Fleet Admiral dead!
Watching the white-haired old man smashed to the ground by Whitebeard, lifeless, Tsuru—standing at the bow of the warship—felt her mind buzz.
She had never imagined that Fleet Admiral Gustav would fall in battle so easily.
Gustav was the current Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
He was over eighty years old.
He had served for more than forty years.
He had devoted most of his life to the Marines.
He had given his all, dutiful to the very end.
During his tenure he won illustrious victories, leading the Marines to establish the first Marine Branch G1 in the chaotic New World.
Even the current Admiral Kong had been personally groomed by him.
His prestige within the Marines and the World Government was immense; countless sailors revered him.
Though past eighty, his heart still burned with justice.
Knowing full well how perilous this operation against the Rocks Pirates would be, he still resolutely chose to lead personally.
To that end, he forced his own protégé Kong to remain at headquarters on garrison duty.
In the battle plan against the Rocks Pirates, he even decided—citing the suitability of his Door-Door Devil Fruit Power to contain Whitebeard—to use his aged body to tie Whitebeard down and seize victory for the fleet.
Yet… he himself perished!
He died at Whitebeard's hands!
A wave of grief surged through Tsuru; her eyes instantly brimmed with tears.
On the other side, Rocks, seeing Whitebeard toss the lifeless Gustav aside, broke into a grin.
He strode forward laughing.
"Wahahaha! Newgate! Didn't expect you to finish the old geezer so fast. Looks like you're even stronger than I thought."
Hearing this, Whitebeard, though the victor, showed no joy.
"It's not what you think."
He shook his head, somewhat rueful. "The one who killed him wasn't me—it was age. His ability and combat skill were formidable; even I had to take him seriously. But he was too old; stamina and physical strength had declined so much they crippled his overall power. Looks like aging truly is everyone's greatest enemy."
"Everyone?" The corners of Rocks' mouth curled in an ambiguous smile as he muttered in a voice only he could hear, "Not necessarily everyone."
Whitebeard blinked. "What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Rocks waved a hand, glanced at the warships on the sea, then pointed to the battlefield on the island.
"Let's move. The Fleet Admiral's dead—some of them will go berserk. You handle these ships; I'll settle the fight over there."
"Fine."
Whitebeard nodded. He raised his right arm high, bent it into an elbow, and smashed the air toward the open sea.
Countless cracks burst open.
The instant a crisp shattering rang out, a terrifying force—like the might of heaven—descended, engulfing the sea for tens, hundreds of kilometers!
The next moment.
The vast ocean rose and fell, carved into chasms hundreds of meters high and wide.
Warships looked like toys.
Some were lifted by kilometer-high waves and hurled into the sky.
Others simply plunged and vanished into the abyss.
With this single strike.
The Buster Call bombardment from forty-eight warships fell silent at once.
Half the fleet was swallowed by the overturning sea.
Tens of thousands of sailors vanished into the boundless waters in an instant.
The sea split; the island beneath cracked and tilted!
It was as though heaven and earth had been overturned.
Even as Whitebeard dealt the Marines a devastating blow.
Rocks—having sent Garp flying—charged toward Puttelocrone Island, radiating a demon-god's aura.
The first Marine combatant he locked onto to eliminate was naturally Haines.
Haines, though also advanced in age.
Was still the only Admiral here.
His might had been plain for all to see in the earlier fighting.
The massive explosions he triggered had nearly destroyed the entire island.
Even Linlin had been gravely wounded by him.
Within the Rocks Pirates, apart from himself, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion, no one could match this seventy-year-old retired Admiral.
Yet when Rocks burst into the island, he was astonished to find that the previously unstoppable Admiral Haines was now in full retreat.
Under the combined assault of a white-haired man wielding a war-blade and sprouting twin wings, and a pink-haired woman with a longsword astride a thundercloud, his elementized body kept shattering; his face grew ever paler as he fell back again and again.
They were none other than Carlo and Linlin.
At the sight, a gleam flashed in Rocks' eyes.
"Not bad teamwork. The two of them actually teamed up to bring down an Admiral—surprising even me."
He stared at Carlo; powerful Observation Haki traced the man's aura, and he could feel the new Division Captain's life force had grown dramatically since their time on Hachinosu.
Right now, Carlo was stronger than he'd been only days earlier when he'd defeated Silver Axe and John!
And it wasn't a small improvement.
Already, Carlo looked poised to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Linlin.
Such breakneck progress even startled Rocks.
This Marine defector's talent was far more monstrous than he'd expected.
It wouldn't be long before he gained another fearsome commander.
Thinking of that, Rocks's foul mood—brought on by so many dead subordinates—improved a little.
But when he glanced at Linlin and Carlo fighting side by side, a mischievous thought sprang to mind.
'When did those two get so coordinated? Don't tell me Linlin's already reeled Carlo in? Kid… don't let her drain you dry.'
Leaving the field where Carlo and Linlin fought,
Rocks turned his attention toward Golden Lion.
On the island's far side,
Sengoku in his golden Buddha form was furiously trading blows with Golden Lion.
In the prime of life like Garp, his stamina seemed bottomless, his Physique formidable,
and he possessed Conqueror's Haki no weaker than Golden Lion's.
Golden shockwaves burst from the Buddha's palms, shattering the earthen lions Golden Lion commanded, colliding with the flying slashes the latter sent back.
Faced with such a furious onslaught, even Golden Lion had to give ground,
using his Devil Fruit Power to soar skyward and strike at Sengoku from afar.
Sengoku's Buddha form was mighty,
but the immense weight kept even a simple Moonwalk out of reach; he could only slam palm after palm upward, trying to swat Golden Lion from the sky.
Zephyr and Columbus were not far off, locked with Silver Axe, Gan Sui, Kaido, and the rest.
When they saw Rocks—who should have been tied down by Garp—appear here,
'It's Rocks! Rocks! Get over here and help crush these damn Marines!' Kaido and the others shouted in delight.
Zephyr and Columbus's faces went white.
'Where's Garp? Why didn't he hold Rocks? Don't tell me he lost already—impossible!'
Ignoring them, Rocks accelerated straight for Sengoku!
Seeing that, Zephyr's heart lurched; he abandoned his opponent without hesitation and raced to intercept.
Sengoku and Golden Lion were evenly matched;
if Rocks joined in, Sengoku would be overwhelmed.
If Rocks and Golden Lion ganged up, Sengoku could actually die!
Zephyr would never let that happen.
'Rocks!!!' he roared, body flickering as he shot forward with Soru.
'Hey! Your opponent's me! Raimei—'
Kaido charged to block, but the airborne Zephyr smashed a back-fist into his face.
With a crack, blood and tears mixed with snot as Kaido flew back, crashing groggily to the ground.
'Damn you, Zephyr!'
'Zephyr.' Rocks grinned at the onrushing foe, whipping his blade in a sweeping slash.
'Right now you're still too green beside Garp and Sengoku—unqualified to stop me!'
Zephyr's arms turned jet-black as he smashed them down!
'black arm: Shattering Impact!'
'Abyssal Roar!!'
Boom!
Spurt!
Amid the deafening blast, Zephyr grunted; a line of blood burst across his body, and he tumbled back even faster than he'd come.
Having sent Zephyr flying with one cut, Rocks gave him no further thought and coldly eyed Columbus, who was battling Silver Axe.
That glance made Columbus's hair stand on end; he instantly melted into a black shadow and skimmed the ground, fleeing from Rocks.
Rocks still swung, a slash of air racing after the fleeing shadow.
Boom!
The ground shattered, a several-kilometre rift splitting all the way to the sea.
The sprinting shadow snapped; blood sprayed and an arm spun skyward.
Columbus's scream followed.
His right arm gone, he reappeared hundreds of metres away and collapsed in agony.
'Rocks… he's too strong!'
Silver Axe, John, and the rest who saw it were shaken by the casual display of power.
By now Sengoku, locked with Golden Lion, had turned, his face grave as he regarded Rocks.
'Where's Garp?'
Rocks bared his teeth in a grin: 'Relax, he's not dead.'
Then he shrugged, raising his long blade toward Sengoku.
'But you, Sengoku—look like you're about to die.'