Clearly, Whitebeard held Xia Le in high regard, both for his strength and his character.
Then his eyes widened in fury, and the fingers of both hands shook the space around him. He was about to unleash his last reserves of strength, shattering Marineford completely to give the Whitebeard Pirates more room to escape.
But at that moment, Xia Le suddenly stepped forward.
In an instant, he stood before Whitebeard.
Black-and-red light flared, and an overwhelmingly domineering wave of Conqueror's Haki swept out. The sky over all of Marineford and the surrounding ten thousand meters turned black and red.
Bang!
Almost everyone in Marineford heard that thunderous impact.
The force blasted through Whitebeard's abdomen and shot toward the clouds high above, shattering an entire bank of them.
Countless people turned, their gazes trembling.
"Pops!!!" "Pops!" "Whitebeard?"
Cries of anguish rang out one after another, echoing across the battlefield.
Everyone saw the scene before the chasm.
The cape behind Whitebeard billowed, blown high into the air by the fierce wind. His body shuddered once, then went completely still.
He simply stood there in silence, as though he had become a statue.
Faintly, Xia Le's voice reached them.
"Put him in shackles!"
Then the figure every member of the Whitebeard Pirates feared and hated came into view, his eyes resting calmly on them.
That single glance sent a shudder through countless pirates' hearts.
"Hurry!! Get out of here!"
"Escape Marineford!"
The pirates scattered and fled, while the Marines pursued them relentlessly.
Withdrawing his gaze from the distance, Xia Le looked at Whitebeard before him.
Whitebeard's eyes were closed, and he had lost consciousness, but faint breaths still passed through his nostrils.
That meant Whitebeard was not dead.
"A living Whitebeard is more useful!"
Xia Le murmured, his eyes flickering.
Time slowly passed,