Drip, drip!
Blood slid down the blade and dripped onto the deck, quickly forming a pool. Jinbe's furious roar brought the entire battlefield to a standstill. Marines and pirates alike turned toward Whitebeard, staring in disbelief at the blade buried in his chest.
Whitebeard was wounded?
And it was a fatal wound?!
The Marines' breathing quickened. A fierce fire burned in their hearts.
Whitebeard was wounded. Victory would be theirs!
"Kill them! Kill every pirate!"
The battlefield soon erupted into chaos again. But the Whitebeard Pirates had lost their earlier momentum and were driven back by the Marines' counterattack.
"Squard! What are you doing?"
Marco endured Ryokugyu's attacks and flew back to the Moby Dick. He punched Great Whirlpool Spider Squard in the face. Seeing the fear and satisfaction in Squard's eyes as he fell, Marco gritted his teeth and turned to check Whitebeard's wound.
"How bad is it, Pops? Are you okay? I'll get a doctor—"
"You idiot! It's just a scratch." Whitebeard raised a hand to stop Marco, then slammed his Naginata against the deck and used it to push himself upright.
Slowly lowering his head, Whitebeard asked in anguish, "Squard, why?"
"What other reason could there be? He was afraid to die, so he betrayed us!"
Blue flames flared around Marco once more as he glared at Squard. But Squard roared back as though he were the victim.
"You're the one who betrayed us, Whitebeard!"
Fear, pain, hatred, and satisfaction twisted together, making Squard look like a demon. "You think I don't know about your deal with the Marines? You traded our lives for a chance to survive!"
"What are you talking about? Pops would never do that!"
Marco was beside himself with rage, but Whitebeard held him back. All he could do was glare at Squard.