Before a group of Marines lay a sea littered with wreckage, the remains of numerous pirate ships clearly visible.
Bodies of pirates also floated on the water's surface.
"It's the once 90 million berry bounty 'Gambler Jironti Belon Verche!'" exclaimed a Marine, pointing at a corpse below, "Wasn't this guy locked up in Impel Down? How did he end up here?"
"Look over here! This guy... isn't this the great pirate 'Lister John' from the West Blue a decade ago? I heard he was locked up on the fifth level of Impel Down!"
"How did these Impel Down pirates end up here, and how were they killed? Wait... could it be, they're the escapees led out by Blackbeard?"
"If they were brought out by Blackbeard, wouldn't they all be members of the Blackbeard Pirates? Why then are so many dead?"
"Who did they clash with? In the whole New World, only a few pirate crews could decimate the Blackbeard Pirates like this, right?"
"..."
The Marines aboard the warship were abuzz with shock, and soon they spotted more familiar corpses.
The overwhelming Conqueror's Haki surged like a tidal wave, enveloping the entire warship in an instant, leaving the Marines aboard stunned.
"Admiral Sakazuki, we've spotted an island ahead! There seems to be smoke from a bonfire; there must be people on the island! It could be remnants of the Blackbeard Pirates!"
One by one, the Marines collapsed, rolling their eyes back, foam spilling from their mouths.
"Eh—where did this little girl come from?!!"
The little girl had long pink hair, with a piercing under her right eyelid that didn't match her age.
She must have been soaked in the sea for hours.
Akainu suddenly sensed something and said coldly without turning back, "If you don't want to die at sea, I suggest you go back to your cell."
The girl turned around, tears welling up in her eyes, and she shouted through clenched teeth, "How... how is he really doing! Why can't you tell me the real truth?"
In the New World, the only ones who could stand against the current Blackbeard Pirates and rout them so thoroughly were a few pirate crews, right?
Oh, I almost forgot, there's also the fully returned Whitebeard Pirates.
Akainu frowned, muttering to himself, "I thought it was Blackbeard using the power of the Devil Fruit to stop our pursuit, but the real truth seems to be that they encountered a formidable roadblock, and the Blackbeard Pirates apparently never fought them."
Several pirate crew names flashed through Akainu's mind.
"Bartholomew Kuma." Akainu uttered the name motionlessly, causing the pink-haired girl to freeze mid-step.
Akainu took a step forward, and a supremely domineering wave of Conqueror's Haki burst forth from the approaching island!
Akainu finally turned around and continued, "You better not make me throw you into the cell myself; I can't guarantee you won't lose an arm or a leg in the process."
Even if it wasn't Blackbeard's crew, it didn't matter; they were all just pirate scum anyway.
The group of Marines on the ship turned around curiously, only to be shocked and pale with fear.
That place must be where Blackbeard's crew and some unknown pirates had a deadly battle, right?
Akainu didn't hesitate because now was the perfect time to capture pirates.
In his view, the island ahead was severely damaged.
It seemed unexpected that this could be discovered.
"Hmm?"
Such an overbearing Conqueror's Haki made even some of the Marine officers struggle to withstand it.
In a corner behind Akainu, a little girl was hiding, peeking out half of her head.
Many Marines didn't even understand what was happening before the power of the Conqueror's Haki washed over them, buzzing their brains and blanking their consciousness in the blink of an eye.
A cold voice fell, and a petite figure behind seemed to be frozen, stiff all over.
"What a rebellious little brat..."
After the little girl came to her senses, she cursed at Akainu and, without hesitation, turned and ran towards the back of the warship.
If they were really remnants of Blackbeard's crew, he could capture them all at once.
The girl clenched her fists, ignoring Akainu's words, and ran away as fast as she could.
—Big Mom Pirates, Beast Pirates, Red Hair Pirates!
After hearing this, Akainu shifted his gaze to the body of "Burgess."
There was a naval escape boat in that direction; it seemed she was familiar with the Marine warships.
When an officer shouted a report, Akainu also moved his scrutinizing gaze to the island ahead.
Even with the naked eye barely able to make out the silhouette of the island, it was evident that the island was in a shattered state.
Akainu looked at the island ahead and said, "I've told you several times, he willingly became a 'weapon of war.'"
"Damn it! Who wants to listen to you lapdogs of the World Government!"
He didn't want to return empty-handed after finally making it into the New World.
"Admiral Sakazuki! That guy seems to be Blackbeard's first division commander—Champion Burgess! Hiss! He... he's been killed too?!"
This scene left a group of Marine soldiers dumbfounded.
It looked like the skin of the corpse had turned pale.
"It seems I guessed wrong."
Among them, a Rear Admiral on the warship knelt on the spot, only able to support himself on the ground with his military saber.
He was sweating profusely, his expression full of horror: "Conqueror's Haki?!!"
Looking around, out of the hundreds of Marine soldiers on the entire warship, only a mere seven or eight people were still conscious.
And among these conscious people, only Akainu stood there as if nothing had happened.
The others either needed to lean on something nearby to barely stand up, or they were already kneeling on the ground, unable to stand.
"What... what's going on..."
It was hard to imagine that among these conscious people, there was a pink-haired little girl.
Bonney turned her head in shock towards Akainu, but she quickly realized that this didn't seem to be Akainu's doing.
Because she noticed a hint of surprise on Akainu's face as well.
"Such a familiar Conqueror's Haki, it feels like déjà vu..."
Akainu once again turned his gaze to the island, his eyes showing a hint of solemnity: "But I can be sure, this is definitely not Blackbeard."
As Akainu's voice fell, a thunderous laughter echoed to the warship.
"Gurararararara! You magma brat! How does that saying go again? 'Foes are bound to meet!'"
Whitebeard's hearty laughter echoed, causing all the Marines still conscious, including Akainu, to widen their eyes in shock.
The Marines on board had all experienced the Summit War.
How could they not recognize that voice?
It was unmistakably Whitebeard's voice!
"Hisss! Admiral Sakazuki! It's Whitebeard!"
A Marine Rear Admiral, kneeling on one knee, urgently shouted to Akainu: "The pirate crew that clashed with Blackbeard's crew and inflicted heavy losses on them is very likely Whitebeard's crew!"
Akainu adjusted his slightly askew Marine cap, his gaze sweeping across the sea to the fragmented desolate island.
As he drew closer, he could finally make out the silhouettes of a group of people on the island.
At the same time, Akainu noticed a huge ship docked on the other side of the island.
That ship was absurdly large, with its jolly roger clearly visible.
It was the jolly roger of Whitebeard's pirate!
"Whitebeard's pirate..."
A chill and a killing intent flashed in Akainu's eyes as he focused on the tallest figure on the island.
"Admiral Sakazuki!" the Rear Admiral on the warship urgently reminded him: "That's Whitebeard's pirate, sir. We only have one warship; it's not advisable to engage them!"
Although this Marine Rear Admiral knew Admiral Sakazuki was strong, the opponent was the resurrected Whitebeard, who had even defeated Big Mom.
Under such circumstances, even if Admiral Sakazuki could contend with Whitebeard, what about them, the Marines?
After all, Whitebeard's crew wasn't just Whitebeard alone!
The Rear Admiral hastily said, "Shouldn't we..."
"It's too late."
Akainu spoke emotionlessly: "And don't speak such coward words in front of me. That man has already set his sights on us."
Akainu's words made the entire group of Marine Rear Admirals swallow nervously.
"Whitebeard!" Akainu suddenly shouted back at Whitebeard: "Although I don't know how you've come back to life, wouldn't it be better to stay on the old era's ship and retire peacefully? Or... is it that your face is itching, and you want me to shave off half your head again?"
This shout stunned the few conscious Marine officers on the ship.
Could it be...
Admiral Sakazuki's taunting of Whitebeard might ignite Whitebeard's fury, and then Whitebeard wouldn't rest until he had annihilated all of them, the Marines?
"Gurararararara! As sharp-tongued as ever, you magma brat!" Whitebeard's eyes also flashed with coldness, but his smile grew even more rampant: "Last time I sent you crawling into a dog hole, yet you managed to climb out. This time, I'll have to dig that hole deeper and bury you completely!"
Even without a real face-to-face encounter, just the exchange of verbal jabs filled the air with an unprecedented tension.
"Keep an eye on that brat, and steer the ship away from these waters."
Akainu stepped onto the railing of the warship, not looking back as he spoke to the officers behind him.
"Ah? Admiral Sakazuki, you..."
The Marine Rear Admiral behind him suddenly realized what Akainu was about to do.
"I..."
He gritted his teeth: "Alright!!!"
This Rear Admiral understood that their presence was only hindering Admiral Sakazuki. The only thing they could do was to try not to drag Akainu down.
Meanwhile...
If they took the chance to leave, they could immediately request reinforcements from the Marines. As long as Admiral Sakazuki could hold on a little longer, reinforcements from the Marines would surely arrive.
But...
How long could Admiral Sakazuki hold out alone?
With deep concern, a group of still conscious officers struggled to their feet, immediately took control of the warship, and tried to leave this place of impending battle.
Indeed, Akainu had stayed behind alone to cover their retreat.
Because that was the only choice to deal with the situation.
Whoosh!!!
In an instant, Akainu's figure disappeared from the warship.
He stepped on and charged towards the island, without any warning or notice, he decisively attacked the Whitebeard Pirates: "Meteor Volcano!!!"
With Geppo, Akainu's arms turned into rolling hot magma, and he raised them high towards the cloudless sky above.
Suddenly!
A series of fist-shaped giant volcanic bullets were continuously fired into the sky from his arms, lighting up the entire sky and turning the heavens above into a crimson red.
...
Meanwhile, on the island.
"Eh, eh, eh—" Naruto looked up at the sky, dumbfounded: "What's happening... Why has the sky suddenly turned red?!"
"This is... Akainu's doing!" Marco's pupils shrank: "That guy, he attacked without a word, the Marines are truly despicable and shameless!"
"Everyone! Be careful of the magma from the sky!" Marco shouted urgently, because he knew that the new members of the Whitebeard Pirates had never encountered Akainu before, they didn't know about Akainu's abilities.
So Marco had to warn them.
"Magma from the sky?" Orochimaru, who had just finished drawing blood from a Sea King, looked up in surprise.
Soon.
His golden vertical pupils gradually narrowed: "Are you kidding me?"
He saw...
Above, the blue dome was filled with countless "sparks," too many for the naked eye to count. The "sparks" seemed to cover the entire sky.
And as the "sparks" fell rapidly, Orochimaru could see that they were not "sparks" at all.
They were gigantic fists of magma!
The diameter of each magma fist was at least tens of meters!
"Is this, the power of a Marine Admiral?!"
Kakashi broke out in a cold sweat, his dead-fish eyes widened: "If this move was used in Konohagakure village, the entire Konohagakure would probably be reduced to ashes, right?!"
"Be careful, everyone! Don't let the magma touch you!" Vista, although annoyed with Akainu, had to admit the absurd strength of Akainu.
At that time...
During the Summit War, several division commanders joined forces to battle Akainu alone.
But the division commanders couldn't stop that magma mad dog.
Back then, one of the division commanders was severely injured by Akainu's punch during the blockade, nearly killed by Akainu!
"That guy, he's a powerhouse on the same level as Pops!"
Vista shouted as he drew his sword.
...
...
(End of Chapter)
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