Dragon scales flew through the air, and Kaido's body also became much lighter.
Scale Shot, for Dragon-Type Pokémon, was essentially a form of shedding armor — sacrificing scales temporarily in exchange for greater mobility. It caused no real harm to their bodies; given their stamina, their scales regenerated incredibly fast and would return to normal in no time.
For Kaido, this was even more so. In this world, whether it was a broken bone or a missing tooth, one glass of milk could restore everything as good as new.
Thus, for Kaido, the timing to end this state was entirely up to him. Whenever he wanted to restore his defenses, the missing scales would naturally grow back.
"Oh, right — that subordinate of yours who betrayed you has already been killed by one of my men. That freak really did have some tenacious vitality."
As they fought, Kaido suddenly remembered the matter with Blackbeard and casually mentioned it to Whitebeard.
"Gurararara, I really appreciate that, but Kaido, from the way you're talking, it sounds like the outcome has already been decided."
Blackbeard's death was indeed good news for Whitebeard. That pirate, who could cruelly murder his own comrade, had always been a lingering concern for Whitebeard — if not dealt with, he would have become a future disaster.
However, Kaido's tone gave Whitebeard a strange feeling, as if he was afraid Whitebeard wouldn't be able to "go without worries," so he specifically explained this crucial matter.
Whitebeard admitted Kaido was strong, but that attitude still made him uncomfortable.
"Your personality is not what Roger would have wanted to see!"
Boom!
Whitebeard's fist blasted apart the scales Kaido had shot at him. Once again, he brought up Roger's name. Without even realizing it, he was already placing the former apprentice and the former Pirate King on the same level.
After returning from Laugh Tale, Roger had a long conversation with Whitebeard. Roger had even offered to tell Whitebeard the way to Laugh Tale, but Whitebeard had never been interested in becoming Pirate King and refused Roger's offer.
Even so, he had learned a lot of secret information from Roger's words and had some understanding of the things Roger had hoped for.
"That kind of thing means nothing to me! I don't need his acknowledgment—his views mean nothing to me!"
Facing Whitebeard's fist head-on, Kaido was full of disdain toward Whitebeard's words.
"I don't believe in destiny! And if destiny says something, then I'll smash it to pieces! Newgate, you said earlier, didn't you — that you're a remnant of the old era, and there's no ship in the New World that can carry you anymore, right?"
"This is the truth. There aren't many of the old-geezers left from back then."
"So, Newgate, you've grown old after all. Your body may have regained its youth, but your heart hasn't.
If you look at it this way, I should count as someone from your generation too. Since there's no longer a ship in this era that can carry you, then let the era itself become the new ship! In the era to come, I will be its ruler!"
A destined fate — that was something Kaido hated deeply. His choice of Wano Country as his territory was also tied to this belief. He wanted to prove through action that so-called destiny was nothing but nonsense.
In this regard, Kaido had an extremely strong rebellious nature. Whitebeard's submission to the passage of time disappointed him. Taking control of the era and steering it according to his own will — that was Kaido's current goal.
The position of Pirate King was merely a step in the process, not the final goal. To Kaido, that title was nothing more than a stepping stone.
"Gurararara! I really underestimated your ambition, Kaido."
After a brief silence, Whitebeard felt a sense of unfamiliarity toward Kaido — he was vastly different from that apprentice of the past.
"Well, I am also Whitebeard, Kaido. Let this remnant of an old era give you one final push forward—just don't go dying on me here, brat."
A white radiance began to rise from within Whitebeard's body — this time not concentrated just on his limbs or weapon, but enveloping his entire body. Then, this power was gradually absorbed into Whitebeard's body, disappearing without a trace.
Yet the power of vibrations still existed — you could tell just by looking at the ground at Whitebeard's feet. The stones beneath him kept vibrating, and finally, under the vibrations, they crumbled into dust.
The Revival Herb had healed his body, but Kaido's words had awakened his heart. When both body and spirit regained their youth, what emerged was the real Whitebeard — exactly what Kaido had hoped for.
As a rather unconventional "teaching specialist," fighting against him always yielded remarkable gains. If Kaido had any natural enemies, the Oden's Travels would definitely be one of them.
However, Whitebeard himself hadn't been poisoned by Oden's ideals — or rather, Oden's silent return to Wano Country after Roger completed his journey had deeply disappointed Whitebeard.
The former apprentice still brimmed with ambition, which stirred complex emotions in Whitebeard.
Hassaikai and Murakumogiri clashed once more. This time, there was no visible power of the Quake-Quake Fruit on Whitebeard's blade — only Haki flowing along its blade. But at the moment of true collision, Kaido could feel a power of vibrations far stronger than ever before.
Unlike the explosive power that Whitebeard had unleashed right after awakening, if his previous attacks were terrifying external bursts, then now it was silent internal destruction. At this moment, Whitebeard had truly transformed into a "Tremor Human" in the truest sense.
"I knew it—you still had more to give, old geezer. Looks like I can finally cut loose for real this time."
The expression in Kaido's eyes changed, and the flame clouds swirling around his body began to burn even more fiercely like real flames. Dragon Claw extended outward from his arm, adding an extra layer of armament to Hassaikai.
Dragon Claw, Dragon Tail, Dragon Scales — most Dragon-Type attacks were related to different parts of the body, strengthening specific areas by manipulating the energy within. For Dragon-Type Pokémon, this was their version of "Haki."
At this moment, Kaido had transformed Dragon Claw into spikes along Hassaikai. For Kaido, this was his way of applying that power.
The scales he had previously shot out had also fully regenerated, and he reengaged Whitebeard in a new round of fierce combat.
Kaido was fighting to his heart's content, and even Whitebeard had begun to enjoy the battle. But the bystanders were not nearly as pleased.
This was Marine Headquarters — the unbreakable bastion of justice in the hearts of all Marines.
The legend of Impel Down being inescapable had long been shattered. Golden Lion's prison break could still be swept under the rug, but this massive jailbreak—the entire Marineford witnessed with their own eyes.
Though Marineford had been invaded by pirates before, every single pirate who had broken in had ultimately been captured and imprisoned — without a single exception.
This time was different: two Emperors of the Sea were openly fighting at Marine Headquarters, and the high-ranking Marine officers were merely standing by and watching without taking direct action. To many Marines, this was a heavy blow to their hearts.
From the perspective of the Marine higher-ups, however, this was already the best possible outcome.
No matter how fiercely Kaido and Whitebeard fought, it would not threaten the Marines' position. On the contrary, their infighting would actually benefit the Marines' future development.
The rapidly growing power of the pirate side had already put the Marines at a disadvantage, and combined with the orders from the Five Elders, Sengoku had decided to call a ceasefire. Allowing them to fight without interference was part of the ceasefire agreement.
But the soldiers below didn't understand these things — especially since the orders hadn't yet been fully relayed down.
Some Marines believed that the higher-ups were simply waiting for an opportunity, hoping to swoop in at the last moment and reap the benefits. And indeed, if the infighting among the pirates had been more severe, the Marines would have done exactly that. But the chances of that happening were exceedingly slim.
Except for Kaido and Whitebeard, everyone else was very restrained at this moment, keeping their eyes fixed on the other Marine forces.
Some people had also guessed the intentions of the higher-ups. However, they remained silent; obedience was the most basic requirement for a soldier. Aside from a few troublemakers, the Marine soldiers who had been deployed here would all loyally carry out their officer's orders.
Near the central area, the Marines had already halted their actions. They were waiting for orders from above.
Most of the pirates had also begun fleeing to the distance under Whitebeard's division commanders' orders. However, a small number remained at the edge of the cliff that Whitebeard had created, watching his battle intently.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the battlefield, far from the fighting between Whitebeard and Kaido, an entirely different scene was unfolding.
The war not only hadn't stopped, but was growing even fiercer.
The interruption of the Den Den Mushi transmissions was the signal for a ceasefire. Until that signal arrived, the fighting would continue. The top-level forces were already exercising restraint, but the lower ranks were not. In this final stretch, they were still slaughtering each other for the war.
In the ruins, the bodies of Marines and pirates were piled together. Many had already forgotten what their original purpose for coming here had been. Now, they were driven by only one last thought — to kill the enemy before them.
"Koby, Koby, what's wrong with you?!"
From a pile of rubble, Helmeppo dug Koby out.
At the start of the Summit War, the two of them had been so terrified by Whitebeard's destructive power that they had tried to sneak away. However, they encountered Akainu, who was executing deserters, and ended up being frightened back onto the battlefield.
Suppressing the fear in their hearts, they had participated in a few insignificant skirmishes — soldiers against soldiers, officers against officers. At their current level, they could only handle some ordinary pirates; any captain from the New World could easily kill them.
As time went on — with Yamato's battle against Kuzan, Whitebeard's clashes with two Admirals, the Dyna Stone being used as a weapon, and finally the Five Elders and Arceus taking action— every shockwave from these battles was a tremendous shock to them.
And in the final shockwave, flying rocks had buried them.
Under the dual pressure of external forces and psychological stress, both of them had lost consciousness and only now were slowly waking up.
Helmeppo woke up a little later than Koby, but when he came to, he saw Koby clutching his ears in agony, sitting paralyzed on the ground as if terrified out of his mind.
Despite Helmeppo's shouting, Koby gave no response — because his mind was on the verge of exploding from the voices inside his head.
[Help me. Somebody help me.]
[It hurts, it hurts so much... I don't want to die, I want to go home...]
[Help me... Help me, please...]
[Brother, I've avenged you. Wait for me, I'll come find you soon...]
The chaotic voices echoed endlessly in Koby's mind. He couldn't tell whether they belonged to pirates or Marines — there was only overwhelming fear of the war.
One voice after another kept disappearing from his mind. From their final groans before vanishing, Koby understood that the owners of these voices had already died.
"Get a hold of yourself, Koby! The war is about to end — Fleet Admiral Sengoku has already given the order to prepare for a ceasefire!"
This news had just been brought to Helmeppo by a passing messenger. Originally, the order was meant to be conveyed only to officers of various ranks, but because Koby and Helmeppo were always hanging around Garp and had become somewhat familiar faces within Marine Headquarters, the messenger had mentioned it to them in passing.
"Keep attacking! Wipe out those pirates! Leave them buried at Marineford!"
At the same time, a loud booming voice reached their ears.
"Helmeppo, didn't you say there has been a ceasefire?"
"The messenger said so... Maybe Rear Admiral Yukimura hasn't received the order yet."
Right now, Akainu and the others were near Whitebeard and Kaido, with no time to pay attention to these ordinary battlefields. The combined threat of these pirates here wasn't even comparable to a single officer on the other side.
Even Ace now had to step back in importance. To Akainu, Queen was an even greater priority at this moment than Ace.
Besides being the son of the Pirate King, Ace really had nothing else; but Queen was different. In terms of threat level, Queen was vaguely considered the first below the Four Emperors.
There were many stronger than Queen in pure combat ability, but in terms of drawing attention, there really wasn't a second one like him.
Compared to the threat posed by Queen and the others, Koby's existence had absolutely no connection to Akainu — the chance for them to clash had disappeared completely.
Slamming his fists hard against his own head, Koby finally managed to drive away the voices from his mind. He then struggled back to his feet and staggered over to Yukimura.
"Please stop, Rear Admiral Yukimura! Marine Headquarters has already decided to stop the war! There's no need for our soldiers to sacrifice themselves meaninglessly anymore!"
"It's not over yet, get out of my way! A brat who isn't even prepared for war has no right to lecture me! Look at your rank — you have no right to stop me!"
Yukimura had indeed received the order, but he could not accept it.
Especially after that earlier inexplicable attack — although the pirates had also been affected, quite a few innocent Marines were caught up in it as well. And that was with Arceus having intervened to stop it; if the attack had actually hit its intended target, the resulting devastation would have been even more terrifying.
All of this was still within the range the Five Elders found acceptable. If the price of eliminating Kaido and Whitebeard was the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, they were more than willing to pay it. To them, lives were merely numbers, and the threat posed by Whitebeard and Kaido far outweighed the value of those soldiers.
First the war, then the aftermath of that mysterious attack — too many comrades and subordinates had died in this conflict because of these events.
And now, they suddenly said to stop the fighting just like that. If it ended here, then what had all those deaths been for?
He had indeed received the instruction to prepare for a ceasefire, but it was only to prepare for one — not to immediately stop fighting. So, he would seize these last moments to kill as many enemies as possible.
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