Sabaody Archipelago.
On the massive projection screen, the chaotic and intense slaughter on the battlefield of Marineford was playing.
The gathered spectators below felt as though they were there themselves, sensing the stifling, frenzied atmosphere.
Fear of those powerful pirates filled their eyes.
"The Marines have to win! Otherwise, this world will fall completely into chaos!"
"That's right! They should kill every last one of the Whitebeard Pirates and those Demon God Pirates that suddenly appeared!"
On a distant hillside.
Rayleigh held a bottle of Hero Whiskey, watching familiar figures flash across the screen as he silently drank.
"Aren't you going, Rayleigh?"
Shakky's voice came from behind him.
Rayleigh lowered his gaze to the grass, his voice low. "The Roger Pirates disbanded long ago. I retired a long time ago and stopped involving myself in worldly affairs. The younger generation has their own adventures and journeys. Whatever ending awaits them is something they must bear themselves."
"When Roger turned himself in back then, I didn't even go see him off."
Shakky walked over and sat beside him, took the bottle from his hand, and had a sip.
"But even Bullet went to save Ace. You..."
Rayleigh shook his head. "You don't understand Bullet. With his personality, he would never do something like saving someone."
"Maybe he changed?"
Shakky brushed back the short hair by her ear and placed a cigarette between her red lips, lighting it.
"After all, even someone as solitary and proud as him formed a pirate crew."
Rayleigh sighed and fell silent.
"The ship has already been coated. It's parked behind the bar. Whether you go or not is up to you."
Above the ice in the inner bay, Marco saw Bullet soar into the air and shoot straight toward Whitebeard.
Without the slightest hesitation, the blue-flame wings formed by his hands beat, and he shot upward to meet him.
"Bullet! It's been a long time!"
Seeing Marco covered in surging blue flames, Bullet grinned and threw a punch.
"Marco, you're a doctor. Don't overestimate yourself."
Bang!
Powerful Armament Haki wrapped around his enormous fist. Like a terrifying giant hammer falling from the sky, it sent the incoming Marco flying with one blow.
Boom!
In the distance, a massive ice floe shattered, sending countless chunks of ice spraying into the air.
Marco clutched his chest as he crawled from the ice crater, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Then blue flames surged, and the massive wound across his chest vanished.
"This guy is stronger than he was back then."
After sending Marco flying with one punch, Bullet did not slow down at all.
His huge fist clenched again and came crashing down from above toward Whitebeard below.
"Brat, don't get too cocky!"
"Air Quake!!"
Whitebeard lowered his stance and bent his elbow, clenching his right fist before punching the empty air above him.
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
Distinct cracks spread rapidly like a spiderweb.
Then a sharp burst rang out through the air.
Following that explosion came a vast shockwave soaring into the sky.
The huge fist, wrapped in Armament Haki, smashed down through the air.
Bullet, suspended in midair, and Whitebeard, standing atop an ice floe.
The two exchanged blows from more than ten meters apart.
The collision of their terrifying power instantly whipped up a violent gale across the inner bay.
Rumble!!
An earth-shattering explosion erupted in the air between them.
Intense wind pressure swept in every direction, shattering huge blocks of ice across the sea.
Even the seawater beneath the ice was forced into rippling depressions by the surging air currents.
Crack!
The ice beneath Whitebeard's feet fractured, breaking apart bit by bit.
Whoosh!
His figure flashed and vanished from where he stood.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
White bursts of compressed air appeared in the sky.
Whitebeard stepped on the air, using a movement technique similar to Geppo. Gripping his huge Pheasant Blade in both hands, he slashed toward Bullet, who was likewise in midair.
Though Bullet was empty-handed, he showed no fear. His fists covered in Armament Haki, he punched directly at the descending Pheasant Blade.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
The blade struck the surface of his fists, erupting in a shower of sparks before being knocked high into the air by his immense strength.
Whitebeard's slashes came as fast as the wind, churning the air into a chaotic torrent.
"Whitebeard, I told you that you're old, but you wouldn't admit it. In your current condition, you probably can't even use Conqueror's Coating anymore, can you?"
With one punch, Bullet knocked Whitebeard's Pheasant Blade aside.
He stomped the air beneath him and twisted his waist.
His massive body spun like a tornado, yet his speed was incomparably fast.
He nearly became a blurred afterimage as his bent elbow drove toward Whitebeard's face.
"Demon God Elbow Strike!"
Steel-forged muscles bulged as his elbow crashed through the air, surpassing the speed of sound and breaking the sound barrier, punching out a wave of white air.
The air compressed layer upon layer, forming a concentrated air cannon.
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed. His right fist clenched, and a white spherical air shield appeared over its surface. Within it, shockwaves compressed and gathered before smashing into Bullet's elbow at close range.
"Air Quake!"
Boom!!
Another heaven-and-earth-shaking blast erupted dozens of meters above the ground.
The terrifying impact of their clash left everyone within several hundred meters unable to stand. They cried out, spat blood, and were flung away.
"Get away! Get away from here!"
"Don't get near Pops' battle range!"
"That power is terrifying! Are those two monsters?"
Splash!
A white wave split across the sea as Jinbe's figure flashed through it, moving as swiftly as a fleeting reflection.
In the blink of an eye, he had swum directly beneath Bullet and Whitebeard.
Anxious, Jinbe raised his head and shouted at the two fighting overhead:
"Pops! Captain Bullet!"
"Please stop fighting! We have a common enemy right now—the Marines!"
Boom!
Another enormous blast of air erupted in midair. Violent wind pressure crashed down, forcing the sea below more than ten meters downward into a sunken basin.
Jinbe groaned. The wound on his chest split open, and he was driven into the sea.
"Even if I can't use attacks coated in Conqueror's Haki, I can still teach an impolite brat like you a lesson."
In midair, Whitebeard used a violent shockwave to knock aside Bullet's incoming giant fist, then gripped the long Pheasant Blade with both hands.
The muscles on both his arms knotted and coiled, veins bulging as boundless strength erupted forth.
Holding the Pheasant Blade in both hands, he swung it viciously.
A white spherical shockwave shield enveloped the blade.
The vast shockwave split heaven and earth as it slammed fiercely into Bullet's fists.
Rumble!!
The Shockwave erupted in full, swallowing Bullet's figure.
Bang!
Bullet's body was blasted backward, crashing into the warship behind him.
The steel-and-stone hull crumpled like paper beneath the violent impact.
Bullet smashed straight through the Hell Battleship and flew out from the other side of its hull.
"What an opportunity!"
On the ground not far away, Jozu, who was fighting several prisoners from Infinite Hell, saw Bullet flying backward toward him and his eyes immediately lit up.
His powerful body instantly transformed into glittering diamond.
He brutally rammed aside the prisoners blocking his path, becoming a shining phantom as his speed surged to its limit and he charged at Bullet.
"Flash Collision!!"
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