The vast plaza was strewn with countless corpses, lying haphazardly on the ground.
Blood flowed from the fallen, pooling into crimson puddles across the battlefield.
The air was thick with the acrid stench of gunpowder, easily overpowering the iron tang of blood rising from the ground.
Many of the gravely wounded were still clinging to life, their weak moans escaping as they lay in the pools of blood.
With their strength fading, their only thought was to cry for help.
Yet, their voices were quickly drowned out by the relentless gunfire and the clashing of blades.
No one would come to save them.
All they could do was wait for death to claim them in agony.
This was the brutal reality of war, starkly different from the glorified depictions on paper.
Step. Step.
Under countless gazes, Maude, who had just moments ago slammed the legendary Marine hero into the ground, now strode forward as if nothing had happened.
His expression remained calm, utterly unbothered by the raging battlefield around him.
His boots pressed into the blood-soaked ground, sending ripples through the puddles beneath him.
As he walked, he stepped over the lifeless bodies, their eyes still wide with unfulfilled resolve.
His gaze remained fixed ahead, locked onto Whitebeard, who was engaged in a fierce standoff with Akainu.
"Roar!"
His seemingly unguarded stance caught the attention of two massive rhinoceroses, each adorned with enormous, razor-sharp horns.
Under their heavy hooves lay mangled corpses, and their horns impaled the bodies of two or three dead Marines.
With bloodshot eyes, they violently tossed their heads, flinging the corpses aside before setting their sights on their new target—Maude.
Thud. Thud.
Without hesitation, the colossal beasts pounded the ground with their hooves, driving their enormous frames straight toward him.
But the approaching threat did nothing to disrupt Maude's steady pace.
He continued forward, eyes fixed ahead.
Yet, behind him, his shadow silently twisted and rose, forming two pitch-black pillars, their tips as sharp as spears.
In an instant, the shadowy spears shot forward like bolts of black lightning, effortlessly piercing through the supposedly impenetrable hides of the charging beasts.
The sharp ends of the shadow spears drove into the rhinos' foreheads, sinking deep into their massive bodies.
Their rampage halted abruptly as their bodies froze in place.
And in the next moment—
The shadow spears, embedded within them, suddenly expanded like a blooming iron thistle, transforming into a mass of jagged spikes that burst from within.
In the blink of an eye, the two rhinos were turned into grotesque pincushions, their bodies riddled with countless spears.
A moment later, the pitch-black shadows retracted as swiftly as they had struck, vanishing behind Maude without a trace of blood on them.
The two impaled beasts crashed heavily to the ground, lifeless.
From the moment the shadow spears pierced them to the moment they collapsed, the entire sequence lasted no more than two seconds.
Nearby Marines gaped in shock at the fallen monsters.
Before this, the duo of horned rhinos had already slaughtered over thirty of their comrades.
Their thick hides had rendered the Marines' attacks nearly useless, barely leaving shallow wounds.
Among the countless feral beasts unleashed by Golden Lion, these two had been among the most troublesome for the Marines trying to hold the middle ground.
Even when besieged from all sides, the beasts remained untamed, brimming with monstrous vitality.
And yet…
"So strong!"
"We fought so hard to take them down, and he just… finished them off like it was nothing…"
The Marines who had been desperately battling the rhinos turned their stunned gazes toward Maude, who was now walking past them.
They knew firsthand how durable those creatures were—attacking them had felt futile.
Yet Maude had dispatched them effortlessly, as if slicing through paper.
Familiar figures like Momousagi, Chaton, Smoker, Hina, and Tashigi watched in heavy silence.
First, he had clashed with Garp and emerged dominant.
Then, he had dispatched two fearsome beasts with eerie ease.
His overwhelming strength and unshaken composure shattered their previous understanding of his abilities.
Just how strong had Maude become?
"What kind of monster progresses at this speed…?"
Chaton wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
Not long ago, he had personally witnessed Maude's battle with Doflamingo at Marine Headquarters.
Even then, he had found Maude's rate of growth absurd.
But now, in the midst of this war, it was clear—Maude had not even been fighting at full strength back then.
Momousagi's wine-red eyes darkened with seriousness.
As prideful as she was, she had to admit she agreed with Chaton.
"What's he planning?"
With the number of rampaging beasts dwindling, more and more eyes turned toward Maude.
Silently, they watched him stride toward the battlefield's most ferocious frontlines.
It wasn't long before someone noticed the unwavering direction of his gaze.
And at the end of that line of sight—
Whitebeard and Akainu, locked in fierce combat on an open stretch of ground.
"Wait…"
"His target is… Whitebeard!?"
"No way…"
Marines who realized this felt their hearts tighten, though they could understand his motive.
Whitebeard.
One of the Four Emperors.
The Strongest Man in the World.
The legend who carried a reputation coveted by both pirates and Marines alike.
If Maude could take down Whitebeard in single combat, he would claim the title of the world's strongest.
"A~lright… but is he really after 'fame' alone? If he gets it, then what comes next?"
Aokiji narrowed his eyes, watching Maude close the distance toward Whitebeard.
"I'd really like to hear your answer. If you weren't a pirate…"
Scratching his cheek as if trying to shake off an idle thought, Aokiji turned away and resumed clearing out the remaining beasts.
As Maude steadily advanced toward the most intense part of the battlefield, he became the undeniable center of attention.
Both the Marines and Whitebeard's allies took notice.
The commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates and the captains of their grand fleet quickly recognized the aura of hostility emanating from Maude as he approached their captain.
"Our old man is fighting Akainu. We can't let you interfere!"
Despite their exhaustion, a group of pirates fixed Maude with cold glares and rushed at him with murderous intent.
"Wait! You're no match for him—fall back!"
The captains who had distinguished themselves in the war shouted urgently, but it was too late.
Before their eyes, the scene of the rhinos' brutal demise replayed—
This time, it was the pirates who had charged at Maude.
Shadow spears, now enhanced with Haki, tore through their bodies, snuffing out their lives in an instant.
Blood rained down as lifeless corpses thudded onto the battlefield.
Not far away, the Warlords of the Sea, who had been engaging Whitebeard's commanders in calculated exchanges, still had enough awareness to observe Maude's movements.
And beyond them, in a battlefield cleared specifically for two titans—
Whitebeard and Akainu.
"I don't need any help."
Whitebeard's commanding voice silenced every pirate present.
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