Sakazuki raised his head and gazed at the pirate ship slowly sailing in. It was well known that Edward Newgate had a fondness for white whales—the entire shape of the Moby Dick resembled a massive and majestic giant whale.
And he himself was a pirate overlord who devoured thousands of miles, his aura vast enough to encompass rivers and mountains. If not for his complete lack of interest in the One Piece, there might not have been anyone on this sea capable of stopping him from claiming it.
Standing at the "whale's head," the great pirate looked down at those below. If Roger and Garp were sworn enemies, then he and Sengoku were truly rivals who appreciated each other's strength.
Whitebeard recognized that gloomy little brat. His impression of him was limited to seeing him follow Sengoku into battle every time—a small fellow who always wore a military cap and kept his hood up tight, wrapping himself up completely.
The Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters clenched his fist with one hand, his shoulder rising with the billowing smoke emitted as his arm transformed into magma. Since Whitebeard dared to act arrogantly, Sakazuki naturally wouldn't let go of this perfect opportunity to strike him at the halfway point.
Seizing this brief moment, the magma fruit user let the molten rock on his arm coil and swirl, waiting for the power of his strike to reach its peak.
"..." Whitebeard, of course, saw his actions as well, but he did not attempt to interrupt his opponent's charge. Although separated by nearly a hundred meters, for a shockwave, this distance was nothing more than the blink of an eye.
Edward Newgate, as one of the few mighty pirates who dominated the New World, had his own pride and principles.
As a ruler who stood on equal footing with Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr, he waited for the younger one to make the first move—not because he underestimated his attack. His left hand, which did not grip his naginata, moved slightly backward, the muscles of his thick arm bulging with veins. A layer of invisible force field rippled across his clenched left fist, sending waves of distortion through the air surrounding it.
A dark-red magma fist, carrying the overwhelming force of a volcanic eruption, expanded in size and surged at high speed toward the pirate ship. In the blink of an eye, it reached Whitebeard's position.
Sakazuki was about to send this unwelcome guest a grand gift—"Hellhound: Great Eruption!"
Whitebeard swung his fist forward violently, the shockwave coating his knuckles rippling outward. It passed gently through the ship's coating, but the instant it touched the seawater, it suddenly transformed into a visible ring of seismic force.
"Gu la la la la la! Such an ill-mannered brat!" Whitebeard's gaze was sharp, like a falcon soaring through the sky, locked onto its prey fleeing on the ground.
"Seaquake!"
The magma that had just burned through the Fish-Man Island's main entrance coating began violently evaporating and boiling in the seawater—only to collide head-on with the delayed shockwave.
There was no sound in the deep sea, yet the hearts of everyone within Fish-Man Island pounded heavily.
An invisible pressure pressed down from outside the coating, and the impact of the clash nearly knocked all spectators off their feet.
The unstoppable magma fist was shattered head-on by the rippling shockwave. It didn't even have time for a second internal eruption before it was torn apart by the immense force that could split the earth and shift the tides.
Scattered fragments of dark-red magma rapidly cooled in the seawater, solidifying into hardened volcanic rock and rebounding toward the outer layer of Fish-Man Island's first protective coating.
Fortunately, Fish-Man Island was surrounded by a dual-layered hemispherical bubble membrane, with an air gap between the two shields.
This structure not only effectively blocked the water pressure but also completely dissipated the kinetic energy of the volcanic debris, neutralizing them completely before they could reach the second layer of the island's interior.
"The range was a little too big." Sakazuki assessed the surroundings, shaking his head slightly.
Whitebeard made the same motion, but his Observation Haki covered a much wider area than Sakazuki's.
"Thatch! Get the ship inside the main entrance, quick!" Whitebeard turned his head and roared toward the helm.
The one handling this critical task was Thatch, the Fourth Division Commander. Witnessing the previous earth-shaking clash, he couldn't help but worry. "Pops, if that Marine keeps attacking you, we'll have to take our time entering!"
"Gu la la la la! Relax, my foolish son." Newgate's gaze remained fixed on the younger Marine slowly retreating to the backlines. Within his Observation Haki, armored Fish-Men on the island were swiftly evacuating residents from the impact zone of the falling volcanic debris.
"At least until I step off this ship… he won't attack again!"
After his single strike, Sakazuki did not make another move. Instead, he slowly withdrew to the cleared-out three-kilometer zone near the main entrance—a restricted area that had been designated long before.
From their brief clash, the magma fruit user knew that he had been at a disadvantage. The Magma-Magma Fruit's destructive potential was certainly terrifying—its lethal heat, its multiple properties, and its volcanic explosiveness...
The seismic waves of the earthquake, however, seemed somewhat unparalleled.
An earthquake, as the name suggests, is the shaking caused during the rapid release of energy within the Earth's crust, usually occurring deep in the crust and the asthenosphere.
Yet, even at such a great distance from the surface, a shallow-focus earthquake with a depth of less than sixty kilometers remains a nightmare that lingers in everyone's mind, causing immense loss of life and property.
And yet, Whitebeard can lift these devastating seismic waves to the surface and send them straight at you, face-to-face!
Using such a large-scale technique again would certainly slow down Whitebeard's advance, but Fish-Man Island could not afford to withstand such a battle between titans.
Thus, Whitebeard and Sakazuki tacitly halted their first round of probing attacks against each other.
As he watched the Moby Dick dock, Sakazuki, standing at the front of the pirate ship, was the first to speak:
"Pirate—Edward Newgate, Fish-Man Island is currently under the protection of the Navy. Invader, you do not belong here!"
The great pirate, past the halfway mark of his life, let out a deep, thunderous laugh:
"Gurararara! Magma brat, if Sengoku were the one saying that, it might make some sense! You? You're only fit to light birthday candles on a cake!"
The Tremor Man looked toward the distant town, his words carrying not the slightest regard for the Marine Vice Admiral before him:
"Get out of Fish-Man Island. In consideration of your past good deeds, I'll let you leave unharmed."
"How arrogant, Whitebeard." Sakazuki remained unmoved, staring expressionlessly at the towering figure before him. "My orders are to guard this place until the Navy Headquarters' stationed forces take over—to ensure that monsters and demons do not dare to enter!"
Whitebeard, who had just been classified as a 'monster,' seemed somewhat intrigued:
"Oh? You think you can hold the line?"
"You're welcome to try, Whitebeard!"
Sakazuki stomped heavily on the ground. The explosive force of Soru made him vanish instantly from the pirates' sight.
Yet Whitebeard did not even lift an eyelid. Such childish tricks were no threat to him. He casually swung his blade to the side:
"Don't embarrass yourself, brat! Rokushiki only matters when Garp is the one using it!"
What seemed like a casual slash fully displayed the swiftness of his naginata, as fast as rolling thunder. The blade, wrapped in Busoshoku Haki, sliced through the air, producing an ear-piercing explosive sound as it cut toward an empty space at his flank.
Whitebeard had still held back. His purpose in coming here was to save Fish-Man Island, not to destroy it. So, even this casual strike did not carry the tremors of the Gura Gura no Mi.
If this Marine could not even withstand such a probing attack, then Whitebeard would take it upon himself to shoulder the responsibility for Fish-Man Island!
If Sakazuki were to turn the entire island into a land of flames, unleashing the full potential of his Logia fruit, Fish-Man Island would stand no chance of survival.
And for Whitebeard, it was even more so. If he were to unleash his Devil Fruit's full power at this depth of ten thousand meters beneath the sea, a single full-force strike would be enough to tear the island apart.
Yet the ten-thousand-meter water pressure and the fatal weakness of Devil Fruit users would ensure that both Whitebeard and Sakazuki perished together.
Ten thousand meters beneath the sea—life and death awaited.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the path of the incoming blade. The sweeping naginata was abruptly stomped down by a crimson military boot. In that instant, the two violent forces clashed within mere inches of space.
"Hummm—"
The naginata trembled slightly, letting out a low hum, yet it could advance no further.
"I told you! You're welcome to try," Sakazuki declared, pressing down on Whitebeard's casually swung battle blade with a single foot.
At the same time, the fingers on his hand had, at some point, transformed into a ferocious, gaping canine maw, each head as large as a full-grown man.
"Inugami Guren!"
____________________
want to stay ahead of the public release ?
join us on patreon where patron read more than 50 advanced chapters plus 2 chapters everyday
link in THE SYNOPSIS