— — — — — —
"Are you brats trying to rebel against me?!" Whitebeard glared wide-eyed at the circle of sons surrounding him, anger boiling over.
"Old man, don't take it the wrong way." Vista grinned cheekily. "In the real world, none of us can take you even if we all gang up together. Now that we finally get the chance to fight you here, of course we're itching for a match. And besides—if we want to win this event, we've gotta knock out the strong ones first. Sorry, Pops, but… heh, you know how it is."
"Vista, when I catch you in the real world, I'll make sure those flowers of yours never bloom again. I won't be called Whitebeard if I don't beat you half to death." Whitebeard could barely resist swatting the smug swordsman into the ground.
"Give it up, Pops, you can't win! Victory's ours!" Jozu shouted, charging in first.
"Don't underestimate me, brats! I'm Whitebeard!" Despite his irritation, Whitebeard's lips curled into a smile. If these kids actually managed to bring him down—even in a game—it would still make him proud.
"Quake!"
His fist smashed forward. The attack didn't cause real damage thanks to the game's safety rules, but nearly half of them were blasted back all the same.
"Oraa Shirohige Daa!!"
Without restraint, Whitebeard clashed his fists together. A wave of cracks tore open the air itself, covering the battlefield in splintering space. Anyone with a weak health bar instantly dropped.
After unleashing both moves, his abilities went on cooldown. Gripping his bisento, he threw himself into melee with his sons.
Outnumbered by dozens, he obviously couldn't win—but even surrounded, he fought tooth and nail, dragging down several of them before finally falling.
"As expected of Pops…" Jozu muttered, left with barely half his HP.
"No kidding. Dozens of us against him, and he still took nearly ten lives with him. That's a brutal trade." Thatch sighed.
"At least he's out of the way now." Vista shrugged from behind them. "You know as well as I do, Pops would never go easy on us."
"Anyway, we did it, we killed our father."
"Hell yeah~"
While they spoke, a voice echoed from the sky.
[Ding—The Dragon King will descend in ten minutes. Defeat it to claim rare equipment.]
[Ding—The Herrscher of the End will descend in ten minutes. Defeat it to claim rare equipment.]
---
"Heh… now this is gonna be fun." Rimuru, who had already buffed his stats sky-high, glanced up. To him, it was the perfect chance—whether fighting the bosses or stealing gear from other players, everything was a stepping stone to more power.
...
"Rare gear, huh? If Rimuru-sama's going, then of course I'll join in too." Shion smiled as she gathered her ingredients, daydreaming of Rimuru praising her cooking after the battle. Just the thought made her giddy.
...
"Rare equipment? Vista, Jozu—let's raise hell. That loot belongs to the Whitebeard Pirates!" Thatch bellowed, rallying their crew.
"Victory is ours!!"
...
"Shall we join in as well, Kallen?" Otto asked calmly, glancing at the beauty beside him.
"…Better not. It's too dangerous. With just the three of us, odds are we'd only get wiped out." Kallen weighed their strength and shook her head.
"In that case, let's just find a monster-rich area and grind instead. Over there looks good." Sakura suggested.
"Fine, let's go." Otto agreed.
---
[Ding—The Dragon King has descended. Its location can now be seen on the map.]
[Ding—The Herrscher of the End has descended. Its location can now be seen on the map.]
When the countdown ended, two red markers appeared on everyone's maps.
More than half the players immediately rushed toward them, terrified someone else would kill the bosses first.
The map was huge, but travel options were plentiful—airships, motorcycles, magic carpets, flying brooms, even dragons.
"Rose Rondo!"
Vista's twin blades whirled, scattering petals from the sky. Each fragile-looking petal cut into enemies like razors, leaving wound after wound, felling them in moments.
"Fist of Steel!"
The moment Vista paused, a fist crashed into him. He was sent flying before he could react.
"Garp!!!"
Jozu instantly shifted into diamond form, intercepting the old marine to protect his teammates.
"Oi, Diamond Kid, the Navy's more than just me. Blocking me won't help." Garp's grin widened, and Jozu felt a shiver of unease.
"Have you ever been kicked at lightspeed?"
A lazy, mocking voice rang out. Jozu stiffened, barely turned his head—only to catch a blinding kick to the face from Kizaru, sending him soaring like a comet.
"By the way, where's Whitebeard? Why's it just you kids left?" Garp looked around, puzzled not to see the old man.
"Pops… you know his personality. He'd never ally with anyone in this kind of event. Not even us. So… we had no choice but to take him out first." Thatch let out a long sigh. After so many years as Whitebeard's sons, they knew him best. In a situation like this, Pops would always fight alone—that's just who he was.
"Bwahaha. You brats really are something. But yeah… that sounds exactly like him." Garp had been about to criticize them, but thinking about Whitebeard's stubbornness, he had to nod in agreement.
"And Marco? That guy's not easy to kill, right?" Aokiji asked as he strolled over.
"Don't even mention it. He sent me a voice chat earlier—first got ambushed in the bushes by Rimuru and burned his revive skill. Before the cooldown was up, Kiana and Mei camped him in another bush. Dead for good. Honestly, that kind of bad luck is his own talent." Vista sighed.
"So~ Why don't you just surrender?" Kizaru suggested casually. Fighting meant overtime, and his personal philosophy was simple: clock in on time, clock out on time.
"We have to kill them, Kizaru." Akainu's voice cut through, magma dripping off his body.
And so, another version of the Navy vs. Whitebeard Pirates all-out war erupted right here in this world.
.
.
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