Chapter 151: Be My Son!
Chapter 151: Be My Son!
Whitebeard watched Kuro’s retreating silhouette with an amused smirk. His outstretched hand, still suspended midair, suddenly clenched into a fist and yanked backward.
“You brat,” he rumbled, “you think escaping from me’s that easy?”
*
Kuro, soaring into the distance, felt a violent tremor ripple through his body. He began plummeting downward.
“This far?!” he gasped, glancing back at Whitebeard’s towering figure on the island.
But before he could react, a monstrous shadow engulfed him.
He twisted around, eyes widening.
“No way…”
Before him loomed a wall of water vast enough to blot out the sky itself—a tsunami!
“Slash Wave!”
Kuro unsheathed his blade in a flash. A golden arc cleaved through the tsunami’s center, splitting it apart. Yet the cascading seawater above crashed down, swallowing his figure whole.
He thrust his hand into the parted waters and slashed.
“Lion’s Majesty!”
The falling seawater coalesced into dozens of roaring lion heads, each sculpted from surging water, their manes billowing like storms.
*
A fiery phoenix streaked through the sky—Marco had transformed. He dove toward Kuro, claws extended.
“Here I come!”
The aquatic lion heads roared downward. Marco weaved through the watery barrage, darting behind Kuro in a blur. He spun midair, delivering a crushing kick.
*
*
The clash rang like a bell—Marco’s Haki-infused foot slammed against Autumn Water Blade.
“Not letting you leave!” Marco grinned.
Kuro didn’t flinch. “I’m in the air. What can you possibly do to stop me?”
*
*
A thunderous quake erupted around him. The shockwave rattled his bones, momentarily weakening his defense against Marco’s assault.
Marco’s leg muscles tensed. He shoved forward, forcing Autumn Water Blade aside in a shower of sparks. Kuro was sent hurtling backward, slamming diagonally into the island below.
*
He crashed into the ground, feet carving a crater in the earth as dust exploded outward. Glaring upward, he saw Marco hovering above with a smug smile.
“Marco, you bastard!”
He’d finally broken free—only to get dragged back here?!
Before Kuro could move, a sharp whistling cut through the air.
His eyes narrowed. He pivoted and slashed.
*
*
Steel met steel—his blade locked against two curved swords. The mustachioed Bista grinned at him.
*
*
A shadow descended from above. A man with dozens of braids swung a spiked mace downward—Laffitte, 7th Division Captain.
Kuro jabbed a finger skyward. A lion-shaped earth projectile erupted, intercepting Laffitte’s strike.
As Kuro wrenched his blade free from Bista, preparing to counterattack, gunshots cracked. Two bullets tore through the air.
A lion-shaped barrier of earth erupted from the ground, blocking the attack.
Izou stood nearby, smoke curling from his pistol barrel. He clicked his tongue in irritation.
*
*
Laffitte’s mace slammed into empty ground, kicking up debris. He landed beside Bista, both looking up.
“Fast little bugger,” Bista chuckled.
Kuro reappeared above them, surveying the Whitebeard Pirates’ captains assembling below.
“Seriously, this never ends.”
Kuro exhaled sharply, wishing for a cigar. Marco floated before him, smirking.
“Against us Whitebeard Pirates, nothing’s easy. You’re just one man.”
Kuro met his gaze, then grinned. “Just me? Not quite.”
Marco’s eyes narrowed. “So you knew about this island’s defenses and baited us here for a preemptive strike? Typical Navy—despicable as ever. You’re just their scout.”
He gestured behind him.
A green-clad man resembling a fairy tale knight nodded and pulled out a Transponder Snail, dialing swiftly.
The Whitebeard Pirates weren’t just their captains. Their allied fleets were mobilizing. Better to fight here than at Marineford’s navy stronghold.
“Whatever,” Kuro scoffed, suddenly wishing for an explanation. “What I meant was—”
He raised Autumn Water Blade skyward.
The heavens darkened.
Everyone gazed upward.
“You’ve gotta be kidding…”
Bista muttered, “How the hell do we fight that?”
The ocean inverted above them—towering waves defying gravity.
“These are the treasures I’ve gathered lately,” Kuro declared, blade slashing downward. “Witness the power of my vault! Now—who has more allies? Lion’s Majesty: Imperial Palace Sweep!*”
The colossal lion heads roared, diving toward the pirates.
*
Kuro’s blade struck Marco square, sending him crashing to the ground.
He leveled his sword at the pirates. “Try stopping me if you can!”
A seawater lion the size of the island itself charged, a tidal force no mortal could halt—
Except one man.
“Gurararara! This is getting fun!”
Whitebeard’s greatsword erupted with energy. No longer leaning on it, he swung it horizontally.
*
*
The shockwave shattered mountain peaks surrounding the island. The tsunami lion disintegrated mid-charge, scattering as rain.
*
*
A swarm of Black Guns appeared in the sky, alongside several Iron Factories—Kuro’s stockpile from Morgant. Crafted of solid steel, they struck far harder than meteorites.
Yet…
Kuro glanced downward. Civilians in Kusnake Town clustered on the island, their presence stark. Shirui crouched behind debris, eyes wide at the chaos above.
“Tch.”
With a wave, the Iron Factories halted mid-fall. Most seawater remained suspended above, avoiding catastrophic destruction.
The Black Guns surged toward Whitebeard. He swung his sword again, then slammed it downward.
*
*
The Black Guns exploded midair, shattered by the seismic shockwave.
“Not bad,” Whitebeard rumbled, observing the floating Iron Factories around him. The boy had a good heart. A shame to see him die.
He raised his voice, loud enough to silence the battlefield:
“Oi, brat! Be my son!”
Kuro froze.
“…What?”
His head tilted, a giant question mark seeming to hover above him.
Whitebeard boomed, “You’ve inherited Shanks’ powers and swordsmanship. You were never meant for the Navy. Become a pirate instead! Swear fealty to me, and I’ll protect you until your name shakes the Grand Line!”
Kuro stumbled backward, staring at Whitebeard as if he’d gone mad.
He bowed deeply, hands clasped.
“Goodbye.”
The old man’s lost it.
My son?
Become a pirate?
Let my name shake the Grand Line?
Does he want me dead that badly? Does he want my grave’s grass to grow that tall?!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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