"Ha... ha... ha... is this monster finally dead?"
Teach braced himself on the ground, panting heavily, then looked up at Whitebeard. Seeing that Whitebeard was motionless, he hesitated and spoke.
rustling... rustling...
Thump!!
Thump!!
Thump!!
However, just as Teach and the others breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Whitebeard was dead, he suddenly trembled, and then, like Luffy using Gear Second, his whole body turned red, billowing smoke rose, and his eyes revealed a trace of killing intent.
"Ugh... You monster, you old bastard, you should just die peacefully, why are you getting up again...?"
Teach was startled by Whitebeard's state, gasped, and then angrily rebuked him.
Thump...
Thump...
" Teach..."
brush...
As Teach angrily cursed Whitebeard, he had already stepped over there, raised his fist high, and a white shockwave aura condensed in his hand, which he then blasted towards him at high speed.
"Damn it... Die!"
Click click...
Bang bang bang!!
Teach cursed him bitterly, then pulled out the pistol hanging from his waist and fired several shots at Whitebeard, blood splattering as the bullets pierced his body.
brush...
Whitebeard's fist stopped just before reaching his forehead, and his power circle dissipated.
"Hurry and make your move..."
Seeing Whitebeard stop, Teach immediately ordered his men to attack him.
Bang bang...
laugh...
brush...
Bang!!
At Teach's command, the Level 6 prisoners he had rescued, standing behind Teach, either fired guns, swung knives, or pierced his body with spears, each shot delivered with full force. Whitebeard, due to his physical condition, did not dodge at all, using his body to absorb all the attacks.
Gunshots and sword strikes continued for quite some time, with splattering blood as Teach and his men ran out of ammunition before finally ceasing their attack.
Click click...
"Huh?! Out of bullets, hey, give me another one..."
Teach pulled the trigger, heard a click, and realized he was out of bullets. He tossed the trigger aside and told his companion behind him.
"No need. Whitebeard is barely clinging to life; he'd probably collapse if you poked him with a finger..."
Shiryu his sword, took out a cigar, lit it, put it in his mouth, exhaled a smoke ring, glanced at the lifeless Whitebeard, and then spoke to Teach and the others.
"Uh?! That's right. In that case, let's get ready, and then begin our..."
"It wasn't you..."
"Ha... he's still alive... this monster!!"
"It's not you, Teach. Roger is waiting for someone who is at least not you, Teach..."
Just as there exists someone who inherits Roger's will, one day someone will appear to inherit Ace's will.
Even without blood ties, the flame of life between them will never be extinguished...
This has been passed down from generation to generation since ancient times... When one day in the future, a person carrying the history of hundreds of years ago will appear and challenge this world again, a huge war that will sweep the world will break out.
At that Sengoku, even your World Government and Navy will be implicated and thrown into panic...
As Whitebeard spoke, his breath faint but his voice loud and clear, Sengoku seemed to realize something. His expression immediately darkened, and he glared angrily at Whitebeard through gritted teeth.
"Oh no, that bastard!!"
"Huff... Huff... Although I'm not interested in that thing, it will be discovered someday—the treasure Roger once buried at the end of the world."
call..."
After Whitebeard finished speaking, he took another deep breath and loudly proclaimed it to the world amidst the exasperated expressions of Sengoku and the others.
" The One Piece... actually exists!!"
This world-shaking statement was played through the only active Visual Den Den Mushi) possessed by Buggy and his group.
"Asshole!!"
Sengoku and the Marines were now filled with hatred for him. Their original plan was to execute Fire Fist Ace and take the head of the World's Strongest Man to intimidate all pirates in the world. However, Whitebeard turned the tables on them before his death, and all their plans were disrupted.
After speaking, Whitebeard passed away, cherishing his last memories.
His upright figure remained standing there.
"He actually died standing up!!"
Teach sat on the ground, staring in astonishment at the standing, dead Whitebeard.
Whitebeard Edward, the Newgate, though long dead, still stands tall. Despite losing half his head, he did not fall. In this war, his body suffered 267 knife wounds, 152 bullets, and 46 cannonballs. Despite all this, his back remained unscathed. This is a testament to his pirate career, a testament to his never fleeing, and the glory of his lifelong pirate life.
Across from the Den Den Mushi, in the Sabaody Archipelago Plaza, reporters who had witnessed the entire war stared in disbelief at the image of the Whitebeard on the screen.
"Extra! Extra!"
Before long, all the reporters were alerted and rushed around, pulling out their Den Den Mushi (snail Den Den Mushi) to dial their respective newspapers' numbers and relay the emergency to others.
The news spread throughout the world in an instant: the Whitebeard Pirates' rescue of the son of Pirate King Roger had failed, and Whitebeard himself perished in the incident.
Those who witnessed the event were stunned and remained silent.
" Edward Newgate, the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates who once rivaled the Pirate King on the high Pirate King, known as the Whitebeard, died at the age of 72 in the Summit War between Marineford and the Navy...!!"
"Hehehe..."
"Fufufufu..."
The members of the Shichibukai reacted differently to this scene, but one thing was certain: they were the beneficiaries of this war.
"Dead? Whitebeard, the World's Strongest Man, what a pity. If I weren't so weak, I might have challenged you too..."
But never mind, there are countless strong people on this sea anyway, so missing this one won't make a difference. What I should pay the most attention to is the chosen one, Straw Hat Luffy. Having experienced the loss of your brothers, can you recover again and fight me at my peak?
Here, in a deserted corner of the main square, Luo Chen's position offered a direct view of the entire war, including the appearance of Teach and others, and... Whitebeard's death.
"Then I should get started too..."
Swoosh...
After saying that, he ignored the pirates at his feet and walked towards Teach and the others.
"They're gone..."
The three Supernovas below exchanged glances and then stood up one after another, speaking.
"Thinking about it, that old guy never took us seriously at all. It was really foolish of him..."
Bonney began speaking first.
"Heh, the tactics the three of us devised in Level 5 had absolutely no effect on him..."
"That's right, we should have expected this. Back in the Sabaody Archipelago, we used all our trump cards but failed to defeat him; instead, we were easily crushed. How could we possibly have any chance of winning after only a few days?!"
Bege jumped onto the pit, sat down in front of the two men, and smiled wryly.
"No, it's not like we've gained nothing. At least we know the gap between us now and can work on catching up..."
Hawkins produced the divination cards he had obtained after discussing the battle plan with them, and then spoke to them.