" Whitebeard, Uya..."
At Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku watched this scene through a video Den Den Mushi on his warship. Even as Fleet Admiral, he couldn't help but feel tense seeing Uya and Whitebeard about to clash.
Having fought Whitebeard countless times and been his opponent, he knew all too well the extent of Whitebeard's power!
Whitebeard's Seaquake -induced tsunami was powerful enough to easily destroy an island. Moreover, since seawater can nullify most abilities, apart from special beings like Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit, there are very few ability users who can withstand such a tsunami.
However, Uya had just displayed the same ability as Aokiji, the ability to freeze the sea. This ability could neutralize Seaquake, which relieved Sengoku but also made him more wary of Uya's abilities.
The Fire Fist, capable of summoning meteorites and manipulating gravity—the power Uya possesses is simply unbelievable. Can Ancient Weapons really reach such a level of power?!
Because the video Den Den Mushi (snail phone) on the warship was broadcast at Marine Headquarters, some spies infiltrated within Marine Headquarters also transmitted the intelligence to various factions, and it spread among them.
Countless people watched the same scene with extreme tension; even a king of a country, or Seven Warlords of the Sea, could not remain calm!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Countless footsteps began to enter the range of hearing, and the Whitebeard Pirates were getting closer and closer, all for Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!
Behind Whitebeard, First Division Commander Marco the Phoenix, Third Division Commander Diamond Jozu, and others followed closely behind, their gazes fixed steadily ahead.
Whitebeard wore a cloak even larger than the Justice Banner of a Marine Admiral, which fluttered slightly at the bottom as Whitebeard took a step. In his hand, he held a massive naginata.
Whitebeard walked step by step, the bottom of his naginata constantly striking the ice, producing a rhythmic clicking sound that seemed to drown out all the footsteps, as if striking the hearts of everyone present!
"Kurarara, you even learned Aokiji's ability? But this does create a pretty good arena."
After walking a few steps, Whitebeard finally stopped and looked up at the top of the warship.
Behind Whitebeard, Marco and the other captains also stopped and looked up, some looking at Ace and others at Uya.
"The venue... I see."
Whitebeard next to Uya, Ain finally realized why Uya could easily suppress Ace and Jinbe, yet he chose to freeze the sea and mentioned a location.
So, this was all to create a battlefield... the battlefield for the world's most epic showdown!
"You shouldn't have any objections to this venue, right?"
Uya stood on the deck of the warship, looking down at Whitebeard with a calm expression. Although Whitebeard was very tall, he was still not as tall as the warship.
"Kurarara..." Whitebeard chuckled, a sharp glint appearing in his eyes as he looked at Uya and said, "The venue doesn't matter, but it seems my son Ace suffered a bit here!"
"Dad..."
Ace had regained some strength and could barely stand. Hearing Whitebeard's words, he couldn't help but shout at Whitebeard, "It was clearly me who acted without permission..."
"Don't speak, Ace..." Whitebeard turned to Ace and said in a deep voice, "It seems that I sent you to greet the guests, but I didn't expect you to encounter such unpleasant guests, causing you some trouble."
This far-fetched reason reveals Whitebeard's extremely protective nature.
Upon hearing Whitebeard's words, Ace's eyes widened suddenly, and he gritted his teeth, about to retort, but was interrupted by Marco, the captain of the First Division, in a deep voice.
" Ace! Now that the guests have arrived, it's time for you to come back. You should... still be able to walk, right?" Marco looked at Ace calmly.
At that very moment, almost all the pirates in the Whitebeard Pirates turned their attention to Uya, staring at Uya intently, and almost all of them were ready to attack.
Even Whitebeard was watching Uya.
Ace was not one to be coy. After gritting his teeth at the sight, he glanced at Uya and then jumped off the deck, landing directly on the ice below.
"Commander Uya, are we just going to let him go like this?" Seeing this, Ain couldn't help but ask.
It doesn't matter.
Uya's gaze never wavered; he simply stared calmly at the Whitebeard in front of him.
Marco and the other captains were almost all prepared to act at any moment, but to their surprise, Uya never attacked Ace from beginning to end, letting Ace return to their group.
Whitebeard, watching this scene, couldn't help but chuckle and said, "I've never seen a navy like this before."
"Yeah?"
Uya responded casually.
At this moment, Ace, who had returned to the crowd, scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and gave Marco and the others an awkward smile.
Then, Ace suddenly remembered Jinbe and quickly looked down at the ice. Upon closer inspection, he could indeed see a clear shadow trembling beneath the ice.
" Jozu..."
"Oh!"
Ace was so weak and powerless that he couldn't even muster a spark of fire, so he turned to look at Diamond Jozu, the captain of the Third Division, who was standing next to him.
Before Ace could finish speaking, Jozu nodded, looked down at the ice below, took a few steps forward, and then suddenly let out a low shout and punched the ice.
Click! Click!!
The ice layer shattered instantly, creating a crack that spread outwards, shattering all the ice within a ten-zhang radius.
Jinbe, who was struggling to break through the ice beneath, saw the ice above being shattered by Jozu. He gritted his teeth and charged forward, finally bursting out of the broken ice and landing on the ice surface.
However, he could barely stand, as the cold had seeped into his body and he hadn't recovered yet.
" Jinbe, I'm sorry..."
Ace looked at Jinbe with an apologetic expression.
Jinbe shook his head, took a few steps with some difficulty, walked to Ace's side, and then turned to look at the arena.
Uya watched Jozu rescue Jinbe without intervening, and only then did Uya finally speak softly.
"Clearing the area is finished, so... it's about time to begin, isn't it?" (To be continued.) 8