Marco, in his ice-blue phoenix form, delivered a hard kick to the back of Wolf's hand. In pain, Wolf instinctively recoiled his left hand, but this caused the Moby Dick, which he was holding, to begin tilting and collapsing. If left unchecked, the Moby Dick would surely fall face-first, crashing disastrously.
"Marco, help me out!"
Suddenly, Jozu, a Devil Fruit user, jumped from the side of the ship. Even a hint of surprise flashed across Wolf's face. Jozu is a Devil Fruit user, right? He really dares to do something like this?
"I've got you, Jozu!"
Marco rotated his phoenix body and flew to Jozu's side, extending an arm for Jozu to grab. At that moment, Jozu's entire body except for half his head had been transformed into diamond.
With a flick of Marco's arm, Jozu's massive body shot towards the underside of the Moby Dick. "GRAAAAH!"
Jozu roared, pressing both of his diamond hands firmly against the ship's hull. Using the momentum from Marco and his own immense strength, which was not much less than an Admiral's, he was able to push the Moby Dick, which had already tilted halfway, back onto an even keel.
RUMBLE...
When the Moby Dick settled back onto the sea, it created a huge wave and a violent shock. Many of the crew members on deck were thrown into the water by the tremor, but this was a million times better than what would have happened if Wolf had flipped the ship over.
"Oh... Impressive. As expected of a Whitebeard Pirates division commander," Wolf said, his gaze blank as he tapped his chin with one hand.
To stop such a large ship in so little time, and for the two of them to act without a word of communication, required not only immense strength but also unparalleled teamwork. This was something only longtime partners could achieve.
Marco and Jozu returned to the bow of the Moby Dick, their expressions grim as they stared at the colossal figure before them. Vista the Flower Sword walked up and said, "The only isolated
island nearby is occupied by Pops and Alucard, so we can't use it. Is a sea battle our only option?"
"Vista and I will handle Wolf, while the non-Devil Fruit users protect the Moby Dick. Prepare to open fire!" Marco declared, taking charge as the acting vice-captain.
Most pirate battles are sea battles, which puts Devil Fruit users at a disadvantage because the ship is their only foothold. If the ship is destroyed, they'll sink and die, so the top priority in a sea battle is to protect the ship.
The reason Marco, a Devil Fruit user, dared to personally engage in combat was simple: he could fly.
Vista the Flower Sword brandished his two rapiers, his mustache bristling. "We can use his gigantic body to our advantage. If we can get on top of him, wouldn't that be a massive benefit?"
"Don't underestimate our opponent, Vista!"
Izo, the commander of the 16th division, who wore a kimono like a woman but was a man, stepped forward and said, "He was chosen to be a crewmate by that monster Alucard. Do you think he's just big?"
"Hmph!"
Suddenly, Wolf lowered his face and took a massive gulp of seawater. His already unbelievably exaggerated face ballooned even more. With his cheeks puffed out, he directed his small, circular eyes at the Moby Dick crew.
"I can't get involved in this one."
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Marco's pineapple-shaped head. He had already guessed what Wolf was planning. "All non-Devil Fruit users, get ready to resist with all your might!" he shouted.
The very next second after Marco's shout, Wolf forcefully sprayed the seawater from his mouth. The torrent of water was powerful enough to punch a hole through a steel plate!
If this were a certain ninja world, Wolf would probably be yelling, "Water Bullet Jutsu!" right now.
Even Marco wouldn't dare block a technique like this. As a close-combat-focused Devil Fruit user, he'd have to use his body to block it, but since it was seawater, touching it would be a death sentence!
"You think a move like that can stop me, Vista the Flower Sword?"
Vista smirked under his curled mustache, brandishing his two rapiers. He sliced the column of water coming from Wolf's mouth into several pieces, as if cutting through butter.
As the large chunks of water fell, Namur, the commander of the eighth division who had recently joined the Whitebeard Pirates, led several of his fellow fish-men. "Fish-Man unit, follow me!
We'll destroy all the water blasts!"
With that, Namur himself charged forward as the vanguard, plunging into the water. Using the advantages of his fish-man body, he swung his arms, breaking the water chunks into mere splashes.
"Then how will you handle this move?"
Seeing his first attack blocked, Wolf wasn't discouraged. Instead, he got more excited and plunged both of his hands into the sea. Seeing this, Marco shouted, "Watch out! He's trying to flip the Moby Dick again!"
Just as the helmsman prepared to turn the ship in defense, Wolf grinned. "Not this time!"
With a loud roar, he focused his strength and flipped his two massive hands upward. What he flipped wasn't the ship, but the ocean itself.
It was almost like the scene of Whitebeard raising the sea with the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. While the scale of what Wolf could do was far less than Whitebeard's, it could still only be described as "terrifying."
"Alright, this time, I'll make my flowers bloom!" Vista maintained his smile and, along with the other non-Devil Fruit user commanders, charged into the tsunami to stop it.
Five seconds after the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders entered the waves, the tsunami shattered. Five non-Devil Fruit users—Vista, Thatch, Blenheim, Izo, and Atmos—along with the fish-man unit, broke through the splashes and continued their charge toward Wolf.
"Alright, what kind of flowers should I make bloom this time?" Vista spun in midair, his rapier strikes sending a barrage of petals out like shuriken.
The petals hit Wolf but only had the effect of a tickle. In return, a punch as massive as a mountain came at them.
"This is bad!"
Vista crossed his two swords into an "X" shape to form a shield, blocking Wolf's punch. The other commanders behind him also braced themselves against Wolf's fist.
"Thanks, everyone! The rest is up to me!" Marco the Phoenix charged in once more. With the waves gone, he could use his full combat strength.
Alucard versus Whitebeard, and Wolf versus the Whitebeard Pirates. The battle of future Emperors had begun.
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