With the support of 500 shadows belonging to men with bounties exceeding one hundred million, Maud could feel an endless stream of power surging from within him.
It was as if it could never be exhausted.
This was the enhancement that Shadows' Gathering Ground had brought Maud.
Naturally, the Great Eruption unleashed in this state was several times more powerful than before.
The white light that seemed capable of annihilating everything in its path swallowed Akainu and Whitebeard's figures in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
The white light swept through!
The cylindrical shock wave of the Great Eruption passed straight through the positions occupied by Akainu and Whitebeard, crushing a huge semicircular trench into the ground.
Then,
The shock wave's momentum did not diminish as it slammed into the island rocks rising above the plaza throughout the harbor.
Amid the thunderous roars, every island rock along its path was pierced by conspicuous tunnels.
Only when it reached the sea did the shock wave's remaining power gradually fade, though it still caused waves to rise in the waters near Marineford despite the lack of wind.
This terrifying might fully demonstrated the upper limit of Shadows' Gathering Ground's power.
But...
Maud sheathed his sword and calmly looked at Whitebeard, who had been blasted dozens of meters back inside the semicircular trench by the shock wave of the Great Eruption.
The blood that had originally only stained Whitebeard's chin had spread across his sturdy chest after that attack.
The shock wave must have worsened Whitebeard's internal injuries, causing him to vomit blood again and stain his chest red.
"Did he use the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to offset part of the shock wave at the last moment...?"
Maud's gaze swept over Whitebeard's bloodstained chest.
With Akainu's "wholehearted assistance," Maud had thought