After the appearance of the Moby Dick, the atmosphere across Marineford seemed to freeze.
Only the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard Edward Newgate, had this kind of presence, so everyone treated him with extreme caution.
Even though he was old and suffering from numerous injuries, no Marine dared to underestimate him.
"Kuhahaha! Sengoku, it's been a long time. You brought my son to Marineford just to lure me out? Ace, wait there—Dad will come get you soon!"
Whitebeard laughed boldly, his voice echoing across Marineford and even through the transponder snails to the Sabaody Archipelago. The sheer force of his presence made reporters in distant Sabaody unconsciously hold their breath.
"Since you're here, stay with Ace, Whitebeard Edward Newgate!"
Sengoku replied loudly. His words marked the beginning of an all-out clash between the Marines and the Four Emperors.
"Then let's see if you're strong enough, Sengoku!"
Whitebeard laughed again, narrowing his eyes. His arms suddenly bulged as white energy gathered around his fists. Then, with a mighty swing to both sides—
Ka-! Kaka-!
The very space around him shattered like glass. The shockwaves distorted the atmosphere itself, shaking Marineford and throwing everyone off balance.
The sea in the crescent-shaped bay responded violently, as a massive tsunami—dozens of meters high—rose from the impact, rushing outward with the Moby Dick at its center.
"What was that explosion?"
"A tsunami? What kind of monster is this?!"
Sengoku's expression darkened.
"Whitebeard really went all out from the start. The Moby Dick is already a massive ship, but the tsunami he just caused could easily swallow a dozen of them. And it's heading straight for Marineford!"
The Shichibukai standing at the front lines felt the full force of Whitebeard's power. As the tsunami approached, Moria, Hancock, and the others were visibly shaken.
Gekko Moria, a glint of excitement in his eyes, muttered,
"He really is a monster... just as expected from the world's strongest man."
If only he could slice off that man's shadow.
But even Moria knew it was unrealistic. He could only bury the thought deep in his heart.
Hancock, thrown slightly off balance by the seismic wave, grabbed onto some support to steady herself. She instinctively looked beside her—and saw Kain floating in the air, completely unaffected by the tremors.
"Ala la... he's this dangerous the moment he makes a move?"
Aokiji stood up, leapt into the sky, and unleashed Ice Age, freezing the entire tsunami and saving the Marines on the shoreline.
Right after, Aokiji launched an attack—two ice spears formed from his Devil Fruit powers shot toward Whitebeard. But Whitebeard countered with a single punch, shattering the ice and striking Aokiji, who became an ice block and began to elementalize as he fell toward the sea.
However, Aokiji was prepared. Just before landing, he activated his power again—freezing the entire crescent-shaped bay. The Moby Dick was now locked in place, making it easier for the Marines to bombard it with artillery.
"Frozen brat, hehe."
Whitebeard could shatter the ice at any time, but for now, the frozen sea gave his crew a better footing for launching their own attacks.
Suddenly—
"Hm?"
The sky darkened. Thick black clouds formed out of nowhere, blotting out the sun. Within them, lightning snakes coiled and twisted, converging rapidly.
Several captains aboard the Moby Dick noticed the source immediately. One of them pointed upward, shouting,
"It's that guy! The Shichibukai... the Demon Mage!"
Kain, already transformed into lightning, floated high above—crackling with thunderous energy.
Marco frowned and said grimly, "Lightning... the power of the Thunder Fruit. What a troublesome guy!"
The people closest to Kain felt it most clearly—the overwhelming might of thunder and lightning. Even the sharp-eyed Hawkeye showed a rare flicker of surprise.
"Two hundred million volts!"
Kain's raised right arm suddenly swung downward. The dark clouds above churned violently, responding to his command. In an instant, the accumulated lightning surged forth.
A blinding flash illuminated both sky and sea, and for a moment, it felt like a street of pure light had opened before them.
A massive band of lightning slammed toward the Moby Dick.
"Another terrifying brat... but I'm Whitebeard!"
Even before the lightning could strike, Whitebeard laughed boldly. As the 200 million volts of lightning descended, his fist lit up with a brilliant white glow—and he hurled it upward.
RUMBLE!
The deafening roar of thunder and the blinding flash of light overwhelmed the senses of those without strong haki or resilience.
For five or six agonizing seconds, the power of Whitebeard's quake force clashed with the colossal thunder. In the end, with a roar and a mighty swing, Whitebeard shattered the lightning, the blast cracking through the ten-meter-thick column of thunder.
The fragmented bolts exploded outward, shattering the ice in multiple places and nearly freeing the Moby Dick from its frozen trap.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"Help! Somebody—!"
The scattered thunderbolts surged in every direction. Even though Whitebeard had destroyed the main attack, the residual energy was enough to paralyze and injure dozens—if not hundreds—of Marines.
"Damn Whitebeard!"
Sengoku's face twisted in frustration. He knew this damage wasn't Kain's fault, but still—within moments of the battle beginning, they had already taken three to four hundred casualties. He nearly cursed aloud.
"Action! Move, everyone!"
The captains of the Moby Dick began to leap down one after another, landing on the ice with purpose. Their time to act had arrived.
Facing them were the Vice Admirals of Marine Headquarters. These were all battle-hardened warriors, adept in both Armament and Observation Haki—true powerhouses of the New World.
As for Kain, after unleashing lightning, he calmly withdrew his arm, his body returning from its elemental lightning state. Hawkeye, watching this, asked:
"What's this? You're not going to keep fighting?"
"If we're supposed to help Whitebeard, then I don't mind. Let's talk about it later."
Kain replied casually. Whitebeard's earlier gesture could be seen as doing him a favor—giving him an excuse not to act just yet.
"In that case, let me test the strength of the world's strongest man."
With those words, Hawkeye drew his sword. A massive slash of sword aura, tens of meters high, shot across the ice, cutting straight toward Whitebeard on the Moby Dick—but before it could land, it was intercepted.
"Bastard! Don't even think about testing Dad so casually!"
Diamond Joz roared, deflecting Hawkeye's attack into the sky. One by one, these Shichibukai were trying to use Whitebeard as a stepping stone—but his sons would never let that happen.
War was about to erupt.
In the blink of an eye, battle engulfed the entire battlefield. Whitebeard's captains clashed with the Vice Admirals, and both sides called for artillery support.
"Fire the cannons! Unleash everything!"
The Marines manning the turrets sprang into action. The P-3 howitzers roared to life, and even the long-range God Missiles launched from a distance.
In moments, the sky was filled with hundreds of fiery trails—every one of them aimed at the Moby Dick.
"Is this my welcome firework, Sengoku?! Kuhahaha!"
Whitebeard laughed heartily as white light gathered around his fist once more. With a thunderous punch—
Ka-ka-ka-!
A powerful shockwave erupted, detonating hundreds of Marine shells mid-air. Explosions filled the sky above Marineford like a cascade of fireworks.
"To intercept so many shells with a single punch... what terrifying strength."
The Marines stationed on the turret were visibly shaken. They knew that even Shichibukai ships would have been obliterated under such a barrage—but Whitebeard had stopped it all with just one blow.
Vice Admiral Tsuru ordered, "Don't stop! Keep firing!" She knew the ice locking the Moby Dick in place gave their artillery the best chance to be effective. Even if Whitebeard deflected the shells with air shockwaves, it would still cost him valuable stamina.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Shell after shell thundered through the air, but each was intercepted mid-flight by Whitebeard's relentless punches.
"What boring fireworks."
With his final punch, a devastating air shockwave blasted apart part of Marineford's defensive wall, collapsing the artillery platform above.
Huff... Huff...
After unleashing the Shock Fruit's power so many times in rapid succession, even Whitebeard began to feel the toll. His breathing grew heavier, his body strained.
"It's been so long since I fought Roger... I really have become a remnant of the times."
Whitebeard glanced at his trembling hands, then at Ace on the execution platform. He made up his mind.
He pulled five syringes from inside his coat and plunged them into his chest, injecting the green liquid within them all at once.
From a high platform overlooking the battlefield, Kain's eyes narrowed in surprise.
"Recovery potions? I only ever sold a hundred of those... and Whitebeard got his hands on five?"
Hancock, standing nearby, tilted her head.
"Recovery potion? That name sounds familiar..."
She trailed off, then suddenly remembered—she had used one herself in the underground detention room.
Kain explained, "It's a medicine that heals injuries—any injury. Even severed limbs. But the dosage in a single injection is meant for an ordinary person. Whitebeard just used five... who knows how much he'll recover."
Before Kain could finish, everyone on the battlefield watched as Whitebeard's complexion returned to a healthy, ruddy tone. His weariness vanished, and his spirit surged. He looked stronger than ever.
"Kuhahahaha! Sengoku, get ready for round two!"
Whitebeard's booming laughter echoed across Marineford. Sengoku and the other Marines looked grim. Even if they didn't understand what he had injected, they could clearly see Whitebeard was now in far better shape than before.
"All units, be alert! Whitebeard has regained his strength!"
Sengoku barked the warning just as another loud voice echoed through the battlefield—this time from a loudspeaker in the distance.
"Ace! I'm here to save you!!"
At the entrance of the crescent-shaped bay, a warship burst through the chaos of battle, heading straight for the port. A figure stood on the bow, shouting Ace's name through the ship's horn.
"That's... the Straw Hat Crew?!"
Though a few days had passed since the Sabaody Archipelago incident, news of Luffy had already spread far and wide among the Marines. A pirate who had clashed with an Admiral and still escaped? That was enough to make Straw Hat Luffy infamous across the seas.
It was Kain's first time seeing Luffy in person, and he didn't like what he saw.
"That brat cost me a lot of slave pirates..."
He narrowed his eyes and raised his hand toward the sky.
"Eighty million volts!"
A massive bolt of lightning crackled down from the swirling dark clouds and streaked toward the warship carrying Luffy—aiming to strike him down before he could reach the bay.
…
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