"Such energetic old men…"
Squinting his eyes as he looked toward the blinding nuclear explosion site, Orin shook his head and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
With a single strike, the earth shook and mountains trembled.
Marineford, already battered and fragile, suddenly split open with a massive fissure. The entire island was cleaved in two from the center of the nuclear blast.
Countless nearby fodder screamed as they were swept in. Only the strong were able to escape disaster.
"So this is the power of the Pirate King?!"
"Just the aftershock is almost enough to destroy Marineford—this is a figure from legend?!"
"Get out of the way!!!"
The three brothers used the force of the explosion's shockwave to fling themselves far into the distance.
The strength was neither too strong nor too weak.
It was hard not to suspect that the two old men had planned this together as an act.
"Garp, you bastard…!!!"
Sengoku, transformed into a golden giant Buddha, looked at Marineford—now almost entirely reduced to ruins—and at the three brothers who had been blasted far away. His fury surged sky-high.
But now was not the time for him to vent his anger.
The threats on the pirates' side were still escalating, especially with the appearance of the aged Roger, the Pirate King.
That alone dragged the entire battlefield to the edge of extreme danger.
Originally, they only needed to face the Whitebeard Pirates, at most adding Orin and the Shichibukai who were barely participating. But now, each new arrival was more outrageous than the last.
First Golden Lion, then Kaido, Bullet, Red the Aloof…
And in the end, even Roger had arrived.
With only the combat power of Marine Headquarters, let alone winning—could they even survive this war intact?
With worry written across his face, Sengoku looked toward the heavily wounded Whitebeard before him, immediately preparing to unleash his full power and defeat Whitebeard first.
Only then could he free his hands to deal with the other, even more troublesome monsters.
But unexpectedly, a figure suddenly appeared, blocking his full-power Buddha shockwave.
"How long has it been since we last met, Sengoku? You've gotten older too."
"Red the Aloof!!! You bastard!!!"
At this moment, the one who leapt forward, sword in hand, forcibly blocking Sengoku's attack, was none other than the peer of these legends—[Red the Aloof].
"Red the Aloof…"
Whitebeard clutched his chest and panted for a moment, deeply gazing at the red figure before him, then turned around and left.
He still had more important things to do.
Turning around, his ferocious gaze instantly locked onto several figures.
They were the Blackbeard crew, who had been hiding ever since landing on the island.
...
"Zeh… zeh hahahahaha! I never expected even the Pirate King Roger to be revived. Marineford right now is basically a meat grinder of war, and it's still expanding the scale of the chaos!!!"
Beside him, Hades clenched the two axes in his hands in dissatisfaction.
"Captain, those powerhouses are slaughtering each other—are we really just going to hide here?!"
"If you ask me, we should go after Roger and take the Pirate King's head!!!"
Hades said confidently.
What he got in return was complete silence from the entire Blackbeard crew.
"Don't rush, Hades. Right now, Roger and that old Garp are tough as nails. And with Black Gun Orin and the Shichibukai watching, this isn't the time to take those two old monsters' lives."
"Compared to them…"
Blackbeard was about to continue analyzing when a buzzing sound suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"What?!"
The shockwave instantly shattered the air. Power capable of triggering natural disasters exploded within the Blackbeard crew's hideout.
The Blackbeard crew's useless underlings all vomited blood on the spot.
Blackbeard, spewing a mouthful of blood, rolled on the ground in agony.
When he opened his eyes, what he saw was a ferocious face like that of an evil ghost.
"How is this possible—you weren't fighting Fleet Admiral Sengoku?!"
"Teach, only you are unworthy of being my son."
"Stop!!!"
Under Blackbeard's terrified gaze, the already dying Whitebeard went completely berserk. One slash was enough to carve him wide open.
"Captain, I'll save you!!!"
One of the very few Blackbeard crew members who could still move under a shockwave—Hades—immediately charged forward to rescue him.
This gave Teach hope.
With both axes wrapped in flowing Ryuo, Hades rushed forward at top speed.
Good!!!
Finish him just like this, and then I can absorb a second Devil Fruit…
Teach's blood-covered face twisted into a smile.
Unfortunately…
"Bang!!!"
A crisp gunshot rang out at that very moment, instantly shattering Teach's fantasy.
In midair, Hades' eyes rolled back as blood spilled from his mouth. A penetrating gunshot wound appeared in his abdomen.
"Oh my~ the gun accidentally went off."
Blackbeard jolted in shock and, together with Hades, looked toward the source of the sound.
They saw a man with a smiling face, the corners of his mouth lifted as he looked at them. The muzzle of the black gun in his hand was still smoking.
"Black Gun Orin!!!"
Hades roared in rage, then fell to the ground unwillingly and resentfully, no longer able to fight.
Facing Whitebeard's gaze, Orin merely smiled, his eyes dim and distant.
Then, as if somewhat regretful, he spoke softly.
"As expected… that body has already reached its limit."
As if to confirm his words, the next instant several mouthfuls of blood burst from Whitebeard's mouth, splattering beside Teach, whose neck was still being held.
This made Teach incomparably excited.
"Zeh hahahaha… your era is already over!!!"
"Newgate…"
Not far away, Roger had also noticed just how terrible Whitebeard's condition was. But with Garp entangling him, he couldn't break free.
As for Roger's words, Whitebeard still responded forcefully.
"Don't get smug, Roger. I don't need you worrying about me!!!"
He had come to Marineford in the first place with the resolve to die.
"Well… old men always have strange tempers…"
At this moment, Orin's figure slowly approached the battlefield, finally stopping beside Whitebeard and Blackbeard.
"So? Do you want me to see you off for the last leg?"
Orin asked calmly.
"…"
Whitebeard fell silent. He had also realized that, with his current physical condition, it was impossible to keep Teach here.
His powerless hand slowly released Teach's neck.
His already heavily injured body—after enduring countless barrages and battles with powerful foes—had stepped onto the brink of death.
Teach tried to launch a sneak attack, but an instantly appearing figure blocked him, kicking him hard in the stomach.
The force was so great that Teach spat blood, his eyes beginning to lose focus.
"Behave yourself…"
Orin kept his hands in his pockets, his gaze full of disdain.
"The matters of the remnants of the old era aren't something little brats of the new era are qualified to interfere in."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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