"D-Dad... Did Pops lose?" Ace stammered, looking at the Whitebeard lying in the distance with disbelief on his face.
"Impossible! There's no way my Pops could be defeated so easily!" Marco said in a deep voice.
"This is Pops's last battle. He absolutely will not allow himself to die in this way. He's Whitebeard!"
And just as Marco had said, the very next second after he finished speaking, the Whitebeard in the distance slowly rose from the ground.
Whitebeard used the Murakumogiri to support his body, and couldn't help but spit out another mouthful of blood.
But Xia Chen felt no emotion as he watched this scene. This was Whitebeard's own choice; he had already prepared for death.
So all Xia Chen could do at this moment was to have a good fight with Whitebeard so that he wouldn't die with regrets!
"Gurgle! That feels good, Xia Chen! Pfft..."
The Whitebeard laughed while spitting out blood, and basically every time he laughed, he would spit out a mouthful of blood, which made Xia Chen's eyelids twitch wildly.
Is he going to bleed to death while laughing?
But Whitebeard seemed unwilling to give Xia Chen a chance to see this scene. He stopped laughing after a while, and without saying a word, he picked up Murakumogiri again and charged towards Xia Chen.
Xia Chen narrowed his eyes and charged towards the Whitebeard as well.
The two began a new round of fighting...
--
A few minutes later~
"Whoosh!"
Whitebeard's figure was sent flying backward once again. During the flight, he Murakumogiri Whitebeard the ground to offset the impact on himself.
Murakumogiri slid for over a hundred meters on the ground before stopping, and as soon as he stopped, the Whitebeard coughed up another mouthful of blood, his aura completely weakened.
Thump!
Xia Chen landed about ten meters away from the Whitebeard, looking at the nearly lifeless Whitebeard before him, and couldn't help but sigh softly.
" Whitebeard! It seems your story... is coming to an end!"
"Yes! Cough cough..."
The Whitebeard had barely uttered two words when he coughed up another mouthful of blood. His eyes began to glaze over, and he muttered to himself:
"I've been through a lot in my life. When I was young, I was full of vigor and ambition, and without hesitation, I set sail and became a pirate!"
"And then, before we knew it, so many years had passed, filled with countless thrilling adventures!"
"Most importantly, I have a lot of family members who have been with me for most of my life and have allowed me to experience the beauty of family love!"
Whitebeard closed his eyes, as if thinking of something happy, and a smile appeared on his face.
Unfortunately, no matter what kind of journey it is, there will always be a day when you reach the end!
"For example, you've already reached the end of your life!" Xia Chen said calmly, looking at the Whitebeard.
"Yes, no matter how brilliant or wonderful my life has been, it has now come to its final chapter. It's time for the curtain to fall, but..."
At this point, the Whitebeard man paused, opened his eyes, and suddenly shot out two beams of light. He then slowly stood up from his kneeling position.
His previously listless aura was now steadily growing stronger, even more so than at the beginning. Standing there, he resembled a prehistoric beast.
"Huh? You still have power?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Xia Chen's eyes as he felt the oppressive aura emanating from the Whitebeard.
He truly hadn't expected the Whitebeard to experience a brief resurgence of life, even though Xia Chen had just sensed that his life force was incredibly weak, practically clinging to life.
But the power unleashed now is greater than at any point during the previous battles!
For a moment, Xia Chen felt as if he were watching a shonen anime, where key characters always unleash unimaginable power when they are about to die, giving their deaths a perfect ending.
This should be the case now, barring any unforeseen circumstances!
"Interesting!"
A smile crept onto Xia Chen's lips. Wouldn't it be more fitting for him to chime in with a "hehehe" now?
As time passed, Whitebeard's aura grew stronger and stronger, and Xia Chen knew that Whitebeard was gathering his strength.
With the brilliance of life, unleash the final attack of your life!
A few more breaths passed, Whitebeard's aura finally reached its peak and stopped growing stronger. At this moment, the Murakumogiri in his hand had completely turned black and red.
That was an overwhelming Conqueror's Haki, almost to the point of being tangible!
At a certain moment, Whitebeard moved, Murakumogiri downwards. At the same time, he roared:
"With this strike, I write the final elegy of my life!"
"Boom!"
A massive blade of energy, radiating immense power, hurtled towards Xia Chen.
The powerful aftershocks along the way shattered the surrounding land into fine dust!
"That attack!"
Xia Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling the oppressive force emanating from the attack before him, and for the first time, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
Is this the true value of being number one in the world?
"Looks like you didn't earn that title for nothing, Whitebeard!"
Xia Chen also roared, and the stick in his hand turned black and red, exactly like the one in Murakumogiri.
Then, raising the staff high with both hands, he slammed it down hard on the oncoming blade of energy...
"Boom!!"
A deafening roar resounded through the sky, and from Xia Chen's center, one after another incredibly powerful shockwave spread outwards in circles.
Wherever it passed, trees were uprooted, the ground was shattered, and the entire island trembled violently.
The resulting shockwaves even spread outwards to the sea off the island, creating giant waves that stretched for countless nautical miles.
The impact lasted for more than ten seconds. During this time, no trees or ground could be seen on the island. Ace and the others in the distance were also covered in dust and embedded in the ground.
It took them quite a while to get up, and what they saw shocked them. They all gaped in astonishment at the scene before them.
The island before them was no longer the lush, dense forest it had been when they first arrived; it had become a completely barren island, utterly devoid of anything.
Suddenly, Marco seemed to realize something, and hurriedly looked in a certain direction while shouting loudly:
" Pops!"
Marco's shout startled everyone from their shock, and they all looked toward where Whitebeard had been.
What they saw was once again beyond their expectations.
Whitebeard was still standing in the same spot, perfectly fine, with no signs of the ground around him breaking apart, a stark contrast to the surrounding ruins.
The reason for this situation is widely speculated to be related to the yellowish-brown halo of mysterious runes constantly flashing in front of Whitebeard...