"Crack!"
Whitebeard struck, shattering the air once more. A powerful quake erupted, and the Execution Platform, already reduced to rubble, took another devastating blow.
"That was close! I nearly died!"
But when the platform finally collapsed, Blackbeard and his men, who had been on it, appeared in front of the ruins. They had clearly evaded Whitebeard's attack.
"Cough, cough..."
Seeing Blackbeard and his men appear again, Whitebeard coughed several times in succession and spat out a mouthful of blood. The wounds across his body widened, and even more blood poured from them.
"Pops!"
Marco saw Whitebeard's condition and tried to fly over to help, but Whitebeard stopped him. He knew his own body best: he was already at the end of his strength. Even if Blackbeard hadn't appeared, he would die here soon, so there was no need to risk his son's life just to deal with Blackbeard.
"You're still as merciless as ever, Pops!" Blackbeard said with a grin as he and his crew came before Whitebeard.
"You're the only one who doesn't deserve to be my son, Teach! You broke the one and only ironclad rule aboard my ship: you killed a crewmate. I'll end your life myself and let the son you murdered rest in peace!"
Whitebeard picked up the Guan Dao he had stuck into the ground beside him and pointed it at Blackbeard. But as soon as he finished speaking, another mouthful of blood burst from his mouth. He quickly forced himself to stand straight again.
"Let's settle this, Teach!"
"Ze-ha-ha-ha! Just what I wanted!"
Hearing Whitebeard's words, Blackbeard laughed loudly. A massive cloud of black smoke poured from his body, enveloping him completely. As he placed his hand on the ground, the smoke spread once more, covering the entire plaza.
Everything the black smoke touched was swiftly swallowed up. Only the area around Whitebeard remained unharmed, protected by his Haki.
After that, Blackbeard charged straight at Whitebeard. Whitebeard didn't hold back, throwing a punch at him as he came.
"Useless! None of your powers can do a thing against my ability!"
Blackbeard caught Whitebeard's fist. The quake's power was absorbed by the Dark-Dark Fruit, rendering the punch completely ineffective.
Instead, Blackbeard seized the opening and punched Whitebeard.
The blow sent Whitebeard flying, but even at his weakest, he was still no opponent Blackbeard could defeat.
Whitebeard landed firmly on the ground and threw another punch at Blackbeard. Once again, all the force in his fist was absorbed.
At that moment, Whitebeard swung his Guan Dao and slashed diagonally, leaving a long wound across Blackbeard before he could react.
"Ah! It hurts! It hurts so much!"
Blackbeard writhed on the ground in pain. The Dark-Dark Fruit was powerful, but it had a clear weakness: its user felt twice as much pain when injured as an ordinary person.
"Don't! Pops! I'm your son!"
As Blackbeard rolled on the ground, Whitebeard stepped forward and reached him. He grabbed Blackbeard by the face, ignoring his pleas. A tremendous quake erupted once more, splitting the ground around them inch by inch.
Unfortunately, Whitebeard was already on the verge of death, and little strength remained in him. That was the only reason Blackbeard survived the attack.
"You monster! You're already dying—can't you just die quietly?!"
"Bang!"
But just as Whitebeard prepared to attack again, Blackbeard pulled out a pistol and shot him in the chest, freezing him in place.
"Bang!"
"You guys, get in there and finish him off!"
Blackbeard fired again, hitting Whitebeard. Faced with death, he had gone completely mad. He kept shooting at Whitebeard and ordered his crew to join in.
"Bang!" "Swish!" "Stab!"
Gunshots rang out before Whitebeard, mingling with the sounds of swinging swords and blades piercing flesh.
Blood sprayed repeatedly from Whitebeard's body.
"I'm out of bullets! Give me another gun!"
After shooting for who knew how long, Blackbeard ran out of bullets and shouted to the crew around him.
"There's no need. Whitebeard has lost consciousness completely!"
"Just give him a gentle push, and he'll fall over!"
Blackbeard's other crewmen stopped attacking. Looking at Whitebeard, who stood motionless before them, they shook their heads.
"That will never be you, Teach!"
"What? He's... he's still alive?"
Just then, Whitebeard, who had been completely still, suddenly spoke. Blackbeard and his crew were so startled that they took a step back.
"The man Roger is waiting for will never be you, Teach. Someone who inherits Roger's will will surely appear, bearing the weight of these hundreds of years of history and challenging this world. The man feared by the World Government and you, Sengoku, will surely appear. A great war that will engulf the entire world... I have little interest in it, but when that treasure is found, the world will be turned upside down. Someone will find it. That day will surely come!"
Whitebeard's body was slowly losing all feeling as he approached death. He spoke in an increasingly faint voice, and when he finished, a smile appeared on his face.
"ONE PIECE is real!"
With the last of his strength, Whitebeard shouted those words. Then he finally breathed his last.
"Pops!" "Pops!" "Pops!" "..."
Seeing Whitebeard die, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates broke down in tears. Even Ace, who was still tucked under Jinbe's arm, wept without restraint.
"Ze-ha-ha-ha! What a magnificent final testament!"
While everyone mourned, Blackbeard laughed loudly. He took a black cloth his crew had prepared in advance, draped it over Whitebeard, then climbed beneath it himself.
"What are you doing?"
"Give up and surrender!"
"You dared to pose as a Shichibukai, infiltrate our ranks, and then betray us! Unforgivable!"
"..."
By then, the other Marines had surrounded them, aiming their guns at Blackbeard and his crew.
Before you continue