Impel Down, Level 6 Eternal Hell.
"Beckman, why are you guys here?"
Shanks, who had been chatting happily, looked surprised, his face flushing red, his heart filled with indescribable discomfort.
He hadn't been worried about whether he could get out, but he never expected... Beckman had broken into Impel Down to rescue him?
"It's all because of you, Captain. Running around for no reason and getting caught by the Marines. If it weren't for Mr Rayleigh, we probably wouldn't have been able to get in here."
Beckman looked resentful, but he had no choice. Who told him to recognise this guy as his captain?
"Wait!"
"What does this have to do with Rayleigh?!"
Hearing Beckman's words, Shanks became even more confused, and why were Seagull and Sunbell here? Were they also here to rescue him?
"Hahahaha! Shanks, you brat, you really are the man recognised by the Captain. Just as unreliable as him!"
Sunbell the Fish-Man silently complained.
"It's chaos outside, and you're still so relaxed in here, Captain," Seagull said in a booming voice, lowering his head.
Perhaps because he grew up on Roger's ship, Shanks's personality was surprisingly similar to Roger's.
Especially in terms of being unreliable.
"Fuffuffuffuffu! The Whitebeard Pirates are already fighting the Marines, aren't they?"
Suddenly, a low laugh came from the side, interrupting their conversation.
Shanks and the others instinctively turned their heads. A figure in prison uniform with severed limbs appeared in their line of sight.
"..."
Beckman frowned, about to say something.
"Whitebeard?! That guy is fighting the Marines?"
Crocodile, who had been listening intently, also looked grim, a flash of hatred in his eyes. His intact hand clenched tightly into a fist.
"Hey! Red-haired brat, let me out! I'm going to settle things with Whitebeard!!"
Doflamingo's laughter came again:
"Pirates are evil?! The Marines are justice?! Those terms have always changed throughout the course of history!!"
"Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values!!"
"Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say?! But of course it will! Because..."
"Whoever wins this war becomes Justice!!!"
"Fuffuffuffuffu~!!!"
At this moment, Doflamingo looked like a pitiful loser, shouting his most unwilling cry to the heavens: I want to conquer the heavens by half a move!!
"This man... is dangerous!!"
Shanks's face suddenly became serious, rewriting his impression of Doflamingo.
Although he rambled all day, his thoughts were undoubtedly terrifying.
A thorough violent element, a natural destroyer, seemingly the purest evil in the world!!
"Ignore him. The Whitebeard Pirates probably won't last long. If the Marines react, none of us will escape!!"
Seeing they were starting to chat, Sunbell hurriedly interrupted.
Clatter—!!!
"Do any of you have the key?"
Shanks helplessly raised the heavy chains in his hands and shook them at Beckman and the others.
"Also, I don't know if the Marines took my Gryphon."
"Here, took it from that head jailer just now."
Beckman pulled a key from behind his back like a magic trick. The crisp metallic sound made even the incessantly rambling Doflamingo narrow his eyes.
"Do you think just you guys and Whitebeard are qualified to attack Marine Headquarters?"
"I know better than any of you..."
Doflamingo rolled his stiff neck slightly.
After all, maintaining this posture for a long time was uncomfortable, even for him. Like a dog!!
Thinking of this, a flash of humiliation appeared in Doflamingo's eyes.
"What kind of combat power the Marines are hiding!! Especially that man! Fuffuffuffuffu!!"
"So?"
Beckman was expressionless.
"Impel Down holds countless prisoners. I believe they would be very happy to exchange their freedom for attacking Marine Headquarters, right?!"
"Impossible. The seas would be turned upside down by these people!!"
Shanks refused sternly.
Although he was also a pirate, breaking the balance of the seas was not something he wanted to see.
Especially those five old men...
Beckman's eyes flickered slightly, then the light faded, and he said nothing more.
"Fuffuffuffuffu! Is there any need for a pirate like you to worry so much?"
Doflamingo continued to tempt.
But Shanks ignored him, signaling Beckman to open the cell door and unlock the chains.
They had to get to Marineford as soon as possible.
Lucky Roux and the others must be fighting alongside Whitebeard right now. It wasn't too late to get there.
Clatter—!!
The chains fell away. Shanks moved his red wrists a bit, strode out of the cell, and laughed, baring his teeth:
"Hahahaha! Finally out! I've been suffocating these past few days!"
"Alright, now that you're out, let's head to Marineford. Whitebeard probably can't hold on much longer."
Beckman also breathed a sigh of relief.
They had finally rescued Shanks. Hopefully, they could escape smoothly.
"Right, the war should end!"
Shanks nodded and took the lead, heading toward the staff elevator.
Soon, they disappeared around the corner.
"Wait, Captain, I think I left something back there."
Beckman's voice suddenly sounded.
"...Hurry up."
A moment later, hurried footsteps reached the ears of Crocodile and Doflamingo again.
"Fuffuffuffuffu!! Let the world ruled by those idiots be turned upside down!!"
"I can let you out, but you must rush to Marineford and help us."
"No problem. It's a deal."
A very brief conversation, but the content involved was enough to set off monstrous waves.
Click—!!
The key turned, and the chains fell.
In the darkness, a large number of threads emerged. The entire floor seemed to turn into a white ocean. Massive white threads intertwined madly, finally forming two lifelike pairs of hands and feet...
It had to be said, Whitebeard in his prime fully lived up to the title of World's Strongest Man.
Atlas's expression turned serious as he looked gravely at Whitebeard, whose aura was still at its peak.
If he didn't have the Horse Talisman's ability, he probably would have found it difficult even to get close to Whitebeard for hand-to-hand combat, right?
Although he could suppress Whitebeard in strength thanks to the Ox Talisman's divine power.
But the range affected by the Awakened Tremor-Tremor Fruit and the constant tremors generated... even Big Mom's steel body would be hard-pressed to withstand a few rounds.
Let alone Atlas's mortal flesh.
Thud—!! Thud—!! Thud—!!
Massive tremors were felt, and the entire ice surface seemed to shake. Large amounts of ice chips flew, and a roar made everyone around look sideways.
"Brilliant Punk!!"
The force was sufficient, the speed was fast. If it were an ordinary Vice Admiral, they would have lost at least a few ribs.
Unfortunately...
Too slow.
Atlas didn't even bother looking back. With a thought, the surrounding broken ice quickly sucked together. An ice giant suddenly appeared behind him, crossing its arms and colliding fiercely with the diamond-form Jozu.
Bang—!!
Although this ice giant was cobbled together, it was under the control of Atlas's ability.
Simply put, as long as he didn't give up control, this ice giant could exist forever unless shattered into powder or melted into water, requiring Atlas to re-control it.
Crack!!
No matter how strong Atlas's ability was, he couldn't make ice harder than diamond. So, obvious irregular cracks appeared on the ice giant, nearly splitting it in two.
However...
This was irrelevant to the ice giant. It was a lifeless object. Even being shattered to pieces couldn't shake its advance.
Bam—!!
With a punch, Jozu was sent flying several meters away.
"Gurararara! Don't get distracted when fighting me, you brat!!"
The naginata swung, white tremor waves appearing, slashing toward Atlas.
"Heh~ Doing two things at once isn't something just anyone can do!"
Although controlling the Rooster Talisman's objects did take mental effort, for Atlas, who possessed the Sheep Talisman, it was a piece of cake.
Clang—!!
The Futsunomitama, wrapped in Armament Haki, struck upward, steadily blocking Whitebeard's Murakumogiri.
Vwoom—!!
Intense tremor power transmitted along the blade, spreading onto Atlas's body.
Large chunks of flesh were torn open, and scarlet blood splattered.
Like a wild ox plowing the earth, white bones were exposed to the air, fascia torn, a tragic sight.
"Hey!"
Atlas's expression remained normal. Green light surged on his arm, chasing the injury and repairing it. Like time being reforged, it returned to normal.
Jozu forcibly stopped his body. His five exposed toes dug firmly into the ice, leaving ten clear bloody marks as he shouted at Whitebeard.
"Pops, the Marines have surrounded the harbor!!"
Hearing this, Atlas turned his head abruptly, looking at Bartholomew Kuma in the distance.
One slap, one kid down. Although they were all small fry of the Whitebeard Pirates, anyone unaware of the situation would think Kuma was the World Government's number one supporter.
After all, compared to the other Warlords.
Kuma's performance was quite impressive. Once he attacked, he was guaranteed to take out one or two pirates.
[Empress] Hancock was constantly releasing "Perfume Femur," only occasionally harassing division commander-level figures.
Typical "looks fierce as a tiger, actual record 0-5."
[Knight of the Sea] Jinbe was constantly sending injured and incapacitated Marines to the logistics area. But even with Observation Haki, Jinbe's rescue efforts were a drop in the bucket.
The range of the entire battlefield was simply too large, and the number of Marines and pirates was countless.
Even if Atlas personally rescued them, he would probably be exhausted.
However...
Atlas narrowed his eyes. If he remembered correctly.
Jozu should have been fighting Kuma just now, right?
"Gurararara!! Then let's rescue Teach first!!"
Whitebeard held Murakumogiri with one hand. His left hand suddenly shot up, forming an arch. Powerful tremor waves appeared on his fist.
Bang!!!
It struck Atlas's kick, which had already met it. Transmitted through the air, the power passed continuously into the thick ice layer.
Rumble—!!!
With a shaking of the earth and mountains, more than half of the harbor's ice was instantly shattered into powder. Like an earth dragon turning over, the island of Marineford shook violently, and some buildings even began to show signs of sliding.
Fortunately, Sengoku had evacuated the families from the residential area long ago.
Otherwise, Whitebeard's single strike would have caused massive casualties.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit truly possessed the power to destroy the world!!!
Swish!!!
Atlas retreated rapidly, his body glowing green again. With the Horse Talisman's power...
He could walk sideways anywhere in the One Piece world. Even the so-called three Ancient Weapons...
Uranus's situation was unknown for now, but Poseidon and Pluton couldn't kill him instantly.
So, the only use the Dog Talisman would bring him was immortality and eternal youth.
"Pops! Save me, quickly!!"
The bruised and battered Blackbeard seemed to have started despairing. He shouted frantically toward the bottom of the execution platform with a crying tone, trying to attract a little of Whitebeard's attention.
At the very least, get me out of here first!!
And why isn't Little Oars Jr. here?
With his size, if he could withstand one or two waves of Marine attacks, Whitebeard and the others could definitely charge to the front of the execution platform.
"..."
Atlas stood in the air, silently calculating their distance from the execution platform, and was suddenly startled.
It seemed Whitebeard wasn't an idiot either.
Although the two seemed evenly matched just now, under Whitebeard's intentional control, their battlefield had been constantly moving toward the execution platform.
However—
Blackbeard must die at Marineford today!!
Not one!!
Will escape!!!
Shing—!!
Sheathing his sword, mysterious black-and-red patterns appeared on his body again. A black sun was outlined on his muscular chest. His body, dyed by Haki, became even deeper and more sinister, with large amounts of black arcs wandering all over him.
This wasn't actual lightning.
It was arcs formed purely from aura. Simply put, it was a side effect produced by Conqueror's Haki!!
Rumble—!!
A thunderclap suddenly fell from the sky, silver-white lightning striking his face.