Chapter 198: Can the Marines Combine and Transform?
Chapter 198: Can the Marines Combine and Transform?
The Red-Haired Pirates merged with the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates in a direct confrontation against the Marines!
"Damn you, Shanks!" Sengoku roared, his voice boiling with fury. "How dare you do this!"
"Pirates will always be pirates", Shanks replied coolly.
Hawk-Eye, observing the battlefield, murmured, "Is Shanks trying to balance the scales against us?"
Garp clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked, saying nothing as he strode toward the fray.
Sengoku followed, his voice steady but firm. "We can't let them run rampant."
Turning to Kuro, Sengoku ordered, "Kuro, go reinforce the battlefield. Forget about Marshall D. Teach."
"Blackbeard's Laugh, you'd better listen to your admiral", Garp warned, his voice laced with menace. "Otherwise—"
Blackbeard's palm darkened with swirling shadows as he spat, "With just you alone? This won't end well for you, buddy. Argh, my wounds are killing me! But you can't kill me on your own. My 'Dark-Dark Fruit' ability absorbs all damage!"
Before their eyes, Blackbeard's injuries began vanishing.
The Dark-Dark Fruit carried the drawback of never being able to elementalize, but it offered compensation—the ability to absorb all damage. Though it came at a cost: Marshall D. Teach would endure twice the pain of any injury. Kuro knew this well, which was why he'd never wanted to fight Blackbeard in the first place. With the entire Marine high command now locked in battle, facing Blackbeard's entire crew alone was impossible.
Seeing Kuro hesitate in the sky, Marshall D. Teach chuckled. Turning to his men, he barked, "You lot, let's move out!"
Under Queen's medical treatment, the fallen pirates stirred. Rising to their feet, they climbed onto the enormous palm of Blackbeard's Dire Wolf, its massive form pivoting toward the sea.
"Blackbeard's Laugh, Kuro", Teach shouted, standing atop the Dire Wolf's palm. "See you in the New World!"
Kuro lit a cigar, blowing smoke as he watched the Dire Wolf vanish into the Grand Line. "The New World? No thanks. But for screwing me twice, I only got to repay you once? That's not how things work. Balance must be restored."
Boom!
His body exploded forward with such speed that the air itself shattered. Kuro surged behind the Dire Wolf, his figure diving low as Autumn Water pierced the ocean below. His flight carved a glowing scar across the sea, splitting the surface into two towering waves on either side.
"What DO You Think You'RE Doing?!" Marshall D. Teach screamed, his eyes wide.
"This is the ocean, you fool!" Kuro grinned. "Get hit by these waves, and you'll all sink!"
"Azure Dragon!"
His blade slashed through seawater, sending droplets flying. With a single motion, the two colossal waves surged forward, merging into a serpentine Azure Dragon—a roaring, thunderous tidal wave that slammed into the Dire Wolf's back. The impact engulfed Blackbeard's crew in a storm of blade wounds, dragging them into the depths.
The sea, once calm, now roared with violent surges, swallowing everything before Kuro.
When the waters stilled, Blackbeard's crew was gone.
Kuro bit his cigar. "Almost got me drowned earlier? Now taste my revenge!"
No response came. Scanning the empty sea, Kuro clicked his tongue in frustration and flew back toward the battlefield.
...
Meanwhile, the battlefield raged:
Lucius Kro clashed with Ben Beckman.
Akainu continued his brutal dance with Marco and the division commanders against Crocodile.
Kuzan blocked part of the Red-Haired Pirates' officers.
Vice Admirals held the line against the remaining crew.
But Shanks faced the full might of Sengoku and Garp.
The Vice Admirals faltered—they'd already been weakened from prior battles against pirates. Now facing fresh Red-Haired officers, they struggled. Only the raw power of lower-ranking Marines kept the line from breaking entirely.
But this balance meant the remaining Marines could barely contain the Whitebeard remnants. The advantage Whitebeard had built earlier had vanished.
The Marines and pirates now locked in an eerie stalemate.
Sengoku's Great Buddha form unleashed a shockwave, but Shanks cut it down with a single stroke. Garp leapt into the air, aiming a punch at Shanks, who ducked with ease.
"Ganging up on me?" Shanks chuckled bitterly. "This just got complicated."
"Kid", Garp snarled, teeth bared, "I'll deal with you first. Old man will want to settle the score for turning my grandson into a pirate!"
"Luffy, huh?" Shanks smiled mysteriously. "The world's future rests on his shoulders, Garp-san."
"Don't lecture me, Shanks!" Garp's veins throbbed with rage.
Sengoku's face darkened. "Damn you, Shanks!"
Two Admirals against one Emperor. Defeating Shanks was inevitable, but victory would take time—time that bled the Marines with every passing second.
"Kuhahaha! How delightful! After Whitebeard, now Shanks? Fight! Fight harder!" Donquixote Doflamingo laughed maniacally at the battle's heart. "Even the Marines look pitiful when they lose! Remember—victory defines justice!"
Sengoku turned sharply, his expression stormy. "Donquixote Doflamingo!"
The Seven Warlords had become spectators. Boa Hancock chased Luffy, leaving a power gap. Hawk-Eye had retreated when Shanks arrived. Gecko Moria and Donquixote Doflamingo refused to fight. Even Bartolomeo Bear's movements had slowed.
"Resisting orders, Bear?" Sengoku realized—the conscription agreement targeted Whitebeard, not Shanks. As World Government allies, the Marines couldn't force the Warlords' hands. These pirates were volatile variables in the battle.
Nearby, Smoker felled several pirates when a captain lunged, piercing his body with an Haki-infused blade.
"Haki? Annoying", Smoker growled, batting the captain back with his Jutte.
"Smoker, move!" Tina shouted from a distance.
Two more captains materialized behind Smoker, weapons crackling with Haki. They struck too fast—Smoker barely felt the blade in his side before another swung toward his head.
Crash!
A white blur slammed into the attackers, scattering them. Smoker clutched his wound, but the blur radiated searing heat, its form twisting, unrecognizable.
"What in the world—?"
"For Justice, Attack!!"
Before Smoker could react, the Marines surged forward like a hurricane, speed unnatural. It reminded him of the Encirclement Wall Plan—this power had forced countless captains to retreat. But now, their blinding speed and ghostly white forms made them look like monsters.
"Can the Marines combine and transform?!" Smoker wondered aloud.
(End of Chapter)
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