Lucien exhaled a steady puff of smoke, flicking the ash aside, his expression cold and unflinching.
"Hand it over, or you won't leave alive."
Haoshoku Haki flared around him, and the entire cloudless sky darkened instantly, filled with roiling clouds, rumbling thunder, and flickering lightning.
"You're bold to speak like that, yet you clearly have the strength to back it up."
The cigarette in Lucien's hand burned down to the filter, his amethyst eyes gleaming as he spoke with sharp clarity.
"I'm here for Whitebeard's head. If you all want to come at me together, I won't complain."
Marco and the other commanders stiffened, anger flashing across their faces. Lucien's words were a provocation, a blatant challenge.
"Gurararara~"
Just as Ace moved to intervene, a booming laugh echoed from the ship's cabin. Whitebeard emerged, a sake flask in hand, his coat draped over broad shoulders. He surveyed Lucien through the crowd.
"My head isn't so easy to take. Fail, and you'll pay with your life."
"That suits me perfectly. I want to see how strong the world's strongest man truly is, and whether he can kill me!"
Lucien flicked his cigarette butt away, exhaling smoke rings through his nostrils, his aura calm but lethal.
Whitebeard's sharp gaze assessed him, sensing the immense power concealed beneath his calm demeanor. This was no ordinary challenger.
"I haven't had a proper fight in ages. I can accommodate your wish."
"Pops, we can handle this ourselves," Ace said, concern and defiance in his voice.
Whitebeard waved them down, stopping Jozu and the others. His gaze returned to Lucien, serious and commanding.
"Follow me."
In the next instant, Whitebeard vanished, reappearing over the open sea, moving with a speed and power that cracked the waves beneath him. Lucien followed closely, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Ace, Marco, and Kuma maintained a careful distance, the tension between the two titans palpable.
Twenty minutes later, a desolate island appeared on the horizon. Lucien and Whitebeard landed on separate peaks while Ace, Marco, and Kuma spread across other peaks to observe.
"Life and death are fated, wealth and honor are in heaven. I admire you still," Lucien said, his tone eerily calm as golden lightning flickered across the sky. Beneath his feet, the mountain trembled and cracked. Birds and beasts fled in terror.
"Gurararara~"
Whitebeard's laughter echoed, dark clouds coiling overhead as scarlet lightning split the sky. Lucien's hair and shirt whipped violently in the wind as he leapt forward, colliding with Whitebeard bare-handed.
Power surged toward the heavens. Two knees collided—one massive, one smaller—generating a shockwave that shattered the surrounding air. Lucien's knee glinted black-red like crystal, yet a vacuum separated their strikes, emphasizing the incredible force at play.
"Crack."
Dark red lightning struck downward. The resulting air pressure lifted the ground, forming massive waves that spread in every direction. Two mountain peaks exploded into meteors raining down across the island.
The island quaked violently, and the surrounding sea roiled with turbulent waves. Above, the sky split as serpentine lightning struck constantly, forming a chaotic chasm. Elbows collided from top to bottom, shaking the heavens.
Lucien, shorter than Whitebeard's calf, appeared towering in his presence. The disparity only emphasized his own terrifying aura. Each strike reshaped the landscape, ten-thousand-meter peaks crumbling and reforming under the fury of their clash.
Fists, knees, elbows, legs, shoulders, and heads collided without pause, blood and debris flying in every direction.
"Pfft."
Whitebeard bent, spitting blood, and a wave of air dispersed the dark clouds momentarily. Lucien retracted his fist and swept his right leg in a horizontal arc, only for a massive hand to seize it and hurl him toward the ground.
Boulders exploded into meteors as cracks tore through the island, forming a vast crater. Lucien stood in its center, blood trickling from his mouth, his figure vanishing amidst the debris. Moments later, Whitebeard plummeted from the sky, eyes wide and furious.
The storm intensified, the sky erupting with lightning as mountain peaks rose and fell like toys in their battle. A mushroom cloud formed ten thousand meters away, leaving a crater etched into the land. Another roar and a valley stretched just as far, revealing the sheer scale of destruction.
"I can't see anything," Izo, commander of the 16th division, muttered from the back of a firebird, his eyes straining at the chaos. All he saw were explosions and afterimages; neither Whitebeard nor Lucien were visible.
The island itself seemed to crumble as Ace's firebird carried the spectators safely above.
"Who is that man?" Marco clenched his fists, unable to fully follow the blinding speed of the duel.
Ace's expression remained grim. This opponent—Lucien—was matching Whitebeard strike for strike. Even though he was rejuvenated by Kuma's ability, Pops' full strength could not overpower this young man.
From his vantage, Kuma observed silently atop a peak, book in hand, a page open depicting a distant castle.
Inside, Kaido, King, Katakuri, Cracker, Doflamingo, and their allies lounged with sake, watching through observation.
"That old man Whitebeard seems younger," Kaido noted, unease in his tone.
"If it weren't for Lucien's command, I'd have gone out there already," another remarked.
Fufufu. The destructive power on display was terrifying. One punch from either could obliterate the land below, yet they exchanged blow after blow.
Outside, clouds inverted, forming voids as lightning-charged storms churned the earth. The entire region was cast into darkness, mountains splintered into meteors, and a halo of energy radiated from the duel's center, tearing apart peaks and creating cascading ruin.
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