Zephyr,
The former Marine Admiral stood on the ice, looking up at the still raging Thundercloud overhead, a cold glint in his eyes.
The Six Powers of Martial Body are activated, and a thick layer of Armament Haki covers both arms, turning the entire arm into a deep black.
"Child's play."
Zephyr stomped his foot, and his entire body soared into the sky.
He gathered power behind his back, condensing Armament Haki to its limit on his fists, and then punched the Thundercloud above.
"Armed - Crushing Iron Fist--!!!"
A visible shockwave shot out from Zephyr's fist and crashed violently into the Thundercloud.
Where the shockwave passed, the Thundercloud were torn apart, revealing a crack nearly a hundred meters long and more than ten meters wide.
The clouds at the edge of the crack were still trying to close under Enel's control.
However, the residual power of Armament Haki clung to the edge of the crack, preventing the clouds from coalescing.
Below, capable naval commanders, seeing this, all followed suit.
A Marine Vice Admiral drew his long sword, Armament Haki coiling around the blade, and a massive slash shot into the sky, cutting a gash tens of meters long through the Thundercloud overhead.
Another naval Rear Admiral gathered energy in his hands, and a shockwave blasted upwards, shattering a small patch of Thundercloud.
Several Giant Vice Admiral simultaneously swung their Giant Axe, creating a continuous gust of wind that shattered a large patch of Thundercloud.
Slashes, shockwaves, Devil Fruit abilities, artillery barrages—attacks rose from the ground, blasting towards the still-raging Thundercloud in the sky.
The massive Thundercloud that had originally covered the entire Marineford was blasted to pieces by the combined attack of the entire navy.
At that moment, one figure attracted more attention than anyone else.
Garp.
This naval hero has sat motionless on the ruins of the Execution Platform since the start of the war, arms crossed.
He watched Luffy a punch at him, watched himself get knocked away, watched the Execution Platform collapse, and watched Ace be rescued.
He never actually made a move because he couldn't bring himself to kill his two grandsons.
But things are different now.
The attack on Hachinosu was indiscriminate, and the one who fell was a junior naval officer he had protected for decades.
Some of the young soldiers who perished in the thunderstorm were children he had watched grow up.
Some were trained by him personally, while others were people he knew from his time at the East Blue branch.
They are not Ace, not Luffy, not the family members he needs to agonize over.
Garp rose from the ruins.
He stood at the edge of the ruins, looking down at the battlefield strewn with corpses, and at the remaining Thundercloud in the sky that were still continuously unleashing Lightning.
His face was expressionless, but his fists were clenched.
Armament Haki condensed on his fist, its color as deep as a black hole.
Then Conqueror's Haki also enveloped it—
Dark red arcs of electricity danced on the Armament Haki, intertwining with its Armament Haki to form a strange black and red pattern.
The space around the fist began to distort and deform due to the fusion of these two forces.
" Galaxy Impact --!!!"
Garp unleashed a punch.
That punch was far more powerful than Zephyr's Iron Fist.
A massive shockwave shot out from Garp's fist, carrying arcs of black and red electricity Conqueror's Haki Coating, hurtling towards the sky with earth-shattering force.
Wherever the shockwave passed, the remaining Thundercloud were instantly evaporated, leaving not a trace of cloud behind.
The shockwave continued upward, penetrating layers of air and blasting a massive hole hundreds of meters in diameter in the sky.
The Thundercloud that enveloped Marineford were torn in two by this punch.
"Hey, hey, hey--This is way too reckless!"
Tesoro, who had merged into the Thundercloud, sensed the shockwave carrying the Conqueror's Coating hurtling toward him, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
Although he transformed into Lightning and was impervious to ordinary attacks, even when those naval officers were using Armament Haki in their attacks...
He can also use his superior Observation Haki to evade attacks in advance.
But Garp's punch was different.
That was a wide-range attack Conqueror's Haki Coating, covering an area so large that his lightning elemental form couldn't dodge it at all.
Conqueror's Haki has a natural restraining effect on Logia users, and when combined with Armament Haki...
If that punch landed, in his current elemental state, he would be badly injured, if not seriously wounded.
Just before the shockwave was about to hit the Thundercloud, a golden bolt of lightning shot out from Thundercloud.
Instantly, we were back on the deck of the Ark Maxim.
Lightning coalesced into a human form, Tesoro reappeared.
"Boss, that old man is too strong, I can't handle him."
Roy glanced at him, a slight smile playing on his lips.
That's enough. You've done enough.
With Tesoro's retreat, the Thundercloud in the sky completely spiraled out of control.
After Garp's punch tore apart the largest Thundercloud, the remaining Marine admirals continued their attack, blasting away the remaining Thundercloud one by one.
The sunlight, which had been obscured by Thundercloud for so long, finally shone again on Marineford Square.
The sun was warm, but the scene in the square silenced everyone.
Marineford is completely unrecognizable.
The once majestic Marine Headquarters building is now riddled with cracks and scorch marks, and the plaza in front of it is filled with blackened bomb craters and shattered ice fissures.
The wreckage of warships floated in the harbor; some were still burning, while others had sunk halfway, with only their masts visible above the water.
Countless corpses lay scattered across the ice, the white uniforms of the navy and the mottled clothes of the pirates mixed together, creating a mottled pattern on the scorched ice.
The surviving naval soldiers emerged from under the ice shield, crawled out of the building ruins, and climbed out of the ice crevices.
They looked at the headquarters that had been destroyed beyond recognition, some with angry expressions, their fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
Some wept uncontrollably, kneeling beside their companions' corpses and wailing.
Some stood there blankly, as if their souls had been ripped out.
This is the Marine Headquarters, a symbol of justice.
It has never been damaged to this extent since it was built.
And all of this is merely the opening act for Hachinosu's debut.
As the Thundercloud were dispersed, the marine encirclement surrounding Luffy and Ace was also completely dismantled.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Lightning, the group finally managed to escape from the massive encirclement.
Although Luffy was exhausted, he still grinned when he saw the large ship in the sky and said to Ace:
It's Roy!
Ace nodded; he could sense a powerful and familiar aura emanating from that direction.
On the hill behind Foosha Village, there lives the man who told him and Luffy about the outside world and taught them the basics of Haki.
The Whitebeard Pirates ' commanders reacted quickly as well.
They had been trying to break through the defensive line organized by Zephyr on the outside.
But with Sengoku's orders issued and the terrifying thunderstorm sweeping the land, Zephyr had no time to attend to them.