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----------------------------------------------------------Chapter 73: Both Sides Make Their Choice, One Man vs. Three Admirals
BOOM!!!
The punch landed squarely on Kizaru's face!
Golden light particles and blue-purple arcs exploded wildly!
Kizaru turned into a golden meteor, flying backward ten times faster than he arrived!
He slammed hard into the Marine Headquarters fortress building behind him, crashing through a dozen walls before being deeply embedded in a pile of rubble, his status unknown.
One punch!
Just one punch!
Marine Admiral Kizaru... taken out!
"Ara ra... honestly..."
Aokiji Kuzan put a hand to his forehead, letting out a long sigh of helplessness.
"You're getting more and more reckless, Mr. Garp."
He slowly looked up. His usually sleepy eyes were now filled with an unprecedented gravity.
"When you do this... you make it very hard for us juniors."
As he spoke, he raised his right hand.
Krak! Krak!
A bone-chilling cold... spread out wildly from him!
The entire execution platform... was instantly covered in a thick layer of ice!
"Ice Age!"
He didn't choose a single-target attack. He directly activated a massive, area-of-effect move!
The terrifying cold, enough to freeze the entire ocean, formed countless white ice dragons. They swirled toward Garp from all directions, intending to freeze him into an eternal ice sculpture!
Facing this bone-chilling cold.
Garp grinned, a wild smile.
"Bwahahaha! Kuzan! That move won't work on me!"
His Lightning Release Armour... exploded with even more violent energy!
BZZZZT!
The cold air, which could freeze a volcano, was instantly... vaporized... by the intense heat of the lightning... the moment it neared Garp's body!
It turned into a vast, white mist!
"I knew it..."
Aokiji looked at the white mist, a bitter smile on his face.
"After seeing that power in the East Blue... I should have known..."
"Justice of fire, and justice of ice... both are too extreme..."
He muttered to himself, a trace of confusion in his eyes.
Just then!
"Kuzan! What are you hesitating for!"
A roar, of pure, erupting rage, exploded!
Akainu Sakazuki!
This man, who had been silent all this time, finally moved!
His entire body... turned into scalding, flowing magma!
The terrifying heat... twisted the air around him!
On his face, there was no anger, no shock... only a pure, absolute killing intent... to incinerate everything before him!
"Monkey D. Garp!"
He gritted his teeth, every word carrying the burn of magma.
"You disgrace of the Marines!"
"You... and your sinful bloodline! Today... you will all be... thoroughly... cleansed... here!"
"Great Eruption!"
BOOM!!!
Akainu's right arm... transformed into a giant, magma fist... filled with a destructive aura!
Carrying enough heat to vaporize an island... it shot toward Garp's back!
He was going to impale... both Garp and Ace... together!
"Grandpa! Watch out!"
Ace, who had been in a daze, finally snapped back, letting out a heart-tearing scream!
However.
Garp... still didn't turn around.
He just... used his broad, mountain-like back... to shield Ace.
He turned his head, looking at the rapidly approaching magma fist. The smile on his face... grew even wilder!
"BWAHAHAHA!"
"Nice one, Sakazuki!"
"Let me show you!"
He raised his right fist. On it, besides the violent, blue-purple lightning... was a layer of impossibly deep, jet-black Armament Haki!
"My justice..."
"Is the Fist of Love!!!"
BOOM!!!
The black iron fist, wreathed in lightning... and the giant magma fist, which could incinerate all things...
Under the gaze of the entire world.
On the execution platform.
Slammed into each other!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Only... the terrifying energy of magma and lightning colliding, venting wildly in all directions!
A circle of black and red destructive shockwaves... exploded from the point of contact!
The entire execution platform... in the face of this power... was as fragile as a cracker!
It crumbled!
Countless fragments of stone and ice... rained down on the plaza below!
"Pfft!"
Akainu Sakazuki's magma face... for the first time... showed pain.
His entire body was sent flying backward, the magma on his arm dimming.
And Garp... was also sent sliding back dozens of meters by the recoil, the lightning at his feet flickering.
The Mag-Mag Fruit was the Devil Fruit with the strongest offensive power. Even Garp... in his current state... took a small hit in a direct clash.
"OOOOOHHHHHH!"
"Did you see that! Even Akainu was knocked back!"
"Mr. Garp is invincible!"
The Moby Dick erupted in a tsunami of cheers!
"My sons!"
The World's Strongest Man, Whitebeard Newgate, seized this golden opportunity!
Of the three Admirals... Kizaru was slacking off somewhere, Aokiji was held in check, and Akainu was knocked back!
Now... was the best chance!
"Even the Marine Hero is clearing a path for us!"
Whitebeard raised Murakumogiri, his voice drowning out all other noise!
"What reason do we have to stop!"
"All forces! Charge!"
"Target: the execution platform! Save Ace!"
"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The Whitebeard Pirates, suppressed for so long, now turned into a white tsunami, making a final, desperate charge toward the center of Marineford!
At their head... were Marco the Phoenix and Diamond Jozu!
However.
Just as they were about to set foot on the plaza.
A figure... like a ghost... appeared silently in front of them.
He didn't have the "Pirate Garp's" wild lightning.
He didn't have Sengoku's golden Buddha light.
He just... stood there... in that familiar white coat... with "Justice" on the back.
Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral.
Monkey D. Garp.
The "Marine Garp"!
He... blocked the path of the entire Whitebeard Pirates.
Marco's and Jozu's charge... stopped.
All the pirates... faltered.
They looked at this Garp... and then at the Garp in the distance, bathed in lightning, facing Akainu.
Everyone's brain... shut down again.
"Hey, hey... what's going on?"
"Another one?"
"Which one... is the real one?!"
"Gurararara..."
Whitebeard looked at the figure blocking his sons, and let out a low laugh.
He stepped off the giant whale ship!
Bang!
He landed heavily on the ice, and all of Marineford trembled!
He walked, step by step, toward the Marine Garp. His hawk-like eyes were filled with a complex emotion.
"Garp."
Whitebeard spoke, his voice booming.
"Even that 'other you'... has already made his choice."
"Are you... still... going to stand in my way?"
The Marine Garp looked up.
He looked at this man... his rival for a lifetime.
He looked back... at that "him" high above... who was willing to make an enemy of the world for his grandson.
Finally, his gaze... landed on the ruins of the execution platform... on Ace... bound in Seastone, his face streaked with tears.
On his wrinkled, old face... a smile appeared. It was a smile no one could understand... mixed with pain and relief.
"BWAHAHAHA!"
He laughed, his voice full of helplessness and resolve.
"I have no choice, Newgate."
He cracked his knuckles, pop pop pop. His sharp eyes locked back onto Whitebeard.
"Behind me... are tens of thousands of Marines."
"And on my back... I wear 'Justice'!"
"So..."
His smile... turned wild!
"This step... I will not let you pass!"