Zou was in a state of destruction.
'It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!!'
Zunesha, upon becoming the target of numerous bombardments, thrashed its body and trunk. Many pirate ships sank as the result of the gargantuan elephant's aimless attacks, but they didn't fear.
As if they were obsessed with something, they died even as their colleagues died from their left and right.
"Woohoohoohoo!!"
"Shurororo~!"
"SHIHAHAHA!!!"
The executive members of the Pirate Alliance laughed manically. And in the center of them all,
"ZEHAHAHA!!!"
there stood Blackbeard himself, standing right in front of the fallen ones—the past members of the Roger Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates.
"..."
Beckman was found smoking a cigarette in his bleeding form, as his back was leaning onto one ruined section of Zou.
He stared at Ochoku, the man who stared back at him in silence.
"...So the title of 'Strategist' wasn't for nothing, eh."
Beckman chuckled dryly before his head dropped low, and his consciousness faded away.
It was a one-sided war from the start to the end. After all, they were essentially facing the revival of Rocks Pirates with the crew that lacked their own captain: Gol D. Roger.
"Cough, cough..."
Rayleigh vomited blood as he attempted to keep himself up by supporting his weight with his sword that was stabbed on the deck.
Around him, everyone else has fallen—be it Gaban, Marco, Whitey Bay, or others.
"You..."
Rayleigh, however, seemed shocked rather than afraid. His eyes, filled with disbelief, wavered as they gazed at Blackbeard in front of him.
"Xebec...!"
"Zehahaha!!!"
Blackbeard laughed once more while holding his arms up,
"So you finally realized, Rayleigh! I was starting to get disappointed, you know?!"
"HOW DID YOU COME BACK FROM THE DEATH?!!"
Rayleigh roared, uncaring of the fact that he was bleeding rapidly,
"THAT DAY, ROGER SURELY HAS—"
"Killed me?"
Blackbeard grinned,
"In case you didn't know... let me tell you one story."
The war was ongoing. Numerous cannonballs—designated by Caesar—were fired at Zunesha.
The corpses of Mink Tribe floated all around the sea, mutilated beyond belief.
The noise of the war was surreal. Coupled with the laughters filled with nothing but insanity, the area spoke nothing but chaos.
Yet, Rayleigh felt as if everything around him has gone silent as Blackbeard opened his mouth.
"In the long past, the Great Kingdom was under the rule of Buccaneers—the race that was born upon the marriage between the strongest giant, Oars the Continent-Puller, and the queen who was said to wield the power of 'freedom.'
They possessed the muscle mass equivalent to that of giants, even though their body sizes were, at best, five times greater than an average human. The inherent toughness of their body was astounding, and their hearts, in order to supplement bodies of such a high oxygen demand, had to evolve."
"...Back then, Roger stabbed you in the heart."
Rayleigh whispered in a shaky voice.
Blackbeard's grin widened.
"Zehahaha... what if I tell you that Buccaneers, as they grow, lose the organ named heart?"
THAT'S RIGHT!!!
Blackbeard's boisterous laughter echoed throughout the area as he looked up to the sky, wide-armed.
"Our heart merges with blood vessels as we mature!! In other words, every single part of Buccaneers' blood vessels is capable of pumping blood... there is no such thing as a weak point in the chest for us!!!"
Rayleigh's grip over his sword loosened.
"Hah..."
Falling on the deck, Rayleigh dully gazed down at it.
"To think... something like that is possible..."
"Nothing is impossible."
Blackbeard said coldly.
"After all... human's dream never ends."
...
'...Is there truly no hope?'
Shanks, as he lied at the edge of one sinking pirate ship, thought to himself.
'We did everything that we could. But to think that the man in front of us wasn't Marshall D. Teach whose age is as similar as me, but "Behemoth" Rocks D. Xebec himself...'
The war was coming to an end... to a conclusion of their loss, that is.
'This time around, there is no captain Roger to stop him. Monkey D. Garp has aged. All the Catastrophes have fallen. There is... there is no one who can stop this man if everything were to end like this...'
Then, the sea level suddenly began to decrease as the water began to flow in a strange direction.
"H-Huh?!"
John, who was drinking alcohol carefree, lost the grip over the bottle as the ship which he stood on swayed.
'This is...'
Shanks realized that something has happened in the Red Line.
The image of the white-haired man entered Shanks's mind.
'White Hunter...'
His eyes widened as he caught onto the consciousness.
'...Smoker.'
Shanks's eyes regained the light as he revealed determination.
'Even if we are to lose… there is still... one last hope.'
This war was their loss. However, Shanks felt as if his mind was in relief.
This world still had the chance.
'Then, all that's left for me to do is… try one last time.'
And as if it resonated with him, Shanks...
...he found one Devil Fruit floating by his side.
Purple-coloured. Swirly pattern. It was the one that Shanks was so familiar of.
'...Gum Gum fruit. Or,'
Human Human fruit, model: Sun God Nika.
"...Are you here to help us out?"
Shanks reached his lone hand out and grabbed onto the fruit.
He knew that he wasn't meant to be the owner of this Devil Fruit. This fruit didn't reveal itself in front of him for him to consume it.
Shanks immediately felt upon touching the fruit, of what it wanted him to do.
'Feed me to Blackbeard.'
"EVERYONE!!!!!"
At his lungs, Shanks roared.
"IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, HELP ME OUT FOR ONE LAST TIME!!!!!"
"...Hm?"
Standing in front of the fallen Rayleigh, Blackbeard raised an eyebrow.
"That is..."
Ochoku, who examined Shanks, sharpened his eyes.
His eyes found the Devil Fruit in Shanks's hand.
"Shihahaha!"
Shiki laughed in mockery,
"Tryna feed that thing to Xebec, eh? Well, too bad!! If you think we'll sit by and let that happen, you're severely mistaken!!"
Shiki's body levitated at the next moment. Floating up in the sky, he swung his leg where a sword was embedded on a stump of it.
A giant arc of sharp sword slash was flown at where Shanks stood.
And,
BOOOM!
Marco, suddenly flying with the bright flame of Phoenix, blocked the attack, much to everyone's surprise.
"SHANKS!!!"
Marco seemed to be at his last straw. With his face pale, he shouted,
"GO!!!"
Shanks stood up and ran. Jumping from ship to ship, he ran toward Blackbeard who was watching him in amusement.
"Shurororo~ it's pitiful really!"
Standing in front of Shanks and blocking his path was Caesar, whose body was morphed into its gaseous form.
"Ne, Red Hair, why don't you become my test subject instead? I promise to treat you well—"
At the next moment, Whitey Bay suddenly appeared, punching Caesar's gas-body with her Haki-imbued axe.
"GAHHHHHH!!!"
Caesar screamed in pain as the blood splattered from his wound.
Huffing, Whitey Bay growled,
"Don't stop, Red Hair!!"
Shanks ran past them with his teeth gritted.
"You shall not—"
Silver Axe entered his sight, however,
CLANG—!
Two leaders of Mink Tribe, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, blocked Silver Axe's axe with their own blades, grinning.
"..."
Frowning, Shiryu stormed from Shanks's back, in an attempt to decapitate the latter before the red-haired fellow became aware of his presence.
BANG!
He didn't realize, however, that there was Beckman with his firearm aimed at him. A bullet imbued with Haki was shot, and Shiryu, caught off guard, received a shot on his shoulder, causing him to lost his balance and fall into the sea.
SPLASH!
Right when Shanks landed on another ship, John was waiting for him, ready to greet him with a slash of a sword.
And there was Scopper Gaban, one who persisted without a right leg. He, appearing in between John and Shanks, countered John's blade with his axe.
"Huff... huff..."
Gaban eyed Shanks knowingly within the brief moment of time.
"Tch...!"
Shanks ran past the two of them and at last, reached the flagship where pirates, along with Blackbeard, were waiting for him.
"Zehahaha... now what?"
Blackbeard mocked Shanks. Shanks, grimacing, began his reckless charge.
BANG!
Gunshots were fired from the pirates, but Shanks, through the operation of his Observation Haki, dodged them all.
Now right in front of Blackbeard who hasn't moved a step, Shanks pushed forth his hand that was holding onto Gum Gum fruit—straight at Blackbeard's face.
"Zehahaha..."
Then, a heavy-looking mass of darkness appeared right below Shanks. With an incredible force, it pulled Shanks toward it and prevented his further approach toward Blackbeard.
Blackbeard's hand, meanwhile, was holding onto the pure, concentrated energy that contained the power to induce tremor, ready to be struck straight onto Shanks.
"KUK—!"
Shanks coughed out the blood as he crashed onto the deck and the mass of darkness. In this immobilized state, Blackbeard, without any hesitation, blasted his fist forth.
Then, the blood splattered.
"HA?!"
"Huff... huff..."
It was Rayleigh's blood, as he voluntarily stepped in to receive Blackbeard's strike on his chest.
"Shanks..."
He said in a hoarse voice,
"Now... is your chance..."
Rayleigh grinned, revealing his bloody teeth.
Blackbeard's eyes widened. He attempted to pull his arm out of Rayleigh's chest, but it didn't budge.
"Why, you...!!!"
Blackbeard blasted his free hand toward Rayleigh, destroying the latter's face and crushing the glasses atop it.
However, Rayleigh's grin didn't falter. Reaching his shaky hands out toward Teach's arm that destroyed his face, Rayleigh latched onto it tight.
"GO!!!"
Shanks jumped over Rayleigh with all his remaining strength.
"W-WAIT!!!"
Out of panic, Blackbeard shouted, however, it was to no avail.
Shanks, reaching Blackbeard, pushed the Devil Fruit forth toward Blackbeard's mouth that was shut tightly, trying to get the juice in.
"Just..."
Shanks growled,
"A little... more...!!!"
"...That's it."
Shanks couldn't progress anymore as a hand suddenly entered from the side and grabbed onto his arm.
It was Ochoku who intervened him.
"Ochoku...!"
Blackbeard spoke, full of delight.
"How many times must I tell you to be cautious, Xebec? You never seem to learn, do you?"
"Zehahaha... my bad, my bad!"
Ochoku then threw Shanks away from Blackbeard, onto the bloody deck.
Shanks rolled across the deck and slammed onto the railing.
"Ray... leigh..."
Shanks whispered as he watched the corpse of Rayleigh's body fall.
The blood rained down from the sky as Shiki's leg-swords shredded Marco into pieces.
Whitey Bay was intoxicated by Caesar's toxic gas, and was choking from one ship.
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were stabbed countless times by surrounding pirates, before Silver Axe cleaved their heads mercilessly.
Shiryu stabbed his sword on Beckman who was unable to move.
As Gaban lost his balance due to the lack of a leg, John kicked the former before slashing him numerous times in a split second.
It was over. Their last hope has faded...
"...One,"
Shanks, clenching onto the Gum Gum fruit tightly, whispered,
"One more time."
'I am sorry... forgive me.'
Opening his mouth, Shanks took a bite out of the fruit.
"...Beckman."
"...It has been fun, Shanks."
While stabbed by Shiryu, Beckman smirked knowingly. As the cigarette fell out of his mouth, he lifted up his firearm for one final time,
BANG!
and blasted right on Shank's right, breaking the deck into the pieces.
With the deck breaking down, Shanks was falling into the sea below.
In this state, he reached his lone arm at Blackbeard, one that began to stretch abnormally like a rubber.
Latching onto Blackbeard's ankle, he attempted to pull Blackbeard along with him,
"..."
but was unable to do so, as a knife that was lying nearby suddenly floated up as if having gained its own sentience.
Then, it severed Shanks's elongated, rubbery arm.
'...Soul Soul fruit.'
Shanks realized, that it was the effect of the Devil Fruit that Blackbeard stole from Big Mom.
With his lone arm now lost, he fell into the sea.
Then, nothing but the laughters of the pirates remained, signalling for their victory.
Zunesha squealed loudly in sorrow. It thrashed its body, but was slowly reaching the point of an exhaustion.
"ZEHAHAHA!!!!"
Once again, Blackbeard laughed.
"BEHOLD!!! MY AGE HAS FINALLY COME!!!"
His eyes, full of ambition, gleamed in a devilish crimson.
"THIS WORLD IS FOR ME TO TAKE!!!"
While the Revolutionary Army achieved a victory against the World Government, the Pirate Alliance... attained the fourth and final Road Poneglyph—hence opening the mysterious path that will lead them to the One Piece.