On the other side of the battlefield, Whitebeard gathered what little strength he had left.
This would be his final clash.
The instant the two titans collided, a deafening explosion tore through the air!
The ground around them crumbled, and Hive Island itself seemed on the verge of collapse.
At that moment, countless eyes were fixed upon the battle.
Even Uchiha Madara and Marco, who had been locked in combat, halted and turned their gazes toward the center of the island.
"…Dad will win. He has to win…"
Marco whispered to himself, clinging to hope, praying for a miracle.
But deep down, Marco knew the truth—Whitebeard's chances of turning the tide were almost zero.
"Whitebeard is finished," Uchiha Madara said flatly, his expression devoid of sympathy.
A chilling sound followed, and then a massive figure was hurled through the air at terrifying speed. Blood sprayed in arcs across the sky as the body crashed violently into the ground.
Everyone's eyes widened.
That figure—was Whitebeard.
His enormous frame looked like a kite with its string cut, blood covering him from head to toe.
He landed heavily, unable to move.
If not for the faint, ragged breaths escaping him, anyone would have believed that the strongest man in the world had already fallen.
The sight shattered the hearts of the Whitebeard Pirates.
To them, Whitebeard was more than their captain—he was their father, their family, closer even than blood.
Now, that great man lay broken and covered in blood, his life hanging by a thread.
The misery of it all was unbearable.
The world's number one man… defeated like this?
Unthinkable.
"It's impossible… it has to be a lie!" someone cried.
Jozu, who had just regained consciousness, saw Whitebeard's condition and was so overcome with rage and grief that he vomited blood on the spot.
Thud!
He collapsed once again, unconscious.
Before he fainted, Jozu managed one last desperate cry:
"Dad is the strongest! He won't lose! He can't lose!"
His words echoed the feelings of many of the captains.
For twenty years since Roger's death, when people spoke of pirates, the first name was always Whitebeard.
No one doubted that he could have claimed the One Piece had he chosen to.
Even the Marines believed that, if Whitebeard had desired the throne, he could have inherited Roger's mantle as the Pirate King. With his unmatched strength and overwhelming prestige, he could rally the seas at any time.
Twenty years.
Twenty full years.
The man known as the world's strongest, the one closest to the title of Pirate King…
Now lay defeated by a pirate who had only set sail less than a year ago.
Who could accept such a reality?
"Has our era truly come to an end?"
"Is a new strongest pirate about to be born…?"
Vista, his body wrapped in bandages like a mummy, glanced at Kronos in the distance. His expression was unreadable, but in his heart, he sighed.
He had long known this day would come. No matter how mighty his father was, even Whitebeard could not remain invincible forever.
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