I Want to Thank You, Steel Bone Kong.

Kuma was barely holding on.

He absolutely could not fall before sending Maud away.

Elsewhere.

To get Kuma out of there as quickly as possible, Maud frantically increased the pace of his attacks.

Shusui swept out waves of blade light, enveloping Steel Bone Kong's body.

Black-red arcs of electricity interwoven among them spread in all directions like cracks.

Facing Maud's powerful and fierce offensive, Steel Bone Kong remained as steady as a mountain.

Within it, he firmly blocked every slash Maud sent at him with his Indestructible Body.

One attacked while the other defended.

Their Conqueror's Haki collided wildly, causing a tremendous commotion.

Kizaru and the others in the ruins of the Celestial Dragons' residence, as well as the tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the social plaza, clearly felt the disturbance caused by the collision of the two powerful auras.

Through communications, news of the duel between Maud and Steel Bone Kong quickly reached the social plaza, letting the Marines there know the cause of the disturbance.

"Fleet Admiral...!!!"

After receiving the news, the many elite Marines all wore solemn expressions.

Could that Fleet Admiral, who had retired from the front lines many years ago, still adapt to such an intense battle?

After all--

Their enemy was Bajia D. Maud, a monster capable of defeating Kaido.

But the current situation gave them an overwhelming advantage...

Perhaps such worries were unnecessary.

The elite vice admiral who had previously said that Kuma's struggle was meaningless now stood with his brows tightly furrowed, gazing toward the area where Maud and Steel Bone Kong were fighting.

Recalling what Kuma had said earlier, had he seemingly placed his "hope" in Maud?

"How naive...!"

"We have tens of thousands of people on our side, while you only have two..."

"With such an obvious disparity,