Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Pangaea Castle.
Five gigantic figures suddenly reappeared in the council hall. Though their animal forms hadn't been dispelled by Magnus, getting yanked from Mary Geoise's edge back to Pangaea Castle felt even worse than if his Haoshoku had forcibly stripped those forms away.
"That damned pirate!"
"Lucas Saint is still over there!"
"Tell him to hold— we'll return to support him!"
"My sword… where is my sword?"
…
As his severed wrist finished knitting, the bald Elder reflexively clenched his hand—only to realize his blade was gone.
Nasjuro froze, then erupted in fury.
It wasn't just a Supreme Grade blade; he had tempered it into a black blade with Haki over centuries. There were only a handful like it in the world.
…
The other Elders glanced over with… pity.
Because they all knew—
there was a nine-in-ten chance Nasjuro would never get that sword back.
Had Magnus not blasted them home—
then even with Magnus restored, there was still a chance to pin him, as long as Nasjuro and Marcus stalled him.
But now, only Lucas Saint remained on the outskirts of Mary Geoise.
With the power Magnus had just shown—
could Lucas Saint win?
The answer was no.
Even before learning Observation Kill, Magnus could seize the edge against Lucas. Now?
His Haoshoku was superior.
His Busoshoku overpowered.
Their Kenbunshoku—simply dead on arrival.
The only thing Lucas could still lean on was the sword art he'd honed for decades—and even that only ran even with Magnus.
And right now, Magnus—
left hand holding the Supreme Grade Kitetsu, right hand gripping his own great blade Frostshade—needed no fancy swordplay.
Just straight, honest, crushing force.
By now, Lucas Saint's body was lined with wounds.
And the strangest thing—
for one who possessed immortality, he was bleeding like an ordinary man. His wounds weren't closing at all.
"As expected—if I use Haoshoku to sever what Imu grafted onto you, your immortality shuts off!"
Magnus's hybrid form flowed into nitoryu.
He favored the single blade normally—but that didn't mean he couldn't dual-wield; he was simply less practiced at it.
Truth was—
he was toying with Lucas now.
After half a day of life-or-death struggle, this was the first breath he'd gotten.
Crossing swords with Lucas—
he was mainly verifying his theory.
"Same as with hardening—Haoshoku can cut your link to Imu, but it isn't permanent. You can still use Haki to blunt the effect of my strikes."
So what he'd told Harald hadn't been wrong: only the very top tier of Haoshoku could counter the Holy Knights' immortality. If your will didn't absolutely overwhelm the foe's, it wouldn't take.
"That's far enough for now."
Magnus tipped his chin. On the horizon, several auras were rushing back—this time not via teleporting fruits, but running under their own power.
Mary Geoise wasn't even a hundred kilometers across.
Their chase had felt long,
but at their speed, crossing Mary Geoise took less than five minutes.
Could Magnus kill Lucas Saint in five minutes?
He had the advantage, yes, but finishing a top fighter isn't done in a heartbeat.
"White Wolf Magnus!!"
As Magnus turned to leave, Lucas ground his teeth, but he didn't dare give chase.
Magnus had cracked his immortality.
If not for the Elders racing back, Magnus would gladly have stayed and settled it—
to the death.
When the Elders arrived and saw Lucas hold his ground, they said nothing. They knew—at Lucas's level, holding Magnus was unlikely.
"This whole operation must have been laid by Magnus from the start."
"He was acting."
"He had a way to break our immortality the whole time!"
…
They spoke over each other, as if to justify.
"Silence."
The voice in their minds made them go rigid.
"I desire to know why such a power could arise upon this sea. I gave you immortality not to sit idle—doing nothing."
"Master!"
One Elder forced himself to speak.
"White Wolf Magnus was originally a common pirate—strong, yes, but nowhere near a threat to us."
"Then why is he now so strong?"
A terrifying weight of Haoshoku made every Elder—and Lucas—go pale.
"We shall learn it."
"I do not want excuses. I order you again: no matter the cost, you will slay that white wolf."
An enemy who knew her name—and who could unravel the godly immortality—at any other time, Imu might not have cared.
But the prophecy drew near.
That person could return any moment, and at this critical hour, someone appeared who knew her name—
and was this strong.
"White Wolf Magnus…"
In the Flower Room of Pangaea Castle, a slender silhouette murmured,
"Who are you?"
Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Red Line, New World side.
Having thrown off the Elders and the Holy Knights, Magnus stepped off the lip of Mary Geoise and plunged ten thousand meters straight down.
"I wonder how the other side's doing."
The moment Imu acted, Magnus had told Harald to pull out.
They were too far apart,
so he didn't know how Liplie's side had gone.
"Should be fine."
That wasn't blind hope.
With the Government's top forces either pinned or beaten by him, Harald and Rona only had to face Ortega—who'd shown at Sabaody—and one newly arrived Marine powerhouse.
Even if they couldn't win, they could withdraw.
And as for his White Wolf crew—if they wanted to go, they could always go.
Have a giant Sea King lead the way—easy.
As he fell, his Kenbunshoku swept the New World side—locking onto two of his operatives in motion.
Lily and Stussy.
Unlike the island-smashing battles Magnus fought at Sabaody, both Liplie and Rocks had gone through grueling fights.
And lost.
After this, they would understand: there's always someone higher, always a bigger sky.
Stussy's front was far easier.
If money can solve it, it's a small problem.
Short on hands?
Requisition them.
By the time Magnus's battle erupted, Lily—claiming her "family had been taken by slavers"—had gathered a small army of nearby bounty hunters.
Yes.
They were pirates in the White Wolf crew, but they didn't mix with pirates. They dealt with the folks who hunted pirates.
Plenty of pirates had called the White Wolf crew—
traitors to pirates.
Betrayers of their own kind.
Bounty hunters usually had higher moral floors.
And, they'd work for pay.
And the White Wolf crew was flush with cash.
Of the two billion in treasure Magnus had ripped from the Celestial Dragons, even after sinking plenty into building up Sphinx,
there was still a mountain left.
Sphinx was a tiny country with a permanent population of only a few hundred thousand—maybe tens of thousands willing to work on public projects.
Injecting over a billion into it revived the whole economy.
Bounty hunters generally avoided tangling with slavers.
But money changes calculus.
If your life's work is hunting pirates, your line tends not to be that low. With Lily paying well, they didn't mind offending slavers.
Pirates or slavers—both were scum.
So—
when Mary Geoise exploded into revolt,
G–1 sent ships to support.
Seizing the chance—
Lily had the bounty hunters crack open all the slave pens at Acropolis Port.
Churning the waters again.
Yes, G–1 had left a powerful elite Vice Admiral to hold the port.
But Lily wasn't some rookie like Liplie. Among the old guard of the White Wolf crew, she was front-line firepower.
She took on two at once—beating one elite Vice Admiral and one standard Vice Admiral—leaving the whole port's Marines headless.
Compared to Sabaody, Acropolis was easy mode.
Even when HQ learned of the unrest—
with Mary Geoise under attack, who had the bandwidth to care about Acropolis?
By the time Magnus reached Acropolis, it was cleanup.
The slavers could only watch Lily free their "property" and sail off with their ships—left fuming on the docks.
They wanted to chase.
But the one stealing their ships—was a pirate of the White Wolf crew.
When Lily finally revealed herself to the bounty hunters, they felt duped—yet surprisingly few held it against her.
"I've wanted to do this for years!"
"Spent my life hunting pirates—never thought I'd end up working alongside them."
"Miss Lily, do you have a boyfriend?"
…
The hunters hooted and hollered. For folks who lived by the sea, a woman as bold and sunny as Lily was… the very image of a white moonlight.
Equally eye-catching was Stussy.
Lily wasn't young anymore—
still in her prime, ripe as a peach—
but some preferred the young and stunning.
Like Stussy.
To the men she patched up mid-battle, she was an angel.
Even if that angel's face curled with contempt.
"Bandage done—scram."
"Hands off. You lay a finger on me and I'll have Lily-nee kill you."
"Not hurt? Then what are you here for?"
…
She booted a mouthy hunter straight into the harbor. In her heart, Stussy already counted herself White Wolf crew. As for third-rate hunters with no strength and no looks—how could she possibly be interested?
"Boyfriend? Of course I have one."
Hearing them prattle, Lily chuckled.
"Do you think our captain could resist a woman as beautiful and understanding as me?"
One line—and the hunters beat their chests in agony.
"Damn you, White Wolf Magnus!"
"That's it—he's my next pirate target!"
"You're nuts— you can't even beat a ten-million-berry scrub!"
…
Several turned their hopeful eyes back to Stussy.
"We already have a few women aboard who've been with the captain."
Stussy cleared her throat, meaningfully.
"He's handsome, after all."
She hadn't actually answered—but to the hunters, it was answer enough. Their wails rose anew.
"Little Stussy, that's slander."
The hunters didn't know—but Lily did. Magnus hadn't so much as laid a hand on Stussy.
But there was more than one crewwoman who had been with him—that much was true.
Lily smiled at Stussy. "If the captain hears, watch out—he'll spank you."
Her gaze dipped to the luscious curve under Stussy's white coat—skirt hugging a perfect rear. Even the heavy robe couldn't hide those lines.
She doubted Magnus could hold out long against such a temptress.
Just then, a voice rang out.
"Sounded like you two were talking smack about me."
The sudden voice made both Lily and Stussy jump—
then break into smiles.
"Magnus!"
"Captain Magnus!"
There he was—the man who'd left Mary Geoise and come straight for Acropolis Port.
The fighting had been too intense; his transponder snail had long since fried.
"How's the other side? I just crossed over from Mary Geoise—too far to sense how it ended."
"Not sure yet."
Seeing him safe, Lily finally exhaled.
She shook her head—
then her eyes lit up.
She pulled a transponder snail; a voice from the far continent crackled through.
"We've withdrawn safely!"
The White Wolf crew's operation—one that would shake the world—
drew to its close.
(End of Chapter)
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