"Talking is pointless," Kizaru said lazily, pushing up his orange-tinted glasses.
"Pirates… without strength, all the noise in the world won't save anyone."
His eyes narrowed, locking onto the figure on the Moby Dick's deck.
"Speed… is weight."
He tilted his head, voice light as if chatting.
"Have you ever been kicked… at the speed of light?"
The next instant—
his tall body flashed.
His whole form turned into a beam of golden light, firing straight toward Whitebeard, leaving a thick pillar-like trail across the sky.
This time, there was none of his usual slackness.
Facing Whitebeard, Shiki, and Kaido—and with Rōmu's name tearing open the sealed history—this battlefield had already spiraled beyond control.
So Kizaru stopped playing.
He went for the kill.
"We're not decorations either!"
A burst of blue-green flame swallowed Marco.
In an instant, he transformed—Phoenix wings unfurling as he launched upward like a missile.
With one beat of those blazing wings, Marco intercepted Kizaru's light-line head-on.
Kizaru's eyes widened.
For a split second, he actually froze.
Then he forced his body to halt, condensed a surge of light, and attacked Marco midair.
"Don't underestimate us!"
Marco's voice sharpened.
"I saw it!"
In that microscopic moment—
Marco caught the only window: the instant Kizaru shifted from pure light into a tangible body to strike.
Marco's blue flames condensed, leaving only his wings intact. His phoenix wings sharpened, turning into blade-like arcs.
He flipped forward in midair, right leg lifting high like an executioner's axe—
Kizaru reflexively tried to dissolve into light again.
But Marco was too close.
Too fast.
The kick came down like a war-axe.
Kizaru wasn't fully elemental yet—
and Marco's heel smashed into him with brutal force.
Kizaru shot backward.
He slammed into a distant cliff face—
BOOM!
Rock exploded outward in a thunderous spray.
"He hit him!!"
Whitebeard's pirates clenched their fists, faces blazing with excitement. Even other pirates stared in shock at the phoenix-winged First Division Commander.
A commander… trading blows with a Marine Admiral?!
But Marco's expression didn't relax.
Not even for a breath.
He knew—
it wasn't that simple.
Sure enough—
as the rock crumbled, a thin "ping!" rang out.
A streak of golden light shot from the rubble and dropped cleanly back into the Marine line.
Kizaru re-formed—unharmed.
Even his white "Justice" coat was spotless.
He lifted his gaze to Marco in the sky, then glanced at the clash between Akainu and Kaido.
His lids lowered slightly.
"So it won't be easy… to take Whitebeard's head."
On the other side of the battlefield—
"Marco! You idiot—why are you always charging first?!"
Jozu's voice boomed, frustration burning.
He took one step forward—
and the solid ice beneath him caved in with a dull crack, leaving a depression several centimeters deep.
He rolled up his sleeves without hurry.
Then spread his arms wide—
and grabbed a massive ridge of ice in front of him like it was a boulder.
"What's he doing?!"
"No idea—shoot him!!"
Marines around him panicked, raising rifles.
But Jozu ignored them completely.
Muscles bulged like steel cables.
He gripped the ice mound tighter and tighter until the entire ridge groaned.
With a savage heave—
he ripped up an ice hill dozens of meters wide.
Then he swung and hurled it toward the execution platform like a meteor.
"Try stopping THIS!"
The ice mountain screamed through the air.
Rifles were useless.
Shots only chipped off tiny shards.
The main mass didn't slow even a fraction.
If it landed—
the execution platform would be pulverized.
"Brats."
A furious shout detonated from above.
Garp's eyes burned with open fire.
He didn't want Ace executed—
but he absolutely could not tolerate pirates humiliating the Marines in front of the entire world.
He leapt down from the platform—
a blur.
His right fist turned pitch-black as Armament Haki wrapped around it like iron.
"Break!!"
His punch met the incoming ice mountain head-on.
CRACK—!!
The ice shattered like a mirror, fracturing from the impact point in a spiderweb of destruction.
But Garp didn't stop.
He drove forward like a cannonball, blasting through the storm of ice fragments.
In a heartbeat, he was in front of Jozu.
"Garp!"
Jozu's pupils shrank.
He knew what this man was.
A legend who had traded fists with Whitebeard.
Every fiber of his body tightened.
"Diamond Form!"
His body flashed—
and transformed into flawless, transparent diamond plating.
This was Jozu's strongest defense.
The Diamond-Diamond Fruit turned every inch of him into pure diamond, granting monstrous durability and devastating power.
They called it—
the "Indestructible Shield."
Normal physical attacks were meaningless against it.
"Heh."
Garp's weathered face actually showed a hint of approval.
"Pirate… your courage is respectable."
"But that's all it is."
His blackened fist came down.
BOOM!!
A sound like a bell being struck by a hammer.
In the next instant—
Jozu's massive body flew backward like he'd been snapped off a string.
He skidded across the ice, carving a trench.
His diamond armor cracked—thin lines spreading—
then diamond shards burst free and embedded into the ice.
Jozu twitched, trying to rise.
His body wouldn't answer.
Numb. Heavy. Dead.
Sweetness flooded his throat—
and a mouthful of blood sprayed out.
"So… this is what a Marine legend really is…"
Jozu's face went pale. A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
He'd believed his defense was absolute.
But against this man—
it meant nothing.
"Not good!"
Vista's expression changed violently.
Sword out, he flashed toward Jozu—
but the Marines were already roaring.
"Fire!!"
"Fire!!"
The flag officer waved like a madman.
Fuses ignited.
Cannon mouths flared.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
Shells screamed into the battlefield.
"Men!! Move!!"
Whitebeard's commanders finally stopped holding back.
"Kill them—save Ace!!"
Under the commanders' lead, the pirates surged forward from forty-seven ships, blades raised.
In an instant, the battlefield turned into chaos—
cannon fire, screams, steel scraping steel.
"You're still waiting for what?!"
On the platform, one of the Five Elders snorted coldly.
"Are you planning to wait until Tesoro's people arrive?!"
"Move!"
The Elders' pressure crashed down on Sengoku like a whip.
Sengoku exhaled a hot breath.
He hated being ordered—
but he understood the truth.
If they didn't strike now, once Tesoro and the others arrived, even with the Five Elders present, the situation would become messy.
"Kong!"
Sengoku's voice dropped.
"Take Whitebeard first."
Kong's eyes sharpened.
A deep grunt left his throat as his aura surged.
He was nearly a hundred—
but unlike Whitebeard, he hadn't spent decades constantly fighting at sea.
His body was still terrifyingly solid.
Muscles tightened, swelling like forged steel.
The Marines' strongest wall.
Sengoku and Kong exchanged a single glance, then nodded.
Next second—
they jumped down from the high platform together.
Midair—
Sengoku's body flared gold as he transformed into a colossal Buddha.
"Buddha's Punishment!"
Kong's fists tightened.
"Rokushiki Ultimate: Steel-Bone Impact!"
Two forces descended like meteors—
aimed straight at Whitebeard.
"Old man!!"
Marco and the commanders' faces changed—
but they were already tangled in fights with vice admirals and commanders.
Even Moria and Whitebeard Jr. had joined the fray.
They couldn't break free.
They could only watch.
"Gurararara…!"
Whitebeard laughed—loud and fearless.
"Come on!"
"Let me see what you've learned all these years!"
But his laughter died as his eyes sharpened.
He knew—
against Kong and Sengoku together, a single mistake could mean death.
His fists gathered a pale, quake-white glow.
He twisted his waist, taking his signature stance. The quake-force on his knuckles swelled into disk-like halos.
Even before he swung—
space around him groaned.
This wasn't the earlier tsunami strike.
This—
was full power.
"Come!"
Whitebeard snarled, battle intent roaring in his eyes.
And then—
right before the clash—
a faint sound cut through everything.
So faint it was almost nothing.
Yet Whitebeard felt it instantly.
A cold touch against his abdomen.
Then—
a pain so sharp it nearly stole his breath.
His pupils contracted.
"…This is—?!"
He'd been stabbed.
But Sengoku and Kong were already upon him.
There was no time to turn.
Whitebeard gritted his teeth through the pain and swung anyway—
both quake-empowered fists smashing into the air in front of him—
hard enough to tear the world apart.
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