Tony's mouth twitched. "Translate that. You mean two old men just punched the laws of the universe until they cracked?"
"Based on the results, yes."
Tony immediately cursed. "I am never claiming to understand science ever again!"
Thanos's eyes changed. The calm, aloof superiority vanished. As he looked at Garp and Whitebeard, his gaze was finally tinged with genuine scrutiny.
The cracks on the barrier spread. The spatial suction stalled for a brief moment.
"Now's the time!" Shanks stepped forward, Gryphon slashing downward. Black-red Haki wrapped around the blade, and the Soul Stone's orange light washed outward along the arc of the swing. The slash wasn't aimed at Thanos. It was aimed directly at the blue suction force.
Clang!
The spatial tether was forcibly severed. The uprooted ruins beneath Shanks crashed back down to earth. The Soul Stone quieted down.
On the other side, a blood-soaked Doflamingo finally seized his opening. He violently yanked the Power Stone back, wrapping it tightly in layers of transparent string. "Fuffuffuffu! You almost actually took it from me!" He was still laughing, but his legs were slightly weak.
Rocket Raccoon rolled his eyes. "This bird-guy's mouth is writing checks his mangled body can't cash."
Star-Lord nodded. "This is the first time I've ever thought your judgment of someone was objective."
Hela watched Garp and Whitebeard shatter the spatial barrier, her expression darkening. She was a god. She understood far better than these mortals what that truly meant.
Imu stood in the distance, her eyes cold to the extreme. "Haki, tremors, and that kind of physical strength..." She looked at the backs of Garp and Whitebeard, her voice barely a whisper. "These monsters cannot be allowed to roam free any longer."
Garp pulled his mangled, bloody fist back and shook his hand. "Grimace, still want to rob us?"
Whitebeard shouldered Murakumogiri, his laughter vibrating the ruins. "Your rules don't work around here."
Thanos slowly lowered his left hand. The blue light of the Space Stone gradually dimmed. He wasn't angry, nor did he immediately continue his assault. But everyone could feel that the danger radiating from him had shifted. It was no longer underestimation. He was truly preparing to wipe the board clean.
Thanos looked at Garp and Whitebeard, then at Shanks and Doflamingo. "I concede that you are not ordinary interlopers. Therefore, I will deal with you in the proper manner."
Doctor Strange's face drained of color. He reached for his chest. It was empty. The Eye of Agamotto was gone. "Oh no!"
Thanos raised his right hand. Embedded firmly in his other wrist was a green gem. Its eerie green light flickered to life. Time began to echo strangely.
Thanos looked at the crowd, slowly rotating his wrist. "This time, time will answer to me."
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