"Get out of here—!!!"
Both sides froze, eyes wide with shock as they watched the island plummeting from the sky.
All the modified beastmen dove straight into the sea, not sparing a second. At that moment, they desperately wished they had extra fins to help them dive deeper, faster, far from the disaster falling above.
On another front, before most of his main forces could retreat back to the ships, Whitey Bay was already steering her icebreaker to flee the battlefield on the frozen sea.
At the center of the clash, Whitebeard, who had been locked in combat with Kaido, immediately withdrew his strength. He shifted aside from Kaido's strike, aiming to rush back and save his sons.
His fists glowed with a pale white light, releasing tremor shockwaves that shot toward the falling island.
But—It was too far. And too late.
Doflamingo had made his move with calculation. The island, thrown down by Doflamingo, had been granted buoyancy by Smoothie and then accelerated by Doflamingo himself.
Now, at this moment—It was moving at terrifying speed!
In the horrified gazes of Whitey Bay and the others, the island came crashing toward them!
There was no time to dodge. All they could do was unleash a final, desperate roar.
Ice spikes, shockwaves, cannon shells — they hurled everything they had at the falling island.
Only a few scattered stones fell in reward for their struggle.
Marco and the others roared, their eyes bloodshot with rage.
"DOFLAMINGO!!!"
Boom rumble rumble rumble—!!!
The island smashed into the sea's surface. Whitey Bay and the icy plain she'd created were like ants in front of a collapsing mountain — utterly crushed to pieces in an instant.
Nearby pirate crews and hordes of ice-plague-infected victims were all swallowed in the chaos, starting their journey to the afterlife together.
A towering wave shot up from the impact, reaching high into the sky—And then came crashing down like a world-ending tsunami, flattening everything around.
Both sides — anyone too close — were swept away and perished in the raging sea!
Slowly, the waves began to calm.
The island of Jainan now lay skewered halfway into the ocean, a haze of blood spreading in the water.
The surviving pirate grunts, no matter which side they belonged to, all wore the same haunted expressions. The big bosses' fights usually spared them — but this damned Heavenly Yaksha didn't give a damn if they lived or died.
"Son of a bitch… that bastard's completely insane!"
From afar, Queen cursed through gritted teeth, soaked head to toe by seawater and still shaking from the near-death experience. He'd almost been flattened right along with them. And unlike that fishman brat Jack, Queen wouldn't survive a dunk in the ocean — even with all his scientific enhancements, drowning was still drowning!
"…He's gotten even stronger." Up in the sky, King circled above, eyes narrowing as he watched the figure atop the dragon's head.
On the Whitebeard side, Marco, Thatch, Jozu, Vista — all the division commanders — their hatred and fury blazed even hotter.
The Heavenly Yaksha had come—the same man who'd murdered Oden's family. And now, he'd sent even more of their family to a watery grave.
Among them, the man who would one day become Blackbeard — Marshall D. Teach — furrowed his brows and quietly stepped back, hiding among the crowd.
"Worororororo! Doflamingo, not bad at all!"
Kaido landed heavily on Jainan Island, laughing uproariously as he glanced at Whitebeard, whose face had turned the color. Kaido had lost some underlings—But Whitebeard? Whitebeard had lost his precious sons.
As for the cannon fodder who died? Only subordinates with value counted as real subordinates. With Doflamingo around, there'd be no shortage of new modified soldiers. Besides, as long as Kaido lived, the Beasts Pirates would never fall. Ever!
"Fufufufufu! I just want this war to be worthy of the name. Isn't that exactly what you wanted, Kaido-san?"
Doflamingo grinned so wide it nearly split his face, satisfied as he carefully stowed away the perfect footage he'd just recorded. He gave a subtle signal for Vergo to slowly descend.
The whole world's attention—Focused right on him.It was too, too beautiful!!!
"You planning to join my fight now?" Kaido's words were flat, his face unreadable.
Doflamingo, fully aware that Kaido despised anyone meddling in his battles, had no intention of making himself unwelcome. With a lazy wave, he chuckled.
"Of course not. I'm just here to enjoy the spectacle—watch the fight for the title of the world's strongest."
"Worororororo! The world's strongest man… obviously, that's me!!!"
Kaido bellowed toward Whitebeard on the opposite side, throwing up his arm with a triumphant roar.
Thud!
Whitebeard didn't even glance at him. With his face dark as thunder, he stepped heavily onto the blood-stained earth — the island that had just become the grave of his sons.
The situation left no room for mistakes. Kaido was already a monster to deal with. Add in the Heavenly Yaksha and that black dragon circling overhead…If things went wrong, the Whitebeard Pirates might be wiped out here and now.
Whitebeard stabbed his naginata, Murakumogiri, into the ground.
His fists lit up again with pale white light, muscles swelling like boulders under his skin.His powerful legs stamped down, blasting the earth apart beneath him—Then he struck!
His punch hammered the very air.
Vmmm—!
The world seemed to turn into glass. Cracks spiderwebbed through the atmosphere itself, spreading in every direction.
This was the power known as the strongest in the world—The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!
Whitebeard's swift, decisive strike cut off Doflamingo and Kaido's conversation in an instant.
Kaido's eyes narrowed sharply. In a flash, he activated his Armament Haki, coating his massive frame. He knew—this hit was aimed straight at him!
Boom rumble rumble—!!
The next moment, the air howled and the ground shattered! The invisible shockwave tore through Kaido's defenses. Even with his Oni bloodline, his Mythical Zoan-enhanced body, and years of Haki training—Kaido's flesh cracked open, blood spraying everywhere!
Behind him, deep fissures ripped through the earth like it was about to split apart. Jainan Island, barely settled into the sea, trembled under the force of destruction again.
The gathered Beasts Pirates were caught in the blast and sent flying into the sky, tossed far away like ragdolls.
On the other side, the battered Whitebeard Pirates felt their fading morale surge back. They rallied, charging toward Jainan Island.
No matter what—Their old man was invincible!
"Listen up, boys!!"
Whitebeard yanked Murakumogiri free and stopped his sons from getting any closer.
"Stay away from this island! The fight from here on out—I'm going all out. This isn't a battle you can join."
And he wasn't wrong. At full power, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit could sink islands as an afterthought. Ordinary people wouldn't just be unable to help — they wouldn't even qualify to watch.
His commanders and the remaining captains all stiffened at those words. Did this mean… he was ordering them to retreat while he stayed behind? Their faces twisted with panic.
"Old man!!"
"Kurarararara! Don't worry about me—I'm Whitebeard, dammit!"
Whitebeard roared with laughter, his voice as bold as ever. Crisis had always walked hand-in-hand with pirates since the day they were born.
From Murakumogiri, black and red lightning crackled, snaking out in warning. He was ready—Ready for whatever came from the sky, or from Kaido, now charging in like a thunderbolt.
"Wororororo! That hurts! But it feels so good!!!"
The pain only made Kaido more excited. His blood-soaked body surged forward, accelerating even faster.
His kanabo, coated in Conqueror's Haki, crackled with lightning that connected him to the storming sky—Making Kaido look less like a man and more like a god swinging down thunder itself.
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg