At the center of the explosion.
In the middle of the massive crater blasted open, wisps of black oil surged from the ground like a fountain, quickly stacking into a pitch-black humanoid figure.
Haines emerged from it, his eyes gloomy.
He raised his gaze slightly, looking at Carlo flying in the distant sky, his cloudy eyes revealing undisguised killing intent.
"Look, Columbus, I told you that White's son would inevitably walk a path contrary to his father's."
"Now it has indeed come true."
"Hmph! As a Marine, he openly attacked me. Has he developed some kind of sentiment after being a pirate for a few days?"
"If it weren't for his premature detonation, my move just now would have definitely caused even greater casualties to the Rocks Pirates!"
Behind him, a shadow rose from the ground, quickly bulging from a flat surface into a three-dimensional humanoid form.
The Kage Kage no Mi user and current Warden of Impel Down, Columbus, stepped out of the shadow, looked at Carlo in the sky, and sighed.
"Sigh, although he did do that, I still feel he isn't that kind of evil person. Perhaps our actions just now posed a threat to his life, and that's why he did it?"
"Life threat? If he's afraid of death, why be a Marine!" Haines sneered.
"Who are we? We are the righteous Marines! We are prepared at every moment to dedicate our lives to the cause of justice!"
"He's afraid of death, but are those Marine soldiers weaker than him not afraid of death?"
"Most of us are afraid of death! But we still came!"
"To ensure those innocent people aren't harassed, looted, or sold by the Rocks Pirates, we wouldn't hesitate even if we had to sacrifice our lives!"
"Moreover, military orders are absolute! This is a time of war! His behavior completely betrays his identity as a soldier!"
"Someone like him should be discharged and completely purged from the Marines!"
"After doing what he just did, Kong would have nothing to say even if I executed him on the spot!"
Saying this, his lower body turned into soaring oil, propelling him high into the air as he also charged into the island.
"He'd better not appear before me again, otherwise..."
Behind him, Columbus hesitated to speak.
Ultimately, he shook his head and silently followed.
Inside the island.
"Damn it! Why did so many Marines suddenly pop up?!"
Golden Lion Shiki, looking a bit disheveled from the massive explosion, soared into the sky from the ruins, floating in mid-air and looking down across the island from a distance.
The warships scattered like stars on the sea outside the island, and the large number of Marine officers wearing White uniforms with justice capes draped over their shoulders, all came into his view.
He saw Garp, who was currently fighting a fierce battle with Rocks.
He also saw Haines flying in the distant sky.
Seeing these familiar high-level Marine faces, no matter how slow Shiki's mind was, he understood their current situation.
Looking at Silver Axe, Gan Sui, and the others still fighting the Fat Abbot for Berries in the ruins below, Shiki cursed in a fit of rage.
"You idiots! Do you even understand the current situation! Go deal with the Marines first! As for the treasure, we'll grab it after we've wiped out these damn Marines!"
As he spoke, a terrifying aura erupted from him.
Crossing the twin swords in his hands, he slashed horizontally downward.
"Two Sword Style!"
"Zanpa!"
"Swoosh!!"
Two massive slashes, one horizontal and one vertical, capable of splitting heaven and earth, suddenly erupted from his twin swords. Falling downward, they easily divided the ground beneath Silver Axe, Gan Sui, and the others into four pieces.
The cross-shaped narrow fissure also split the Fat Abbot, who had merged with a million tons of earth to construct a Thousand-Hand Great Buddha, into four.
"Ah!!"
A pained groan came from the split Great Buddha.
The Fat Abbot's blood-drenched figure escaped from it in a pathetic state, about to jump into the fissure to flee.
"You still want to run! You damn bald monk! Die for me!"
"Jigaki! Spiral Execution!"
Shiki made a grasping motion from a distance.
Countless amounts of soil surged like ocean waves, rushing out from the fissure and entangling the Fat Abbot who had jumped down.
The soil compressed, turning into thick pythons that tightly constricted the Fat Abbot. They continued to shrink and squeeze, making his bones crack and pop, while blood kept spraying from his mouth.
This Monk Leader of the Puttelocrone Temple, who was not weak and had eaten the Gattai Gattai no Mi, was ultimately no match for Shiki.
Just as he was about to be squeezed to death by the soil controlled by Shiki.
Behind Shiki, a brilliant golden light suddenly lit up, dyeing the world a bright, translucent gold!
Shiki was startled and turned around abruptly, only to see a massive golden Buddha rapidly expanding and rising, striking a huge golden palm toward him.
"Great Buddha Shockwave!!"
"Sengoku!!"
Shiki roared, swinging his swords in a hasty counterattack.
However, a grand golden shockwave suddenly erupted from that falling massive Buddha palm, enveloping him entirely.
"Puff-wah!"
The surging impact sent Shiki reeling, crashing straight down from the sky into the earth.
The golden Buddha followed closely behind, its heavy body crushing the air as it crashed down, and the massive Buddha palm struck again.
The brilliant golden shockwave not only blasted toward Shiki but also covered Silver Axe, Gan Sui, and the others behind him.
"Buddha's Wrath! Demon-Subduing Great Mudra!!"
"Give it a rest, Sengoku!!"
Shiki, who had crashed into the ground, roared in resentment. He held his twin swords above his head, and the powerful Haki within his body surged out, forming an invisible barrier that blocked the golden shockwave crashing down on him.
But Silver Axe and Gan Sui behind him did not have such powerful Haki.
Struck by Sengoku's palm from the sky, they spat blood and were sent flying like cannonballs.
At the edge of the fissure, the nearly strangled Fat Abbot saw the golden Buddha that Sengoku had transformed into, and his eyes went blank with obsession.
"Lord Buddha, Lord Buddha! Lord Buddha has come to take me to the Western Paradise!"
"A greedy, murderous bald monk like you deserves to go to the Western Paradise? You can go die and go to the Yellow Springs of Hell!"
Shiki, who was slashing at Sengoku with his twin swords, didn't forget to give a casual swing to the side.
"Boom!"
The fissure he had slashed open nearby suddenly closed, crushing the Fat Abbot into a meat pie on the spot.
Sengoku was furious at the sight, and his golden Buddha palm crashed down.
"Bastard! Shiki! I'm going to arrest you today and lock you in Impel Down forever!"
"With just you, you stupid afro? If you can do it, then come!" Shiki roared as he met the attack.
On the other side.
"Maron! You idiot! What on earth are you doing? Why are you attacking me? Are you trying to betray us!"
Linlin looked at Maron in front of her, who had turned into a giant Castle Human, swinging two tower-like massive arms and smashing them toward her head, a look of indignation appearing on her face.
Maron swung his arms to strike while crying out in a grievance that left him on the verge of tears: "Stop it, Linlin! It's not what you think, I don't want to do this either, but for some reason, my body is out of control!"
"Out of control?"
Linlin was puzzled, and while jumping back, she carefully observed Maron in front of her.
Suddenly, on top of Maron's head, she saw a female Marine about twenty or thirty years old, sitting there with her legs crossed, chewing bubble gum.
"Braglass, Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral, Paramecia-type Kuchi Kuchi no Mi user. So it's you causing trouble."
Braglass, who was still a young soldier, giggled and blew a bubble.
"Heehee, Charlotte Linlin, so what are you going to do? Are you going to hurt your own companion? If you surrender, I might..."
"Mamamama! You think you can threaten me with just this? In your dreams!"
She took off the bicorne hat she was wearing, grabbed it in her hand, and it transformed into a massive long blade. She aimed it at the charging Maron and slashed out.
"Ikoku!!"
A majestic blade light blasted forward. Under Maron's terrified gaze and Braglass's panicked gaze, it struck both of them directly, sending both companion and enemy flying together!
"Damn Charlotte Linlin! To be so ruthless as to not even care about her companion's life..." While in mid-air, Braglass was already spraying blood, her eyes rolling back as she fainted.
Linlin blew the two of them away with one slash and snorted coldly.
"Companion? You're mistaken, he's no companion of mine."
"Oh? Is that so? Then what about this guy? Surely he's not your companion either?"
Suddenly, an old voice came from behind.
"Who?"
Linlin turned around quickly.
She saw Haines stepping on the ground which was constantly oozing black oil, walking over step by step.
In his hand, he was also clutching a short man with a long nose.
Upon seeing Linlin, Long Bread's tears welled up.
"Linlin! Save me!"
Seeing Long Bread being held by Haines, Linlin's expression instantly became extremely ugly.
"Bastard Marine! Release him this instant!"
She gripped her long blade, staring at Haines with killing intent in her eyes.
Haines remained indifferent, instead giving a cruel smile. His lower body transformed into surging black oil, and clutching Long Bread in one hand, he charged toward her with force.
Linlin swung her long blade in resentment, about to attack.
However, just as her long blade was raised, Haines slammed Long Bread in his hand heavily against the blade she was swinging.
"Despicable bastard!" Linlin hurriedly retracted her blade.
Taking advantage of this gap, a sinister smile curled on Haines' lips. His speed suddenly increased, his right arm surged out, and his pitch-black fist struck Linlin squarely in the abdomen.
"Despicable? When dealing with you pirates, one should use any means necessary!"
"I'll start by killing you, the Third Division Captain!"