On the deck of the Moby Dick, the air seemed to solidify.
Marco, standing beside Whitebeard, his pupils violently contracting, his throat tight, his voice almost squeezed out from between his teeth: “Oden… lost?”
“Ice Witch” Whitey Bay stood by the ship’s rail, her fingertips digging into the wooden railing.
Her gaze was fixed on the figure in the distance on the Deserted Island, pinned into an “X” shape by two blades, her breathing as short as if her throat had been choked.
“What a joke…” Her voice trembled, and scenes of Oden laughing wildly while fighting Whitebeard in Wano Country flashed through her mind.
“That monster samurai… how could he…”
Jozu’s expression was also terrifyingly grim at this moment, and he slammed a fist onto the ship’s rail, instantly shattering the thick wooden board: “That Marine!”
Vista’s hand was already on his twin blades, his usually smiling eyes now as cold as ice: “Old Man, we…”
On the Deserted Island, Gern stepped on Oden’s face, rain dripping from his hair, mixing with blood and seeping into the soil.
His gaze met Whitebeard’s without flinching, and the dark purple Haoshoku lightning arcs had not completely dissipated from the blade of black blade eight desolations.
“Whitebeard,” his voice was hoarse but cold, “You want to take him, you can.”
After speaking, Gern slowly lifted his foot, but in the next second, he stomped down hard—“Bang!” Oden’s head was brutally ground into the scorched earth by that stomp, splashing a patch of mud.
On the Moby Dick, everyone’s breath caught.
“Old Man, give the order!”
“Old Man!!” Thatch stared intently at Gern’s foot on Oden’s face, his long blade “clanged” as it was drawn.
“That bastard… he’s provoking all of us!”
“Quiet!!!” Whitebeard responded to his sons with a roar.
At the same time, his gaze quietly fixed on Gern, especially Gern’s mostly incapacitated right shoulder.
The sea wind swept his golden long hair, and his white Captain’s coat flapped in the wind.
Then, with a burst of strength, he directly leaped from the bow of the ship, landing in front of Gern.
“Gurararara…” His laughter was deep, “Navy brat, it’s been a few years, and you’ve certainly grown stronger.” As he spoke, his gaze fell on black blade eight desolations.
“As expected of the second person ‘it’ has acknowledged!”
“So, are you going to get justice for this guy?” Faced with Whitebeard’s oppressive aura, Gern didn’t even blink.
“No!” Whitebeard glanced at Oden and shook his head.
In fact, the Whitebeard Pirates had been observing the entire battle from nearby.
This duel was initiated by Oden himself.
He insisted on pursuing Gern, just to fight him.
And throughout this battle, no one interfered.
It was a pure deathmatch, with victory and defeat solely based on strength.
And now, Oden had lost.
Completely defeated.
Gern not taking his life was already giving him enough face.
As for Whitebeard standing up for Oden? According to Whitebeard’s character, this was absolutely impossible.
Oden was not his son, but a comrade fighting alongside him.
If he were to attack Gern at this moment, that would be the greatest humiliation to Oden.
It would deny his resolve and trample on his pride.
Of course, most importantly, Whitebeard knew better than anyone that true strong individuals must bear everything for their choices.
.......
Just as the two were confronting each other, all the Whitebeard Pirates’ commanders landed.
Marco, “Ice Witch” Whitey Bay, Jozu, Vista, Thatch, and others stood on Whitebeard’s left and right, forming a confrontational stance against the heavily injured and solitary Gern!!
And behind Whitebeard and his crew, Toki Amatsuki covered her mouth, tears silently sliding from between her fingers.
The man in her eyes, who always laughed boisterously and was full of vigor, was now like a dog, being stepped on and trampled…
“Oden-sama…!” Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, but it pierced everyone’s heart like a knife.
“Bastard, lift your foot!!” Inuarashi and Nekomamushi could no longer hold back, their eyes bloodshot.
Inuarashi’s sharp claws “zinged” out, and Nekomamushi’s fur bristled.
“Let go of Oden-sama!!!” Inuarashi roared, the deck beneath his feet instantly shattering, and his body shot towards Gern like a cannonball.
Nekomamushi followed closely, his sharp claws gleaming with a cold light: “I’m going to tear you apart!!!”
However, just as the two were about to leap—
“Boom!” Whitebeard’s Murakumogiri slammed onto the ground, and a terrifying shockwave instantly spread.
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were forced back by this power, stumbling and falling to the ground.
.......
The air on the Deserted Island solidified like iron, rain washed over the scorched earth, and the smell of blood permeated the wind.
Gern stood alone in the center of the battlefield, black blade eight desolations pointing diagonally to the ground, his right shoulder wound gruesome.
Blood dripped from his fingertips, yet he still stood with a straight back, confronting the Whitebeard Pirates alone.
Just at this critical moment, a slender white figure suddenly appeared in front of Gern!
“I’m here.” Libo’s voice was very soft, yet it was like a sharp sword piercing the silence.
She held her hands high, unfurling a brand new Justice cloak with a “swish,” the snow-white words “Justice” flapping in the strong wind.
Hearing this voice, Gern’s pupils contracted: “Libo?! When did you…”
The cloak fell, resting steadily on Gern’s blood-stained shoulder.
And Inuarashi and Nekomamushi on the opposite side, after seeing the newcomer’s face, their pupils suddenly constricted: “Sister Libo?! How are you here?!”
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi’s calls made Libo’s fingertips tremble slightly, but in the next second, her eyes completely turned cold.
“Sister Libo?! How are you a Marine? Weren’t you in…” Inuarashi’s voice abruptly stopped.
Because he saw the emotion in her eyes—it wasn’t the joy of a long-awaited reunion, but naked disgust.
“Shut up.” Libo’s voice was harsh and cold.
She clenched her fists, her drooping ears slightly bristling with anger, “Do you two even have the face to call my name?”
Nekomamushi’s tail stiffened, his eyes widening in disbelief: “Sister Libo, what do you mean?!”
“What do I mean?” She sneered, “Along this journey, I’ve seen villages massacred by pirates, seen even corpses being used for entertainment…”
Her voice grew lower and lower, finally turning into a curse squeezed from between her teeth.
“And you… warriors who once swore to protect Zou, now you’ve become these so-called ‘pirates’?!”
Inuarashi’s ears suddenly drooped: “We are following Oden-sama! Not all pirates are…”
“Shut up?!” Libo suddenly roared, her voice tearing through the rain, “Little Pekoms looks up to you two as his bosses, and you two disgust me.”
Nekomamushi’s sharp claws “clacked” into the ground, but he couldn’t utter a single word of rebuttal.
“Compared to living as pirates…” Libo turned her back to them, the Justice cloak flapping in the wind.
“You… truly would have been better off dying the day you left Zou on your adventure.”
Hearing Libo’s words, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were struck as if by lightning, their faces instantly turning pale.
The two opened their mouths, but couldn’t say a single word.
And Whitebeard slightly narrowed his eyes, his gaze lingering on Libo, who was also a Mink Tribe member, for a moment, then he looked back at Gern.
“Navy brat, hand him over!” His voice was deep and authoritative.
At the same moment, the Moby Dick’s commanders all stepped forward, an invisible oppressive feeling surging like a tide.
“Heh, you…” Before Gern could speak, a furious roar suddenly came from the sky.
“Whitebeard!!!” A figure crashed down like a meteorite, the ground instantly cracked, and the air currents lifted shattered stones.
Kong, wearing his Marshal’s coat, crossed his arms, his gaze as sharp as a blade.
Immediately after, Sakazuki’s figure descended from high above, molten lava dripping from his magma-transformed right fist, his eyes boiling with killing intent.
Sengoku, who had been responsible for holding Whitebeard back, followed closely, the golden Great Buddha’s phantom faintly appearing behind Sengoku, Armament Haki covering his entire body.
The Marine powerhouses landed one after another, lining up beside Gern, and the originally solitary Justice instantly formed a barrier, confronting the Whitebeard Pirates!
“Marshal…” Gern slightly turned his head, his voice hoarse.
Kong snorted coldly: “I’ll settle accounts with you later.”
Sakazuki’s gaze swept over the wound on Gern’s chest, then looked at Oden pinned to the ground, and said blandly,
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened, I just accidentally ran into a… very ordinary pirate.”
Gern smiled, then could no longer support himself, leaning entirely on Libo.
Sengoku, meanwhile, stared at Whitebeard, and said in a deep voice: “Newgate, the Marine will not allow you to act recklessly here.”
“Gurararara!!” Whitebeard burst into laughter, his laughter shaking the clouds: “Is the Marine coming out in full force?!”
His gaze swept over Kong, Sengoku, Sakazuki, and finally settled on Gern: “Brat, it seems your backing is quite strong.”
After speaking, he slowly raised his Murakumogiri and slammed it heavily onto the ground: “Marine, let’s end it here today.”
“Don’t underestimate Justice, Whitebeard!!!!”
Without hesitation, Whitebeard was met only by the flag of Justice and the attacking Hellhounds…
…
After that, no one knew what truly happened in that battle…
They only knew that when the island completely disappeared, the Whitebeard Pirates’ Moby Dick slowly sailed away, bearing scars.
This peak duel finally ended with the Whitebeard Pirates heavily wounded and Whitebeard severely injured.
Finally, Kong did not want to simultaneously fight two legendary pirate crews, the Flying Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates.
So he allowed Whitebeard to take Kozuki Oden as a truce agreement, leading to his retreat and the end of the conflict.
—
【Salted fish begging with a bowl, asking for free gifts and five-star reviews, thank you everyone!】