"Oden!!!" Marco saw Kozuki Oden being instantly killed by Sakazuki from afar and shouted in grief.
At the same moment, a fierce slash flew out, instantly severing one of Marco's wings. Gion, holding Konpira, smiled and said, "No need to shout too loudly. You'll be able to see him again in a little while!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Gion rushed in front of Marco and raised her hand to strike again.
Marco's feet were enveloped in a Haki as he planted his foot against Gion's Konpira, his expression one of extreme anger.
At the same time, Sakazuki turned his head and looked over, his gaze instantly locking onto Marco. He sneered, "Don't worry, there's no need to be sad. I'll send you all on your way!"
The next second, magma erupted from Sakazuki's body, propelling his massive figure into the sky and hurtling towards Marco from a great distance.
"Hell Hound Red Lotus!!!"
In mid-air, Sakazuki threw a punch. His arm, held up by the magma, stretched out more than ten meters in an instant. Marco could have dodged it, but because of Gion's pull, he was unable to avoid it for a moment.
Then, Sakazuki's scorching hot magma fist slammed into Marco's body, and a large amount of magma and blue flames exploded at the same time, sending Marco flying.
Marco may not be as strong as Kozuki Oden, but his vitality and regenerative abilities are unmatched.
Sakazuki blasted a huge hole in his chest, and he rolled dozens of times on the ground, but he was still able to get up very quickly. At the same time, blue flames burned on his body, rapidly healing his injuries.
In the blink of an eye, his injuries were completely healed, showing no signs of fatigue. However, a lot of sweat was pouring down his forehead, clearly indicating that his strength was almost exhausted.
Meanwhile, Newgate also realized that his sworn brother Kozuki Oden, had been killed by Sakazuki.
The moment Kozuki Oden's aura vanished, a glint of extreme rage flashed in Newgate's eyes, whose injuries were not light and whose aura was slightly weakened.
But he didn't roar and vent his anger; that look of anger quickly turned into a sense of grief.
"Are you sad? Are you in pain? Do you understand what it feels like to lose loved ones and siblings, Newgate?" Ortolan stood at a distance without moving, but continued to provoke Newgate with his words.
Undoubtedly, this is trash talk, and it is also a kind of combat technique.
"Feel this pain, you pirates! Aren't you a despicable gang that takes everything from others to achieve your own pleasure? This pain, this sorrow, is what those you have hurt have experienced. Now, atone for your sins here. Repent your crimes before justice, and we, the Marines, will forgive your sins with our deaths!" Ortolan shouted at Newgate.
"Shut up!!!" Newgate finally couldn't suppress his anger any longer. He roared and threw a punch.
This punch, filled with rage and extremely powerful, instantly shattered and tore apart the ground between him and Ortolan, tearing apart space. The powerful shockwave roared past and slammed heavily into Ortolan's body.
Ortolan showed no intention of dodging. He crossed his arms and held them in front of him. The powerful shockwave pressed down on him instantly, but it failed to injure Ortolan or send him flying.
He withstood the blow.
In the next instant, Newgate's tall figure had already leaped in front of Ortolan, his fist pressing down from above, radiating a translucent energy aura as he slammed down!
"What do you know? What have you experienced? This is how the world is. Countries that can't pay the New World Celestial Gold will become Paradise for pirates and all sorts of villains. The country will perish, and its people will become refugees. Even a three-year-old child will inevitably have to endure darkness to survive. There is no room for kindness in this kind of place!!!" Newgate roared angrily.
Facing the whistling heavy punch, Ortolan threw a punch without backing down. The two fists collided at first, but this time there was no contest of strength. The next second, Newgate swung his other hand, which was holding the Cloud-Cutting Sword, and slashed it down.
Ortolan punched Newgate in the chest with a backhand, causing his firm pectoral muscles to cave in and instantly become bruised and black.
Meanwhile, Congyun also slashed at Ortolan's shoulder with his sword. Although the slash was effective, it forced Ortolan back two steps.
At this moment, seemingly sensing that Murakumo was uncomfortable in this close combat, Newgate loosened his grip, abandoning the longsword, and instantly threw another punch, directly hitting Ortolan on the head.
This powerful and trembling punch was blocked by Ortolan's horns.
"What are you trying to explain to me, Whitebeard?" Ortolan braced himself against the fist with his horns, while simultaneously grabbing Newgate's other fist, his expression one of disgust. "Is this how the world is? Stop your nonsense! There are countless people in this world who have experienced far more darkness than you, yet still remain kind and compassionate, always looking towards the light. If you're going to be a pirate, just be a pirate. Don't make excuses for yourself, Whitebeard!!!"
These words seemed to shake Newgate's mind for a moment. At that very moment, Ortolan delivered a powerful backhand punch, striking Newgate hard on the head. With a single punch, half of Newgate's pert crescent-shaped beard was burned away by the force of lightning.
The heavy punch distorted Newgate's expression, making him look ferocious. With his immense strength, Newgate lost his footing and his tall body involuntarily retreated five or six steps before finally stopping.
At this moment, his face, which had been struck by Ortolan, was somewhat sunken and deformed, as if half of his facial bones had been broken.
But Newgate's originally furious and impulsive gaze gradually calmed down.
"You're right..." Newgate looked at Ortolan and muttered to himself softly.
In that instant, influenced by his emotions and provoked by Ortolan's words, he lost his composure. Those words were truly beneath him. Just as Ortolan said, he Whitebeard, shouldn't make excuses for himself. If you're going to be a pirate, just be a pirate properly, and don't try to justify it by saying you were forced into it!
After staring at Ortolan for a moment, Newgate suddenly shouted, "The Whitebeard Pirates!!!"
His shout echoed across the entire battlefield, almost without pause, before Newgate followed up with his captain's command, "All personnel, evacuate according to plan, return to the depths of the New World!!!"
Newgate's sudden order for the Whitebeard Pirates to withdraw from the battlefield left everyone in disbelief.
But Ortolan could sense that Newgate was truly decisive and had a very clear mind!
He led his men to storm the execution ground, mainly because the people to be executed were members of Kozuki Oden family and their retainers. Now that Kozuki Oden had been killed by Sakazuki, the situation was very awkward.
If Newgate is considering his own reputation, he should work harder now to rescue Momonosuke, which would be a way of doing justice to Kozuki Oden and this operation.
After the incident, no one could say that Whitebeard was disloyal.
But Newgate knew very well that with the death of Kozuki Oden, the combat power of Marine Admiral Sakazuki had been fully unleashed, and unfortunately, he had no cards left to defend against Sakazuki!
In other words, the war is about to snowball. The Marines's advantage will gradually expand as Sakazuki's fighting power is unleashed, meaning... there's practically no chance of winning!
Therefore, at this moment, Newgate disregarded his own reputation and was willing to ruin it in order to preserve the strength of the Whitebeard Pirates and prevent his sons and family members from dying on this meaningless battlefield!
So he gave the captain's order to retreat!
"Trying to escape, Whitebeard?" Ortolan looked at Newgate not far away and said in a deep voice.
Newgate glanced at the battlefield with some lingering affection before turning his gaze back to Ortolan. A smile finally returned to his scarred face, a smile that conveyed both resolve and a sense of relief.
"No, I'll stay here and keep you company, you brat!"