The world of pirates was currently locked in an age where Justice seemed to exist, yet everyone was still searching for its true meaning.
The Marines were called the side of Justice, yet countless officers used their authority for personal gain, bringing tragedy to the world to satisfy their own desires. Among the "wicked" pirates, there were men of character like Luffy—sincere, open, and true to themselves. Who could truly say which side held the monopoly on righteousness?
"Pops..." Ace and Marco called out simultaneously.
"Nobody hurts my sons!" Whitebeard lifted his head slightly, his hands clenching into massive fists.
HUMMM—!
A vibration energy, intense to the point of absolute saturation, began to converge. Even before a punch was thrown, the sheer sound of the power manifesting struck dread into the hearts of all who heard it.
KABOOM!!
He slammed his fists outward toward his flanks. The colossal release of quake energy caused the entirety of Marineford to rock violently on its foundations. Space itself shattered in the wake of the blow, layer after layer of reality splintering like fragile glass.
"Holy shit!" Drake yelped. He groaned inwardly as the "spatial walls" he had manifested for his Spatial Shackling were instantly vibrated into dust.
"Die!" Akainu, now free from his restraints, surged toward Drake with a blackened face. The rolling, molten magma dripping from his body emphasized his terrifying, predatory aura.
Akainu was seething. After clashing for so long, he had realized that while Drake was skilled, he wasn't quite on the Admiral's level of raw power yet. The only reason he hadn't taken Drake down was because of those slippery, eccentric abilities—restricting his movement one moment and teleporting away the next. Akainu was reaching the end of his patience.
It was only then that Drake realized his Spatial Shackling was completely useless against the power of vibrations. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit was the natural predator of his spatial abilities!
What made Drake even more speechless was the fact that he was quite a distance from Whitebeard. Was that really necessary, old man? Since when was shattering space easier than breaking a window?
Suddenly, he sensed something shifting. He whipped his head toward Whitebeard.
An immense, suffocating aura swept across the entire battlefield. Dark red lightning crackled through the air, and Marineford began to shudder as if the island itself were trembling in fear!
"Conqueror's Haki!!" Drake stared, mesmerized. This was the true meaning of Conqueror's Haki. The bursts used by him and Luffy were mere gusts of wind compared to this.
The pressure from Whitebeard's presence physically forced the clouds in the sky to scatter in every direction. The darkness that had previously blanketed the area was utterly dispelled, leaving only the towering, majestic figure of the Emperor in sight.
Whitebeard shifted from his crouch, slowly standing tall as he retracted his fists.
Drake looked at that back—steady as a mountain—and felt a profound impact in his soul. A powerhouse. A titan who stands between heaven and earth! This was the true World's Strongest Man—Edward Newgate!
Judging by the sheer pressure radiating from him, Whitebeard's injuries had clearly been healed. He was even unleashing a level of Conqueror's Haki he hadn't been able to muster earlier in the fight.
Marines collapsed in heaps across the plaza; with their level of willpower, staying conscious in the face of Whitebeard's undiluted Haki was a physical impossibility.
Teleporting repeatedly to evade Akainu's strikes, Drake realized that the outcome of the Paramount War had been irrevocably altered. Whitebeard was healed. What would the future of this pirate world look like now? Drake felt a flicker of dark anticipation.
The scene reached the Sabaody Archipelago via the visual Den Den Mushi, and the crowd fell into a collective stupor. Even Rayleigh, who had been somberly drinking sake to see off his old friend, stood up abruptly in shock.
"This... what is happening!?"
"Whitebeard... how... how is this possible? Someone explain this!" The masses were utterly baffled.
Buggy and his crew, holding the broadcast snail, were in a state of catatonic shock, unable to offer any commentary. Many of the prisoners around them had already succumbed to the Haki and were slumped on the ground.
"Gurararara..." Whitebeard slowly opened his eyes, and a sharp, piercing light shot out.
Everyone felt it: Whitebeard was different. They couldn't put their finger on exactly what had changed, but the air around him had turned heavy with renewed authority.
"Teach..." A voice, resonant and brimming with regal power, rumbled from Whitebeard's throat.
A cold premonition gripped Blackbeard's heart. However, looking at the puddles of blood still staining the ice at Whitebeard's feet, he forced himself to regain his confidence.
"Pops... you're old... this era doesn't need you anymore. I'm the one who will obtain everything in this world!" Blackbeard's eyes flashed with a predatory hunger, his mind likely spinning a thousand new schemes.
VROOM!
Whitebeard didn't waste a single word. With one giant stride, he appeared directly in front of Blackbeard. He raised a fist and slammed it into Teach's forehead.
BOOM!
The incomparable power smashed Blackbeard into the dirt, cratering the ground instantly.
"ARGH—" Before Blackbeard could even finish his scream of agony, Whitebeard pinned his head down with one hand and unleashed a point-blank, high-intensity shockwave!
HUMMM—KABOOM!!
The vibration energy poured into Blackbeard with a force that sat at the very pinnacle of the world. The entire island of Marineford buckled under the weight of the blow!
The surrounding ice shattered, the sea surged in violent waves, and the island seemed to leap three times from the impact of that single punch. Whitebeard showed no mercy. He had seen the peril Ace and Marco were in moments ago. He could not leave Blackbeard alive; with that man's ambition and ruthlessness, his "sons" would never be safe as long as Teach drew breath.
Two moves. That was it. Whitebeard slowly stood up, grabbing Murakumogiri and planting it firmly into the ice.
The majesty of the World's Strongest Man was on full display. His movements had been so fast that not even Blackbeard, let alone the onlookers, had been able to react. Wasn't Whitebeard supposed to be at death's door? How did he suddenly explode with enough power to not only bypass the Dark-Dark Fruit's nullification but also beat Teach into a state of near-death?
It was too fast. In the space of a few sentences, the once-arrogant Blackbeard was now lying motionless in a deep pit.
The Blackbeard Pirates were paralyzed. What just happened? Their Captain had been gloating over a dying old man, and in the blink of an eye, the old man was standing tall and their Captain was a bloody heap in a hole.
"You... you..." Burgess tried to speak, but the words died in his throat.
Not just him—everyone who looked at Whitebeard was wide-eyed with shock, unable to find their voice. It wasn't just his power. It was his body. The hundreds of lethal wounds that had riddled his torso were gone, healed as if they had never existed. Only the faint, silver lines of old scars remained.
But in the world of pirates, scars were as common as salt. Scars didn't matter. What mattered was that the holes were gone.
"CAPTAIN!!" The Blackbeard Pirates finally snapped out of it and rushed forward, forming a defensive line in front of their fallen leader.
Even Shiryu joined them. While the Blackbeard Pirates seemed cohesive, it was a unity held together solely by Teach's existence. They were a pack of the world's most heinous criminals—some joined out of admiration, others because they had nowhere else to go. If Blackbeard died here, their crew would vanish with him.
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