Summit War: The Fall

"Crack!"

Whitebeard struck directly, the space shattering once more under his blow. A powerful tremor erupted, dealing a devastating second strike to the already collapsed execution platform.

"That was close! Nearly died there!"

As the execution platform crumbled completely, Blackbeard and his crew appeared in front of the ruins, having clearly evaded Whitebeard's attack.

"Cough, cough~~"

Seeing Blackbeard and his crew reappear, Whitebeard coughed violently, spitting out a large mouthful of blood. Simultaneously, the wounds on his body widened, causing even more blood to gush out.

"Pops!"

Seeing Whitebeard in such a state, Marco wanted to fly over to help, but was immediately stopped by Whitebeard. He knew his own body best; he was at the end of his rope. Even if Blackbeard hadn't appeared, he would have died here anyway, so there was no need to sacrifice his son's life for the sake of Blackbeard.

"You really are merciless, Pops!" Blackbeard arrived before Whitebeard with his crew, laughing as he spoke.

"You are the only one unworthy of being called my son, Teach! You violated the only iron rule on my ship: killing a comrade. I shall end your life myself! Let the son you murdered rest in peace!"

Whitebeard hoisted the Guan Dao he had previously planted aside and pointed it at Blackbeard Teach. No sooner had he finished speaking than he spat out another large mouthful of blood, though he quickly forced himself to stand straight again.

"Let's end this, Teach!"

"Ze-ha-ha-ha! That's exactly what I wanted!"

Hearing Whitebeard's words, Blackbeard Teach laughed heartily. As he spoke, a massive wave of black smoke erupted from his body, engulfing him entirely. He placed his hands on the ground, and the black smoke spread, covering the entire plaza.

Objects engulfed by the black smoke were rapidly devoured; only the area where Whitebeard stood remained unharmed, shielded by his Haki.

After doing this, Blackbeard charged straight at Whitebeard. Whitebeard, naturally, held nothing back, throwing a punch directly at the incoming Blackbeard.

"It's useless! Before my power, no other ability can take effect!"

The charging Blackbeard caught Whitebeard's fist, and the tremor power within it was instantly absorbed by the Dark-Dark Fruit, rendering Whitebeard's strike completely ineffective.

Instead, Blackbeard seized the opportunity to land a punch on Whitebeard's body.

Whitebeard was sent flying by the blow, but even though he was at his lowest point, he was not someone Blackbeard could easily defeat.

After being knocked back, Whitebeard landed steadily on the ground and threw another punch at Blackbeard, only for all the power in his fist to be absorbed once again.

It was at this moment that Whitebeard swung his Guan Dao in a diagonal slash, leaving a long, deep wound on the unprepared Blackbeard.

"Ah! It hurts! It hurts so much!"

Struck by the blade, Blackbeard rolled on the ground in agony. After all, while the Dark-Dark Fruit was powerful, it had a glaring weakness: the pain suffered from attacks was doubled compared to an ordinary person.

"Don't, Pops! I'm your son!"

While Blackbeard was rolling on the ground, Whitebeard stepped forward and reached his side. He grabbed Blackbeard by the face, ignoring his pleas for mercy. A massive tremor force erupted, causing the surrounding ground to crack inch by inch.

Unfortunately, Whitebeard was on the verge of death, and his strength was nearly spent, allowing Blackbeard to survive this attack.

"You monster, if you're going to die, can't you just die quietly!"

"Bang!"

Just as Whitebeard prepared to strike again, Blackbeard pulled out a pistol and shot him in the chest, freezing his movements.

"Bang!"

"All of you, attack together! Finish him!"

After firing another shot into Whitebeard, Blackbeard, driven by the fear of death, went completely insane. He fired repeatedly at Whitebeard and ordered his crew to join the assault.

"Bang!" "Swish!" "Squish!"

For a time, the sound of gunfire, the whistling of swords, and the sickening thud of blades piercing flesh echoed incessantly before Whitebeard.

Blood sprayed continuously from Whitebeard's body.

"I'm out of ammo! Get me another gun!"

After firing for who knows how long, Blackbeard's gun ran dry, and he shouted to his surrounding crew.

"There's no need for that. Whitebeard has completely lost consciousness!"

"A light push with a finger now would probably knock him over."

At this point, Blackbeard's other crew members stopped their assault, looking at the motionless Whitebeard standing before them, and shook their heads.

"That person is definitely not you, Teach!"

"What? Is he... is he still alive?"

Just then, the previously motionless Whitebeard suddenly spoke, causing Blackbeard and his crew to recoil in fear.

"The man Roger is waiting for, Teach, it will never be you. The one who inherits Roger's will shall surely appear. Bearing the history of these past centuries, they will challenge this world. The one you, the World Government, and Sengoku fear will eventually emerge. A massive battle that will engulf the entire world—though I have no interest in it, when that treasure is discovered, the world will be turned upside down. Someone will find it. That day will surely come!"

By now, Whitebeard's body was losing all sensation as he drifted toward death, yet he spoke these words in an increasingly faint voice. As he finished, a smile appeared on his face.

"ONE PIECE IS REAL!"

With that smile, Whitebeard used his final ounce of strength to roar these words, and then, he passed away completely!

"Pops!" "Pops!" "Pops!"...

Seeing Whitebeard dead, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates were all reduced to tears, and even Ace, who was currently tucked under Jinbe's arm, could not stop his tears from flowing.

"Zehahaha! What a truly magnificent final testament!"

While everyone else was consumed by grief, Blackbeard laughed out loud. He took a black cloth that had been prepared in advance from one of his crew members, draped it over Whitebeard's body, and then crawled underneath it himself.

"What are you doing?"

"Surrender yourselves immediately!"

"To think you would disguise yourselves as Shichibukai, infiltrate our ranks, and then betray us—it is absolutely unforgivable!"

At this moment, the other Marines surrounded them, their gun barrels aimed directly at Blackbeard and his crew.