I, Against Myself!

Just as two powers of the same origin yet utterly different nature were about to collide.

Elderly Whitebeard was unusually excited!

Suppressed for far too long by illness and age, that tremor belonging to the strong, nearly forgotten—

It was the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent!

Especially when that opponent was his past self!

"Gurararara!"

The aged laughter was in no way inferior to the thunderous roar from across from him. If anything, it carried an added steadiness born of weathering countless storms.

"What an impatient brat!"

"Let me teach you what it means to respect your elders!"

Before his words had even faded.

Two fists identical in size, yet representing two different eras, finally crossed the last sliver of distance between them.

There was no earth-shattering boom.

Nor was there the brilliant explosion they had expected.

The instant the two white spheres of light wrapped in Vibration Power touched, the entire world strangely fell into dead silence.

Sound vanished.

Light warped.

The air was sucked away, forming a zone of absolute vacuum.

Marco and Chen Ye felt agonizing pain in their eardrums, while their chests seemed clutched tightly by an invisible giant hand. Even standing upright became difficult!

That utter silence lasted less than a second.

Then.

Destruction descended.

BOOM—CRACK!!!

From the point where their fists met, a visible white shockwave spread wildly outward in a ring!

Wherever the shockwave passed, the ground heaved and rolled like a water surface struck by a stone before completely splitting apart!

Terrifying bottomless chasms spread madly downward through the island from the two of them!

The piles of loose rocks at the base of the cliff beneath their feet were as fragile as crackers before that power.

They first crumbled into dust, then were swept into the sky by the violent gale!

"Ugh!"

Marco's blue flames had only just flared up when they were forcibly scattered by that pure physical impact.

Like a falling leaf in a gale, he was instantly blown away. He spun through the air more than a dozen times before planting his feet into the cracked ground and gouging two deep trenches, barely managing to steady himself.

Chen Ye on the other side reacted just as swiftly.

The instant the impact reached him, he abruptly sank his legs. The terrifying power enhanced by the system drove him into the ground like a nail.

Even so, that irresistible force still sent him sliding back dozens of meters uncontrollably, leaving deep marks wherever his feet passed!

Smoke and dust filled the air, and shattered stones fell like rain.

The two struggled to raise their heads and look toward the center of the storm. The next second, the sight before them left them stunned.

What a breathtaking scene it was.

Two identical "Whitebeards" were competing in strength in the most primal, most brutal way possible.

Peak Whitebeard's muscles bulged all over his body, veins coiling around his arms and neck like horned dragons. The rage on his face had transformed into extreme shock and disbelief.

He could not understand it.

Why could this ancient counterfeit, covered in scars and struggling even to stand, take his furious all-out blow...?!

Impossible!

Across from him.

Elderly Whitebeard remained hunched over. The old injuries left behind by years of battle still ached faintly, tormenting him.

Yet his arm was as steady as a mountain, without the slightest tremor.

A long-lost flush of excitement appeared on his wrinkled face, and the flames of Reign Over the World reignited in his cloudy eyes!

"Gurarara... not bad!"

"Your strength is decent!"

"You're quite a bit stronger than those brat Marine Admirals!"

Elderly Whitebeard laughed heartily as he exerted force, and his appraising tone once again enraged his younger self.

"You bastard! You're still playing tricks!"

Peak Whitebeard roared, and the White Halo around his fist surged once more!

Crack! Crack!

The space around them began to show more and more densely packed cracks, like a shattered mirror.

The entire island groaned under the crushing pressure of that power and began to sink slowly!

Chen Ye steadied himself and watched the two godlike figures fighting in the distance. Feeling the overwhelming might of their aftershocks—something he could only withstand by going all out—a Soul-Deep Tremor spread through his Limbs and Bones.

He instinctively turned to look at Marco beside him, whose face was equally filled with horror, and asked in a hoarse voice.

"Brother Marco..."

"Was Pops at his Peak Period always this terrifying?"

That question was like a key, unlocking Marco's long-sealed memories.

His expression instantly turned complicated. There was awe, nostalgia, and above all, a heartfelt pride.

He stared fixedly at the distant battlefield, his lips trembling slightly.

"Terrifying?"

"No, Chen Ye. What you're seeing... is still far from Pops's true terror."

Marco took a Deep Breath and tried to calm his surging emotions.

"Right now, they're only competing in the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit."

"That is indeed the World's Strongest destructive power, but it isn't the foundation of why Pops is called the 'World's Strongest Man.'"

Chen Ye's pupils suddenly contracted.

A clash of Fruit abilities alone had already created an apocalyptic scene of heaven and earth collapsing.

And that was not even the most terrifying part?

Marco's gaze fell upon Peak Whitebeard's wildly flowing blond hair and incomparably domineering figure. His voice carried a dreamlike murmur.

"What truly makes Pops terrifying is his Three Colors of Haki, all refined to their peak."

"Armament Haki can easily shatter the strongest defenses."

"Observation Haki can briefly foresee the future, leaving nowhere for any attack to hide."

"And the most terrifying of all..."

Marco paused, an irrepressible fear appearing on his face.

"Is his Conqueror's Haki, fit to Reign Over the World!"

"I'll never forget it. During his Peak Period, Pops did not even need to make a move."

"He only needed to release that spirit. Even the faint aftershocks were enough to make tens of thousands of weaker enemies on the battlefield foam at the mouth and collapse unconscious in an instant!"

"That was the true... bearing of a King!"

BOOM!!!

As if to confirm Marco's words.

After failing to break through for so long, Peak Whitebeard finally ran out of patience.

An invisible force of spirit, a hundred times more terrifying than the shockwave from before, erupted violently from his body!

Black-and-red lightning danced around him like wild dragons!

The ground beneath his feet sank inch by inch beneath the pressure of that spirit!

And his eyes, burning with fury, had completely transformed into a golden gaze that looked down upon the world!