The Special Beam Cannon's Wounds Couldn't Heal?!

"Wororororororo—!!!!"

Kaido's wildly triumphant laughter rang through the heavens once more, shaking ripples across the sea!

His enormous dragon head affectionately rubbed against Lynn's tender little cheek, his flaming dragon eyes brimming with undisguised pride and delight!

"Did you see that?! You red-haired brat! You old Whitebeard!"

"This is my son!"

"Your commanders are no match for my son!"

Kaido's overbearing voice was like a series of resounding slaps across the faces of everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates and Red Hair Pirates.

It stung like hell!

Whitebeard's weathered old face darkened until it looked as though water could drip from it.

Behind him, Marco, Jozu, Vista, and the other commanders all wore livid expressions, their fists clenched with crackling force.

What utter humiliation!

This was undoubtedly the greatest disgrace the Whitebeard Pirates had suffered since their founding!

Red-Haired Shanks looked just as grim.

Though he was easygoing by nature, watching his companion get defeated so effortlessly and then mocked by Kaido right to his face naturally filled him with rage.

"Kaido, don't get too smug!"

Just then, a somewhat lazy yet incomparably resolute voice rose from among the Whitebeard Pirates.

Marco parted the crowd and slowly stepped forward.

With his golden pineapple-like hair, half-lidded sleepy eyes, and hands tucked into his pockets, he looked rather carefree.

But at that moment, unprecedented sharpness gleamed in those usually weary eyes!

"Pops."

Marco looked toward Whitebeard, his tone calm.

"Let me handle this."

Whitebeard looked at his most trusted son, a complex emotion flashing through his sharp hawk-like eyes.

Of course, he knew Marco's strength.

As the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' First Division, Phoenix Marco was unquestionably among the very strongest at the level of an Emperor's right-hand man!

But...

Lynn's strange black flames and that infinitely powerful purple beam had left far too deep an impression on him.

"Be careful, Marco."

Whitebeard ultimately nodded, his voice low as he warned him.

"Don't worry, Pops."

Marco grinned, flashing a row of white teeth, his eyes full of confidence.

He turned and looked at Lynn, who floated above Kaido's dragon head, narrowing his sleepy eyes slightly.

"Kid, I have to admit, you're strong."

"But if you think you can run wild on the Whitebeard Pirates' turf, you're still too green!"

Before his words had even faded!

Whoosh—!

Blazing blue flames suddenly erupted from Marco's body!

The flames were not scorching. Instead, they carried a cool, restorative aura.

His arms instantly transformed into a pair of massive wings of blue fire!

His feet also became sharp bird claws!

Phoenix form!

"Take this, kid!"

Marco shouted low as he violently flapped his wings!

His figure vanished from where he stood in an instant!

The next second!

He appeared before Lynn as if he had teleported!

Fast!

Too fast!

So fast that even many of the experts present could only barely catch a blue afterimage!

"So fast!"

The Red Hair Pirates could not help but narrow their eyes.

As expected of the Whitebeard Pirates' First Division commander!

That speed alone was enough to stand above the crowd!

Marco's right foot, transformed into a bird claw and wrapped in dense Armament Haki and blue Regenerative Flames, tore through the air with terrifying force as it viciously kicked toward Lynn's head!

"Phoenix Brand!"

That kick was overwhelmingly powerful!

It could blow apart a small mountain!

Even a Marine Admiral would be sent flying by that blow!

Faced with that thunderous attack.

Lynn remained as calm as ever.

Only, strange scarlet light surfaced once again in his pitch-black eyes.

The Mangekyō slowly spun.

Buzzz—!!!

A gigantic blue skeleton appeared once more, completely enclosing his small body!

Susanoo!

Bang—!!!!

Marco's monument-shattering kick struck the blue skeletal arm squarely!

A deafening boom echoed through the sky once again!

A terrifying energy shockwave spread madly in all directions!

Crack!

A crisp shattering sound suddenly rang out!

Several distinct cracks had appeared across the seemingly indestructible blue skeletal arm!

"It cracked!"

"As expected of Whitebeard's strongest subordinate! The power of that strike can actually rival Boss Red-Haired's!"

The officers of the Red Hair Pirates all revealed surprised expressions!

"As expected of Commander Marco!"

"He's too strong!"

"Looks like that kid's defensive technique isn't as tough as we thought!"

The members of the Whitebeard Pirates erupted into earthshaking cheers!

Kaido's enormous dragon eyes narrowed slightly as well.

That pineapple head really had some skills!

After landing a blow, a sharp glint flashed through Marco's eyes!

He flapped his wings again, nimbly flipped through the air, and swung his other bird claw—wrapped in blue flames and Armament Haki—toward the crack in Susanoo with thunderous force!

He intended to press his advantage!

To shatter this turtle shell in one go!

However.

Just as his attack was about to strike again.

Lynn's scarlet Sharingan calmly glanced at him.

"Amaterasu!"

Pfft!

A cluster of ink-black flames appeared out of nowhere on Marco's blue-flamed wing without any warning!

"That move again!"

"Commander Marco, be careful!"

The Whitebeard Pirates immediately cried out in alarm!

They had witnessed Rockstar's miserable state with their own eyes!

Whitebeard's gaze sharpened as Conqueror's Haki began surging through his body, ready at any moment to disperse those strange black flames!

Everyone thought Marco was about to suffer this time!

Yet, facing those black flames that clung to him like maggots to a bone.

There was not the slightest trace of panic on Marco's face.

He did not even look at the black flames on his wing.

His blue-flamed wing suddenly jerked!

Rip!

A jaw-dropping scene unfolded!

The portion of his wing being burned by the black flames was forcibly... physically severed!

Just like a lizard shedding its tail!

That small piece of flesh, burning with black flames and trailing a wisp of smoke, fell from the sky into the sea with a sizzling sound before quickly going out.

At the broken edge of Marco's wing, blue Regenerative Flames blazed fiercely!

New flesh rapidly grew back at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In the blink of an eye!

His wing had returned to normal!

Perfectly intact!

As though everything that had just happened had been nothing but an illusion!

"The black flames are useless!"

"Commander Marco completely counters that kid's technique!"

"Kid, have you seen how powerful the Phoenix is now?! This is the strength of the Whitebeard Pirates!"

The Whitebeard Pirates' crew cheered excitedly.

The Red Hair Pirates also wore expressions of sudden realization.

So aside from Conqueror's Haki, physical severing was also a way to evade the black flames... but hardly anyone could regrow what they cut off afterward.

Demon Child Lynn really had rotten luck.

He had run right into Phoenix Marco!

This kid... was about to hit a wall!

Lynn raised his small brow.

That pineapple head really had something to him.

He could actually neutralize Amaterasu like that.

But...

His dark eyes shifted, and his little index finger slowly rose again.

A tiny, insignificant speck of purple energy began gathering at his fingertip.

Seeing that opening stance.

A curve lifted at the corner of Marco's mouth.

He had no intention of retreating.

As a Phoenix, piercing attacks were what he feared least!

Forget Demon Child Lynn's fingertip cannon.

Even Kizaru's lasers could not intimidate him!

"That move won't work on Commander Marco!"

"That's a Mythical Zoan Phoenix!"

"Still haven't seen the gap between you, kid?"

"That kind of move might work on Usopp, but if you want to deal with Commander Marco, keep dreaming!"

Below, whether they were from the Whitebeard Pirates or the Red Hair Pirates, everyone remained perfectly calm.

No one understood better than they did just how formidable Marco's regenerative abilities were.

So what if this kind of piercing wound landed?

Unless Seastone was used to restrain him.

It was nothing worth mentioning!

"Special Beam... Cannon!"

Lynn ignored them.

His childish declaration, carrying an aura of destruction, rang out once more!

Whoosh—!!!

An extremely condensed spiraling purple beam suddenly shot from Lynn's fingertip!

At nearly the same instant.

Marco also viciously kicked Susanoo!

The next moment.

Susanoo shattered completely.

Marco's chest was pierced clean through by the Special Beam Cannon... Blood, mixed with blue flames, sprayed from his back!

Without any hesitation.

Marco swiftly activated the Regenerative Flames within his body, trying to repair the wound.

However.

For the first time, Marco's usually somewhat lazy face revealed an expression of extreme terror!

He discovered in horror!

The wound in his chest, pierced through by the purple beam, actually... actually could not heal!