10: Chapter 5: The Paramount War, The Death of Whitebeard?
(Part 2) 10: Chapter 5: The Paramount War, The Death of Whitebeard?
(Part 2) “This is an A+ rank world!
That world is practically overflowing with Devil Fruits.
If we can secure just one and sell it, we could exchange it for a B-rank talent or higher!
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!” “Then let’s risk it all!” another burly man declared with ruthless determination.
“If we keep suppressing our levels just to grind in low-tier worlds, we’ll end up dead in a Reincarnation Mission sooner or later anyway!” “Let’s form a contract!” The last person pulled out a blood-red crystal.
“Any profits from obtaining a Devil Fruit must be split equally.
Nobody gets to double-cross the rest of us!” “Stock up on recovery potions.
Every extra second we can survive counts!” Unable to hold themselves back any longer, the mid-to-high-tier Reincarnators frantically rushed toward the bar in the center of the hall, exchanging their points for recovery items from the Reincarnation Space!
As the countdown hit zero, Alex’s figure transformed into a brilliant beam of golden light, tearing through the Reincarnation Space’s barrier and vanishing into the void.
…
The One Piece World.
Marineford!
The sky was painted a murky gray by thick gunpowder smoke.
Scorched, tattered flags fluttered violently in the howling wind, the iconic seagull emblem long since stained with blood.
Shattered wooden planks and lifeless bodies drifted on the surface of the sea.
The crimson water lapped against the shoreline with a muffled, mournful sound, as if weeping for the tragic slaughter unfolding.
At this moment, the greatest conflict of the era—the Paramount War—was drawing to its bitter end.
The catalyst for this war was the World Government’s decision to publicly execute Fire Fist Ace at the Marine Headquarters.
His full name was Gol D.
Ace.
He was the commander of the 2nd Division of the Whitebeard Pirates.
But his identity held far more weight than that; he was Whitebeard’s adopted son, and more importantly, he carried the bloodline of the late Pirate King, Gol D.
Roger.
Edward Newgate, known to the world as Whitebeard and hailed as the strongest man alive, naturally could not sit by and watch his son be executed before the eyes of the world.
He knew perfectly well that the Paramount War was a lethal trap laid out specifically for him by the World Government.
Yet, he came anyway!
Leading his fleet of forty-three allied pirate crews, he engaged in a desperate, earth-shattering battle against one hundred thousand Marine elites, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the Three Admirals!
But by now, the tide of war had definitively turned in favor of the Marines.
Whitebeard had been stabbed in the chest by one of his own trusted sons, Squard, making it incredibly difficult for him to fully unleash the world-shattering power of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
His colossal, twenty-foot-tall frame was tottering on the brink of collapse.
Half of his face had been melted away by Akainu’s magma, exposing the stark white bone of his skull.
Blood and brain matter dripped slowly from his jaw.
He barely managed to keep himself upright by leaning heavily on his massive naginata.
However, his single, clouded eye still burned with an unquenchable, indomitable will to fight.
He stood entirely alone, acting as an impassable wall between the Marines, the Blackbeard Pirates, and his retreating crew, buying the last precious seconds for his sons to escape.
Whitebeard had a particular quirk: he loved taking in strays and calling them his sons.
The vast majority of his crew were his adopted children, and they all addressed him affectionately as Pops.
Not far away, Monkey D.
Luffy was battered and covered in fatal injuries.
At this stage in his journey, he was still far too immature.
He had only developed his Gum-Gum Fruit powers up to Gear Three, had no grasp of Haki, and was completely unaware of his Sun God Nika awakening.
Constantly pushing his body past its absolute limits had left him thoroughly drained.
Right now, he was simply cradling Ace, whose chest had just been punched straight through by Akainu.
Luffy didn’t even have the strength left to lift a finger.
He could only watch in despair as the situation worsened.
The pirate forces had nothing left to give.
“Have we finally lost?” Due to the massive loss of blood, Whitebeard’s heart beat slower and slower.
He forced his back straight and spread his arms wide.
“Bring it on, Blackbeard!
A cowardly, despicable man like you will never become the Pirate King!” “Zehahaha…” Marshall D.
Teach, also known as Blackbeard, stretched his large mouth into a grating, obnoxious laugh.
His crimson tongue dragged across his lips as an insatiable greed gleamed in his eyes.
“Drop dead, Whitebeard!
I’ll be taking that Tremor-Tremor Fruit off your hands!” He pushed the power of his Dark-Dark Fruit to its absolute peak.
A sphere of pure blackness that seemed to devour all surrounding light condensed in the palm of his hand.
Carrying a momentum that felt capable of annihilating everything it touched, he thrust it ruthlessly toward Whitebeard’s chest.
If this strike landed, the legendary pirate would have zero chance of survival!
But in that split second, a large, well-defined hand suddenly materialized right in front of Whitebeard’s chest.
The five fingers closed lightly, firmly catching the space-tearing sphere of darkness.
Bang!
The black sphere violently struggled within the newcomer’s grasp, but it couldn’t break free in the slightest.
Ultimately, like a deflated balloon, it hissed and vanished into nothingness!
At the very same moment, a bone-chilling voice drifted across the smoke-filled battlefield.
It echoed with crystal clarity in the ears of every single person present, carrying an unquestionable, absolute authority.
“Everyone, stand exactly where you are.
Do not move!
Violators…
will die.”