The eyes of the entire battlefield were drawn to this singular moment. The Marines made no move to intervene; they maintained a peripheral stance, content to watch the spectacle unfold. After all, why shouldn't they reap the rewards while others did the dirty work?
This "ceasefire," however, only existed in the immediate vicinity of Whitebeard. Elsewhere, the air remained thick with the screams of dying men.
Watching from a distance, Buggy and his crew of escapees were fixated on the scene. The visual Den Den Mushi—which had nearly been knocked out of commission—seemed to have been revived by the sheer force of Buggy's "charismatic" presence, and was once again broadcasting to the world.
Whitebeard was covered in blood, sinking slowly into the dark abyss. Beside him, Marco's blue flames appeared tragically small against the encroaching shadow. This image was projected directly onto the giant monitors at the Sabaody Archipelago. Journalists, civilians, and powerhouses alike stood frozen in shock.
After a long silence, someone finally stammered, "Whitebeard... is he dead?"
No one answered. The question weighed heavily on every heart.
On a distant high ridge, a white-haired, lonely figure sat alone, nursing a bottle of sake. It was the First Mate of the Pirate King, the "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh.
"Is it time to go... Whitebeard?"
"Attack!" Blackbeard had no intention of fighting a duel. This was the First Division Commander, Marco the Phoenix, they were facing!
At Teach's command, his crew launched their assault—snipers fired from the rear while the brawlers surged forward.
"Wihaha!" Jesus Burgess was the first to reach him, throwing a massive fist.
Faced with the overwhelming numbers of the Blackbeard Pirates, Marco's expression was grave. His father was directly behind him. He didn't fear fighting them alone, but a single mistake now could cost Whitebeard his life.
"Champion Strike!" Burgess roared.
Vroom! Marco's flames flared as he tilted his body, narrowly evading the punch before retaliating with a claw-strike.
"Phoenix Brand!"
BAM! Burgess was sent flying, blood spraying from his mouth as he crashed into the ice.
Whoosh! Marco unfurled his wings, his fighting spirit blazing. However, a wave of absolute darkness surged forward, threatening to swallow him whole. Marco took to the sky instantly. He knew that Blackbeard needed physical contact to nullify abilities; as long as he stayed mobile in the air, he held the advantage.
Boom! Seizing an opening, Marco struck again. While the Blackbeard Pirates were formidable, there was still a significant gap between them and a top-tier Emperor's Commander. Every time Marco landed a hit, one of them was sent sprawling, though none were dealt a fatal blow yet.
However, he failed to notice Whitebeard's body sinking further into the dark mire. Blackbeard's "distraction" had worked perfectly.
"Commander Marco!" a Whitebeard pirate shrieked. "Pops! Pops is being sucked in!"
The other Division Commanders were frantic, but they were bogged down by Marine forces and couldn't break away.
"What!?" Marco's face paled. As he turned to fly back, Blackbeard seized the moment, his hand clamping onto Marco's leg.
The rest of the Blackbeard crew swarmed him instantly.
Thud... Crack!
Taking several heavy hits without the protection of his regenerative flames, Marco spat out a mouthful of blood. He bit his lip, refusing to let out a sound or retreat a single inch.
Without the Blue Flames of Resurrection, the wounds began to pile up. Yet the Blackbeard Pirates only intensified their assault, accompanied by Teach's haunting laughter.
"Zehahahahaha!"
Finally, buckling under the weight of the coordinated attack, Marco was sent hurtling backward.
"Commander Marco!" the crew cried out.
Ace saw it too. His heart burned with anxiety as he roared, "MARCO!!"
"FIRE FIST!!" Ace threw a massive pillar of flame toward Blackbeard while simultaneously unleashing a barrage of fire at Shiryu.
"Fire Gun!"
Seizing the gap, he tried to rush to his father's side. Shiryu's long blade blurred, parrying the fire bullets. He watched the retreating Ace but didn't give chase immediately; it was already too late to stop the momentum.
Marco scrambled to one knee in front of Whitebeard, his blue flames flickering violently. But to his horror, his wounds weren't knitting back together.
"This is..." Marco noticed strange purple spots appearing on his skin.
"Poison!"
Normally, poison was useless against the Phoenix, but this toxin was clearly different. While it wasn't lethal, it was drastically slowing the regenerative speed of his flames. Marco's recovery was halted; his combat effectiveness took a massive hit.
Within the Blackbeard Pirates, a sickly old man sat atop a scrawny horse, a sinister smile on his face. Doc Q, the crew's doctor, had successfully administered the toxin during the chaos.
"Commander Marco..." Blackbeard walked forward slowly, spreading his arms. "If you join my crew, I'll let you live. How about it?"
A massive fire fist roared in response, engulfing the Blackbeard Pirates.
"Hmm?" Blackbeard glanced sideways as his darkness surged to meet the flames.
BOOM!
The fire died out, but the darkness remained.
"Wihaha!" Burgess lunged toward the approaching Ace.
"In your dreams!" Marco roared, launching himself into the air one last time, channeling his remaining strength into his legs.
"Phoenix Sky-Piercer!"
"DARKNESS!" Blackbeard's aura exploded. He clenched his fists and threw a punch.
KABOOM!!
The two collided. Because of his heavy injuries and the poison, Marco was sent tumbling back. He barely managed to stop himself right in front of Whitebeard.
Blackbeard didn't escape unscathed either, a trickle of blood leaking from his lip.
"Fine then. Die." A look of cold ruthlessness crossed Teach's eyes. He thrust his hands forward, creating a localized gravitational vortex.
"Black Vortex!"
The immense suction locked onto Marco. Not good! Marco thought, his strength failing him.
Just as Marco felt himself being pulled into the abyss, a gargantuan hand clamped onto his shoulder. The sudden, immense weight anchored him to the spot; he didn't move a single millimeter.
Marco's entire body jolted. He began to tremble uncontrollably, but he didn't dare turn his head—he was terrified that what he felt wasn't real.
"Gurararara..."
That familiar, resonant laugh echoed across the battlefield once more, sending a jolt of shock through every witness.
There, half-submerged in the black abyss, Whitebeard was laughing.
"POPS!" The spirits of the Whitebeard Pirates soared.
The crowd erupted in a frenzy. The Marines felt a chill run down their spines, and the image was beamed straight to Sabaody.
"Whitebeard... he's still alive..." The spectators were dazed, their hearts filled with a terrifying awe.
How could a man with not a single inch of intact flesh still be standing? How was he even breathing?
"Why won't he just die?" some people in the crowd whispered in fear. To them, Whitebeard was the ultimate villain, and every second he remained alive felt like a threat to their safety.
In this age of chaos, where the line between hero and villain was blurred, who could truly say who deserved respect and who deserved scorn?
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