With a single strike, Whitebeard shattered the island.
However, exerting such immense power took a heavy toll on his already deteriorating body. His aging organs, unable to withstand the full force of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, continued to degrade further.
From a medical standpoint, the fact that Whitebeard could still breathe freely was nothing short of miraculous.
The pool of thick blood on the deck spoke louder than any warning from the doctors and nurses.
"Even if they call me a demon or a monster, I can't be the strongest forever..."
Whitebeard silently stared at the ominous blood, a grim sign that his body was nearing its limit.
"In the end... I am still just a man with a single heart. One day, I too must face death. But before I fall... at the very least... I must carve a path forward for the young lives who carry the future!"
Slowly, he straightened his towering frame and reached for his naginata, Murakumogiri.
"Pops!"
His crew members quickly gathered around, concern etched on their faces as they noticed the signs of his worsening condition.
"Pops, are you alright?"
"Gurararara... It's nothing but a little 'phlegm.' No big deal."
Wiping the blood from his lips, Whitebeard shifted his gaze toward the bay, now filled with the shattered remnants of the island.
"Don't waste your thoughts on me. Now that we have solid ground, you don't need me to tell you what comes next..."
"Heh, the path is open, and the encirclement wall has been crushed!"
"Take down the Marines!!!"
"Hahahaha!!!"
Hearing Whitebeard's words, the surrounding pirates steadied themselves before erupting into battle cries, brandishing their weapons high.
"Disembark! Storm Marineford!!!"
With unwavering determination, the Whitebeard Pirates charged off their icebreaker ships, racing across the newly formed land toward the execution platform.
In an instant, they had regrouped, rallying their forces with unprecedented momentum.
...
Above the Battlefield.
The initially furious Golden Lion slowly regained his composure as he witnessed the outcome of Whitebeard's devastating strike.
His gaze flickered coldly toward Maude, who had forcibly wrested control of the islands from his grasp.
But considering the result, it wasn't entirely a bad thing.
Shifting his focus back to the bay, he sneered.
"Jihahahaha...!"
As he watched the Whitebeard Pirates charge forward, Golden Lion's eyes gleamed with a chilling light. Stretching his arms wide, he let out a wild laugh: "Crush Marineford in one fell swoop!!!"
His laughter echoed across the skies of Marineford as the four floating islands under his command suddenly rose higher, breaking free from Fujitora's anti-gravity field.
"Hmm..."
Fujitora tilted his head "toward" the airborne Golden Lion, sensing an ominous shift.
In the sky.
The four islands under Golden Lion's control ascended by a dozen meters before tilting and beginning a slow descent toward the ground.
As they pitched downward, everything on them—raging beasts, massive boulders, and vast lakes—was forcibly displaced toward the edges.
Sensing the impending danger, the creatures inhabiting the islands clung desperately to whatever they could grasp, as if facing the end of the world.
But as the tilt increased, their frantic struggle became futile.
One after another, thousands of creatures were flung off the islands, plummeting toward Marineford like a torrential downpour.
A chorus of roars, screeches, and howls filled the air, echoing ominously above the battlefield.
The surreal sight sent a wave of shock through the ranks of the Marines.
Fujitora gripped his sword's hilt, preparing to use his gravity powers to redirect the descending creatures into the sea.
However—
The four islands pressing down from above acted like shackles, restricting his movements.
"Jihahahaha! There's a limit to how much one man can 'see,' you irritating blind bastard..."
Golden Lion's cold gaze locked onto Fujitora from afar.
Fujitora's brows furrowed.
Thousands of creatures hurtled toward Marineford.
"What the hell are those?!"
Marines on the plaza, initially dumbfounded, quickly noticed the monstrous forms falling from the islands.
Mammals, insects—creatures of all kinds.
The one common trait? They were enormous.
"Dodge!"
The Marines scrambled for cover as the giant beasts rained down.
Boom! Boom!
Thousands of creatures crashed into the plaza and the town beyond, sending shockwaves of dust and rubble into the air.
In mere moments, more than half of the town's buildings were reduced to ruins.
Falling from such heights, the Marines naturally assumed the beasts would be killed on impact.
However—
From within the swirling dust, a chorus of feral growls erupted.
"Huh?"
Nearby Marines, wide-eyed with shock, watched as monstrous figures emerged from the haze.
"They're still alive...?!"
Before them stood tigers, gorillas, leopards, spiders, elephants, lizards, snakes, bulls—
Every kind of beast imaginable.
Yet not a single one bore a visible wound.
"They fell from that height... and they're not just alive, they don't even have a scratch?!"
The Marines were dumbfounded.
And worse, the creatures' every movement—their tensed limbs, their crimson eyes—radiated sheer hostility.
Their instincts were right.
Each of these creatures had been injected with a substance known as SIQ, a drug developed by the Golden Lion Pirates.
Its effect? Continuous forced evolution in the direction of combat.
However—
With repeated injections, while their growth accelerated exponentially, so too did their aggression.
In other words—
They had become killing machines.
And now, this army of thousands—each enhanced by SIQ—stood as the culmination of Golden Lion's two decades of effort!
Today,
Golden Lion had unleashed his masterpiece upon Marineford.
This could very well be the turning point of the war.
"ROAR!!!"
The bloodshot eyes of the feral beasts locked onto the surrounding Marines.
With a sudden, violent lunge, they pounced.
"Damn it, be careful! These things aren't normal!"
The Marines braced themselves, raising their guns and swords against the incoming horde.
But—
Bullets failed to pierce their hides.
Blades and axes left only superficial scratches.
"Their defense is insane...!"
The Marines were stunned by the creatures' resilience.
And the beasts? They were not ones to take hits without retaliation.
Fueled by their monstrous strength, razor-sharp claws, and crushing jaws, they tore through Marine ranks with ruthless efficiency—sending soldiers flying and slashing deep, bloody wounds across their bodies.
...
Execution Platform.
Watching the chaos unfold below, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's expression turned grim.
"So this is your trump card..."
He muttered under his breath.
"Golden Lion!"
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