On the World Pirates' ship.
Deep within the cabin, the door to a storage room was kicked open.
Then Valthior's tall figure stepped inside.
Though it was somewhat dim, Valthior had already spotted the square Poneglyph placed inside.
"Found it," Valthior muttered, then pulled out his rubbing tools from his coat.
Clearly, with the chaotic melee raging outside, taking the Poneglyph away directly would be troublesome. The best option was to make a copy.
Without bothering to translate or read it, Valthior quickly spread the paper over the Poneglyph and began applying ink.
As a scholar, this kind of work was second nature to him. He showed no rustiness at all—soon enough, he had perfectly copied all the information from the Poneglyph, rolled it up in a leather scroll, and tucked it back into his coat.
Just as Valthior was about to check if there was anything else valuable in World's storage—
Boom!
The wooden wall of the cabin suddenly exploded inward.
A figure crashed through, tumbling in a sorry state, knocking over shelves and rolling across the floor.
Before Valthior could even see who had been beaten in, his instincts screamed danger.
"Arase!!!" a furious shout followed.
A fierce slash tore through the already shattered wall, surging forward with overwhelming Conqueror's Haki.
Valthior reacted instantly—his footing shifted as he pressed himself behind the Poneglyph.
The next second—
Boom!!!
World's ship was split clean in half vertically. The terrifying slash slammed into the Poneglyph, and the immense force shoved Valthior backward.
The moment Valthior tried to brace himself, the wooden floor beneath his feet shattered into pieces. Losing his footing, both he and the Poneglyph were blasted flying outward.
At that same instant, he caught a clear look at the battered figure from earlier—
Pineapple hair, bloodstains on his chest, gripping a machete, barely blocking the aftershock before being sent flying again.
"Last time at God Valley, you had a real fun time kicking me, didn't you? How come you're failing now, Gram!?" Silver Axe's arrogant voice rang out from afar.
That's right—this man who had been smashed into the cabin was none other than Whitebeard Pirates' top executive, Polo Gram.
And the one who had split the ship in half with a single strike… was Silver Axe.
Bracing the Poneglyph with one hand, Valthior steadied himself midair for a moment before landing cleanly on Linderland Island.
Moments later, Gram—though somewhat disheveled—used a couple of midair steps to land on the island as well.
As the shattered wooden debris fell from above, Silver Axe, carrying his massive battle axe, stepped onto the island.
He was just about to say something when he noticed Valthior and the Poneglyph. He paused, then said:
"You're here too, kid?"
"If I hadn't reacted fast, you'd have split me in half," Valthior clicked his tongue.
"Hahaha! Even though you gave me a gift I liked last time, I already said it back then—next time we meet, we're enemies fighting to the death. Don't expect me to feel guilty, kid," Silver Axe laughed boldly.
On the other side, Gram shifted his weight, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness "You really hold a grudge, Silver Axe. It was just a kick during the chaos—do you really need to be this mad about it?"
"You bastard! Because of that kick, Shiki's been laughing at me nonstop! If I don't get my revenge this time, where am I supposed to put my pride!?" Silver Axe snapped angrily.
Then, without further nonsense, he tightened his grip and swung his battle axe in a wide horizontal slash.
Just as he said—even if they had gotten along well before, now they were enemies to the death. This attack didn't spare Valthior either, sweeping him into it as well.
Although Valthior felt he wasn't yet at the level to fight Silver Axe head-on, he had no intention of backing down. Frost energy erupted from his hands, freezing the Poneglyph together into a solid mass. With a strong pull, he raised it as a shield and braced behind it.
The slash split apart the ice covering the Poneglyph—but was ultimately blocked by the indestructible stone itself.
However, while that portion of the attack was stopped, the rest of the slash continued forward, surging toward Gram with Haki-infused force.
Clearly, Gram had already clashed head-on with Silver Axe before—and suffered for it. This time, he had no intention of blocking.
With a stomp, he leapt into the air, using Geppo-like steps to quickly retreat toward the back of the island, clearly intending to widen the distance.
At the same time, he kicked out several slashes midair. Valthior recognized it immediately—it was Rankyaku (Storm Leg), one of the Six Powers.
He couldn't help but wonder—what was Gram's background? Did he develop it himself? Or did he somehow obtain it from the World Government?
Silver Axe coated his arms in Haki and casually blocked the incoming Rankyaku with a few swings, then stepped forward to pursue.
But at that moment, a furious roar came from behind in the air—
"What the hell did you do to my ship, you bastard!!!"
It was World.
As his voice rang out, he swung a blade down at Silver Axe. "Mora Mora... Hundredfold Slash!!!"
Not only was the slash magnified—even the blade in his hand had become enormous in an instant, carrying immense weight and Haki as it came crashing down on Silver Axe!
With no time to chase Gram, Silver Axe spun around instantly, coating his axe in Haki and raising it horizontally to block.
Clang!!!
The massive blade crashed into Silver Axe's axe. At the same moment, their Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, making the entire island tremble.
The aftermath turned into violent shockwaves, laced with Haki, forming black lightning in the air and cracking the space as it spread outward.
Valthior once again used the Poneglyph as a shield, weathering the violent currents. At the same time, he activated his three-tomoe Sharingan, carefully observing the battlefield.
With just one glance, Valthior reached a conclusion—
Silver Axe was a level below the enraged World.
Maybe the attack hadn't truly been magnified a hundredfold, but even at twenty or thirty times power, it was something Silver Axe couldn't fully withstand.
Without prolonging the clash, World suddenly abandoned his massive blade. With a stomp in midair that created a sonic boom, he shouted:
"Mora Mora... Hundredfold Speed!"
Silver Axe clearly sensed something with Observation Haki—but he had no time to react.
World had already appeared behind him.
A heavy punch, wrapped in overwhelming Conqueror's Haki, slammed brutally into Silver Axe's lower back.
Even though Silver Axe had coated himself in Haki, he still spat out blood as he was sent flying, his massive body crashing violently into the distant ice.
The sheer force shattered the ice into a massive crater dozens of meters wide, and Silver Axe was blasted straight into the sea.
As World sent Silver Axe flying, the ground beneath his feet was abruptly flash-frozen. Piercing cold surged up from below his knees, instantly encasing his entire body in ice.
It was Vikingm making a preemptive strike. It wasn't because he had any particular bond with Silver Axe—he wasn't helping out of goodwill.
The real reason was simple: he had just stolen the Poneglyph and its copy from World's ship. If World noticed, he definitely wouldn't let him go.
Better to strike first.
He didn't need to kill World—just delay him. Once his own crewmates or even Silver Axe, who had just been blasted into the sea, returned, they would naturally intervene.
However, at that exact moment—
Something absurd happened.
From the massive crater Silver Axe had smashed into the ice, seawater surged inward—and along with it, something that absolutely shouldn't have been there was forced up to the surface.
A submarine.
And on its exterior was clearly painted the emblem of Marine Headquarters—standing out glaringly amidst this chaotic pirate battlefield.