Marco was only seven years old and still just a little runt.
Whitebeard turned around, astonishing light flashing in his eyes as he grinned. "Gurararara—everyone, get back!! Find cover and hide yourselves!!"
Jozu picked up Marco, and the three of them hurriedly retreated while Whitebeard himself began sprinting forward.
He moved like lightning!
The veins on his arms bulged like terrifying green snakes.
Whoosh—
The naginata Murakumogiri spun in his hand with a fierce whistling wind. Whitebeard grinned. "Ares, you finally showed up, you bastard. Let me see whether you've gotten stronger over these past two months!?"
Ares?!
At the sound of that name, Marco was startled. He widened his eyes and gazed into the distance. "Ares is here!? The pirate the Marines call the God of War!!"
Jozu looked curious. "I think so. Pops looks really excited!"
Vista said, "The way Pops greets people means we'd better be careful..."
Gradually,
Ares's figure also appeared in their view. He moved even faster than a nimble cheetah, like a genuine giant beast.
As he charged forward,
his glistening tendons and dark muscles, black as steel, revealed astonishing contours and definition with every movement of his body.
His thighs, arms, chest, abdomen—even his serratus muscles—were all filled with terrifying explosive power.
He radiated strength!
Compared to Newgate's fair-skinned muscles, his looked far more visually intimidating!
Marco's eyelids twitched. "Ares... Ares's muscles are way too exaggerated, aren't they? They feel just like real steel!!"
Vista clicked his tongue in amazement. "Even steel tempered through a thousand hammerings probably wouldn't be any harder... What kind of training would it take to build muscles like that!?"
"Muscles... muscle striations..." Jozu was dumbfounded. "The muscle fibers on Ares's body... they're just like steel reinforcing bars. That's terrifying!!"
They finally understood what kind of "monster" Ares was—the