The chaotic, blood-soaked night passed quickly.
Marco's battlefield near the port was the absolute first to yield definitive results. Relying on the terrifying, mythical power of the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi and Marco's own exceptional combat instincts, he successfully overwhelmed and defeated the Cube-Cube Fruit user, Guyram.
Byrnndi World's battlefield, however, was locked in a brutal, exhausting stalemate.
World simply couldn't cleanly break through King's absolute Lunarian defenses. Originally, there was Bullet, whose Full-Body Armament Haki could barely be considered a breakthrough point for World's enhanced speed, but then Charlotte Katakuri had violently entered the fray.
The three monstrous rookies from rival Empires fought together in a grueling battle of attrition all night long. The result was a cratered, decimated arena where both sides were panting heavily, but neither had claimed a definitive victory over the other.
Meanwhile, back in the Hot Spring Town, York had already enjoyed a second, passionate round with Whitey Bay. After the deed was thoroughly done, he lazily tidied his pristine suit, walked out of the high-end hot spring inn, and casually strolled toward the smoldering battlefield with Gunko by his side.
"Yo. Still fighting?"
York's frivolous, amused voice rang out across the ruins. Whitebeard and Charlotte Linlin, who had also been quietly observing the rookies' battle all night from the sidelines, snapped their heads over at the sound.
When Whitebeard saw Whitey Bay standing beside York like a flushed, docile bird, his already small eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"Whitey Bay..." Whitebeard murmured softly, a heavy rumble building in his chest. He glared at York with absolute, unrestrained displeasure. "York, you arrogant bastard! How dare you lay a hand on my daughter?!"
"Pops..."
Whitey Bay's face flushed with deep shame, and she didn't quite dare to look Whitebeard directly in the eye.
Actually, Whitebeard had once sternly warned her about her dangerous little hobby, explicitly stating that if she didn't correct her honey-trap schemes, she would eventually capsize a ship she couldn't handle, and next time, he wouldn't be able to save her from the consequences.
Now, his warning had come true, and she truly had no face to confront Whitebeard's disappointment directly.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't try to twist the facts, Newgate!"
Facing Whitebeard's thunderous accusation, York showed absolutely zero fear. Instead, he grinned wickedly and pointed a finger back at the legendary pirate.
"It was your scheming daughter who actively tried to seduce me first! You should know exactly what kind of devious person she is, and you absolutely know what kind of person I am!"
York pulled Whitey Bay slightly closer, his eyes glinting. "If you accuse me indiscriminately of something I didn't start, be very careful... I might just officially take her away to my Empire and never return her to you!"
Whitebeard snorted coldly at his words, his grip tightening on his supreme grade blade, Murakumogiri.
"No matter what her foolish schemes were, you had the power and the ability not to harm her!"
York grinned wider, his fangs showing. "A prime, fat piece of meat was directly delivered to my front door on a silver platter. Why the hell wouldn't I eat it?!"
The two Emperors' eyes narrowed simultaneously. In the very next microsecond, apocalyptic, suffocating Haki violently burst forth from both of them at the exact same time.
CRACKLE!!
Massive, jagged bolts of black-and-red Haki lightning violently exploded in the air. The Supreme King (Haoshoku) Haki, which should have been formless, was so incredibly dense that it directly transformed into two highly visible, violently clashing colored domains.
Whitebeard's domain was a blinding, crushing white, while York's was a blazing, apocalyptic crimson.
The two great domains collided head-on. Although neither of the Emperors physically moved to attack, a devastating, kinetic impact erupted at the exact center of the collision, generating a hurricane-force wind that made everyone present's clothes flutter wildly.
Nightin, the World Pirates' ship doctor who happened to be an innocent bystander observing the arena nearby, rolled her eyes to the back of her head, completely unable to withstand the sheer spiritual pressure, and fainted on the spot.
"Such overwhelmingly powerful Conqueror's Haki..." Katakuri gasped.
And after Nightin fell, the physical battlefield was also immediately affected.
Byrnndi World, Bullet, King, and Katakuri all ceased their high-speed movements, shifting their absolute attention to Whitebeard and York, who were violently clashing with Haki.
World's face was completely dark, gritting his teeth as he wondered exactly what madness he had just stepped into.
Bullet and King both showed feral excitement, finally gaining a much clearer, visceral understanding of just how unfathomably deep their Captain's true strength ran.
Katakuri, on the other hand, wore a deeply solemn expression beneath his scarf.
'So this is the true pinnacle of the world...' Katakuri thought, his fists clenching. 'I still have a very long way to go.'
CRACK!
The pure Haki clash ultimately ended with York's crimson domain gaining a slight, undeniable advantage, violently pushing the white aura back. Acknowledging the shift, Whitebeard voluntarily detonated his Haki domain to avoid a physical escalation.
Wisps of colored, ethereal ribbons, representing the residual, highly compressed Haki, floated beautifully in the air. Yet, whenever these ribbons drifted down and touched the solid bedrock, they violently shattered the stone on the spot.
York brushed a speck of dust off his suit lapel and looked at Whitebeard with a relaxed smile.
"Well? Aren't you going to fight me for her?"
Whitebeard's massive hand, holding Murakumogiri, twitched, visibly showing some lethal intent. But in the end, he let out a sharp, commanding cry: "Whitey Bay! Get over here!"
Whitey Bay looked at Whitebeard fearfully, then glanced up at York with a complicated mix of terror and deep, lingering reluctance. Finally, her familial loyalty won out, and she obediently jogged over to return to Whitebeard's side.
Whitebeard sighed softly, profoundly annoyed.
There was absolutely no need to ask her any further questions; just from Whitey Bay's flushed, shy demeanor and unsteady gait, he knew as a veteran of the seas that this girl's body and mind had been thoroughly, irrevocably conquered by the Flame Emperor.
As soon as he registered this reality, Whitebeard immediately glared at York with a renewed surge of paternal anger.
However, York had already casually left his original position. Using a burst of speed, he appeared directly beside Nightin, who had fainted on the rubble due to the Haki clash.
York casually squatted down and picked the curvaceous, well-preserved doctor up by the waist. Clearly, she would be his next 'prize.'
Whitebeard's eye twitched uncontrollably. In his memory from the Rocks crew, the young Atlas D. York didn't seem as much of an absolute, shameless scoundrel as he was now.
Looking back down at Whitey Bay, he noticed the girl also clearly saw this kidnapping scene unfold, but she didn't react with disgust or outrage at all! She just bit her lip in jealousy!
Whitebeard suddenly felt a massive sense of disappointment, wanting to scold her severely. But considering that this girl had just been brutally 'bullied' by York's abilities, those harsh words he wanted to scold her with were a bit too reluctant to come out.
"Hey! York!! What the hell are you going to do to Nightin?!"
While Whitebeard was feeling complicated and conflicted, Byrnndi World was simply, homicidally furious.
He watched York casually pick up his ship's doctor, and the terrifying Underworld rumors about York's harem instantly flashed through his mind.
"Do what?" York looked over at World with a flat expression, acting as if he was looking at an absolute idiot.
"You recklessly disturbed my vacation at the Pirate Expo, destroying the town, and you think you still won't allow me to extract some adequate compensation?" York laughed coldly. "What an absolute joke!"
World immediately cursed angrily, his muscles bulging as he prepared to activate his speed and rush towards York.
However, at the critical moment, Douglas Bullet and King violently dropped from the sky, blocking his path.
"Hey! Don't even think about running away, old man! Your absolute opponents are us!" Bullet roared, his fists already coated in black Haki.
After a grueling night of fierce fighting, although they still couldn't fully cope with World's 100x speed, predicting his trajectory to block him for a few seconds was no longer a major problem.
On the other side, Charlotte Katakuri also landed firmly beside Bullet and King, his Mogura trident raised.
"Our battle isn't over yet, World!" Katakuri declared.
His eyes glowed with an intense, bloody red light, representing the absolute peak of Observation Haki. In this grueling battle with World, Katakuri's Observation Haki had been significantly, violently trained under pressure, and it was actively growing toward the realm of Future Sight. If World were to disengage from the battle now, it would be a massive, unacceptable loss for his martial growth.
Looking at the three monstrous brats who had stubbornly entangled him all night, World grew increasingly, violently annoyed while also deeply worrying about Nightin's fate.
"Get out of my damn way!!" World roared.
"Moa Moa: 100x Speed!!"
BOOM!!
Bullet was instantly sent flying backward by a blindingly fast punch, but King and Katakuri—one relying on absolute, invincible body defense, the other on rapidly blooming Observation Haki—jointly stepped up and blocked World's advance.
A single second later, Katakuri was also violently sent flying by a kick to the ribs, but Bullet had already quickly charged back into the fray to flawlessly fill his spot in the Vanguard's wall.
"You three damn brats!!"
World cursed angrily, but for a prolonged, agonizing while, he really couldn't do absolutely anything to decisively break through the three of them.
York watched their brutal, high-speed battle from afar for a few moments, confirmed with his Observation Haki that he didn't need to worry about this fight escalating out of control, then effortlessly adjusted his grip on Nightin. He held out his arm for Gunko, and turned his back, leisurely heading back the way they came.
"World!" York's light, mocking sentence drifted from afar. "If you want your doctor back... defeat my two interns first!!"
This dismissive parting shot made Byrnndi World even more incandescently furious. But unfortunately, no matter how much he roared, he truly couldn't break through the iron defense line formed by the three rookies. He was left with nothing but an absolute, powerless rage.
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