"Then I'll bet on A Xiong and his crew! I'll just throw down a million Berries, heh-heh; I won't take too much of your money—wouldn't want you too broke to buy your next drink." Golden Lion also pulled out a messy wad of Berries and tossed it on the left.
Hearing that, the others began laying their bets too.
"Mamamama, ten million Berries on Carlo to win!" Linlin casually slipped a gold bracelet from her wrist and dropped it on the right.
Wang Zhi gave a cold laugh and flung a stack of notes to the left: "One against two and he still thinks he can win? Let's just hope Silver Axe doesn't hack that annoying brat to death. I'm putting a million on John's side!"
Everyone was placing wagers.
Only Whitebeard hadn't moved.
All eyes turned to him.
"Newgate, you're not playing?" Rocks asked with a smile.
Whitebeard rubbed his nose, gave an awkward chuckle. "Gurarara, I'm not one for gambling..."
"Cut the act! You're just broke! Who knows where all your money goes—Stussy milked you dry? You've gotten cuts no smaller than mine these years." Golden Lion showed no mercy.
Stussy, seated beside Linlin, stared at Whitebeard's back and cooed with a smile: "Oh, I wish I could..."
Suddenly Charlotte Linlin spoke up: "Then I'll stake ten million for you—my loss if he loses, your gain if he wins."
"Huh? That... how could I accept?" Whitebeard was surprised.
Stussy was also surprised, shooting a hostile glance at Linlin. "Linlin, what are you doing—trying to steal Newgate from me?"
Linlin looked relaxed. "Relax! I'm not competing with you—Newgate's far too proud to be stolen, right? It's just free money; why refuse?"
Gloriosa smiled. "Heh-heh, Linlin, you seem quite confident in that boy."
"Tell that to Rocks. As for me, I trust my own judgment."
"Carlo is the ally I chose," she murmured with a laugh, then turned her gaze to the fierce battle now unfolding in the harbor.
Hachinosu Harbor.
"You want to fight me too?"
Looking at the transformed Silver Axe—who moments ago had seemed ordinary but now resembled a human beast—Carlo's expression stayed calm.
"That's right."
Silver Axe gripped his huge battle-axe, heavy steps quickening into a charge.
The ground trembled under his tread.
Carlo raised the heavenly dragon halberd; his eyes swept past the onrushing Silver Axe to John behind him, who rose on a sheet of metal and took to the air.
"Then come at me together!"
"Huh?" Silver Axe froze, glanced back to see John, eyes blazing, flying overhead toward Carlo.
"Hey! John! He's mine!"
John paid no heed; as he flew, countless metal shards erupted from the ground, swirling around him into blades and swords that rained upon Carlo.
"I just saved you, you ungrateful jerk—don't steal my opponent!" Furious, Silver Axe sprinted, raising his giant axe for a charge.
A thunderous roar exploded beside his ear.
"Your opponent is me!! Axe-man!"
"Thunder Roar—"
Before Silver Axe could look up, the figure that had dashed in front of him was blasted away like a cannonball, smashing through a row of houses and vanishing.
Silver Axe looked up—no one there. He stood bewildered.
"Huh? Who spoke?"
That brief delay let the airborne John reach Carlo first.
"Magnetic Control—Metal Storm!"
With a roar, countless shards spun into a tornado dozens of meters tall, slicing toward Carlo.
Facing both John and Silver Axe, Carlo dared not hold back.
He resolved to go all-out.
"Garuda, transform!"
Brilliant golden wings unfurled behind him.
Thick muscles coiled like dragons around his body.
Carlo's frame swelled to over six meters.
Buzz—whoosh!!
The Garuda's golden vertical pupils blazed crimson, melting the incoming metal into molten iron that rained from the sky, explosions blooming in mid-air.
A sweep of his wings whipped up fierce winds.
The air before him compressed into invisible blades of wind that slashed toward John.
As a top Mythical Zoan like the future Kaido, Carlo could command elemental forces—wind among them.
With every wing-beat, a sandstorm blasted across Hachinosu Harbor.
Seeing the wind blades shred his metal, John clapped his hands.
"Magnetic Burst!"
A ring of blue electricity surged outward.
The metal shards around him exploded as if triggered by Gan Sui's Bomb-Bomb powers, shockwaves scattering the wind blades.
Before John could strike again, his scalp prickled.
"What? How could he be so fast? My Observation Haki didn't even—"
His face changed; he slapped his chest.
"Grant me North!"
"Grant Carlo South!"
"Magnetic Repulsion!!"
Smack!"
A dark palm struck the back of his head like a father spanking a child.
John grunted and crashed from the sky.
Meanwhile—
Silver Axe, now a black blur, swung his giant axe skyward.
"Forty Generals!!"
Whoosh!
A hundred-meter axe-light burst from the blade like a mountain of cutting force bearing down on Carlo, filling his vision.
Yet Carlo's mind was elsewhere.
"Forty Generals???"
"Seriously, Silver Axe, between you and Jabba, who copied whom?"
The colossal axe-light slammed into Carlo just as he batted John down, blasting him backward through dozens of buildings toward Hachinosu Square like a meteor.
BOOM!!