Whitebeard Pirates

"These are... Doma, 'Thunder Lord' McGuy, the Decalvan Brothers, 'Great Whirlpool Spider' Squard. Behind them are all the pirate ships affiliated with Whitebeard."

The enemies were charging straight at their positions, making the Marines extremely nervous. These were all famous pirates from the New World.

As the enemy ships slowly approached, dozens of coastal cannons at the harbor began adjusting their muzzles. Once the 800-millimeter heavy guns had the enemy within range, they would unleash a storm of devastating bombardment.

When Sengoku saw that the enemy fleet consisted of only forty-three ships, his expression immediately changed as he shouted.

"Something's wrong. Whitebeard isn't there. Find out what Whitebeard is planning, now."

Before the Marines could react, several bubbles rose from the center of the crescent-shaped harbor. By the time Sengoku guessed their plan, it was already too late.

Four gigantic whale-shaped pirate ships burst from beneath the sea. Their nearly hundred-meter hulls were covered in a golden coating, and the four ships formed a neat, simple formation.

A piercing alarm sounded.

"It's Whitebeard's flagship, the Moby Dick, along with his sixteen direct pirate divisions."

The enemy's sudden assault on the center threw many Marines into a panic. Their original plan had been to wear down part of the enemy forces with artillery fire, but it had now turned into close-quarters combat.

The six-meter-tall Whitebeard stood bare-chested beneath nothing but a white cloak. Several indelible scars covered his powerful chest, trophies left behind by enemies he had acknowledged throughout his life.

Surrounded by the support of his children, Whitebeard greeted Sengoku.

"Sengoku, it's been a long time. Thanks for taking care of my child all this time."

"Whitebeard..."

The two old rivals, who had battled for decades, stared at each other from afar. Sengoku's expression turned incredibly grim. The first line of defense he had painstakingly arranged had been breached so easily.

Even though he still had other contingencies, every layer he lost reduced his chances of victory.

A Marine lookout raised his telescope and saw that Whitebeard was surrounded by the enemy's main forces.

"First Division Commander Marco, Third Division Commander Diamond Jozu, Fifth Division Commander Flower Sword Vista, and the other eleven division commanders."

Amid the tense atmosphere, Whitebeard launched the first attack. White rings of light gathered around his clenched fists before he slammed them into the air on both sides.

Seaquake

As the surrounding air shattered, a vibrational force instantly spread hundreds of kilometers away. The sea level slowly dropped, and then two enormous tsunamis rose on either side of Marineford.

The tsunamis stood hundreds of meters high, crashing down with the force of a mountain, intending to crush the Marines in one blow.

Many ordinary Marines were terrified out of their wits at the sight. If those things washed over them, no one here except the strong would survive, immediately causing a wave of panic.

"This is too insane! We're going to die!"

"Where are the Admirals? Why aren't the Three Admirals making a move?"

Within the Marine ranks, Hina exchanged a glance with her fellow recruit Smoker. Both saw the gravity in each other's eyes. They were both Devil Fruit users, and this tsunami was comparable to a killing blow.

Before the sky-blocking tsunamis could crash down, Aokiji, one of the Three Admirals, had already leaped into the air. Long pillars of ice extended from his hands and touched the two waves, rapidly freezing the disaster-like tsunamis into ice until they became two icebergs.

Aokiji then launched several ice spears at Whitebeard. They were shattered by Whitebeard's fists, which carried vibrational force, and even Aokiji in midair was shattered into chunks of ice that fell into the sea.

Before the pirates could cheer, Aokiji, having fallen into the sea, was unaffected by the seawater. Instead, he froze the sea surface for several kilometers around, preventing all the pirate ships from approaching the execution platform directly.

Admiral Aokiji's move quickly pulled the Marines, who had been frightened by Whitebeard, back to reality. They rushed toward the pirates charging over the ice.

"Don't be afraid of Whitebeard! We have the Three Admirals and Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

"Kill the Marines! Save Ace! Show them the might of the Whitebeard Pirates!"

The battle between the two sides officially began.

All the harbor artillery bombarded the Moby Dick, blasting crater after crater into the massive flagship. The four pirate ships refused to yield, and their cannons returned fire.

For a time, cannon fire filled the air. Marines led by Vice Admirals clashed with pirates led by division commanders, and amid the explosions, the battle was evenly matched.

A fat purple pirate pulled a massive hammer from his mouth pocket and swept away every Marine blocking his path. No one could withstand even a single exchange with him.

He was Blenheim, commander of the Sixth Division and user of the Pocket-Pocket Fruit.

A man who controlled several pitch-black longswords with his hair stopped Blenheim's rampage. Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Onigumo studied the man before him with a grave expression.

With perfect tacit understanding, both sides charged at each other. King against king, general against general, soldier against soldier.

Whitebeard shattered an incoming cannonball with one punch, smiling as he watched his children fight with all their strength.

Suddenly, Hawk-Eye Mihawk stepped forward a few paces in the distance, looking as though he intended to make a move. The Marines and the other Shichibukai were instantly startled. None of them had expected Hawkeye to truly join the battle.

Even Akainu was surprised. He had already been prepared for Hawkeye to remain uninvolved from beginning to end. It seemed the Shichibukai were not entirely useless after all.

Ignoring everyone else's opinions, Hawkeye, who pursued the Peak of swordsmanship, only wanted to find out how far he still was from Whitebeard. He decisively drew the Supreme Grade Blade, Black Blade Yoru, and slashed at Whitebeard from afar. A powerful green slash flew straight toward its target.

As many watched nervously, a burly man appeared directly in the slash's path. It was Diamond Jozu, commander of the Third Division. Most of his skin turned to diamond, and he used his body to block the slash, gritting his teeth as he redirected it into the sky.

The slash spread outward, and for an instant, the sky darkened.

The first clash between a Shichibukai and a division commander left many people awestruck.

Returning the favor, Diamond Jozu tore out a chunk of ice nearly eighty meters across and hurled it at the Marine formation with all his strength. The ice block, the size of a small meteor, slowly fell, throwing the Marines below into turmoil.

Great Eruption

A heavy voice rang out. Akainu raised a magma fist and struck the ice block, easily shattering and igniting it. Chunks of ice flew back toward the pirate camp like meteors.

The ice had been ignited into fireballs. What terrifying Logia power.

Boom... Boom... Boom

The ships and ice were struck repeatedly. The backlash, no weaker than the bombardment of multiple cannons, instantly gave the Marines the upper hand.