Although Whitebeard suffered from illness and his muscles had even withered somewhat due to long-term IV drips, as long as he stood at the bow of the ship, no one could underestimate him.
Whitebeard's heroic laughter echoed throughout Marineford, and another legend stepped out beside him.
Rayleigh stroked his beard and said, "I didn't expect that at my age, I would actually join forces with a former enemy to save the Captain's child."
Sengoku looked at Rayleigh's appearance with a grim expression. Whitebeard alone was difficult enough to deal with, and now there was 'Pluton' Rayleigh as well. It seemed he would have to take action himself.
"Rayleigh, why don't you live out your retirement? Must you insist on wading into these muddy waters? Are you and Whitebeard really that close?"
Rayleigh smiled. "If you were just executing members of the Whitebeard Pirates, I wouldn't have come. But you announced the execution of Roger's child, so these old bones of mine have to move a bit."
"You can't be the only ones targeting him while we can't protect him. The Pirate King's child should receive some preferential treatment from us."
"Fine. Since you don't want to live out your old age in peace, let's see what you're made of. Marineford is not something you remnants of the old era can shake."
After the conversation, Rayleigh no longer hid his presence. Haoshoku erupted from him. After the minor skirmish at the Sabaody Archipelago, 'Pluton' Rayleigh was finally getting serious.
The black and red aura pressed down on the Marines. Hera's figure moved ahead of Sengoku, blocking the front.
"We can't have our Fleet Admiral taking action right from the start." Hera's Haoshoku surged from her body, clashing with Rayleigh's aura at the harbor entrance.
Floating in the air, Hera looked down at Rayleigh on the ship. The clash of their Haoshoku caused ripples to appear in space.
Rayleigh looked up, his sharp gaze fixed on Hera. "What a terrifying rate of progress. Now, in terms of the quality of Haoshoku alone, you're not inferior to me at all."
"However, today is not a sparring match."
Rayleigh drew his sword, intending to strike, but was stopped by Whitebeard.
"Gurarara, what a terrifying brat. With a new generation like this in your Navy, do you still think of nipping the Pirate King's bloodline in the bud?"
With that, Whitebeard clenched his fists. After gathering strength in front of his chest, he spread his arms and struck the air on both sides. Hera, flying in the air, felt the wail of space.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit acted on the sea, causing a surge in the ocean. The previously positioned warships swayed under the impact of the tsunami, making the Marines on board lose their footing and nearly fall into the sea.
Just as the Marines on the warships were about to suffer heavy losses, several of Hera's clones appeared. They grumbled, "The main body is really something, running off to look cool while making us run around saving people."
With 'First Bullet' acceleration, White Hera opened a space portal. The Black Heras, relying on the speed, reached the Marines on the warships before they completely sank. The small-scale City of Devouring Time swallowed the people who were about to fall into the sea.
After sweeping the area with Observation Haki and finding no one left behind, the clones nodded with satisfaction. They floated back through the space portal opened by White Hera and spat the people out of the City of Devouring Time in a safe location.
Ace looked at Whitebeard, who had come to save him, with tears in his eyes. "Everyone... I was the one who insisted on chasing Blackbeard. Why did you come to save me?"
Whitebeard picked his ear and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I was the one who told you to go, right, Marco?"
Marco said, "That's right. I heard it clearly. Pops told you to go."
"Liar! You were clearly trying to stop me from going back then."
The other Division Commanders laughed. "Don't say such silly things, Ace. If Pops had stopped you, would you have been able to leave the ship?"
"Don't worry. Everyone on this sea knows what happens when you mess with our comrades. Just wait, we're coming to save you."
The Three Admirals below the Execution Platform also became serious. Aokiji said, "A bunch of dangerous individuals have arrived."
Just then, a roar came from the sea. Whitebeard's strike just now was merely a trigger; the real attack was only arriving now.
Two giant waves appeared on the horizon, crashing toward Marineford.
Looking at the two waves that were even higher than Marineford, the lined-up Marines were shocked by the sight.
This was the strength of the world's strongest man. Just a testing strike had triggered a natural disaster.
Sengoku watched the two giant waves, sweat dripping down his face. He quickly said, "Don't think we can let our guard down just because we have the numbers. This man has the power to destroy the world."
Even the gathered Shichibukai were shocked by this power. Whitebeard truly was a monster of a man.
If those two giant waves were allowed to crash down, Marineford would be destroyed in this natural disaster.
At that moment, the Navy's highest combat power took action. Aokiji vanished from his seat and jumped into mid-air. "Ice Age!"
Following two thin lines of ice, the giant waves on both sides were instantly frozen by Aokiji. The terrifyingly low temperature froze the water in the sea area, turning the bay completely into ice.
Floating in mid-air, Aokiji didn't forget to throw three ice spears at Whitebeard, who was standing at the bow. Whitebeard swung a single fist, and the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit shattered the ice spears.
The remaining aftershocks even reached Aokiji's main body, shattering his elementalized form.
Sengoku looked at the harbor that had frozen into ice, his expression grave. "Is this your plan, Whitebeard?"
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates were excited to see the seawater frozen. "Now we have a foothold! Brothers, charge in!"
The Pirate Crews following Whitebeard ran off their ships one after another, attacking toward Marineford.
Facing these Grunt Soldiers, the shadow beneath Hera's feet was restless. Just as the City of Devouring Time was about to expand, Rayleigh's Observation Haki detected Hera's movement, and a slash flew toward her.
"I can't let you devour all these people at once, Hera. Why don't you play with me first?"
Facing the attack of 'Pluton', even Hera, who had devoured two more devil fruits, could not ignore it. The City of Devouring Time pulled back for defense according to Hera's will.
Instantly merging into Hera's body, her height shot up significantly as she entered the state of 'Shadow Asgard: City of Devouring Time'.
Kizaru saw that Rayleigh wanted to restrict Hera and prevent her from using her advantages in the chaotic battle. With a flash, the Ama no Murakumo appeared in his hand.
'saikū' shattered Rayleigh's slash. Kizaru intercepted Rayleigh, and the Ama no Murakumo clashed with Rayleigh's blade, sending sparks flying.
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