Chapter 221: The Final Glory
Perhaps because of Rhodes' challenge to Whitebeard and the fact that he had killed many members of the Whitebeard Pirates, most of Whitebeard's crew considered Rhodes an enemy and would fight him on sight.
Standing before Rhodes at this moment was none other than the Great Whirlpool Spider, Squard.
Of course, in this timeline, Squard hadn't earned the title of "Great Betrayer."
"You guys run! I'll definitely hold this guy off!"
Squard said to the other pirates, then gripped his greatsword, staring intently at Rhodes.
As he stared, Squard suddenly revealed an incredulous expression:
"I've seen you before, Dragon Slayer Swordsman!"
He finally remembered—he seemed to have encountered the person before him last year.
At that time, Rhodes was far from his current strength, and had even been forced to flee from him.
"His strength has grown too fast!"
Squard couldn't believe it.
Rhodes had no intention of chatting with this fool. He flashed forward, appearing directly before him, and slashed down with his sword.
CLANG—HISS.
Rhodes' sword was blocked by Squard's longsword, but due to the difference in their strength, the Ghost Blade began to continuously cut through Squard's weapon, pushing it backward.
Seeing this, Squard dared not be careless. Drawing the slightly shorter sword from his waist, he slashed at Rhodes.
Rhodes remained calm, directly imbuing his fist with Busoshoku Haki, then grabbing Squard's blade.
Although Rhodes' Haki cultivation couldn't compare to those at the peak of the seas, suppressing someone like Squard was still easy.
With his weapon grasped, Squard's expression changed slightly. Immediately abandoning the short sword held by Rhodes, he hurriedly retreated—his longsword was almost cut in half.
Lightning Ring!
A surge of lightning instantly tore through the air, engulfing Squard.
Even Vista, the Flower Sword, had been slowed down by this attack, let alone Squard.
Struck by lightning, Squard convulsed, his body covered in scorch marks.
The injury was secondary.
Most importantly, the numbness and stinging from the lightning made it difficult for him to control his body, rendering him unable to dodge Rhodes' next attack.
SWOOSH!
A sword flashed like a bolt of lightning—an arm wielding a sword went flying through the air.
Rhodes' sword was too fast.
Squard didn't even have time to scream before his throat was severed, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
"Pops..."
In his dying moments, Squard still stared intently at Whitebeard, who stood alone against the Marines in the distance, his eyes filled with sorrow and regret, yet also a hint of relief.
Perhaps his choice to stop Rhodes was because he couldn't overcome his inner turmoil, seeking only death.
Rhodes shook his head calmly, sheathed his sword, and waited patiently for the Blackbeard Pirates to appear.
Meanwhile, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates, on their retreat route, encountered a killing machine.
It was Akainu, who had carved a path through the earth with lava, pursuing the Whitebeard Pirates relentlessly.
"He's got real guts," Rhodes remarked, glancing at Akainu, who was covered in blood but still full of fighting spirit as he chased after the Whitebeard Pirates.
There was a reason Akainu became Fleet Admiral after the Marineford War. His magma attacks were incredibly powerful, and his incredible durability made him stronger than Aokiji in prolonged combat.
After a while, Akainu realized that in his current state, it was unlikely he could capture the Whitebeard Pirates—especially Luffy and Ace, whom he was determined to kill.
So he stopped and launched into a taunting provocation.
"Retreating immediately after rescuing Ace? The Whitebeard Pirates are truly a bunch of cowards!"
This blatant provocation didn't work on the pirates, who continued their retreat.
"But that's just how your captain is—there's nothing you can do about it. Whitebeard, after all, is just a... loser from the previous era!"
The other members of the Whitebeard Pirates ignored him, but Ace stopped.
He could tolerate others insulting him, but he would never allow anyone to insult Whitebeard. This was his belief, the reason he received so much love and was rescued from the abyss.
If Ace were to leave now, he wouldn't be Ace anymore.
But someone was faster than him.
"Whether Whitebeard failed or not is not for you, a Marine, to judge!"
With a sharp whoosh, a blade wrapped in terrifying Haoshoku Haki and Busoshoku Haki slashed fiercely at Akainu from the side.
"Rayleigh?"
Akainu was somewhat annoyed by Rayleigh's interruption, but he wasn't afraid at all. He threw a punch—a terrifying and violent magma fist that actually suppressed Rayleigh's blade.
"An old man with half his body in the grave dares to run wild on this battlefield, Dark King Rayleigh! You bunch of Pirate King's remnants shouldn't be left in this world!"
"He's really getting old."
Despite being suppressed, Rayleigh's expression remained calm, but inwardly he shook his head. Not everyone was like Garp.
Entering his seventies, Rayleigh's swordsmanship might be more seasoned and ruthless, but his strength and stamina were no longer at their peak.
Suddenly—BOOM!
Akainu, wielding his magma fist, forcefully sent Rayleigh flying backward.
However, before he could even rejoice, his Kenbunshoku Haki detected two figures rapidly approaching.
"Pops is not someone to be insulted!"
Diamond Jozu unleashed a dazzling charge, moving at incredible speed. Taking advantage of the instant Akainu knocked Rayleigh away, he sent the Admiral flying sideways.
Immediately afterward, Marco, engulfed in blue flames, soared like a divine bird, kicking Akainu back like a football.
"How could someone like you understand Pops!"
Finally, Ace unleashed his Fire Fist—the violent flames and impact sent Akainu flying again, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"Hmm, quite the coordinated assault..."
Rhodes blinked.
In the original timeline, both Marco the Phoenix and Diamond Jozu had been distracted by Whitebeard's severe injury. Marco was badly wounded by Kizaru and had one hand cuffed with seastone.
Jozu fared even worse, being frozen solid by Aokiji.
Therefore, they were powerless in the battle against Akainu.
But this time was different.
Because of Rhodes' involvement, Marco and Jozu maintained relatively good fighting strength. With Rayleigh's intervention, they instantly executed a perfectly coordinated attack, giving Akainu a sound beating.
However, that was all.
Because Aokiji and Kizaru quickly arrived, and the fighting resumed.
Diamond Jozu against Akainu, Fire Fist Ace against Aokiji, and Marco the Phoenix against Kizaru—although they were all suppressed or even beaten in one-on-one situations, they were still able to hold their own.
This was the true might of the Whitebeard Pirates, leaders among the Yonko!
Without such strength, how could the Whitebeard Pirates have maintained order throughout the Great Pirate Era? How could they have dominated the New World? And how could the World Government have been so wary of them?
"The Yonko are indeed not only powerful individually, but their forces are also incredibly strong."
Rhodes' eyes flickered. In the pirate world, it was almost impossible for one person to sweep across everything.
Even the Golden Lion at his peak was captured by Garp and Sengoku.
And Whitebeard at his peak—the undisputed strongest in the world—even if stronger than the Golden Lion, couldn't be much stronger; at most, he could keep the battle situation looking better.
That's why Rhodes tried so hard to recruit Enel and cultivate new forces like Perona.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, a strong tremor suddenly came from beneath his feet.
He turned his head and saw a fierce collision between Whitebeard and Sengoku, shattering the earth and sending nearby Marines flying.
BANG BANG BANG...
At the same time, the surrounding Marines continued to fire at Whitebeard relentlessly.
But Whitebeard didn't retreat an inch.
His remaining single eye indifferently watched all the Marines before him.
"Having half his head destroyed, he's still standing like this... Is Whitebeard really human?"
A Marine Rear Admiral, upon seeing this, seemed terrified and collapsed to the ground, his voice trembling.
Sengoku took a breath. He was also old and physically exhausted, but his condition was much better than Whitebeard's.
"Gurararara..."
"Sengoku, it seems that in this war, I ultimately prevailed."
Whitebeard smiled broadly, noticing the battlefield where Ace, Akainu, and the others were fighting in the distance.
He and Sengoku were old rivals, and this war had seen the Navy repeatedly outmaneuver them. If it weren't for various interventions, they would have suffered a crushing defeat at the Squard stage.
But none of that mattered anymore.
The result was what mattered.
The Whitebeard Pirates had achieved their goal of rescuing Ace, which meant victory.
"Hoo..."
Sengoku took a deep breath, feeling somewhat helpless.
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
He had meticulously planned everything, and the specially made metal walls had almost driven the Whitebeard Pirates into a corner, but Oars Jr. unexpectedly created a path to survival.
He and Garp were stationed on the execution platform, a place where even birds should have been unable to reach, yet Garp's grandson—the Straw Hat Luffy, whom he'd completely underestimated—broke through their defenses.
Even more unexpectedly, the sudden appearance of Rayleigh, the Dark King, completely extinguished their last glimmer of hope, leading to Ace's rescue.
Thinking of this, Sengoku's thousand words all boiled down to one sentence:
"Garp, you bastard! Are you still alive?!"
"If you're alive, get over here!!"
He was furious.
Despite Sengoku's scolding, Garp was secretly pleased and eagerly came over.
"Tell me, who are we going to beat up?"
Garp rolled up his sleeves, looking like he'd go wherever needed.
Sengoku gave him a disapproving look. Ace wasn't going to be stopped now; the only thing they could ensure was that Whitebeard died here.
That was the Navy's bottom line.
Whitebeard understood this too, which was why he made the decision to stay behind alone.
The Navy might tolerate Ace's escape, but they would never allow Whitebeard to leave.
In this war, Ace was just a fuse; Whitebeard, the World's Strongest Man who had protected the Great Pirate Era, was the Navy's true target.
"You two teaming up? Gurararara..."
Whitebeard wasn't afraid of Garp and Sengoku's combined assault; instead, he laughed heartily.
When he'd heard the news that Shiki had single-handedly stormed the Navy Headquarters and fought Garp and Sengoku, he had been very impressed.
He never thought he would have such a day himself.
Sengoku and Garp didn't waste any words.
They both knew that what Whitebeard needed at this moment wasn't sympathy or pity, but the most glorious funeral.
Iron Fist!
Shockwave Burst!
The next moment, the two stood side by side, simultaneously unleashing their attacks.
World Breaker!
Whitebeard, summoning his last remaining strength and Busoshoku Haki, unleashed a devastating punch.
(End of Chapter)
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