Hey guys!
Before you begin this chapter, please do know that I made one change. I removed Kuma's monologue in chapter 116 and changed interaction between Mihawk and Kuma in chapter 117. The more I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed to me, and hence, this is how it changed:
From: (Previous) 'I am going to help the Grimheart pirates so that the Revolutionary Army can form a good relationship with them.'
To: (Now) "I'm not doing anything for these marines and World Government agents. Hell nah, I'm just gonna chill here and read my book."
(To be honest... it was primarily because I got nowhere to use him. If I really am going to involve him, I need to bring in Bullet.)
I hope that all of you understand, and with this given, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
[Random GIF]
Have a great day :)
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Urouge silently closed his eyes while placing his left hand in front of his face, "Although you've been my hateful foe... a prayer shall be given to you."
As Baten, whose life now left him and only a brutally damaged body remained in its place, Urouge spoke with sincerity,
"Let Nika guide you to true freedom.
Let Umi guide you to true order.
Within your next life chosen by the wheel of reincarnation... live a life full of virtue, instead of remorse and hatred."
Meanwhile, on Prominence,
"Well well, it seems that there is no end to this war." Alfred stated in a calm manner as he assessed the number of World Government ships, "9 ships in total. Pardon me, however, what shall we do?"
Carina, Carmen, and Dan slumped in exhaustion.
"Let's just fly higher above." Carina said, "Not everyone is a monster like Garp; they won't be able to run all the way up here through Geppo. Just get out of their range."
"I'm... too exhausted." Robin smiled weakly, "Are we all going to be blasted into pieces here?"
Nami shrieked comically with a pale face, "Don't say something scary like that—ahhh!!"
All of a sudden, one cannonball bypassed Prominence's side, earning Nami's scream.
Dan nodded in agreement with Carina, "That sounds plausible."
However, subsequently, Cavendish held his sword upward as he got on the back of Farul,
"Leave it to us, you weaklings!!!" Cavendish snorted as he lifted his chin up in pride, "Guahaha, it seems that you would need to hand over the title of no. 2 to me, Carina—"
He abruptly stopped his words in the middle and expected a harsh response from Carina, but to his surprise, she did nothing but give him a mocking grin.
"...huh?"
"I've learned my lessons, Cavendish." Carina said casually, "No matter how hard you struggle, no. 2 will always be me; no point in engaging myself in a childish dispute."
Cavendish grew a tickmark on his forehead and the grip on his sword trembled upon hearing Carina's taunt.
"Wait, you guys—" And before Dan could stop them,
"Neigh~!!!" Farul vigorously cried before running down to the World Government ships with Cavendish on his back.
From the side, Nami sweatdropped, "He surely is eccentric, huh?"
"Indeed, mademoiselle Nami." Alfred nodded before reaching into his inner pocket.
Carmen squinted her eyes, "They are going to need some help. Those ships are packed with the World Government agents."
Hearing Carmen's words, Job flipped up his sniper gun, "Leave it to us."
"Well well, I suppose it's time for some workout." Sob grinned as she twirled her bo-staff skillfully, "I barely got any against Garp just before."
"I will help as well." Mob stated in a monotone before his body floated up with a green aura around him.
*BOOOOOOOM*
Right after, the noise of one ship exploding boomed forth, before,
"Guahahaha!!! Cry, cry and fear!! Fear and be mesmerized by the glorious appearance of Cavendish the White knight and his dashing friend, Farul!!"
"Neighh~!!!!"
*BOOOOM*
"He's just one man!!! Attack him!!!"
*CLANG*
"Guahaha, useless!!"
*BOOOOM*
"...You guys really are something else." Job chuckled upon sighting Cavendish and Farul, who were wreaking havoc against the whole backup unit of the World Government, before aiming his gun toward one agent,
"Silence."
Without any sound, that agent fell down lifelessly with a bleeding hold on his head, shocking many nearby agents.
"Where the hell are you brats looking at?!!"
*BOOOOOOOM*
Sob shrieked as she slammed her bo-staff wildly at multiple agents at once, sending them flying as if she was playing baseball.
"I'm sorry, but you guys started this." Mob said in a monotone as he pointed his finger at one World Government ship,
"Lift."
All of a sudden, the ship was encased in the green aura, before to many's shock, the whole frame began to float miraculously.
"Sandwich."
In misery to many agents, such ship crashed down onto another ship, causing them to break at once.
*BOOOOOOM*
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
"R-reporting to Sir Vatioque!! Requesting for a permission to withdraw!!!"
"Shut up and retreat!! We're not dying here, no way in hell!!"
Within a short span of time, the combined force of Cavendish, Farul, Mob, Job, and Sob, managed to defeat the whole 9 ships by themselves.
Cavendish leaned down to Farul and whispered, "With this, my bounty will be higher than Carina, Dan, and Flame Birdy, right?"
Farul shook his head sideways and stood proudly, "Neigh!"
"What?! You are saying that your bounty is going to be higher?!"
Back on the Prominence, Job retracted his gun back, "It seems like there's only the weak ones left on the backup unit."
Carmen snorted, "Talk about a drastic difference. The main unit over there seems much more capable."
"Interesting." Dan rubbed his chin, "So the cowards remained behind while the daring ones stepped forward. Hm..."
*VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
All of a sudden, an incredible quake that shook the whole area occurred, which caused the Grimheart pirates, Nami, Youchiha family, and Urouge, to turn their attention to the source: Edward Newgate the 'Whitebeard.'
Down to the sea below Prominence, the pirates of the Whitebeard fleet were desperately crying out for Newgate as they continued to fight against the Marine and World Government agents. Ace wildly travelled from ship to ship as he attempted to return to the plaza and come to Newgate's aid.
"Too slow, Ace, grab onto my leg—" Marco shouted to Ace as he flipped his wings urgently, however,
"Don't… you dare interfere… Marco, Ace!!!" Newgate's voice boomed in midst of his incredibly potent attack, causing them to stop in midst of track, not knowing what to do.
Ace watched helplessly as he saw Newgate, who was vomiting a gallon of blood as his body shook violently. However, at the next moment, both Ace and Marco's eyes widened in horror as Newgate's incredible quake was somehow subdued without causing extraordinary damage to the Marineford.
"Zehahahaha!!!!!!!"
The whole Grimheart pirate froze with sharpened eyes, for they recognized the laugh—except for Cavendish and Farul, who were busy dealing with the whole World Government backup unit by themselves.
"Blackbeard, eh? Pretty funny." Sob stated as her eyes locked onto Teach, "He's been a Warlord for what, a week? And he's already betrayed the Marine."
"TEACH!!!!!!!" Ace screamed at his lung in anguish as he saw Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach, having revealed himself in the middle of the Marineford. His right hand, covered by the wisps of darkness, was on Newgate's quake-inducing fist, and somehow nullified the might of the former's fruit ability.
The only difference in terms of appearance was that Teach now had an eye patch over his left eye, due to Rowan's attack back in the Impel Down.
"The situation is getting worse and worse for the marines." Urouge, as he was carried by Mob to Prominence, stated as he landed on the deck, "Greeting, friends. We finally met once again."
Carina nodded with her arms crossed, "Back to you, Urouge. We've got our inquiries, but let's talk later."
Meanwhile,
"Good, good, good!!!" Teach exclaimed in delight, "The situation has gone even better than what I hoped for, thanks to that despicable Grimheart!!!"
As Teach fearlessly stood in the middle of the battlefield, Sengoku was seen to be huffing in fatigue.
"Blackbeard..." Sengoku snarled as his still-gigantic buddha-like body towered over Teach.
'Blast! I've been too occupied with the battle against Whitebeard...' Sengoku thought as he looked to his left and right, and widened his eyes upon sighting that the whole nearby marine soldiers and officers have fallen, 'Damn it all...!'
"F-Fleet Admiral Sengoku..." One marine soldier whispered as the sword was piercing through his chest from the back.
"Now this is life." From the soldier's back, Shiryu, the previous head jailer of the Impel Down, grinned murderously, "I'm sorry, Sengoku. The Impel Down was too small to contain me."
Sengoku glared at Shiryu, "Shiryu..."
And the appearance of Shiryu of the 'Rain' was just the beginning.
Van Augur, Jesus Burgess, Laffitte, Doc Q, Sanjuan Wolf, Vasco Shot, Catarina Devon, and Avalo Pizarro. The combined force of the original Blackbeard pirates and the previous prisoners of the Impel Down level 6, revealed themselves.
'Too many things to touch upon. Whitebeard? His crew? Grimheart pirates? Blackbeard pirates? Start evacuating and halt this war?' Sengoku thought grimly as he assessed the current circumstance.
The situation for the Marine was quite bleak. The joint force of the Grimheart pirates and Whitebeard fleet caused three Admirals to be heavily injured and Garp to temporarily be sent out of commission, and now, the appearance of the Blackbeard pirates...
"Not good." Vice Admiral Tsuru muttered while observing the situation calmly, "Our force is dispersed. Garp is unavailable, three Admirals are unconscious, and most of our forces are fighting against the Whitebeard fleet out there, with Grimheart pirates recovering in the sky. Now, the sudden appearance of the Blackbeard pirates with some of them being from the level 6 of the Impel down..."
Tsuru turned back and asked one female marine soldier who was standing behind her, "What's the state of Kuzan?"
Sakazuki was turned into mincemeat, while Borsalino's face was completely broken beyond belief—hell, one of the shards of his broken glasses stabbed into his right eye, permanently losing its sight. If anyone had a chance of returning to the battle, it was none other than Kuzan.
"Admiral Kuzan has come back to consciousness!" The marine soldier answered while saluting, "While his injury is nothing to be taken lightly, he said that just a minute is required to regain his bearing!"
Tsuru nodded before gazing at the other Vice Admirals, who ceased to chase after the Whitebeard pirates and immediately returned,
"You boys and girls know what to do. Help Sengoku."
The one on the lead, Momonga, nodded with a deep frown on his face, "You don't need to say.
Let's go!!"
"Zehahaha, kill them all!!" With Teach's command, all members of the Blackbeard pirates, except for Laffitte who stood by Teach's side, all complied and ran toward the Vice Admirals, before starting the fights of their own.
*BOOOOOM*
"Blackbeard..." Carina's eyes sharpened as he stared at Teach, "...He and his crew survived, huh?"
"I think... their number increased." Dan stated in a serious tone.
Carina gazed at the cabin, where Rowan was sound asleep in exhaustion, before pursing her lips and turning back.
"Whitebeard is technically a living corpse by now." Job stated coolly, "That Blackbeard must have been waiting for the perfect time…what a shrewd lad."
Newgate, with sunken eyes, glared at Teach as he squeezed out the strength that remained within him after the arduous fight against Sengoku.
"Yo pops, how are you feeling right now?" Teach grinned shrewdly as he opened his arms wide, "If you don't feel like saying, let me tell you! You look awful, Whitebeard, zehahahaha!!!"
"You... *Cough* *Cough*... are the only scum that I would never call my son..." Newgate made a weak grin, "Where have you... lost your eye Teach? It... *Cough*... surely befits you."
"That filthy Grimheart will pay the price for this!!" Teach barked as he placed his hand on top of his eyepatch.
Calming himself down, Teach grinned once more as he snapped his finger, to which Laffitte turned on the visual Den Den Mushi to the Sabaody Archipelago that he somehow stole from a nearby marine soldier.
Sengoku felt the world crashing down as the visual Den Den Mushi was turned on, 'No... the worst that I've been fearing for...!'
"Heh, surprised, Sengoku?" Teach raised his eyebrow with a despicable grin, "Trust me, this is just the beginning of what you are about to see."
Back on the Prominence, which now flew freely around under Dan's control and dodge the occasional cannonballs with ease,
"Blackbeard pirates, hm." Alfred observed each member of the Blackbeard pirates who revealed themselves in the middle of the Marineford, "Marshall D. Teach. Van Augur. Jesus Burgess. Laffitte. Doc Q. Shiryu. Sanjuan Wolf. Vasco Shot. Catarina Devon. Avalo Pizzaro. All of them are quite infamous."
At the sea, where three forces were tangled into a chaotic mess,
*Clang*
"The Blackbeard pirates...!" One marine soldier gritted his teeth as he clashed his sword against the pirate member of the Whitebeard fleet, "Who would've thought that they will daringly intervene the battle between the Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Whitebeard...!!"
"Although the name Blackbeard brings me to a painful rage," Vista bit his lips so hard that it bled, "Let us use this chance to raise our chance of successful escape!! After all, pops told us not to interfere!!"
From some distance away, on top of a flipped ship, Jozu shouted, "Trust in pops!! Focus on driving those marines and World Government b******s away!!"
Robin raised her eyebrow, "So Blackbeard entered the level 6 and freed them... even after captain destroyed the whole level. Seems like they are more capable than I initially thought. However, if so... where is Douglas Bullet? I thought that he has a grudge against captain."
"That big guy we saw back in the Impel Down, huh?" Dan muttered in realization.
Sob frowned upon hearing that, "Bullet you say? That huge war-loving brat?"
Carina chuckled, "I think you got him right."
*Vroooooom*
"Teach...!" With his eyes shadowed and veins popping out of his forehead, Newgate's grip on his naginata tightened and the subtle noise of vibration began to resound in the proximity.
"You... *COUGH*... broke the one and only iron-clad rule on my ship... You killed your own crewmate...!"
Teach, unfazed by Newgate's remark, grinned nonetheless.
"In Thatch's place... I... shall... take this scum's... life and settle things myself!"
"Zehahaha!!" Teach laughed boisterously as the darkness began to expand its area on the platform,
"Pops, old man, Whitebeard!! I used to respect you from deep within my heart, but you've gotten old! Just look at the sorry state that you are in!!"
Seeing that Newgate was lifting his naginata up for an attack, Teach held his right hand, covered in dark wisps, up with confidence,
"Ah!! Tsk tsk, that's not going to work!!" Teach's eyes flashed in delight, "Any powers become useless in front of me!!"
"Black Vortex—"
"Look at your complacency... Teach..."
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Even after the tremor of Newgate's blow was suppressed by Teach's fruit ability, it was still incredibly potent.
"What... made you think that you are able to defeat me?
I'm Whitebeard!!!"
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Teach screamed in pain as Newgate's Haki-imbued naginata slammed into his abdomen, causing him to vomit a gallon of blood as he was sent crashing down onto the ground.
Subsequently, Newgate lifted Teach up by grabbing the latter on his neck; Teach's face became wrinkled in extreme pain as he helplessly struggled.
Laffitte, in a cold sweat, immediately tried to come to Teach's aid, but stopped on his track as Newgate's world-quaking Conqueror's Haki blasted forth.
"Ah, w-wait!!! S-stop, let's think this through, pops!! You aren't going to do this to your son, are you?!!" Teach pleaded to Newgate without any sense of dignity, to which Newgate didn't respond.
Instead, Newgate slammed his naginata down onto the ground and clenched his free fist tight. The intense energy of tremor concentrated around Newgate's fist, and eventually,
*VROOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
The whole world cracked and shattered into pieces, as Newgate smashed his quake-induced punch onto Teach's abdomen once more, causing the already-bruised spot to burst in bloody mess.
"Captain." Laffitte's eyes widened, for such a situation wasn't expected. They thought that Newgate was out of any strength to fight.
"AHHHHH!!!! *Huff*... *Huff*... Argh..." Teach rolled on the ground as his trembling hands covered his bloody midriff in pain, but eventually, stood back up in a wobbly fashion, "*Huff*... *Huff*... F-father!! I'm sorry, I... I admit my wrongdoing!! I will repent, so p-please stop!!"
However, to Teach's confusion, Newgate ceased to make any further movement.
"It... seems that Whitebeard... finally has lost consciousness." Laffitte stated as he wiped the sweat off of his face, "I'm sure he'd fall over if you poke him."
"...It's..."
Teach and Laffitte jerked up in shock as they fearfully gazed at Newgate,
"It's... not... you..."
Teach shouted while taking a step back in nervousness, "Y-you're still alive?!!"
"...The man... Roger is waiting for..." Newgate didn't cease to stop talking as his eyes began to become hollow, "at the very least, Teach..."
"POPS!!!" From far away, Ace was crying uncontrollably as he fell to his knees,
"...is definitely not you..."
*CLANG*
As the Whitebeard fleet continued to fend off against the Marine and the World Government, they gritted their teeth hard with the tears beginning to overflow from their eyes.
"POPS...!!! It's... it's all my fault!! I should've listened to you!! I shouldn't have chased after Teach!!" Ace screamed at his lungs, "Why, why must you die here?!! Why would you do this, just to save me?!!"
Newgate, although barely any life remaining within him, smiled weakly, "...Just like... there are those... who carry on... Roger's will..."
Although Newgate's voice was losing its strength, he continued to stand adamantly,
"...Someone will appear... carrying the history of... all those decades... on... his back..."
"Pops..." Marco whispered with the tears uncontrollably flowing from his eyes,
"...and challenge this whole... world... to a fight..."
Newgate's hollow eyes shifted to Sengoku, who was glaring at Newgate with bloodshot eyes,
"Sengoku... you guys in the World Government... all fear that immense battle engulfing the whole world... that will eventually come..."
"Don't you say any further... Newgate...!" Sengoku said with utmost urgency within his tone.
"...As soon as someone... finds that great treasure... the entire world... will be turned upside down...
And someone... will find it..."
*PAZZZZ*
The whole sky thundered with Newgate's immense Conqueror's Haki,
"That day... will definitely... come... sonner or later..."
Turning his head slowly to his crew members, Newgate grinned weakly,
"Gurara...
One Piece..."
From within the cabin, Rowan's eyes opened and shifted to a particular direction,
"White...beard...!!!" Sengoku growled while sweating profusely,
"...does exist...!"