Watching the Marines fall into a complete rout, Dragon stood in one corner of the battlefield, somewhat surprised. He had not expected the battle to change so suddenly and dramatically. After dodging one of Garp's furious iron-fist strikes, Dragon looked at his old man, who was also glancing around with an ugly expression, and said, "Old man, looks like there's no point in us continuing this fight."
"Why is this happening?"
At that moment, even Garp could not understand it.
Who could have imagined that, in this long battle between the Sky Pirates and the Marines, the ones to collapse first would be the Marines?
No matter how one looked at it, the Marines clearly held an absolute advantage in this war.
The Sky Pirates could only gain temporary advantages through strange and unusual methods.
Yet in the end, the first side to break was actually the Marines.
Did the will forged by the Marines' long training really lose to these scattered pirates?
As if he knew what Garp was thinking, Dragon looked across the battlefield, his heart filled with hope as he said, "Old man, do you see it now? This is what I meant when I said this world is rotting beyond cure. That sickness hasn't only seeped into the world itself. It has seeped into every person's heart, whether CP or the Marines. During the years when I followed your wishes and joined the Marines, I saw it clearly. They carry the word 'justice' on their backs, but not a single Marine can explain what that justice truly is. It isn't because they don't know. It's because they know all too well that as long as the Celestial Dragons and the World Government exist above them, that word, 'justice,' will never be clean... And now, the real reason the Marines are losing this war isn't because the Sky Pirates are so powerful. It's because of the confusion in the Marines' own hearts... All Captain Yemu did was show his comrades a path toward a brighter world, and that alone was enough to bring everyone's hearts together and unleash astonishing fighting power..."
Countless Marines fled past them, with enormous Awakened Ones and soldiers of the Sky Pirates chasing behind them.
Garp seemed not to see any of it. He only asked his son, "So this is what you've always wanted to do too?"
Dragon froze for a moment, then nodded without hesitation.
"Yes. Captain Yemu and I have the same goal. We want to overthrow the World Government..."
"Is that so? Then let your old man take a good look and see whether a brat like you really has the right to say such big words."
Sensing the sudden change in his old man's aura, Dragon's expression shifted. But very quickly, as if he had realized something, he nodded heavily and took a serious fighting stance.
"Don't worry, old man. I won't let you down..."
...
"Boom..."
On another battlefield, at the very center of the sea where countless enormous chunks of ice floated.
Admiral Zephyr was fighting with all his strength against the Sky Pirates' navigator, Fisher Tiger.
"More More 50x Gun Wave!"
Tiger leaped into the sky, gathering countless droplets of water in both hands. After condensing them together, he used his Devil Fruit ability to enlarge them fifty times over, turning them into a massive water shockwave that surged toward Zephyr.
The attack covered such a wide range that Zephyr had nowhere to dodge.
"Come on!"
Zephyr was not flustered in the slightest.
Pitch-black Armament Haki gathered over both his fists, and he threw a punch straight into the incoming water shockwave.
The shockwave released by his Armament Haki collided with the water shockwave.
For a thousand meters around the two of them, a steady rain began to fall.
At the center of the battlefield, the two stood facing each other, carrying a faint sense of mutual respect.
Wiping the water from his forehead, Zephyr looked excitedly at Tiger, who had begun to pant across from him, and praised him.
"Even as a Devil Fruit user, you've refined the power of the sea to such a level. As expected of the legendary warrior of Fish-Man Island, Fisher Tiger."
"You flatter me! I'm only relying on the power of my Devil Fruit. I'm still far from your level, Admiral Zephyr!"
Although the two of them were enemies at that moment, Tiger held great respect for Zephyr.
"Tch... Hahaha, don't be so modest!"
Zephyr burst out laughing.
"I've read your file. You're only thirty now, right? You're far younger than me, and fish-men naturally live longer than humans. One day, you'll definitely surpass me..."
Tiger was momentarily stunned by Zephyr's praise.
Then he saw Zephyr glance around.
"It looks like the Marines have already lost this war. But don't expect me to go easy on you. Until Sengoku gives the order to retreat, I'll keep fighting without mercy..."
Feeling Zephyr's spirit, Tiger was deeply shaken.
"I'm the same. Until the captain gives the order that we've won, no matter what, I'll keep holding you here, Admiral Zephyr..."
...
If Tiger and Zephyr's battle was, for the most part, a clash between Marine martial arts and Fish-Man martial arts, then high above in the sky, the duel between Enel and Borsalino was a dazzling contest of Devil Fruits.
In the story, Zephyr once said something to Borsalino after he had become an Admiral. He said Borsalino relied too much on his Devil Fruit ability.
But honestly, with a Devil Fruit so useful, so powerful in both speed and destructive force, refusing to use it just to pursue the power of Haki would be far too foolish.
That was true for Borsalino's Pika Pika no Mi, and it was just as true for Enel's Goro Goro no Mi.
In fact, if Enel had not witnessed the cool and shocking scene of Yemu's Conqueror's Haki awakening and erupting for the first time when he was young, he probably would not have cared so much about Haki either.
But now, as the two of them fought, both sides had unconsciously made their Devil Fruit powers the focus of the battle.
The reason was simple.
It was just like the debate over whether Yemu's Mera Mera no Mi or Kuzan's Hie Hie no Mi was stronger.
On the seas, many people were discussing this as well.
Which was stronger, the Goro Goro no Mi possessed by Enel, the First Mate of the Sky Pirates, or the Pika Pika no Mi of Vice Admiral Borsalino of the Marines?
Both Devil Fruits were famous for speed and destructive power. In a sense, they had extremely similar traits.
Lightning versus light.
And so, high above the battlefield, because both had elementalized, the naked eye could not capture their figures at all.
All anyone could see were lightning and beams of light flashing through the clouds, locked together as they collided again and again, exploding into countless sparks.
Brilliant and dazzling.
It seemed impossible to decide a winner in a short time.
Then, as the gaze dropped from the sky to the battlefield below.
"Bolo Breath!"
"Frozen Bird!"
The collision between blazing flames and the ice pheasant once again raised a massive cloud of water vapor...
***
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