Buggy shouted, "Wake up! Wake up!"
This was his chance to make a name for himself.
Of course, Buggy would never admit that he was afraid the madwoman from the Straw Hat crew on the other end of the Den Den Mushi would cut him into pieces.
Buggy had clearly heard Vivi's conversation with that World Economic Times president.
That woman was apparently a Logia user too?
Even the World Economic Times president could not afford to provoke her. Buggy did not want to either.
It was foreseeable that after this war, the Straw Hat Pirates would become one of the top forces on the sea.
Becoming an Emperor's crew was not impossible.
Buggy felt a bit dazed. A small-time pirate from the East Blue had grown into someone he could not even dream of reaching.
Meanwhile, at Luffy's location, the air rippled indistinctly. His figure seemed to blend into the environment, leaving only a faint white afterimage.
The next moment, his true body appeared above and to the side of Whitebeard.
"Try this, Raika Kōshahō!"
The white flame clouds trailed blazing streaks around him, accompanied by suddenly bursting black-red lightning. His whole body, like a humanoid natural disaster, slammed hard into the airborne Whitebeard.
Boom, crash!
Amid the thunderous explosion, Luffy's shoulder, wrapped in lightning, fire, and Haki, hit Whitebeard's side solidly.
Lightning exploded. Fire burned. Conqueror's Haki blasted Whitebeard's defenses.
Whitebeard grunted. He was sent flying by the sudden impact.
But his combat instincts were terrifying. Even in midair, he adjusted his posture and swung Murakumogiri backhand at Luffy's neck.
Luffy had anticipated it. He jerked his head back, narrowly avoiding the blade. At the same time, his Forehead, like a battering ram, covered in thick Armament Haki, struck while Whitebeard's body was still flying.
He slammed into him.
Gomu Gomu no Headbutt!
Thud!
Luffy's head smashed into Whitebeard's forehead.
Crack.
The faint sound of cracking bone could be heard.
Whitebeard's intact forehead was split open. Blood flowed. He flew backward even faster, a momentary dizziness in his eyes.
"It is working."
Luffy pressed his advantage.
He stretched one arm back to its limit, like a pulled strongbow. A highly concentrated ball of black-red Haki impact energy condensed on his fist.
"Gomu Gomu no Haki Shōgeki: Hōsei!"
His arm shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.
The highly concentrated Haki energy ball flew from his hand, growing with the wind. In an instant, it expanded into a black-red energy sphere over ten meters in diameter. It overtook the flying Whitebeard and hit him.
"Hm?!"
Whitebeard could not even speak. The Rage Haki energy tore through his body. The secondary explosion turned that area into a disaster zone of ravaging energy.
The violent force spread across the sky, pushing at everyone nearby.
Under this force, even some at a distance could not help but step back.
The impact was too great.
"Did it work?" Hancock could not help but sweat.
Luffy narrowed his eyes, looking at the center of the explosion. White steam rose from his body, healing the recoil damage from the impact.
But suddenly, his expression changed. Red warning light flashed wildly in his pupils.
Observation Haki: Future Sight.
Without thinking, he threw his Haki-coated right fist as fast as he could at the empty space directly in front of him.
Almost at the same moment he threw his punch, a long blade wrapped in white shockwave ripples and black-red lightning thrust out of the not-yet-dispersed explosion smoke like a ghost. The tip of the blade was only an inch from Luffy's fist.
Bang!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
Luffy's fist and Whitebeard's blade tip, an inch apart.
Both were blocked by each other's Haki. The clash created an unstable compressed shockwave, forming a dark point.
It emitted a terrifying pull and destructive fluctuation.
"Fast, kid."
Whitebeard's figure appeared in the smoke, facing off against Luffy.
The wound on his forehead had stopped bleeding. Though battered, his presence had not diminished.
Seeing Luffy's quick reaction, Whitebeard asked, "Did you see the future?"
Luffy grinned. "Yeah. I saw some not-so-good things."
None of the Emperors were easy to deal with.
These were all rivals for the position of Pirate King, right?
Whitebeard's Observation Haki might not have the strong future sight and Haki Killing properties of Red-Haired Shanks. Most of his attacks could be anticipated.
But anticipating it and reacting in that instant and blocking it precisely were two different things.
Sizzle.
Bang!
At the point where fist and blade met, waves of force continuously erupted.
They were locked in stalemate.
Then, the compressed shockwave spread outward in a sphere, pushing both Luffy and Whitebeard back.
"Do not forget this old man!"
A thunderous shout came from the sky.
Garp's body swoops down from high above like a meteor.
On his fists, black-red Conqueror's Haki condensed like solid matter, forming two small black suns. He slammed them into Whitebeard's half-demonized right side.
Genkotsu: Nijū Shōgeki!
But the body was slowly recovering.
"No use. Blocked by that dark power!"
Whitebeard roared. "I need stronger Conqueror's Haki, more concentrated! Garp, you old bastard, you can do it!"
He pushed with his fist. The dissipation Haki caused the unstable shockwave to completely explode, pushing back fist and blade.
"Luffy, now!"
Veins bulged on Garp's forehead. Maintaining his full-power output, he roared at Luffy, who had just stabilized.
He saw an opening.
"Focus your Conqueror's Haki into a single point. Combine it with me. Use your strongest attack!"
This was the first time the grandfather and grandson had tried to coordinate in actual combat.
Garp believed in Luffy's insight and decisiveness.
He used his move.
Mugen Genkotsu: Korosu!
Luffy responded, but he did not choose to use his full power. It was not that he did not trust his grandfather. He had a bolder idea that needed verification.
Amidst the chaotic black-red Haki, Luffy gripped Magi with both hands. The transformed black blade channeled the surging power of Nika within him.
Boom, crash.
Black-red lightning spread and flickered around him. Crocodile glanced over. "Hey, hey, Whitebeard's head is my prey."
Hawkeye watched the sword in Luffy's hand. "Can he really do it?"
Kill Whitebeard?
"Mugen Genkotsu: Korosu!"
"Meiō: Gomu Gomu no Hakoku – Nijūbai!"
Whitebeard's resistance came.
His intact left fist, wrapped in shockwaves and Conqueror's Haki, tried to intercept their combined attack.
Boom, crash!
The third violent collision of Conqueror's Haki.
Black, white, and red lights flashed wildly.
The sky, which had been on the verge of splitting, seemed to have widened several times.
The Conqueror's Haki, like solid wind, completely turned the already broken ice around them into powder, sweeping it into the sky.
Seawater was pushed aside, exposing an even larger area of the seabed.
Even Sengoku in the distance had to again deploy his huge golden shockwave barrier to protect the Marine fleet behind him from being capsized by this horrific Haki clash.
"You old bastard and you little bastard! When you fight, you completely ignore whether anyone else lives or dies!"
Sengoku's face was pale as he cursed under his breath.
Stomp!
At the center of this violent shockwave, something happened that no one expected.
Luffy completely ignored the Haki impact that could tear through steel. He stomped hard on the air with his feet, coated in Armament Haki and Nika's power, and charged straight ahead.
Pfft, pfft, pfft.
Wounds appeared on his body, instantly splitting open.
But he ignored them. Using the reaction force from his stomp and the incredible elasticity of the Gomu Gomu no Mi, his figure shot forward like a ghost even faster, following the direction the shockwaves were spreading.
"Has the brat gone mad?!"
"What is Straw Hat trying to do?"
"Whitebeard is not dead yet."
In the distance, the onlookers watched with wide eyes.
In the moment of the Haki explosion, a normal person would choose to retreat with the shockwave and avoid the brunt.
Especially in a collision like this, the pressure going against the flow was several times greater than normal.
Even Garp, after throwing his full-power attack, had nearly exhausted the remaining Conqueror's Haki in his body. He had to retreat with the shockwave to dissipate the reaction force.
His body was no longer young.
Most importantly, he was a normal person.
Luffy did not look like a normal person.
"Do not try to run."
Luffy grinned fiercely. "I was not going all out just now!"
Bang!
White flame clouds trailed behind him. His body bathed in blood and lightning. Amidst the chaotic smoke and energy currents from the explosion, he forcibly tore open a path and burst through.
Whitebeard, pushed back by the continuous heavy blows from Garp and Luffy, crashed all the way to the edge of the distant Impel Down ruins.
Before he had even landed, before his knocked-away Murakumogiri could return to defend, he watched in shock as a figure, covered in white steam, burst through the explosion smoke and rushed right in front of him.
Then, Luffy did something that stunned everyone, including Whitebeard himself.
He did not swing his sword or throw a punch.
His giant white rubber hand, coated in Armament Haki, grabbed Whitebeard.
His fingers dug deep into the solid muscle.
"Hahaha! Got you!"
Luffy laughed.
"What?!"
A flicker of confusion passed over Whitebeard's face.
He had been caught. What was he going to do?
Was it seawater?
It seemed like more than that.
Using the momentum of his charge, Luffy twisted his waist. His arm muscles swelled to their limit. He exploded with earth-shattering strength. He grabbed Whitebeard, swung him around, and slammed him into the seawater exposed by the shattered ice.
"Get down there, old man!"
Splash!
A huge splash of water.
Whitebeard's tall body was forcibly shoved into the icy seawater by Luffy in an extremely crude manner.
Luffy's own arm was also partially submerged.
"Aaaargh!"
Veins bulged on Luffy's forehead. He let out a pained roar.
A feeling of weakness washed over him, as if all his strength had been instantly drained.
His ability was about to be canceled.
This was the curse of Devil Fruit users contacting seawater.
Someone like Aokiji, who could completely ignore seawater, was an anomaly among Devil Fruit users.
His arm was weak. It had no strength. The white flame clouds of the Nika form flickered violently.
But he gritted his teeth, his gums bleeding. He glared at the churning water below. He endured the weakness that would instantly incapacitate an ordinary ability user and held Whitebeard underwater, preventing him from surfacing.
"Has Luffy gone mad?!"
Jinbe watched from the water, stunned. "Is he trying to weaken Whitebeard with seawater? But he is an ability user too!"
Mad?
No.
"This is a strange feeling."
Luffy endured the weakness, focusing his Observation Haki as best he could, sensing the situation below the surface.
The feeling of being deprived of his power was so clear.
Under the water, Whitebeard, whom he was holding down, did not immediately lose his strength and go limp.
On the contrary, an even more violent force of vibrations was surging up from below.
His idea seemed to be correct. He really did seem to possess some kind of power.
Was it Nika?
Not far away, Akainu watched this scene with a furrowed brow.
What was Straw Hat doing?
He did not know, but his instincts told him it was nothing good.
"This is as far as you go, Straw Hat!"
Just then, a cold shout came from above.
A huge shadow loomed. With scorching heat, Akainu's body shot toward them, magma flowing.
"Fool! We are Marines!"
Strike while the iron was hot.
Cold killing intent flickered in Akainu's eyes.
Straw Hat could not be allowed to live. Otherwise, the Marines' prestige would be completely ruined.
Even if the method was not honorable, for the sake of absolute justice, what was a little dishonor?
Akainu had never cared about such things.
Luffy looked back. He was not surprised. Instead, there was a hint of mockery in his eyes.
"Heh."
Akainu was stunned. A chill inexplicably ran through his heart.
Splash!
Just as the magma fist was less than half a meter from Luffy's back, the seawater beside Luffy erupted in a huge wave.
A tall figure burst from the water.
Black patterns covered half his body. Red glints flickered in his eyes.
It was Whitebeard!
Seeing Whitebeard appear, a flicker of shock passed through Akainu's eyes.
"How is this possible?!"
Even with an immortal body, if he was a Devil Fruit user, entering seawater should have negated his ability.
But Whitebeard showed no discomfort. Was he no longer a Devil Fruit user?
Whitebeard did not answer Akainu's question. He laughed.
"Gurararara! Magma brat! What you did was disgraceful!"
The Murakumogiri in his hand was covered only in black-red lightning. From the ground up, against Akainu's magma fist, he swung upward.
Whitebeard's eyes widened. His roar was like thunder. "Get out of my way!"
Clang!
Murakumogiri's blade and Akainu's Mogu collided solidly.
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
The terrifying force of the blade hit Akainu's chest without hindrance.
Pfft.
Blood sprayed like a geyser.
"Admiral Akainu!"
In the distance, a Vice Admiral screamed in terror.
Akainu could not even let out a scream. His whole body, as if hit head-on by a full-speed giant warship, turned into a pitiful red meteor, flying backward. He crashed into the side of a large warship in the distance.
Boom, crash!!
The warship's thick armor plate was directly pierced.
Akainu's momentum did not stop. He continuously smashed through several more bulkheads inside the ship before finally embedding himself deep in the steel structure near the engine room.
From the terrifying wound on his chest, a mixture of magma and blood gushed. His presence instantly weakened to its limit. His eyes were vacant. He had clearly completely lost the ability to fight.
Looking closely, one could see a hideous wound running from his right shoulder down to his left abdomen.
One strike.
Just one strike.
Admiral Akainu lost the ability to fight.
The would-be attacker had been counterattacked. After losing one arm, Akainu had gained another unhealable scar on his chest.
But what had Straw Hat done?
Because Whitebeard's strange state had stopped.
"What happened?"
Hidden in the shadows, Blackbeard frowned, looking at Luffy, then at Whitebeard. He raised his hand. "It is... it is gone?"
"Captain, what is gone?" Burgess asked.
"The thing I wanted is gone!" Blackbeard ground his teeth.
The Gura Gura no Mi.
Why had Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi disappeared?
Due to the trait of Devil Fruits, Blackbeard was very sensitive to the presence of ability users.
But looking at Whitebeard, he realized that the man was no longer an ability user.
Could an ability user become a non-ability user without dying?
How had Straw Hat done it?
Blackbeard wanted nothing more than to grab Luffy by the collar and demand all the answers.
But if he went out now, he would be cut to ribbons by Pops and Luffy.
"Hey, hey. No way. What about our plan?" Avalo Pizarro frowned.
Were they going to disband right after joining?
"It seems even Whitebeard survived. One wrong move leads to another. If that is the case, I am not playing along, Teach." Catarina Devon licked her lips.
Clearly, everyone was thinking about leaving.
"Ze ha ha ha. Do not rush. At least give me a chance. It seems we cannot make our move here, but you all have to go back to the New World anyway."
Blackbeard said, "I know a good place for us to stay. I could not get the strongest Gura Gura no Mi, but I can settle for the next best thing. Do you not want to see?"
That was what he said, but Blackbeard's heart was bleeding.
That was the Gura Gura no Mi.
The world's strongest Paramecia.
And Whitebeard, who had lost his Devil Fruit, was looking at Luffy.
"Gurararara. Straw Hat."
Whitebeard's voice was somewhat hoarse. "I did not think it would actually work."
"Ah. I am surprised too."
Luffy grinned. "But you cannot go back to how you were before, can you?"
The Gura Gura no Mi had been extracted from Whitebeard. The force controlling him had also disappeared.
But Whitebeard's body still retained traces of his demonic form.
Half a demon's body. Fangs. Black wings.
Luffy looked at Whitebeard and asked, "What are you now?"
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!