Among Devil Fruit abilities, there exists a hierarchy—some powers take precedence over others, while some abilities naturally suppress or counteract their counterparts.
In terms of control, the Shadow-Shadow Fruit holds a higher priority than the Float-Float Fruit.
When Maude exerted his ability over the island's shadow, Golden Lion immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Even though he had not lost control over the island itself, he could only watch helplessly as it plummeted toward the harbor, completely unable to stop it.
It felt as if he was clutching a basketball with all his might, only for Maude to walk up, forcibly snatch it from his grasp, and then dunk it into the hoop—all while the referee stood by without blowing the whistle.
This was beyond frustrating!
Golden Lion's expression darkened, his face almost dripping with fury.
He had mentally prepared himself for an all-out battle against the Navy's strongest forces.
Yet, he never expected to suffer a setback at Maude's hands first.
The massive island, large enough to cover the entire harbor, continued descending toward the Whitebeard Pirates positioned on the frozen bay, obeying Maude's will.
"!!!"
Faced with such an overwhelming force, even the elite crew members of the Whitebeard Pirates felt their hearts race.
Whitebeard's fists radiated an intense energy.
Due to his deteriorating health, he had long since learned to restrain the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit whenever possible.
Only by doing so could his ailing, battle-worn body endure for just a little longer.
But in this moment, restraint was no longer an option—regardless of the toll it would take on him.
The full force of his tremor power compressed within his fists.
His chest and arms swelled, muscles bulging grotesquely like inflating balloons, with veins writhing across his exposed skin like tiny serpents.
"Just a mere island…"
With a mighty swing, Whitebeard struck the air.
The full force of his quake power surged from his fist, tearing through the space ahead.
Crack! Crack!
A deafening, bone-chilling sound echoed as countless glowing fissures instantly spread across the island's underside at an unfathomable speed.
In an instant, the glowing cracks vanished, replaced by deep, jagged fractures splitting through the island's foundation.
As the cracks widened, massive chunks of rock broke free from the island's base, cascading downward like a swarm of locusts, crashing toward the earth below.
Under the relentless expansion of the fractures, the entire island began to disintegrate—not slowly, but at an alarming rate.
"Boom—!"
A thunderous roar, like the rumbling of a spring storm, echoed across the skies of Marineford.
Every eye was drawn to the scene unfolding before them.
The island had shattered into more than a dozen massive rock fragments, each crashing onto the frozen bay below.
The ice, over twenty meters thick, was utterly incapable of withstanding the impact. With a series of earth-shaking rumbles, it fractured and sank into the sea.
The remnants of the island plunged into the ocean, colliding with the water and creating immense waves that surged from the gaps between the sinking rocks.
Moments later, when the disintegrated island pieces finally settled onto the seabed beneath the harbor, all of Marineford trembled violently.
"He actually… shattered an entire island?"
Countless onlookers stared at the harbor in sheer disbelief.
This was the power of the world's strongest man.
...
On the execution platform, Garp and Sengoku silently observed the harbor, now filled with the island's remnants.
"This is bad…"
A flicker of red light flashed in Garp's eyes as he peered through the thick dust and debris.
With his Observation Haki, he could still sense the presence of the Whitebeard Pirates.
In other words, not only had Whitebeard shattered an island, but he had also ensured his crew's survival in the process.
Additionally, the island debris now filled the harbor, not only destroying the encircling fortress walls but also providing a new foothold for the Whitebeard Pirates.
And with Golden Lion's forces in the skies above…
Sengoku rubbed his temples, feeling the situation spiral out of control.
The massive debris from the shattered island had obliterated the fortress walls, forcing the Warlords of the Sea and naval forces stationed there to retreat to the plaza, narrowly avoiding annihilation.
As for Little Oars Jr.'s corpse, with Maude's shadow manipulation removed, it had regrettably been buried beneath the collapsing rubble.
"Fufufu… This kind of power can no longer be described as mere 'monstrous.'"
Doflamingo's gaze pierced through the dust, locking onto Whitebeard. His tone carried an undeniable trace of astonishment.
Around him, the other Warlords and Marines bore expressions of shock and disbelief as they stared at the aftermath in the harbor.
Not far from them, while the others remained fixated on the unfolding events, Maude silently withdrew from view.
"…Is this really something a dying old man should be capable of?"
Maude murmured to himself.
"He's like a war machine among monsters… Whitebeard."
The pain radiating from his body made Maude sigh inwardly.
Beneath his clothing, his chest, back, abdomen, and thighs were covered in thin, razor-like wounds.
Blood seeped from them, slowly soaking through his undershirt.
"…Good thing I withdrew my shadow in time, or else—"
Maude glanced down at his bloodstained clothing.
No Devil Fruit is perfect, nor is there such a thing as an invincible ability.
Each power has strengths and weaknesses.
And the Shadow-Shadow Fruit was no exception.
No matter how much Maude had developed its abilities, certain innate weaknesses remained.
For instance, salt could expel shadows from a zombie's body.
Or in this case—
When Maude poured his own shadow into the island's, linking them as one, Whitebeard's devastating quake did more than just shatter the island.
It also shattered its shadow.
Because Maude's shadow had merged with the island's, the fractures in the island's shadow translated directly into injuries on his own shadow.
And when his shadow returned to him, the damage was reflected onto his physical body.
This was an outcome Maude hadn't anticipated.
After all, he had never imagined that an old, terminally ill Whitebeard could unleash such overwhelming power—shattering an entire island in an instant.
Nor had he ever experienced this kind of drawback before, leaving him unaware of its risks.
"From now on… I can't recklessly gamble everything on my shadow."
Maude made a mental note.
Although he hadn't managed to wipe out the Whitebeard Pirates with the island or collect key experience points, the revelation of this crucial weakness—at the cost of several superficial wounds—was a valuable lesson.
The commotion in the harbor gradually subsided.
...
Aboard the Moby Dick's secondary vessel.
The once-mighty Whitebeard, who had just stunned the world, was now clutching his chest, kneeling on the deck.
Before him was a pool of thick, freshly vomited blood.
"Pops!!!"
The Whitebeard Pirates, who had just barely neutralized the aftermath of his quake, were horrified at the sight.
The strongest man in the world—was finally succumbing to the fate of age and illness…
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