Monster

"Honestly, I didn't know what to do with you."

Bullet sighed and shook his head helplessly.

He spread the fingers of his right hand and bent down, pressing it against the warship's deck beneath his feet.

Whoosh!

Purple light surged wildly from his body like a tidal wave, enveloping and swallowing the entire vessel in an instant.

Amid the pirates' cries of alarm.

The hull shrouded in purple light began changing rapidly.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

Steel and stone alike were transformed by the purple light into a strange flowing substance.

With a wave of Bullet's hand, the endlessly churning purple torrent immediately spread at high speed.

Like a rainbow bridge spanning thousands of meters, it extended from the center of the inner bay, crossed over the towering wall, and landed on the plaza!

When the purple light faded.

The shattered warship had become a magnificent bridge spanning a thousand meters.

This entire series of changes had happened in the blink of an eye.

Staring at the bridge spanning the inner bay and the plaza, pirates and Marines alike were utterly dumbfounded.

Only then did Whitebeard let out a sigh of relief and roar again, "Everyone! Get onto the stone bridge and enter the plaza!"

"Fine, I'll see this through to the end. I don't want to hear you preaching again, old Whitebeard."

Bullet raised his right hand, spreading his fingers.

At the end of the stone bridge above the inner bay, purple light immediately gathered and split into strips of purple bands that shot out like nimble whips.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds upon thousands of whips danced through the air, stretching farther and shooting in every direction.

Swish, swish, swish!

The extending whips coiled around pirates and prisoners one after another like vines.

Even pirates still floating in the sea were caught by the whips and hauled out of the water.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The whips contracted, dragging pirate after pirate back and roughly flinging them onto the bridge.

Thud, thud!

Dull impacts rang out in quick succession.

In mere moments, the stone bridge was packed with people.

Sengoku clenched his fists and roared through gritted teeth, "Damn it! Destroy that bridge now! Don't let the pirates enter the plaza!"

Swish!

Before Sengoku had even finished speaking.

A golden beam shot out from the Justice Fortress and streaked toward the bridge.

"Kizaru! I won't let you have your way!"

A Phoenix wreathed in blue flames flapped his wings, crossed the sky like lightning, and spread his broad wings to intercept the golden beam head-on.

"Phoenix Marco, I wonder if you can withstand my magma's power?"

On the ground, Akainu, billowing with thick smoke, raised his right fist and prepared to blast magma toward Marco.

Just then, Jozu transformed his entire body into diamond, stomping the ground with thunderous booms as he charged headlong at Akainu.

Flash Collision!

"Hm?"

Watching Jozu thunder toward him, Akainu turned and blasted magma from his fist, smashing Jozu's massive body into the ground.

After sending Jozu flying, Akainu was about to turn and destroy the stone bridge.

Purgatory Asura Slash!

Rose Dance!

Two charging figures rushed over, crossing past Akainu from his left and right.

Slash! Slash!

Akainu's towering body was immediately sliced cleanly apart, turning into chunks of magma that scattered across the ground.

Akainu lay on the ground with only half his upper body remaining, fury written across his face.

"One after another. You damned flies are getting annoying."

Crimson magma flowed and surged upward like a fountain, reforming Akainu's towering body.

Akainu's face darkened terrifyingly as he looked at Shiryu and Vista, who stood before him with swords in hand.

"I hate rebels most of all, Shiryu. Are you ready to die?"

Akainu's cold, murderous gaze fell upon Shiryu.

Shiryu remained equally indifferent, slowly raising Raiu in his hand.

"The Marines these days are so hypocritical they make me sick."

"Akainu, in a way, you and I aren't so different."

"Shut up! Great Eruption!"

Akainu curled his lips, and a terrifying torrent of magma burst forth from his right fist.

The surging crimson magma radiated a terrifying heat.

If it struck them head-on, they would undoubtedly die!

Shiryu and Vista did not dare confront Akainu directly, even though both were powerful swordsmen.

Just as the two leaped away from where they stood.

Vast streams of black air spread rapidly, forming a huge patch of ink-dark blackness beneath Akainu's feet.

A strange sight appeared.

The magma continuously flowing across the ground slowly sank into the dense darkness.

Akainu frowned and looked up.

"Zehahaha! Marine Admiral Akainu, I'll be your opponent."

Seeing Dark Vortex swallow all the magma Akainu had fired, Teach immediately wore a smug grin.

He swaggered forward and stopped in front of Akainu, extending his left hand as black air appeared in his palm and began spinning.

"Blackbeard? What the hell are you supposed to be?"

Clear contempt appeared on Akainu's face as he clenched his right fist and punched directly at Teach's face.

Dark Water!

Teach spread his left hand. The dark air in his palm spun rapidly, releasing a powerful pulling force.

The darkness's gravity dragged Akainu's right fist over, making Akainu's expression freeze.

He saw that the magma around his right fist was slowly fading away, revealing the fist clad in a black glove beneath it.

"Zehahaha!" Teach threw back his head and laughed wildly.

"My Dark-Dark Fruit can nullify Devil Fruit abilities."

"Every ability user will be suppressed before me!"

"Aka—"

"Shut up!"

Before Teach could finish, he saw deep black Armament Haki emerge over the right fist Akainu had been pulling toward him.

Akainu's powerful Haki easily blocked the Dark-Dark Fruit's attraction.

Then, beneath Teach's horrified gaze, that black-gloved fist slammed heavily into his chest.

Boom!

Crack, crack, crack!

With a dull impact, Teach's chest seemed to have been struck by a meteor. His breastbone shattered across a wide area, and his entire chest appeared to cave in.

"Puaaaargh!"

Teach's eyes bulged from their sockets. The soul-rending agony nearly made him black out on the spot.

His body flew away like a cannonball, knocking over dozens of pirates and Marines in a straight line.

On the shattered ground, Teach lay sprawled like a dead dog, blood constantly spilling from the corner of his mouth.

At that moment, only one thought remained in his muddled mind.

"Damn it! Why am I so weak? Akainu is another monster! His magma was clearly countered by my Dark-Dark Fruit! How could he still be this powerful?"

Teach deeply doubted.

Even if he obtained the Tremor-Tremor Fruit he had dreamed of for so long.

Would he be able to defeat inhuman monsters like Akainu and Bullet?

Just as he was thinking this, two incomparably vast and violent auras suddenly descended from the sky, crashing onto the plaza of Marine Headquarters.

Amid the billowing dust, two mountain-like, towering figures appeared to Akainu's left and right, not far behind him.