Whoosh!
A surging gale swept out in every direction.
Amid the rolling dust, two towering, heaven-piercing figures suddenly appeared not far behind Akainu.
Akainu's pupils constricted as two unprecedentedly immense auras abruptly locked onto him.
The suffocating pressure felt like two mountains, thousands or even tens of thousands of meters tall, pressing down upon his shoulders.
Even the air within a radius of hundreds of meters seemed to warp.
A few drops of cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He spun around fiercely as surging magma erupted from his body.
The instant he turned, he saw two figures more than twice his height standing barely a dozen meters away.
"Whitebeard!"
"Devil's Heir!"
The moment those two terrifying figures appeared in the plaza,
the entire Marine Headquarters seemed as though someone had pressed pause.
Both enemies and allies stopped what they were doing.
Pairs of horrified, reverent eyes all turned toward them.
"They got in... Whitebeard and the Devil's Heir have broken in!"
A Marine rear admiral spoke with a trembling voice. The fear constantly surging through him left him unable even to hold his saber.
It clanged onto the ground.
In contrast, the pirates from the two great pirate crews wore reverent, joyous expressions as they raised their weapons and cheered wildly.
"Old man!"
"Captain Bullet!"
Rip!
Bullet tore at the murky air before him with his right hand.
The intangible air actually made a sound like fabric ripping, as if he had torn a piece of clothing apart.
His domineering gaze swept over the plaza ahead before he opened his mouth and said in a deep voice,
"Let's wipe out half the Marines first, Whitebeard!"
"Gurararara! I agree!"
Whitebeard grinned.
The next moment, both men's gazes sharpened!
Boom!!
Two surging, violent bursts of aura erupted from their bodies.
Like two colossal tsunamis capable of overturning heaven and earth.
In an instant, they engulfed the entire island of Marineford.
The energy radiating from Bullet was azure blue.
Whitebeard's was blackish red.
The two rapidly expanding spheres of energy instantly turned into tangible storms, enveloping all of Marineford.
Wherever the energy spheres passed, Marine soldiers' minds roared; they foamed at the mouth, rolled back their eyes, and fell like wheat before a scythe.
At the same time, thousands of meters above the ground,
the ink-black clouds appeared to have been split apart by a heavenly sword, revealing an enormous rift that tore through the sky!
Azure-blue and blackish-red lightning crashed down from the heavens, turning Marine Headquarters into a hell of thunder.
On the execution platform, Ace stared blankly at the apocalyptic sight before him.
"Th-this is... Conqueror's Haki?"
Crack.
Sengoku nearly ground his teeth to dust. With his eyes bloodshot, he watched as more than half the Marine soldiers on the plaza collapsed in an instant.
The two Conqueror's Haki blasts had knocked out tens of thousands of Marine soldiers at once!
One had to know that the soldiers here were elite fighters gathered from all across the world.
There was no shortage among them of powerful officers at the rank of commodore, rear admiral, and vice admiral!
And yet, even so,
the number of Marine soldiers still standing on the battlefield had fallen to just over forty thousand.
"Fufufufu, this is the pinnacle of power in the New World! Power nearly on par with Kaido's! Fufufufu!"
"Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!"
"Devil's Heir, Douglas Bullet!"
Doflamingo's body trembled uncontrollably, as if he had lost his mind, and a crazed smile appeared on his face.
"Have you gone mad, Flamingo?"
Before him, Crocodile spoke indifferently, a cigar clenched between his teeth.
Yet his eyes, like everyone else's, drifted toward those two mountain-like figures.
Doflamingo curled a finger, and an invisible thread sliced through the air.
Crocodile's neck was severed, and his head fell from his shoulders.
"Fufufufu! Crocodile! Work with me! Shall we join forces and take down Whitebeard and the Devil's Heir?"
Crocodile's head turned into countless grains of sand and flew back to his empty neck, slowly reforming.
"Not interested. You're too weak, Flamingo."
"How heartless. Back then..."
"Shut up! Sandstorm!"
Watching his comrades fall one after another, Smoker swayed on his feet, his head spinning as he looked unwillingly toward the two distant figures.
"How could they be so powerful?"
"No... no, I'm simply too weak!"
He bit down hard on his lip until blood streamed out, trying to use pain to keep himself awake.
"If I collapse before I even touch the enemy... what right do I have to talk about cleansing these seas with the power of justice?"
With a squelch,
he pulled out the short blade at his waist and drove it viciously into his palm.
The tearing pain finally cleared Smoker's mind somewhat.
But a bandage-wrapped fist suddenly smashed into him from the side, striking his waist and abdomen and sending him flying off the ground before he crashed hard onto the earth.
"Puh!"
Smoker spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes widened as he looked at the blue, stout figure standing before him.
"My apologies, Marine. This old man must rescue my little brother Ace."
Jinbe clenched his fist and looked toward Bullet.
"My choice was not wrong. That man truly is immensely powerful. With an ally like him, old man won't have to fight alone at the very least."
He lowered his head and charged into the crowd of Marines.
Fish-Man Karate! Five Thousand Brick Fist!
After the enormous battlefield fell silent for over ten seconds, even more brutal fighting began.
The Marine soldiers who could remain standing after the Conqueror's Haki assault from Bullet and Whitebeard possessed formidable strength and ironclad will.
However, the damage caused by Conqueror's Haki was also greatly affected by distance.
Some who had been close by, even powerful Marine vice admirals, were left muddled by the two Conqueror's Haki blasts and dropped to their knees with a thud.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.
Scarlet magma continuously surged forth, covering the ground beneath their feet and turning the area into a blazing sea of lava.
Akainu's face was dark, and intense killing intent shone in his eyes. Under Whitebeard and Bullet's gazes, he strode forward.
Bullet bared his white teeth in a grin.
"Oh? You're just walking over here, Akainu."
"Do you intend to challenge the two of us alone?"
Akainu clenched his fist and directly hurled a raging torrent of magma toward them.
"So what?"
"One half-dead old ghost! One brat who spent twenty years in prison and failed to keep up with the times!"
"What do I have to fear?!"
Great Eruption!!
"How arrogant, magma brat."
Whitebeard and Bullet exchanged a glance, then both bent and raised their right arms, clenched their fists, drew back their elbows, and unleashed heavy strikes!
Air Quake!!
Demon God Elbow Strike!!
In that instant,
two vast and terrifying shockwaves burst from their fist and elbow, transforming into two raging dragons that converged in midair and charged toward the incoming pillar of magma.
Boom!!
Before you continue