Moria stood to Luffy's left, the power of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit surging beneath his feet.
The shadow bats flew out in swarms, crashing into the charging naval soldiers and temporarily taking away their shadows.
Those who lost their shadows collapsed unconscious in the sunlight, but more soldiers stepped over their comrades' bodies and continued to charge forward.
Jinbe stood on the right, unleashing one Fish-Man Karate move after another.
Ocean Current Shoulder Throw, Five Thousand Brick Fist, Spear Wave —each move could send a large number of marines flying, but the marine formation seemed endless, with one row being knocked away only to be replaced by another.
Hancock stood behind Luffy, alternating between using her Perfume Femur and the Slave Arrow.
The petrified naval soldiers became natural obstacles, temporarily blocking the attack route from the rear.
But her stamina was also waning, and the number of pink arrows she had was noticeably less than before.
Although the few individuals were strong, the navy simply had far too many people.
Ten thousand elite troops are no joke. There are dozens of Vice Admiral admirals around, not to mention three Admiral. Although Kizaru is temporarily held back by them, Akainu and Aokiji are still on the battlefield.
"This can't go on!"
Jinbe Fist that sent a Marine Rear Admiral flying, and without turning his head, he shouted...
"We'll be worn down!"
Luffy punched a Commodore, sending him flying, and then gasped for breath.
His stamina was being depleted quickly; the battle in Impel Down, the fighting on the battlefield, and the blow he had just taken for Ace —all the fatigue was piling up in his body.
But he gritted his teeth and fired another Gum-Gum Gatling, mowing down a group of naval soldiers who rushed at him.
" Ace! You go first!"
Luffy shouted as he fought.
"Fart!"
Ace's flames burned even brighter. He stood beside Luffy, back to back, and Luffy, "We'll go together!"
"Wow, what a deep brotherly bond!"
A lazy voice came from above.
Kizaru.
His body solidified in mid-air, his right leg already filled with golden light.
"But now's not the time for reminiscing!"
Kizaru lifted his leg.
Have you ever been Light Speed Kick?
Golden light exploded at the toes.
But in that very instant—
" Phoenix Brand!"
A sharp bird cry came from afar.
Blue flames shot into the sky from the ice surface, leaving a straight trail of flame.
The flames transformed into a giant Phoenix in mid-air, its blue wings fully extended, blocking Kizaru's Light Speed Kick.
Kizaru's toe struck the blue flame.
Flames exploded, and Marco's figure emerged from the flames.
His face still bore the bruises from Garp's beating, and his wrists were stained with blood from the Seastone chains, but his blue flames reignited.
At some point, Onigumo had broken free of his Seastone chains.
" Marco!"
Luffy exclaimed in surprise.
Don't be too happy yet.
Marco's voice was a little hoarse, but his blue flames burned even more fiercely than before.
"Leave Kizaru to me, you guys get out of here."
He flapped his wings and charged toward Kizaru, the blue flames and golden beams clashing in mid-air once more.
The pace of their fight was faster than before.
Marco completely abandoned defense, focusing solely on offense. His blue flames burned wildly, blocking Kizaru's laser beams one after another.
At the same time, the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates also arrived.
Vista wielded his twin swords in a dazzling display, the trajectory of the Flower Sword drawing countless arcs in the air, forcing back a Marine Vice Admiral was trying to approach Ace.
Jozu transformed half of his body into diamond, using his shoulder to withstand the charge of an entire row of Marine soldiers, standing like a wall in front of Luffy.
The other captains were also charging forward, each covered in wounds, but their eyes burned with the same fire.
" Ace!"
Vista cleaved a Marine Commodore's weapon in two with a single blow, then turned to Ace and shouted, "Go! We'll cover your retreat!"
Ace's eyes reddened as he looked at his comrades who were risking their lives to save him.
"Everyone..."
Stop dawdling!
Jozu withstood a barrage of artillery fire with his diamond-like back, roaring without turning his head.
" Pops's still blocking Akainu! You guys get out of here!"
On the battlefield, the fighting on Whitebeard's side has entered its most brutal phase.
His duel with Akainu continued.
The tremors and the collision of lava shook the entire Marineford, and the ice surface was covered with traces of their battle.
Cracked ice layers, melting ice caves, scorched bomb craters, and shattered spatial fissures.
Whitebeard had another wound on his chest.
It wasn't Akainu who did it; Squard's sword wound completely reopened during the intense battle.
Blood gushed from the wound, staining half of his body red.
The charred skin on his chest kept tearing from the vibrations, and each punch created an even bigger gash.
But Whitebeard seemed completely oblivious to the pain.
His naginata left a deep gash on Akainu's body.
The blade cleaved from Akainu's left shoulder to his right waist, leaving a gash across his entire chest. Lava gushed from the wound, mingling with the blood.
Akainu gritted his teeth and didn't back down.
" Hell Hound --!!!"
The Magma Fist slammed out again.
Whitebeard also threw a punch to meet the attack.
"Boom--!!!"
The two fists collided again.
High in the sky, atop the Ark Maxim, Roy's brow furrowed even more deeply.
His Observation Haki made it very clear—the Whitebeard aura was weakening at a visible rate.
A Pure Gold ring can maintain his physical condition, but not his stamina.
The prolonged, high-intensity battle, coupled with the injury inflicted by Squard's sword, caused Whitebeard's stamina to deplete several times faster than normal.
" Whitebeard won't last much longer."
Roy tapped his fingers lightly twice on the hilt of the Shusui Blade.
Bullet.
Bullet leaped from the gunwale, the tiger stripes dancing merrily beneath his skin.
"Is it finally my turn?"
"Don't rush."
Roy turned his gaze back to the battlefield. "Wait a little longer."
"Still waiting?"
Bullet nearly jumped up, "Even Whitebeard can't hold on much longer!"
"The best time for us to enter the fray will be when Whitebeard can no longer hold on."
Roy's voice was calm.
"The moment the Navy thinks they've got it all figured out is when they're most likely to be stunned."
Tesoro opened his eyes, and a flash of golden lightning disappeared into them.
"And Luffy and his crew aren't completely out of danger yet."
Going down now will only draw all the firepower to them.
"Right."
Roy nodded, his gaze returning to the two besieged figures on the battlefield.
"Let them run even further."
Just when Ace and Luffy escaped the encirclement, just when Whitebeard delivered the final blow, just when the Marines thought the battle was about to end—"
Roy's lips curled up slightly.
"We'll just smash it down from the sky."
"You, me, Mihawk Yamato will first use Conqueror's Haki to clear the field."
What remains is the navy's high-ranking combat force!
"Then we'll show the navy what true despair is."