Laughter echoed across the battlefield.
Marco, the Phoenix, was sent flying backward, his body smashing into a thick slab of ice. The massive slash wounds covering his torso burned with his signature blue flames, closing at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"It's useless!" Marco gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse but determined.
Carl stood motionless, his gaze indifferent. He wasn't in a hurry—Marco's regenerative flames weren't infinite. Even the mythical Zoan's recovery had limits, and Carl was willing to grind him down until he reached his breaking point.
Marco reverted to his human form, but his two wings remained, flaring with green-blue fire. He had quickly realized something—his full Phoenix transformation was more of a disadvantage than a boon against a swordsman of Carl's caliber.
Great swordsmen, without exception, had honed their skills to an extreme. Against them, size was irrelevant.
"Phoenix Seal!"
Marco swung both arms forward, releasing a massive shockwave of green flames aimed at Carl.
"Slash Wave!"
Their attacks collided in mid-air, but Carl's next move proved his point—no matter how large or small the body, against a master swordsman, it made no difference.
Chi! Chi! Chi!
One slash after another tore into Marco's body.
Marco gritted his teeth through the pain, his right fist, clad in Haki, driving toward Carl's shoulder.
"You're finished!"
Boom!
The impact landed, yet Carl barely reacted. Instead, he pivoted and swept Marco's legs out from under him.
Boom!
Marco crashed into the ice beneath the Moby Dick, causing a section of the frozen battlefield to shatter. The ship itself tilted slightly from the impact.
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes. "That level of Haki…"
Carl's entire body crackled with an eerie black lightning, his Armament Haki so dense it appeared almost liquid, writhing as if alive.
A humming vibration echoed through the battlefield.
"Oh~ Let this old man step in," Kizaru's leisurely voice rang out as his figure flickered into the sky. "Yasakani no Magatama!"
A barrage of golden laser beams rained down toward Whitebeard.
Whitebeard's expression darkened. With a single swing of his Bisento, he sent a quake-powered slash forward.
Crack!
The very space seemed to shatter. The sky filled with debris-like fragments of reality itself.
The laser barrage scattered, and Kizaru's body fragmented into beams of light. Moments later, he reformed, pouting. "How scary~"
Carl's eyes flickered. If Whitebeard was forced to fight two top-tier opponents at once, things could spiral out of control. No matter how powerful he was, even Whitebeard couldn't withstand a sustained two-on-one assault against enemies of his caliber.
As if reading Carl's thoughts, a massive shadow loomed over him.
Clang!
"Your opponent is me." Diamond Jozu had intercepted Carl's blade, Shusui, with his diamond-coated forearm.
Frost still clung to Jozu's body, a remnant of his earlier clash with Aokiji.
"And me!"
Marco surged upward from the shattered ice, wings outstretched as he sped toward Carl.
"Tch, one or two of you—what a nuisance." Carl's brow furrowed. He tensed, preparing to counter Marco's incoming strike.
In his right eye, the number 'four' shifted to 'one'.
[Hell Path – Activate!]
Jozu's body suddenly went rigid. His diamond coating flickered—then vanished.
Marco's pupils shrank. "Jozu, snap out of it!"
Boom!
Marco's flaming talons slashed into Carl's back, but—nothing.
Carl's Haki negated the healing flames, isolating them before they could take effect.
Carl's free hand reached for Deadwood, his second blade.
In a flash, he disappeared.
Behind Jozu.
"Ultimate Blade—Divine Sword: Instant Slash!"
Zheng!
Deadwood slid back into its sheath.
Jozu blinked in confusion. He felt… nothing.
"What was that? Some cheap trick?" Jozu sneered.
"Jozu…" Marco's voice trembled. "Your chest…"
Jozu looked down. "What?"
Crack—crack—crack—
A jagged fracture spread across his torso.
His pupils shrank.
Shhhhk!
A torrent of blood exploded from Jozu's chest, a massive wound tearing open from within.
Carl exhaled a ring of smoke, unfazed. "A shell like yours is best cracked from the inside."
"You—bastard!" Marco roared.
Carl smiled faintly. "Don't worry. You're next."
Above them, Whitebeard's expression darkened. His Bisento swung violently toward Kizaru.
"Get lost!"
"Oh~" Kizaru dispersed into light, flickering back to the execution platform. "You've made him mad, Whitebeard~"
He turned his attention to Sengoku. "Hey, Sengoku-san, isn't it time to start?"
Sengoku nodded. "Begin the final phase. Marines, withdraw—follow the plan!"
Just then, a masked Vice Admiral leaped into the air, axe raised.
"You have no time to mourn, Whitebeard!"
Carl cocked an eyebrow. "That guy's got guts."
Unlike the others—Aokiji, Kizaru, even Akainu—who were holding back, this old warhorse was going all in.
Whitebeard's glare was death itself. He shattered the axe with a single vibration and gripped the Vice Admiral's face, slamming him into the ice.
Boom!
The impact cracked the battlefield. The mask shattered, revealing the man's bloodied face.
Carl continued his retreat, still keeping an eye on Marco.
Meanwhile, the Marine forces had begun a full-scale withdrawal.
Carl grabbed Marco's wrist mid-swing and threw him into the air before leaping back toward the fortress walls.
Marco crashed onto the Moby Dick, his wings flaring angrily. "Damn it! He got away!"
"Marco, tend to Jozu," Whitebeard ordered.
"I'm on it!" Marco rushed to Jozu's side, examining the gaping wound.
Jozu's chest was a mess—and worse, tendrils of black lightning still crackled within the injury, remnants of Carl's Armament Haki.
Marco clenched his fists. "Damn it! This isn't healing fast enough!"
Carl had already returned to the high walls, leisurely smoking a cigar. He exhaled, watching Sengoku's strategy unfold.
"Oh~ Carl, you're back too? But why didn't you go all out earlier~?" Kizaru drawled, feigning curiosity.
Carl's eye twitched. "You're one to talk!"
Before he could finish, a deafening scream erupted from the sky.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!"
Everyone looked up.
A Marine warship was falling from the sky.
At its forefront—a straw hat gleamed in the sunlight.
"Mr. Luffy?!" Coby's eyes widened in shock. "How is he in the sky?!"
He sprinted toward the impact zone.
"Hey! Coby!" Helmeppo called after him.
Under the execution platform, Carl narrowed his eyes.
Boom!
The warship crashed onto the battlefield.
A figure stood atop it.
Straw Hat Luffy.
Behind him—Sir Crocodile, Buggy, Emporio Ivankov, Jinbei, and more.
"That's… the Straw Hat?!"
"And Crocodile and Jinbei?!"
The Marines roared in disbelief.
Sengoku's eyes darkened. "Jinbei… is this your decision?"
Jinbei stood tall. "That's right! I renounce my title as a Warlord of the Sea!"
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