The young man standing before them—who had become a Warlord of the Sea before even turning twenty—had made a name for himself across the Grand Line in less than three years.
Whether it was his strength or his methods, everything about him gave off the unmistakable sense that he would soon become the center of a raging storm.
And yet—
Since the battle began, he had shown no hesitation.
Simply acting based on his position as a Warlord of the Sea didn't seem like enough of a justification for his actions.
"This brat... does he want my head?"
Whitebeard gazed at Maude, who stood beside the corpse of Little Oars Jr.
In the pirate world, it was common for the new generation to surpass the old.
Even he, the man hailed as the strongest in the world, was no exception—countless pirates sought to take his life.
To put it bluntly, most of the powerful figures sailing these seas would consider it an honor to claim his head.
Beyond that, killing him meant inheriting the title of the world's strongest man.
Their gazes locked in midair.
Whitebeard immediately sensed the unmistakable battle intent radiating from Maude.
Old memories, buried deep with time, suddenly surfaced.
That look in his eyes… that aura… he had seen it before.
Yes… it was reminiscent of someone from Roger's crew. A Devil Fruit user who had left a deep impression on him.
A man who pursued strength to the point of disregarding his own life, relentlessly seeking battle.
Whitebeard's eyes sharpened.
This young brat wasn't just here for his head, nor was he simply carrying out his duties as a Warlord of the Sea.
More than anything, he was using this war as an opportunity to grow stronger.
It was almost as if he was mocking both the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates, who were fighting desperately with their lives on the line.
"Gurarara… how arrogant, brat."
Whitebeard hefted his naginata, Murakumogiri, and said coldly, "If you want to challenge me, come back in a hundred years."
"..."
Hearing those words, Maude held his blade horizontally in front of him.
He glanced at the Whitebeard Pirates' division commanders charging forward and immediately understood the meaning behind Whitebeard's words. The battle intent in his eyes dimmed slightly.
After all, this was the largest war since the dawn of the Great Pirate Era.
Here, there were no duels—only an all-out struggle for survival.
"Even so, I won't miss a single opportunity to attack."
Maude bent his elbow, resting the back of his blade, Shusui, on his shoulder, preparing to unleash Hakoku.
"Every attack will be a valuable experience."
Haki surged from his hands, coating the length of his blade.
"You want to go after Pops? Then step over our dead bodies first!"
More than ten of Whitebeard's swiftest subordinates charged at Maude. Their expressions were fierce as they leapt into the air, swinging their swords down at him.
"Hey, don't be reckless!"
Blenheim, the captain of the 9th division, a burly man wielding a Western sword, frowned at his crewmates' reckless assault.
But his warning came a few seconds too late.
"Out of my way."
As the pirates lunged toward him, Maude's eyes flashed with a chilling light. He remained completely still in his Hakoku stance.
Conqueror's Haki!
A barely visible shockwave, as thin as a veil of darkness, erupted from Maude's body and shot through the air, enveloping the airborne pirates.
Silent and swift, the pirates froze as if struck by an invisible force. Their bodies trembled before their eyes rolled back, and they plummeted to the ground.
Clang!
Weapons fell to the floor with a chorus of metallic echoes.
"Conqueror's Haki…? It's only natural for a brat like you to possess such potential."
Whitebeard, who had been gathering his Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power, looked at Maude with a sharp gaze.
Despite calling Maude a brat, the fact that he acknowledged his strength was undeniable.
"It's Conqueror's Haki!"
Unlike Whitebeard's calm demeanor, Blenheim was visibly shaken.
He watched in shock as his crewmates collapsed mid-air, his pupils contracting as he turned to Maude, who was just about to strike.
The rest of the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies, seeing this unfold, were also taken aback.
"Whoa, whoa… he awakened Conqueror's Haki at such a young age?"
"Honestly, it doesn't even feel surprising that he has it."
"The real issue is how well he can already control it at his age!"
"Who cares how talented he is? Just kill him!"
With that, Whitebeard's pirates surged toward Maude, their killing intent thick in the air.
But Maude paid them no mind.
At this moment, his eyes were locked solely on Whitebeard.
Hakoku—Slash!
Shusui, resting on his shoulder, suddenly swung forward like an unleashed bowstring, releasing a crescent-shaped black shockwave.
As the blade cut downward, a moon-shaped blast carved through the air, surging straight toward Whitebeard, who was still compressing his Tremor-Tremor power into his blade.
The Whitebeard Pirates instinctively dodged, warily watching the destructive arc of the Hakoku Slash as it passed by.
"Captain Jozu is here…"
Despite the sheer power of the incoming attack, none of them were worried.
Whitebeard, too, remained completely unfazed, continuing to focus on his own attack.
Just before the Hakoku Slash could reach its target, Jozu stepped forward, positioning himself between Whitebeard and the attack.
Boom!
The powerful shockwave crashed into Jozu's diamond-coated body, unable to cut through. The impact instead sent a storm of wind and energy swirling around him.
Whitebeard's gaze drifted past Jozu, settling on Little Oars Jr.'s bloodied corpse.
Regardless of how this battle unfolded, Maude would undoubtedly use that massive body to block attacks.
"Forgive me, Oars…"
Muttering to himself, Whitebeard swung his naginata, unleashing a shockwave even stronger than before.
Crack!
Fissures formed in the air, racing toward Maude at an unstoppable speed.
"So it's still not enough…"
Maude sighed inwardly.
With so many obstacles in the way, directly clashing with Whitebeard was unrealistic.
"Then I'll just go with the flow…"
As he withdrew his blade, Maude manipulated Oars' body to intercept the attack.
The quake-infused shockwave slammed into Oars' already battered corpse.
The massive body, riddled with wounds, cracked even further, web-like fractures spreading across its surface.
"Hmm?"
Maude's expression shifted slightly.
This time, Whitebeard's attack was stronger—so much so that the Shadow Pins holding Oars' corpse in place were beginning to loosen.
"I never expected a corpse to block you forever anyway."
Acknowledging the inevitable, Maude withdrew his Shadow Pins.
Without them, Oars' body was sent flying.
Amidst the gasps of onlookers, the colossal corpse crashed onto the battlefield, crushing hundreds of Marines beneath its weight.
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