Marine Headquarters, the site of the fiercest fighting.
The battle between Whitebeard and Akainu was dominated by terrifying energy waves.
Whitebeard, now in his twilight years, had his life force compressed due to the Energy Steroids he had taken, and at that moment, he unleashed a terrifying power.
Akainu, who fought against him, was almost completely overwhelmed by Whitebeard.
Akainu, however, showed no sign of displeasure; on the contrary, he became more and more excited as the fight progressed.
Even if he gets knocked away, he'll just yell and get back up to fight.
He could see that Whitebeard was already at his limit, and every attack was draining his life force.
Whitebeard won't last much longer.
"Dog Biting Crimson Lotus!"
Akainu's right arm turned into magma.
Hot, scalding lava gushed from his arm.
Under his control, the magma transformed into ferocious hellhounds, hissing and biting at Whitebeard.
The air was filled with the pungent sulfurous smell of lava.
"Air Quake!"
Whitebeard struck the void with his left hand.
Accompanied by the resounding boom of war drums.
The atmosphere was shattered by the shockwave, and everything in his path was destroyed by the terrifying power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
The hellhound formed from magma was violently shattered, turning into tiny specks of crimson magma that scattered in all directions.
Impact one after another, blasting fragments of lava into the most densely populated areas of the navy.
Lava fell from the sky like a meteor shower.
The surrounding navy, attempting to encircle them, were affected by the shockwave and lava waves. Even before getting close, they were already suffering level three injuries.
"Hateful!"
Upon seeing this, Akainu's face immediately darkened.
Whitebeard's attack range was so vast that it always caused trouble for other parts of the battlefield.
At this moment, Akainu couldn't care less about anything else, and his body erupted with magma as he engaged Whitebeard in close combat.
"The Demon Hound!"
"Sky-Splitting Slash!"
Akainu surged from Akainu's body, and magma erupted from his arms, solidifying into a ferocious dog head that attacked Whitebeard. The dog head was also covered with jet-black Armament Haki.
Whitebeard wielded a naginata in both hands, with a dark purple Conqueror's Haki swirling around it.
The two clashed fiercely, the deep red light of the magma and the violent tremors of the atmosphere reverberating throughout the battlefield.
Above the sky, half was dyed red, and the atmosphere shattered like a mirror.
As the most powerful Admiral of his time, Akainu possesses the ability to rival Whitebeard.
Even if Whitebeard took the Energy Steroids and temporarily returned to his youthful state, he was still not afraid.
Akainu almost laughed; compared to the battle when they besieged Luo Wen in the Sabaody Archipelago, Whitebeard's pressure was far less.
At that time, he, Kizaru, Garp ganged up on him, but they were forced to retreat by Luo Wen.
Now, even when he's facing Whitebeard alone, he doesn't feel the same tension he did back then.
So, back then, Luo Wen had already far surpassed Whitebeard, the world's number one fighter?
A sense of urgency rose within Akainu.
Whitebeard is nothing; only that man will be his true opponent after he becomes Fleet Admiral.
With this thought in mind, Akainu's attacks became even more frenzied.
Like a mad dog, it bit down hard on the Whitebeard.
Despite being at a disadvantage in the clash of strength, Akainu exuded a Haki of dominance, making it seem as if he was the one dominating Whitebeard.
He could have won more easily by using Observation Haki to hide and drag things out, but now the Five Elders are watching. He needs to perform well, fight Whitebeard to the death, and gain more leverage for the Fleet Admiral position.
The pirates and the navy, catching a glimpse of the battle between the two sides, were shocked.
It was clearly just a battle between two people, but they managed to create the scene of a natural disaster.
Every move they made had the power to kill hundreds or thousands of people.
Numbers seem to have little effect in the face of true strength.
"Is that Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors and the World's Strongest Man? Even in his old age and declining health, he is still incredibly powerful!"
Countless sailors looked at the tall figure wielding a naginata with expressions of awe.
It has nothing to do with stance; it's simply an instinctive respect for powerful forces.
Even with Akainu blocking his way, Whitebeard's destruction of Marine Headquarters was immense, with countless Marines dying in the aftermath of their battle.
It's not hard to imagine that without an equally powerful opponent to stop him, the entire navy's 100,000 elite troops wouldn't be enough for him to kill alone.
"Thank goodness we have Admiral Akainu!"
Then, the Navy's eyes turned fanatical as they watched the red figure frantically attacking Whitebeard.
Facing the formidable Whitebeard, Admiral Akainu advanced instead of retreating.
That courage and strength are a model for all naval forces.
Meanwhile, the pirates were utterly disheartened upon witnessing this situation.
Their invincible Pops, Whitebeard, was stopped by one of Akainu's Admiral.
On the battlefield, their squad leaders and the captains of their affiliated pirate crews were all defeated by the attacks of Admiral Kizaru and Aokiji.
On that high platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku remained calmly seated, not making a move.
"We're finished!"
The Whitebeard Pirates all knew their fate.
Their morale did not decline; on the contrary, it soared even higher.
Pirates are all desperate men. If they're going to die, why don't they just bite off a piece of flesh from their enemies?
"Let's fight the navy!"
"Let them know the consequences of provoking Four Emperors crew!"
"Even if I die, I'll make sure you suffer!"
Fifty thousand pirates were defeated down to thirty thousand; the rest were all ruthless individuals.
Their eyes were bloodshot, and they grew increasingly frantic in the face of the navy's attack.
Even though the navy's forces in all aspects are more than twice as many as theirs, wiping them out completely is not so simple.
Sengoku and Tsuru sat on the high platform in front of the Execution Platform.
They didn't take action; they were just in charge of coordinating the entire operation in case of unforeseen circumstances.
This unforeseen event could potentially involve people like Luo Wen and Shanks.
Looking at the chaotic Sengoku, Sengoku frowned. "This is really a headache. We've already set up traps, but the losses are still too great."
They fought on their home turf, taking full advantage of favorable timing, location, and popular support.
Even so, annihilating the Whitebeard Pirates would still come at an extremely heavy price.
Of the 100,000 pirates, at least 30,000 would die, and the remaining 70,000 would likely be injured.
"Sengoku, this is a necessary price to pay. At least from today onwards, one of the Four Emperors' crews will be gone, and the evil bloodline of the King of the Pirates will come to an end."
The crane offered words of comfort.
"I understand all of that, but I feel sorry for those fallen naval soldiers." Sengoku looked at the fallen naval corpses and couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.
These are all elite troops drawn from various regions; they were officers in their original locations.
It's truly a pity that so many of these lands have now collapsed here.
"..."
He didn't know how to comfort Sengoku.
She felt sorry for him too.
If a Whitebeard in his twilight years is this difficult to deal with, then how terrifying must the rising star, Luo Wen, be?