They say that Dyna Stones are weapons "comparable to an Ancient Weapon."
However, in reality, Dyna Stones cannot truly compare to an Ancient Weapon, at least not against a top-tier powerhouse.
In this close-range explosion, Marco blocked some of the impact for Newgate, and the rest was completely stopped by Newgate himself. Even without Marco, he probably would have only been a little disheveled, but otherwise fine.
Perhaps Charlotte Linlin, having experimentally tested the power of the Dyna Stones from the beginning, already understood that this item could not cause Newgate too much trouble, unless she blew up the entire island and used the sea to kill Newgate.
Therefore, Charlotte Linlin was pursuing only one goal in this explosion: restraint!
No matter how useless the Dyna Stones were, they were still immensely powerful, enough to affect Newgate. All she needed was that moment of distraction to seize the momentary opportunity and severely wound Newgate!
The facts proved that she succeeded.
With the cooperation of Kaido and the Dyna Stones, Charlotte Linlin successfully plunged the Cognac into Newgate's chest!
"Pops!" Marco cried out in alarm, looking at the great sword embedded in Newgate's chest, which was bleeding profusely.
Newgate didn't speak, only staring intently at Charlotte Linlin in the distance. Although the explosion hadn't inflicted any injury on him, it had greatly affected his current appearance.
His upturned white mustache was slightly charred, his captain's coat was in tatters, and black and bruised marks mottled the exposed, muscular flesh of his body.
The Cognac in his chest was embedded three points deep, seemingly about to pierce straight through from front to back. The injury was clearly serious, and blood was also trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Mamamamama..." Charlotte Linlin laughed loudly, then looked at Newgate and said: "You really are old, Whitebeard! The you of yesteryear would never have been successfully ambushed!"
The moment she finished speaking, Charlotte Linlin raised her hand and gestured, seemingly trying to control the Cognac to stab deeper.
However, at that moment, Newgate grabbed the Cognac, which was Napoleon, and pulled it directly out of his chest.
A large amount of blood instantly sprayed out, and the blood trickling from Newgate's mouth became significantly heavier.
Marco was quick-witted, and the blue flames in his hand rapidly covered Newgate's wound.
Although the ability couldn't fully heal Newgate's injury, it did slowly manage to staunch the profusely bleeding wound.
"Mama!!!" the Cognac-transformed Napoleon exclaimed, trying to break free from Newgate's grasp.
But a look of fury flashed in Newgate's eyes, and he exerted a fierce force in his hand, crushing Napoleon with his bare hands!
However, it was clear that Charlotte Linlin didn't care about this; she could create a new Napoleon whenever she wanted.
"The moment you used such a despicable method to ambush me, you already proved you couldn't win, Linlin," Newgate suddenly spoke.
Charlotte Linlin froze for a moment, then her eyes flashed with anger: "Spare me your lectures, Whitebeard!!!"
Newgate genuinely stopped talking nonsense. Instead, he took a deep breath, and the blood that Marco had just stopped began to gush out again.
But before Marco could speak, Newgate roared and punched out over the distance.
The powerful tremor force instantly spread out. Just when everyone thought the world was about to be turned upside down, they noticed that the tremor force condensed again...
Before Charlotte Linlin could react, Newgate had already charged forward with his massive strides.
Charlotte Linlin was startled. Naturally, she dared not face the enraged Newgate head-on. She also moved her feet, preparing to create distance and wait for Kaido to act.
But just as she tried to pull away, she found that the surrounding space was covered in cracks. The powerful, condensed tremor force continued to squeeze inward without dissipating.
This force was clearly holding her in place.
Charlotte Linlin didn't panic. She raised her hand and punched out, carrying her monstrous strength and Armament Haki, directly shattering the tremor force beside her, and then tried to escape.
But it was too late. The brief second of delay Newgate's move caused Charlotte Linlin was enough for him to act.
Newgate's enormous fist, enveloped in a spherical, transparent tremor energy, descended toward Charlotte Linlin's chest.
Charlotte Linlin's reaction speed wasn't slow at all. She channeled a massive amount of soul power into her hand, combining her innate monstrous strength with her powerful Armament Haki. She countered with a punch toward Newgate's chest wound.
A life-for-a-life, a wound-for-a-wound.
Perhaps you, Whitebeard, are stronger than me in other areas, but certainly not in vitality and physical strength!
Newgate's tremor power, contained within his gigantic fist, struck Charlotte Linlin's chest. On the surface, the punch seemed to have no effect; Charlotte Linlin showed no external injury.
But the very next moment, Charlotte Linlin shuddered, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out uncontrollably.
The powerful tremor force had already broken through her boasted skin defense, directly injuring her internal organs.
Subsequently, Charlotte Linlin's body was jolted and launched upward by the force. If nothing went wrong, she would be sent flying by this punch.
But in that exact moment, Charlotte Linlin's equally powerful punch struck Newgate's chest.
Then, Newgate's expression remained unchanged, but Charlotte Linlin's eyes flashed with astonishment... a mix of fear and disbelief!
"Impossible..." Charlotte Linlin didn't even have time to finish her sentence.
She was already sent flying by Newgate's punch!
This time, she directly crashed through one of the tall, jam-jar-like buildings on Jam Island!
Conversely, Newgate, who had taken Charlotte Linlin's punch directly on his wound, was utterly unmoved. He was completely unharmed.
Just as Charlotte Linlin was blasted away by Newgate's punch, a huge dark shadow descended from the sky.
It was Kaido. He held his kanabo and had returned to his human form. As he descended, his Haki power violently vented.
Newgate instantly recognized the Conqueror's Haki coating; black lightning continuously overflowed from Kaido's kanabo.
"Thunder Bagua: Kosanze Ragnaraku!!!" Kaido roared.
The kanabo descended with extreme momentum, seemingly intent on smashing Newgate's head to pieces.
"Hmph!" Newgate snorted coldly, calmly turning around, tensing the muscles in his arm. His fist was already enveloped in dense tremor power.
Showing no intention of avoiding the attack, Newgate scoffed and met Kaido's 'Thunder Bagua' with a punch.
The same Conqueror's Haki coating, combined with the powerful tremor force, blocked Kaido's Kanabō across the distance.
The clash of the two Conqueror's Haki powers instantly generated a huge atmospheric pressure wave, which spread out from around the two like a series of circular shockwaves.
Then, space began to crack, and black lightning surged violently—it was terrifying.
This contest of strength was momentarily locked in a stalemate.
But only for an instant. The ground beneath Newgate's feet seemed unable to withstand the pressure. With a bang, a section collapsed, and because of this, Newgate's stance loosened, and half of his leg sank into the ground.
This movement seemed like a momentary weakness. Kaido's Thunder Bagua followed the shift, somehow bypassing Newgate's fist. Though it couldn't hit Newgate's head, the blow descended directly toward Newgate's chest.
Kaido was somewhat pleasantly surprised, his eyes filled with excitement. While he couldn't smash Whitebeard's head right away, wounding him severely again with one blow was absolutely worth it!
However, just as Kaido's club was about to land, Charlotte Linlin's figure crawled out of the distant collapsed ruins. Seeing this scene, she cried out in alarm: "Kaido! Look out!!!"
Kaido was puzzled. What?
Did she shout the wrong name?
Shouldn't she be telling the old man Whitebeard to look out?
Wait, no, aren't you on my side?
In that instant, Kaido failed to understand what Charlotte Linlin meant.
And the next moment, an expression of shock appeared on his face.
The 'Kosanze Ragnaraku' is definitely one of Kaido's top killing moves. In a one-on-one fight, its lethality is extremely high, and its power is immense.
Therefore, he chose to use this move when facing Newgate!
But now he felt it was unbelievable!
The Kosanze Ragnaraku, coated in Conqueror's Haki and possessing immense power, slammed down heavily onto Newgate's chest. It looked incredibly fierce, and it should have severely wounded Newgate with one blow.
Yet, this club seemed to land on an invisible armor. The old man Newgate didn't even change his expression, as if this blow hadn't caused him any trouble or injury at all.
In fact, that was exactly the case. Kaido had already noticed a faint, invisible tremor force covering Newgate's chest. It looked fragile, as if it would collapse at the slightest touch.
But somehow, his powerful strike failed to break through this force!?
In other words, his attack failed to injure Newgate at all!
"This is..." Kaido's heart trembled, and he seemed to have realized something.
But before he could say the words, Newgate seemed to have anticipated his move, or rather, the apparent lapse caused by the ground cracking was intentionally created by him!
Seizing this truly exposed 'opening,' Newgate immediately countered. His large hand covered Kaido's face, and brute force erupted instantly. While Kaido was still stunned, a powerful tremor force surged out first, directly stunning Kaido.
The next second, with a bang, Newgate grabbed Kaido by the head and slammed him onto the ground!
A fierce look flashed in Newgate's eyes. He let out a muffled grunt, and the tremor force in his hand erupted again, smashing Kaido's head deeper into the ground.
With a boom, a cracked, deep crater roughly a hundred meters wide appeared instantly, centered on Kaido's head.
"Gah..." Kaido spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes somewhat rolled back.
This was only because the man was physically monstrous. If it were anyone else, Newgate would have likely finished them off with that single move.
Before Newgate could strike again, Charlotte Linlin's figure had already rushed in. She roared and punched out with a lightning-fire combination attack!
"Hmph!" Still a cold snort. A chilling killing intent flashed in Newgate's eyes. He didn't dodge, only turning around.
This turn naturally exposed his side. Charlotte Linlin's punch landed, and the shock in her eyes instantly turned into certainty and horror.
"Awakening!?" Charlotte Linlin shrieked in disbelief.
At the same time, Newgate's turn was perfectly timed for a backward elbow strike, which, carrying the tremor force, slammed directly into Charlotte Linlin's nose, instantly blasting the old hag away.
However, Charlotte Linlin's effort was not entirely in vain. At least while Newgate was countering, Kaido, enduring the dizzying feeling in his head, took advantage of Newgate not continuing his assault. He quickly fled the spot, creating a distance of several body lengths from Newgate, and then looked at Newgate with lingering fear...
Just as Charlotte Linlin had guessed, Kaido also believed that this was likely the power of the Awakened Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
But the more he thought so, the more surprised, even unbelievable, he became!
Even though he himself was an awakened Devil Fruit user!