Alliance

Flash Collision!!

Jozu transformed his entire body into gleaming diamond, his speed soaring as he charged forward savagely like a humanoid cannonball.

"Jozu?"

Suspended in midair, Bullet's Observation Haki had long since mapped everything within several hundred meters in his mind.

He stretched out his right hand and slapped toward the direction he was flying backward. The air instantly compressed and exploded with a boom, halting his backward momentum.

Boom!

Bullet landed lightly on the ice. Watching Jozu charge straight at him, a sinister grin curled across his lips.

Buzz!

Flowing Armament Haki enveloped his entire body, as though cloaking him in an invisible suit of armor.

Rumble!

The ice shook violently as Bullet stomped down with his right foot and likewise began accelerating at full speed.

Separated by several hundred meters, the two massive figures thundered across the ice and crashed head-on!

BOOM!!

Amid an earth-shaking blast, Jozu, gleaming all over with diamond light, clenched his teeth as a huge spray of blood burst from his mouth.

His burly body flew backward like a cannonball, tracing a long arc as he shot diagonally onto Marineford's plaza.

"Captain Jozu!"

"How is that possible? Diamond Jozu was sent flying!"

"That was satisfying!"

Bullet clenched his fists, the smile on his face widening as he threw back his head and laughed.

"Zehahahahaha!"

"War! It really gets the blood boiling!"

Icefall!!

Just then, an icy current surged forth, transforming into a towering waterfall of ice that crashed down from the sky and swallowed Bullet's imposing body.

Aokiji hovered in midair with his hands pressed together, blasting white frost from between his palms.

"Captain Bullet!"

Several nearby prisoners from Infinite Hell saw this and immediately sprinted over, intending to help Bullet.

Endless cold poured down, swiftly forming a thick layer of ice around Bullet's body.

As frost continued to spew from Aokiji's hands,

the ice trapping Bullet grew thicker and thicker.

Moreover, this layer of ice was compressed to an extreme degree, its hardness astonishing—harder even than ordinary steel.

Bullet's body, at the center of several meters of solid ice, was completely sealed inside a gigantic ice sphere.

"Prisoners who escaped from Infinite Hell?"

Aokiji turned around, frost swirling in his hand as it condensed into an ice spear that glinted with cold light.

"Gahahaha, that's right, we're worth four hundred and thirty million—"

"Trash like you isn't worth hearing last words from!"

Ice Thorn Hell!!

Aokiji's expression turned frosty as he bent down and pressed a hand against the ground.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Sharp ice spikes densely burst from the ice, covering every visible stretch of ground.

Pfft! Pfft!

The sounds of bodies being pierced and torn rang out one after another.

"AAAAAHHH!"

Painful screams from pirates and prisoners immediately erupted across the ice.

Then, a crisp cracking sound suddenly came from behind him.

Aokiji's expression changed slightly, and he spun around.

He saw a grinning face emerge from the ice crystals exploding through the air, closing in as a headbutt slammed toward him.

When did Bullet break through the ice?

The thought had barely surfaced in Aokiji's mind before an incomparably violent force smashed brutally into his face.

Bang!

Like Jozu, Aokiji's body shot backward like a cannonball, blood spraying from his mouth.

Rumble!

His body crashed into a coastal defense cannon several hundred meters away, immediately triggering a violent explosion.

When the billowing smoke dispersed, blood trickled from the corner of Aokiji's mouth. Clutching his throbbing head, he glared grimly at Bullet in the bay.

"What incredibly powerful Armament Haki!"

Across the vast bay, every larger patch of ice had been shattered by the battle's shockwaves. The pirates and Marines no longer had anywhere to stand.

Some commander-level pirates and prisoners, relying on their strength and jumping ability, leaped from the ice in the bay onto Marine Headquarters' plaza and fought the Marine Headquarters vice admirals.

Marines killed pirates, pirates killed Marines, and prisoners killed both Marines and pirates.

The three sides battled in a chaotic melee.

On the ice in the inner bay, Whitebeard watched the battlefield descend into utter chaos, his brow deeply furrowed.

"Pops! We can't keep butting heads with Captain Bullet. Put Teach's matter aside for now!"

The seawater beside him parted as Jinbe leaped out.

"Jinbe, your injuries are serious." Seeing Jinbe, Whitebeard revealed a gentle smile.

Warmth filled Jinbe's heart. He shook his head. "I'm fine, Pops."

Whitebeard nodded and looked toward Bullet in the distance.

"That brat Bullet didn't make things difficult for you, did he?"

Jinbe froze.

Then he quickly smiled. "No."

Whitebeard nodded again. After a moment of silence, he asked, "It's good that you can follow that brat. After I die, with that arrogant brat protecting Fish-Man Island, no one should dare invade it."

"Pops! You won't die!" Jinbe hurriedly said.

Whitebeard pressed one hand against his chest and gave a bitter laugh.

"I'm human, not a monster."

"As long as someone is human, they will die."

"I'm already old. The times are rolling forward, and I can no longer keep up."

"Pops!"

Jinbe gritted his teeth, and his eyes instantly reddened.

"That brat Bullet was right. I truly am old. My stamina can no longer even sustain Conqueror's Coating."

Whitebeard raised his gaze toward the execution platform in the distance.

"The future belongs to the young. Ace cannot die in a place like this. Let this old man with one foot already in the underworld send you aboard the ship of the new era!"

"Pops!" Jinbe could no longer hold back, and tears burst from his eyes.

Whitebeard drew a deep breath and suddenly roared.

"Brat Bullet!!"

His booming voice rolled like wind and thunder, echoing through the skies above the inner bay.

Bullet's lips curled upward. "Something you want to say, Whitebeard?"

Neither of them concealed their voices. The fighting members of all three sides heard every word clearly.

The fierce slaughter continued.

But the battles between the commanders gradually came to a halt.

Shiryu and Vista each sheathed their long blades and silently looked toward their captains in the bay.

On the execution platform, Sengoku's expression changed drastically as an ominous premonition suddenly arose in his heart.

"Let's join forces!"

Whitebeard did not waste words and went straight to the point.

"J-Join forces?"

On the plaza, the expressions of the Marine officers changed dramatically.

Kizaru scratched his head in distress. "How troublesome. If those two headaches join forces, the pressure on us will skyrocket."

"So what? They're all going to die anyway!" Akainu's face darkened.

"Joining forces is fine. We're both here to crush the Marines anyway. But you have to agree to three conditions."

Bullet's voice grew even louder, like rolling muffled thunder.

"As long as they don't involve my family, even ten conditions would be fine!"

"Zehahahaha, I won't make things difficult for you!"

Bullet threw back his head and laughed.

Whitebeard laughed as well.

"Gurararara!"

"Zehahahaha!"

"Then the Whitebeard Pirates and the Demon God Pirates shall form a temporary alliance!"

"Men! Crush the Marines! Rescue Ace!"