Hearing Austin's words, Sengoku relaxed slightly inside.
Not taking a stance was, in a sense, good news as well.
"Gurararara... What a nasty fellow."
Although he had failed to win Austin's strength over to his side, Whitebeard was not overly regretful.
He had never placed all his hopes on Austin, after all...
He was Whitebeard!!!
"Wait for me, Ace."
"Pops!!!"
As his naginata struck the ground, Whitebeard clenched both fists before his chest, accompanied by the shattering sound of the atmosphere splitting apart.
"That's...!!!"
Crack crack crack crack crack...!!!
A tsunami large enough to swallow all of Marineford was forcibly raised by that Sea Quake punch, capsizing countless warships.
"Sea Quake!!! He actually shook the sea itself!!!"
Other than powerful fighters capable of protecting themselves, countless people fell into chaos before this natural disaster.
Austin yawned.
Having witnessed battles on a far higher level, Austin could only rate this opening gesture as mediocre.
"It's up to you, Kuzan."
"Tch..."
Hearing that, Kuzan's urge to charge forward instantly became reluctant.
Why did it sound like he was taking orders from Austin?!!!
Although Austin, as a Celestial Dragon, theoretically had the authority to mobilize a Marine Admiral, this was the first time he had directly ordered Aokiji around like this.
"I was going to make a move anyway!!!"
With so many of his colleagues remaining still, Kuzan, as one of the few ability users capable of completely neutralizing the tsunami, had no choice but to step in.
But before doing so, he still had to argue with Austin.
After saying that,
Kuzan gritted his teeth and leaped forward.
"Ice Age!!!"
The tsunami instantly froze into an ice sculpture. Then Aokiji, whom Whitebeard punched into the sea, successfully played his part and froze the ocean into a battlefield.
Thus, the great melee began.