Whitebeard just shook his body. The half of his body covered in black patterns, his muscles grotesquely. The wounds torn open by the shockwave healed at a visible rate.
And the unscathed half of his face grinned even wider.
If the Gura Gura no Mi was used at full power, it was no different from a real natural disaster.
"It is Pops's tsunami?!"
"What did that World Government monster do to Pops?!"
On the Moby Dick, Marco, Jozu, Vista, and the other commanders watched, horified.
They saw that, centered on Whitebeard, the vast sea around him began to heave abnormally.
Countless tens-of-meters-high waves roared up without pattern, colliding with each other, sweeping outward.
They were right there on this sea. Pops would never use this power in a way that threatened his sons.
"What a troublesome ability. Newgate does not care about anything anymore?"
Golden Lion Shiki floated in midair, dodging a sweep of shockwaves. His expression was grim.
It was not as if he had never fought Whitebeard back in the Rocks Pirates days.
Whitebeard always said he had just been mooching drinks on Rocks's ship, putting himself on about the same level as Rocks. Even Rocks had never said anything about it. That in itself spoke to his strength.
But.
"Newgate! Do not get too cocky!"
Spotting a momentary hesitation in Whitebeard's movements, Golden Lion's eyes flashed fiercely.
"Shishi: Sengireya – Kyoku!"
His twin swords crossed. Massive slashes wrapped in deep blue Haki shot out, cutting at Whitebeard from various tricky angles.
Faced with this sudden barrage of slashes, Whitebeard did not even turn around. He let the attacks land.
"Hm?"
Golden Lion gritted his teeth, feeling ignored. He floated toward Whitebeard, his fierce slash cutting into Whitebeard's shoulder blade.
"Jikan!"
"You cannot roll!"
Whitebeard turned his body slightly, actively meeting the slash with his shoulder.
Sizzle!
The blade, coated in top-level Armament Haki, hit Whitebeard's shoulder squarely. The collision was violent.
But that was it.
The blade sank in less than an inch before being firmly caught by unimaginably tough muscle and internal vibrations.
The Haki and cutting power in the slash seemed to disappear into the void.
Whitebeard slowly turned his head, revealing a fierce grin.
"Gurararara! Shiki, I will kill you!"
Completely ignoring the blade still embedded in his shoulder, Whitebeard's right fist, wrapped in a shockwave orb, appeared in front of Golden Lion with unrealistic speed and angle. He punched.
Golden Lion was shocked. He quickly crossed his swords to block.
Bam!
Amid the violent shockwave, Golden Lion was sent flying.
Golden Lion tumbled through the air for a long time before barely stopping.
"Hey. Did his physical strength return to its peak?"
He looked grimly at the sword beneath his feet.
The blade, coated in Armament Haki, had shattered.
It was not a named blade, but it had been coated in Haki.
This was no longer the sickly Newgate from before.
"Hey, Garp! You have fought Prime Newgate before too, have you not?!"
Golden Lion shouted at Garp in the distance. "Now the bastard has some kind of immortal body too! Do you have a solution?! Do not tell me just to punch harder!"
Garp shook his numb arm. His expression was more grave than ever.
He said in a low voice, "Only attacks infused with Conqueror's Haki can penetrate his strengthened body and strange recovery to the greatest extent, damaging his essence."
He paused, glancing at the unsteady Golden Lion, then at Sengoku's grim face in the distance. He added, "And it needs to be very high-quality Conqueror's Haki, and constant attacks, to truly kill him."
"What do you mean?"
Golden Lion's face turned green. "You still want to kill him?! Garp, wake up! We need to be thinking about how to get out of this hellhole safely! Look at him!"
He pointed at Whitebeard, who was again unleashing indiscriminate punches, shaking sea and sky. "He is already beyond reason! If we keep fighting, he will shake everyone here, pirates and Marines alike, into pieces!"
As if to prove Golden Lion's point, Whitebeard punched the empty air beside him again.
Crack. Boom, crash.
The ice for hundreds of meters around him collapsed.
Several medium-sized Marine warships that had not managed to move away were caught in the rising waves and falling iceberg debris, instantly capsizing.
"Damn it!"
Sengoku punched the railing, his face pale.
The Marine Vice Admirals were already directing their forces to retreat as far as possible, but under this indiscriminate, natural disaster-like attack, retreat was not easy.
Just then.
Bang!
A dull, drum-like sound.
A fist wrapped in black-red lightning suddenly hit from the side. Whitebeard saw it, but his hand moved too late. The fist arrived.
Whitebeard staggered back a few steps.
"Hey, Luffy! Why are you back, you brat?!"
Garp turned and nearly choked.
There, the Luffy he had sent flying with his Fist of Love was somehow back at the center of the battlefield, standing not far in front of him, white steam curling from his body.
"I am the one who will compete with him for the position of Pirate King."
Luffy watched the giant figure ahead and grinned. "How can I just leave? Right, Whitebeard?"
The Emperors were obstacles that had to be overcome to become Pirate King.
Luffy's desire to become Pirate King was incredibly strong.
After all, he had a crazy plan pushing him from behind.
Whitebeard stepped forward and grinned. "Yeah. You keep surprising me."
Just a moment ago, he had looked weak. But the Conqueror's Haki in that last punch?
He was like someone with an immortal body.
This kind of inexplicable recovery reminded him of Kaido.
Unparalleled recovery.
Most importantly, Whitebeard felt that this power within him seemed to be afraid, receding.
Even more effective than Conqueror's Haki.
Garp was still cursing.
Did this brat know what kind of monster he was facing?
"But I cannot let you be killed by this crazy old man, Gramps."
Luffy looked seriously at Garp. "You would die, right?"
A Conqueror's Haki-infused strong fighter. Immortal. Extremely destructive.
All these traits were now combined in one person, Whitebeard.
Whitebeard was now like a final boss.
Luffy's gaze swept around.
The Vice Admirals were already ordering the Marines to withdraw in an orderly fashion. That said a lot.
He had heard what Garp and Golden Lion said.
If Whitebeard's weakness was only Conqueror's Haki, then among the Marines, only Garp and Sengoku, the two veterans, could pose a threat to him now.
The Admiral monsters of the middle generation had highly destructive Logia fruits, but none of them had Conqueror's Haki.
"Only Conqueror's Haki works. In other words, the ones who can be Whitebeard's opponents right now..."
Luffy clenched his fist. Black-red lightning crackled between his fingers. "Are only us, are they not?"
He stepped forward, standing beside Garp. White steam and black lightning intertwined around him.
Garp felt the immense vitality radiating from Luffy's body and grinned.
"Looks like I raised a good grandson."
"Anyway, do not try to stop me, Gramps. I am a pirate. Pirates are the freest of all."
Crack.
The sound of vibrations came from nearby.
Luffy and Garp looked at once.
"Do not waste time."
"Stop me!"
Whitebeard kneet on one knee. Murakumogiri was stuck in the ice beside him. Both hands gripped his head tightly. The muscles on his unscathed half-twisted. Veins bulged on his forehead.
"He can still speak and still suppress his movements."
Garp's eyes narrowed. "This is a bit different from Rocks back then."
After darkening, Rocks had fallen into utter madness and destructive desire, losing nearly all reason.
Whitebeard now seemed more like his body was being forcibly driven, while he will still struggled.
"Is it because of the Conqueror's Haki Nika released earlier?"
Luffy thought.
Everyone had seen what happened.
The immortal monsters of the God's Knights under that wave of Conqueror's Haki had all been wiped out, vanished.
It had even forced back the monster that had turned Whitebeard into this.
Dead or not, it had certainly left.
And Whitebeard's current form was different from the fully black demon form he had first taken.
Only half of his body was eroded by black patterns and the aura of decay. The other half remained mostly unchanged. His complexion was much better than when he had been sickly.
"Using extreme Conqueror's Haki, condensing into a single strike."
Garp cracked his wrists. "That is our only chance to stop him."
Fighting alongside his pirate grandson against an out-of-control Emperor of the old era?
It was a new experience. One he had never imagined in his life.
Garp just started walking when he stopped, frowning.
His body was no longer young. The strain from facing Imu head-on and then Conqueror's Haki against Whitebeard was too much.
"Gramps, you should rest and recover your stamina. Your body cannot take it anymore."
Luffy grinned. "I will go and face this old man first."
Before Garp could react, he stamped his foot, white flame clouds burst out, and his figure turned into a streak of light, charging straight at Whitebeard.
"You brat, this old man does not need you to look after him like this."
Garp paused, both exasperated and amused.
But he had to admit, Luffy was right.
He did need some time, even just a few breaths, to regroup and adjust his disorder aura and Haki.
He was getting old. His stamina was not what it used to be.
"Gurararara! Stop me, Straw Hat!"
Whitebeard seemed to be aware, but could not control his body.
"I can feel it. There is something in your body that I fear."
Something he feared?
He meant Nika?
Luffy's thoughts raced.
"Let us find out!"
Luffy's eyes grew fierce. He sped up. In a flash, he was close to Whitebeard.
Boom!
The moment he was close, Luffy's right arm stretched out rapidly. Its surface covered in thick Armor Haki and leaping black-red lightning.
His giant black fist, wrapped in flame and lightning, slammed toward Whitebeard's face.
Whitebeard did not dodge. His intact left fist also condensed a white shockwave orb and met it head-on.
Fists collided.
Crackle. The surroundings crackled and popped.
Everything had changed from before.
Whitebeard was no longer the frail, dying man he once appeared to be.
"Damn the World Government!"
Sengoku's face darkened as he looked toward a nearby warship trapped in the raging shockwave, its hull nearly torn in two.
Under normal circumstances, the Marines would have already been pursuing the Whitebeard Pirates, and the weakened Whitebeard might have met his end here.
But from the very beginning, what exactly had the World Government been doing?
The Marine elites were useless at this moment. The weakened Whitebeard had instead become a troublesome being that only Conqueror's Haki users like Garp and himself could handle.
At this point, it seemed the World Government was the real traitor.
Sengoku understood.
The Five Elders had not agreed to his operation at first, saying they needed to maintain the balance of the sea. Then later, they agreed.
And this was how they were maintaining it?
Even at the cost of heavy Marine losses, they wanted the Whitebeard Pirates to escape?
Were they making him look like a fool?
"This Haki."
Luffy's expression was grave. In a way, Paramecia types were the most destructive, were they not?
If someone developed the Gura Gura no Mi to its limit, like Whitebeard, they had the power to turn the world upside down.
The two continued their stalemate.
Streams of Haki poured in.
"It is working."
Luffy's heart lifted.
His Haki invaded Whitebeard's body, seeming to assimilate it.
He could not explain the principle.
"Aaaargh!"
Whitebeard let out a pained roar. His body shook slightly. The force of the quakes suddenly intensified.
Luffy's expression changed. The reaction force from his fist increased severalfold. His giant rubber arm was pushed back, bending. His whole body was sent flying backward.
Whitebeard had not lost consciousness. He had just lost control of his body.
But battle instinct, Haki application, and fruit activation, etched into his very bones, had become almost instinctive.
Seeing that frontal clashing with shockwaves was not very effective, he almost immediately reacted.
He gripped the handle of Murakumogiri with both hands. The Supreme Grade blade seemed to share his thoughts, letting out a clear hum.
Black-red lightning rose from his unscathed half, quickly wrapped around the long blade. White shockwave wisps also clung to it.
Whitebeard was also a Conqueror's Haki user. Concentrating his Haki on the blade, amidst the black-red lightning and raging waves, the red lightning on the blade seemed faint, but its power was not to be underestimated.
Even the dark clouds in the sky were drawn by this presence, beginning to rotate around him.
"Gurarara! Interesting, Straw Hat!"
Whitebeard said, "Be careful of this one. If it hits you, you will die."
Sizzle.
The famous blade Murakumogiri was slowly raised. Its tip pointed at the sky.
As if drawn by gravity, the stray lightning in the sky came down, all gathering on the white blade tip, attaching to the white shockwave.
Sizzle.
With the swing of the blade, the black-red lightning made the surrounding air turbulent.
Lightning flashed. The deep ice ahead was cut. With the swing, a hurricane rose. Lightning flashed all around.
Just a swing, plus Haki Infusion and his ability, stirred the whole sky.
A huge, crescent-shaped slash shot from the blade, combining black-red lightning, white shockwaves, and glaring lightning.
Where the slash passed, it left lingering black cracks in space.
Conqueror's Haki alone was enough to awe all things and influence the weather.
Whitebeard's slash even temporarily stopped the stray lightning in the sky.
"Looks familiar."
This slash was similar in principle to his Mujo Dai Hatō, locking down space so the enemy could not evade.
"You are not asking me to stop you, old man!"
The impact was inches away. Seeing it coming, Luffy's white flame clouds in Gear Fifth Nika form suddenly flared. His whole body turned into a blurry white afterimage. Instead of retreating, he charged straight at the terrifying combined slash.
"Mujo Dai Hatō!"
The blade lights collided and almost simultaneously veered off.
One shockwave shot past Whitebeard's left.
One shockwave shot past Luffy's right.
The skies on both sides instantly exploded.
The shockwaves spread outward explosively in all directions.
Even the distant Moby Dick and the main Marine warships were violently shaken by the terrifying impact, their hulls groaning.
"Those two monsters."
Sengoku had no choice but to use his shockwave ability again to protect the fleet behind him. His face was as dark as a pot.
One strike failed. Luffy enlarged Magi and swung again.
He was already very fast.
But Whitebeard seemed to have anticipated it. A red glint flashed in his eyes.
As he swung, he turned his wrist, changing the blade's direction. He blocked horizontally, meeting Luffy's blade.
Crack.
At the point of collision, vibrations came. The Gura Gura no Mi infinitely amplified Whitebeard's power.
But Luffy also had his fruit. In terms of raw power, his Gomu Gomu no Mi was not inferior to Whitebeard's at all.
"Gurarara! Good, Straw Hat!"
Whitebeard laughed. The muscles in his intact arm bulged. Endless Haki and vibration power poured into Murakumogiri, maintaining the output of the slash.
The rubber muscles in Luffy's arms stretched to their limit. White steam burst from every pore.
Stalemate.
Between Whitebeard's demonic side and his non-demonic side, the latter seemed slightly weaker.
That was the weakness.
Under the black-red lightning, Whitebeard was sent flying.
"Not enough, Straw Hat. Focus on this side."
Whitebeard retreated with the momentum, shouting loudly. "This side is the weakness!"
He was a textbook case of his mind and body not being on the same page.
***
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