Wooooo—!
The River of Death began to violently surge. Not many figures stepped out from the crimson torrent initially, only around ten thousand or so, which was barely a tenth of the Marine forces mobilized during the Summit War.
Yet, every single one of them bore the cross-shaped insignia of the World Government upon their military uniforms. A single glance was enough to instantly remind anyone of that global regime which, until very recently, held the absolute highest authority in the world.
Standing atop the remaining ice structures, Kuzan, Sengoku, and the global audience watching through the Visual Den Den Mushi all swallowed hard in unison.
Monsters. Absolute monsters.
"Just how many bizarre tricks do you have up your sleeve?" Garp muttered, forcing a grim smile.
Swish!
Before Garp could fully react, a sniper bullet tore through the air. Relying on his peak Observation Haki, Garp tilted his head a few centimeters to the side at the absolute last second. Though he narrowly avoided getting his head blown off, the terrifyingly close call sent a wave of sheer panic through the audience.
Looking back at the battlefield, new figures began to emerge from the River of Death right behind the Government forces.
That was... the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates, Van Augur!
Boom—!!!
In the next instant, the earth shattered. A catastrophic attack, no less devastating than the ground-pulverizing punch Garp had delivered moments earlier, savaged the mountain terrain once more. Even the massive ice walls Kuzan had raised to block the Straw Hats' path completely collapsed under the sheer force of this seismic shockwave.
"Tch, not good," Kuzan clicked his tongue and leaped clear of the falling debris.
Seeing the obstacle vanish, Luffy prepared to charge ahead. However, as the collapsing ice walls revealed what lay beyond, the sight that met their eyes froze the Straw Hats dead in their tracks.
The undead thralls rising from the River of Death had completely encircled Garp under Alucard's command, leaving only a tiny patch of open ground in the center. Standing right in the eye of that storm was Garp.
In the next fraction of a second, the culprit behind the tectonic shockwave finally revealed his true form from within the fractured earth.
With diamonds coating his left side, raw flesh on his right, the light of tremors emanating from his left hand, and swirling darkness in his right, it was the Admiral of the Blackbeard Pirates, Marshall D. Teach. His eyes glowed a piercing crimson, and his entire body was shrouded in a thick, bloody mist. He had indubitably been reduced to one of Alucard's puppets.
"That's... Teach!"
Even though he was already dead, the mere sight of Blackbeard Teach caused the members of the Whitebeard Pirates across the sea to boil with uncontrollable rage.
Following Teach, even more "members" stepped forward: the three Celestial Dragon Patriarchs and the Gorosei clad in black suits, their bodies exploding with a murderous aura that easily rivaled a Marine Admiral.
Thud—!
Suddenly, the sword-wielding member of the Gorosei vanished on the spot, reappearing directly behind Garp. He unleashed a swift thrust, which Garp spun around to intercept using a hardened hand chop. Garp snapped his right leg up, preparing to counter with a vicious whip kick, but a tiny, dense projectile suddenly tore straight through his ankle.
"Kh—!"
The searing agony forced Garp to pull his leg back. He snapped his head around, only to see the second son of the Charlotte Family and one of the Three Sweet Commanders, Charlotte Katakuri.
"That's one of the Sweet Commanders, Charlotte Katakuri!"
"The monster with a bounty over a billion berries!"
At this moment, no one was more utterly shell-shocked than the Big Mom Pirates back in Totto Land.
What on earth was happening? Just a few days ago, they had seen Katakuri perfectly fine in the Queen's domain. How had he suddenly become Alucard's string-puppet?
Charlotte Linlin flew into a towering rage, immediately roaring an order: "Get Katakuri on the Den Den Mushi right now!"
Meanwhile, inside the Fire Tank Pirates' camp on Whole Cake Island, Capone Bege drew a deep breath from his cigar and said grimly, "Well, his cover is completely blown now, so he won't be able to interfere with our plans. How is the wedding looking?"
Vito smiled. "Proceeding exactly as scheduled, Godfather."
At that moment, Alucard stood atop the highest crest of the River of Death, cutting the true figure of the Count within his castle.
Swish!
Shiryu of the Rain, the sword-wielding Gorosei, and Osteinofica, one of the three Celestial Dragon Patriarchs, struck simultaneously.
Three master-level swordsmen unleashed a coordinated assault. Even if their individual capabilities had dropped slightly after being absorbed into the River of Death, their combined power remained a terrifying force that was no less formidable than a Yonko.
Garp fought desperately to hold his ground. The opposing attacks clashed in a blinding flash, and the combatants zipped past one another, momentarily freezing in a back-to-back deadlock.
Two seconds later, dozens of deep slash wounds erupted across Garp's body, while the shoulders of both Shiryu and the Gorosei completely caved in.
Yet, almost instantly, the severe injuries on the two undead thralls regenerated completely, as if they were vampires themselves.
The Straw Hat Pirates had retreated to one of the few remaining ridges. Witnessing the horrific struggle below, Usopp cried out in absolute despair, "Luffy's grandpa is finished... There's no way to win a fight like this!"
"Dammit! I'm going down there to save him!" Luffy yelled, his eyes burning with fury.
"Stop it, Luffy! What can you even do with your current strength?!" Franky grabbed Luffy firmly by the shoulders, desperately reasoning with him. "With what we've got right now, we can't change a thing! We'll just be throwing our lives away!"
Luffy forced himself to calm down slightly. It was true, the sheer disparity in power was enough to induce absolute despair. The gap was just too vast.
Right then, Teach and Katakuri moved in once more. A diamond-shrouded tackle and a Haki-infused kick slammed into Garp from the front and back simultaneously.
Before Garp could even shift his stance to defend, yet another wave of River of Death thralls struck.
The blond member of the Gorosei, the Celestial Dragon Meinfini, and the Champion Jesus Burgess!
With a coordinated burst of violence, attacks from several of the world's highest-tier powerhouses hit Garp all over his body at the exact same time!
Splatter—!!!
In that horrific instant, every spectator across the world could clearly see chunks of flesh being violently torn from Garp's frame.
"GRANDPA—!!!" Luffy screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Old man..."
"Old Man Garp..."
Far across the ocean, the hearts of both Ace and Sabo twisted in agonizing pain.
"Heh... hehehehe..."
Standing atop the pinnacle of the River of Death, Alucard finally spoke, his voice dripping with malice. "What's the matter, Marine? The monster is standing right before your eyes. What will you do? Just what can you possibly do now?"
"What kind of odds do you think you have left? One in a thousand? One in ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A billion? What method do you possibly have left to face me?"
Completely ignoring the continuous onslaught of the other powerhouses, Garp took a heavy, deliberate step forward.
"Even if these old eyes can no longer see the light... it is more than enough."
With those words, Garp forced his battered, half-dead body to straighten up. "It's not over yet. Keep it coming... Keep it coming!"
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