Just then, Teach suddenly stopped crying and moving and looked toward the sky in pure horror.
And along with Teach, every remaining fighter still on the island slowly lifted their heads.
A strange silence fell.
The rest of the Blackbeard Pirates — even those mid-battle — began retreating from the center of the island as fast as they could. Some stumbled. Some cursed. But all of them moved.
Luffy and the others did not stop them.
They too began stepping back instinctively, as if something in their instincts screamed move.
Teach, however, did the opposite.
He stood up rigidly.
Then—
He laughed.
" Zehahahhahahahahha"
A loud, broken, hysterical laughter.
Without warning, he activated Black Hole again.
But this time, it didn't expand outward.
Instead, a massive, concentrated sphere of darkness formed—dense, violent, swirling like it was about to collapse space itself—and Teach pushed it upward.
As if he intended to swallow the sun.
Far above, Ace appeared in the sky—falling downward at terrifying speed, flames trailing behind him like a comet.
And then—
ACE punched towards the ground.
STELLARRR HEARTTTT EXPLOSIONNNN !!!!
And with that punch, a massive column of dense fire descended as if a star was falling on earth to punish the sinner who dared to resist.
In seconds, Blackbeard's gigantic Black Hole sphere, and Ace's descending pillar of fire all collided violently in midair.
The impact didn't just explode—
It detonated.
A blinding blast tore through the sky.
Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji and other members of Blackbeard pirates— who were still escaping from the island — were flung away at terrifying speed, their bodies tumbling through dust and wind.
The entire island trembled violently, as though it would collapse in the very next moment.
---
A few miles away from Mock Town, a Navy warship was stationed quietly, having been anchored there for several days.
Suddenly, a Navy soldier sprinted across the deck toward the man resting near the railings.
"Vice Admiral Garp!!!
As you predicted — there's been a fight in Mock Town! One of the perpetrators has been identified. It's Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander, Portgas D. Ace, who has been rising in notoriety recently!"
Garp, half-dozing, half-relaxing, burst into his signature loud laugh.
"BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!
So that brat finally started the fight! I was getting bored sitting around here all this time!"
He stood up, cracking his shoulders, and turned his gaze toward the island.
The adjutant swallowed nervously before speaking.
"Vice Admiral Garp… should we sail toward Mock Town and capture the pirates?"
Garp didn't answer immediately.
He simply watched the distant flashes of battle for a moment.
Finally, he said:
"No. It's not the time yet."
The adjutant went silent at the answer.
Garp, meanwhile, watched the ongoing destruction with a relaxed expression — even chuckling here and there as if enjoying a grand spectacle.
Time passed.
And the moment Ace unleashed the Stellar Heart Explosion, Garp suddenly threw his head back and roared with laughter, tears shooting out of his eyes.
"BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!
That brat has my style when I was young!
BWAAHAHAHAHA!"
---
A few moments passed.
The collision between their attacks didn't shrink —
it expanded, roaring outward like two suns trying to devour each other.
Both Ace and Teach were pouring everything they had into that clash.
As for the others—
Luffy and his group, along with Yamato, had already boarded the Going Merry.
The Blackbeard Pirates likewise scrambled to their own ship, fleeing from the heart of the island.
The remaining pirates?
They all ran.
Not a single one dared stay behind to witness something that felt like the end of the world.
On the Merry, Yamato watched the sky with rare seriousness.
Luffy, however, looked worried.
"Hey, Yamato… should we help Ace?"
It wasn't that Luffy didn't trust Ace.
But this was the first time he had ever seen a battle of this scale —
a battle where two monsters looked capable of ending the world if they got serious enough.
Yamato simply shook her head.
"Trust Ace."
Luffy didn't speak further.
He just gripped the rail and watched with everything he had.
Zoro, Sanji, and the others were equally stunned — even furious that they couldn't join in.
This was the first time they had seen such overwhelming strength right in front of them.
Yes, they had met Hawkeye before.
They knew he was the world's strongest swordsman — one of the strongest beings alive.
But Hawkeye didn't show them his true power.
He defeated them with a kitchen knife.
So they knew he was strong…
but not how strong.
But now —
watching Ace and Blackbeard rip apart the island and split the sky —
they finally understood what "New World monsters" truly meant.
Zoro's blood boiled.
Only this kind of fight could stir the future world's greatest swordsman.
As for Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Usopp—
They weren't excited.
They weren't awed.
They were terrified, clinging to the ship, screaming and hugging each other in despair, terrified that one stray attack from either giant would blow them — and the Merry — into dust.
---
Finally, after a few more moments, Ace's Stellar Heart Impact completely crushed the massive Black Hole sphere of darkness.
The Darkness–Darkness Fruit's power shattered apart under overwhelming force.
In Blackbeard's terrified eyes, a colossal column of fire surrounded him—
an inferno that swallowed everything.
And the instant Ace's Stellar Heart Impact struck the ground—
BOOOOOOM—!!
An explosion erupted so violently it resembled a nuclear detonation.
The entire island trembled.
Jaya Island itself began collapsing under the overwhelming shockwave.
Beneath Jaya's seabed was already a volatile volcano.
The same volcano that once launched half of Jaya Island into the sky, creating the path to Sky Island by evaporating the ocean water and pushing the ocean upward.
If half an island could be sent skyward…
You could imagine how dangerously active that volcano already was.
Now—
With Ace's impact and the massive heat generated by the battle—
The volcano beneath Jaya began to awaken again.
From Mock Town as the center, volcanic cracks ripped outward, as if the earth wanted to devour the entire island whole.
"ACE!!!"
Luffy screamed as the entire center of the island was engulfed in fire and magma.
Even Yamato shouted this time.
She immediately transformed, unleashing her Devil Fruit power, freezing the sea around them—
and creating an icy barrier ahead so the shockwaves and heat waves wouldn't burn the Going Merry.
She then pushed the Merry backward with a massive burst of force.
The Blackbeard Pirates, however, were not so lucky.
Their entire ship shattered into debris.
The crew was flung into the sea, desperately clinging to floating wood to survive—
especially Doc Q, who with a Devil Fruit couldn't even swim.
A full minute passed like this.
Luffy and the others waited in breathless anticipation.
Yamato herself couldn't use Observation Haki anymore—the battlefield's chaotic heat and destruction distorted everything.
Then—
Minutes later—
The dust cloud and heat haze finally faded away.
And at the center of the ruined island stood a man.
When they saw who it was—
Luffy's expression twisted with fury.
Yamato's anger surged, her Conqueror's Haki leaking out like a storm—though it didn't affect the Straw Hats.
Because the man standing there was—
Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach.
His entire body was burned black, roasted like a barbecued carcass.
But his face showed no pain.
Instead—
He smiled.
And let out a twisted, broken laugh—
" Captain Ace I won,
Zehahahhahahahahha hahaha
Zehahhahahahha"
---