Whitebeard turned and walked a few steps forward. Then his voice suddenly grew louder as he gave the Whitebeard Pirates his final order. He was clearly telling them all to retreat while he held off the entire Navy alone.
As soon as he finished speaking, he threw a mighty punch toward Marine Headquarters. The entire space seemed to shatter, and the tremendous shockwave directly brought down the Marine Headquarters base in front of him!
"Pops!"
"Pops, don't!"
"We won't obey that order! If we're leaving, we're leaving together!"
"."
All the pirates who heard Whitebeard's words burst into tears and protested.
"Set sail, my sons!"
But Whitebeard paid no heed to their cries. After throwing his punch, he shouted again.
Faced with Whitebeard's order, his crew were all reluctant to leave, but they had no choice but to obey Pops and retreat.
"Are we leaving, Ace?"
At that moment, Luffy, surrounded by the Marines, looked at Ace in front of him.
"Yeah!~~"
Ace's voice choked with emotion. He looked once more at the towering figure standing ahead of them, holding back the Marines. Then he knelt and bowed his head to Whitebeard before standing up and following Luffy away, tears streaming down his face.
"You guys go on ahead! I still have something to do. I'll catch up in a bit!"
Now that they'd decided to retreat, Luffy went over to Chen Qiang, who had been frozen into an ice statue, intending to take him with them. At that moment, the ice encasing Chen Qiang began to crack apart.
After moving his stiff, frozen limbs a little, Chen Qiang stopped Luffy. He looked at Whitebeard, standing ahead of them covered in wounds, and spoke with a serious expression.
"What else do you want to do?"
Luffy and Ace, who had just arrived, looked at Chen Qiang, perplexed by his serious expression.
"Now that I've made up my mind, all I can do is make this parting battle even more spectacular. It's the least I can do to show respect to the world's strongest man!"
Hearing their question, Chen Qiang turned and gave them a smile before striding toward Whitebeard.
"All right! I don't know what you're planning, but I still suggest you hurry and catch up. If you're too late, you won't be able to leave! Luffy, let's go!"
Seeing that Chen Qiang was heading straight for Whitebeard, Ace didn't know what he intended to do, but still warned him with a serious expression.
Without waiting for Chen Qiang's reply, he grabbed Luffy by the arm and rushed toward the rear.
"Hey, kid! What are you trying to do?"
Chen Qiang soon reached Whitebeard's back. Whitebeard had noticed him as soon as he arrived, and asked without turning around.
"Pops, since you want your life to mark the end of the old era and the beginning of the new, all I can do is make this final battle of the old era a little fairer!"
"Oh?"
Hearing Chen Qiang's words, Whitebeard turned his head with some curiosity and looked at Chen Qiang, now standing beside him.
"Pops, I'm going to heal all your wounds and do my best to revive your life force, restoring you to your peak strength. Of course, it'll only be temporary. This state will last for half an hour. Once the time is up, you'll die. So, Pops, are you willing to accept my help?"
"Gurararara! What an interesting kid. If I'd met you sooner, I'd definitely have made you my son. Go ahead! Half an hour is enough. It's been a long time since I've felt my full strength!"
After hearing Chen Qiang's words, Whitebeard looked him over, then burst into loud laughter.
"I'm lucky to have earned your approval, Pops. But after using this move, I might be unable to move for a while. When that happens, I'll have to trouble you to toss me somewhere safe with the others."
Hearing Whitebeard's words, Chen Qiang smiled too. After all, the man standing before him was Whitebeard, the man hailed as the world's strongest. Chen Qiang had loved this character back in his previous life, so of course he was delighted to have earned Whitebeard's recognition.
"Come on! I can hardly wait! Gurararara!"
"As you wish!"
Hearing Whitebeard laugh again, Chen Qiang laughed too. Since his own strength couldn't stop Whitebeard from dying, he would let him unleash the power that had earned him the title of the strongest in the final moments before his death!
Without hesitation, as soon as Chen Qiang finished speaking, he raised the long blade in his hand and carved a huge gash into his palm.
He then directed all the blood in his body toward his palm. Even with Chen Qiang's tremendous healing ability, he didn't stop until he began to feel dizzy.
He poured his immense mental power into the large mass of blood in his hand. A second before losing consciousness, Chen Qiang flung the blood onto Whitebeard.
"Blood Anthem! Let the final sparks of the old era burn brighter!"
After unleashing the attack, Chen Qiang fell backward, his face deathly pale. The blood that had landed on Whitebeard quickly seeped into his body.
In that instant, immense power surged through Whitebeard's body, rapidly healing his wounds. Even the heart disease brought on by old age was quickly cured!
"Bad news! Whitebeard's wounds are healing!"
"What did that kid do?!"
"Fire the cannons! We can't let Whitebeard fully recover!"
"."
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "."
The cannons roared again, and all the cannonballs flew swiftly toward Whitebeard.
"What a long-lost feeling of power!"
Whitebeard didn't bother with the cannonballs flying toward him. Instead, he picked up Chen Qiang, who lay at his feet, and flung him backward.
Then Whitebeard raised the Guan Dao in his sword-wielding hand and swept it toward the incoming cannonballs. The sound of space shattering rang out, and the cannonballs flew back the way they had come.
"Whitebeard! Even if your wounds have healed, you still won't escape!"
Seeing Whitebeard's wounds heal in an instant, Sengoku could no longer stand by. He flung off the cloak from his back and strode toward Whitebeard. As he walked, he transformed into a gigantic Golden Great Buddha.
"Gurararara! I never planned to leave. Just as that kid said, I only want to bid the old era a proper farewell!"
Before you continue