But neither Yasopp nor Red-Haired Shanks could have imagined that what they had just seen was only the beginning.
"Dad!"
"Dad is dead!"
Through the live broadcast, they next saw the members of the Whitebeard Pirates collapse onto Whitebeard's body, wailing in grief.
Boom!
Even Shanks couldn't help but shudder violently.
Whitebeard… was dead?
Killed with a single punch?
This was absolutely impossible!
Yet whether Shanks believed it or not, the fact could not be changed.
Marineford was still trapped in an overwhelming state of shock.
"Jozu!"
A roar rang out.
Marco the Phoenix instantly transformed into his brilliant phoenix form and flew toward Diamond Jozu.
No—flew toward the scattered remains that had once been Diamond Jozu.
Seeing how miserably Jozu had died, not even leaving behind a complete body, Marco's entire body began to tremble.
First Dad, then Jozu—
That man truly deserved death!
Whoosh!
Overwhelming rage and killing intent caused even someone as steady as Marco to lose his calm and reason.
He charged straight at Alex, his body transforming into a massive phoenix of blue flames, dazzling and spectacular as he flew forward.
"Marco the Phoenix?"
Seeing the brilliant phoenix rushing toward him, Alex's interest was piqued.
What if he took this Devil Fruit and gave it to Kamala?
In Alex's eyes, this fruit was actually quite good.
Originally, Alex had planned to get Kamala a Logia-type fruit.
After all, in the One Piece world, aside from a few overpowered Mythical Zoans, Logia fruits were the most broken.
And with elementalization, they would be almost invincible in the Marvel world.
But the problem was—
Nearly all Logia fruits already had owners.
Alex couldn't exactly go around killing Logia users for no reason just to get a fruit for Kamala.
Under these circumstances, since Marco the Phoenix had delivered himself to his doorstep, harvesting Marco's fruit wasn't a bad option.
For Kamala, it would be more than sufficient.
In fact, Logia fruits needed Observation Haki to truly shine; otherwise, their effectiveness would be greatly reduced.
Without precognition and proper elementalization timing, even Logia users could be injured.
Some advanced techniques also required Observation Haki to work properly.
When weighed against that, the Phoenix fruit wasn't bad at all.
"Fine."
"I'll treat the Phoenix fruit as a backup option."
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Marco had already reached Alex.
Alex merely extended a hand slightly, and an invisible telekinetic hand instantly bound Marco in midair.
Marco struggled furiously within Alex's grasp.
But it was useless.
He couldn't break free at all.
Like a helpless lamb, he hung suspended in front of Alex, utterly powerless.
Bang!
Alex's body flickered, vanishing from his original spot.
Bang!
In the very next instant, Alex reappeared.
But the Marco in his grasp was no longer Marco the Phoenix.
He was Marco the Dead.
That's right—
Marco had been killed as well.
"Captain Marco is dead too!"
"How is that possible?! Marco the Phoenix can't be killed!"
"Why was even Marco killed?!"
The crowd was once again brutally shaken, sweat pouring down their faces as they swallowed hard.
Marco the Phoenix might not have been the strongest member of the Whitebeard Pirates, but he was definitely the hardest to kill.
He could even be described as unkillable.
His Mythical Zoan Phoenix fruit allowed him to regenerate from virtually any injury!
How could someone like that die?
How had that terrifying young man done it?
No one understood.
Only Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the three Admirals—those who had personally been beaten by Alex—knew the truth.
Alex must have thrown Marco into the sea, suppressing his Devil Fruit ability, and then killed him!
Before this man, no Devil Fruit ability mattered.
Not even a Logia.
Not even the supposedly immortal Phoenix!
This man was nothing less than the ultimate nemesis of Devil Fruit users!
Thud.
Like tossing away a dead dog, Alex casually threw Marco's corpse onto the ground.
His gaze swept calmly across the people of Marineford as he spoke lightly:
"No one is to touch Marco the Phoenix's Devil Fruit. I've got my eye on it."
"Whoever touches it—dies."
Leaving behind those words, Alex flickered again—
Whoosh!
—and returned just as casually.
He reappeared atop the execution platform, standing arrogantly beside Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
"Whitebeard is dead. Marines, charge with me!"
"Exterminate the Whitebeard Pirates—kill them all!"
In the next instant, earth-shaking battle cries erupted.
The morale of the Marines surged to its absolute peak.
They charged forward heroically, surging toward the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates.
And the Whitebeard Pirates?
The opposite.
Though they had come prepared to die from the start, losing Whitebeard and two commanders before the battle truly began dealt them a devastating psychological blow.
Their morale plunged instantly.
Their fighting strength was crippled as well.
From that point on, the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Under the Marines' encirclement, the Whitebeard Pirates were steadily pushed back, suffering horrific casualties.
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Midway through the battle, sudden cries of alarm rang out from above.
The Marines instinctively looked up—
Only to see a group of people falling from the sky.
They were stunned.
What kind of entrance was this?
How did they even get up there?
Without question, these unexpected arrivals were Luffy, Jinbe, the former Warlord Crocodile, and the others who had escaped from Impel Down.
They, too, joined the battlefield, clashing fiercely with the Marines for their own reasons.
"Ace!"
Luffy roared as he charged forward recklessly, vowing to rescue Ace at all costs.
Crocodile, meanwhile, immediately began searching for Whitebeard.
His purpose in coming to Marineford had always been clear—Whitebeard.
But after searching for a long while, Crocodile didn't find Whitebeard alive.
Instead, he found Whitebeard's corpse.
Crocodile froze on the spot.
"Whitebeard… is dead?"
Staring at Whitebeard's body, already cold, Crocodile felt as if he'd been struck by lightning.
He couldn't believe his eyes.
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