Just when he thought he'd lost the chance for a major kill after stepping away from the Fleet Admiral race, Fire Fist Ace himself came running right into his hands.
"The sinful bloodline of Roger ends today! Hellhound!"
Akainu's molten fist punched straight through the fire, aiming for Ace's heart.
But—
Ace wasn't there.
The moment before impact, he had turned into flames, dodging the killing blow.
"Fire Fist!"
The scattered flames reformed midair into Ace's shape.
With a fierce punch, he unleashed a massive wave of fire, surging toward the approaching Vice Admirals and giant officers.
The Vice Admirals retaliated instantly—some slashing with blades, others using shockwaves to disperse the fire.
But Ace had already stalled their advance.
"Cover Ace!"
Beckman gritted his teeth against the pain and shouted.
He had already crossed paths with Ace back when Ace first entered the New World.
Thanks to Luffy, the Red-Haired Pirates had always been close to Ace.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A rapid volley of gunfire erupted.
Even with his right arm missing, Beckman fought through the agony, firing with his left hand.
They had lost Yasopp and Lucky Roux, their two top-tier sharpshooters.
And Beckman, missing a limb, was far from his prime.
But the Red-Haired Pirates had too many elite marksmen.
With seven or eight elite snipers firing together, even Akainu felt the threat.
"Tch… Annoying pests!"
Akainu unleashed a flood of magma, incinerating all incoming bullets.
His expression darkened.
He had realized something—
As long as these damn snipers were alive, he couldn't get to Ace.
Most people in this situation would be stuck.
But Sakazuki had clawed his way up from the bottom of the ranks to Admiral—not just through brute strength, but through ruthless strategy.
"Wait—"
Beckman's eyes narrowed.
He had expected Akainu to keep pressing the attack.
But instead—
Akainu barely spared Ace a glance—
Then, using Moonwalk, he shot toward Marineford's harbor at terrifying speed!
Shit!
He wasn't trying to kill them—
He was trying to destroy their ships!
If he sank the Moby Dick, the Red Force, the Winter Granma, and all of Whitebeard's allied ships—
None of them would be able to escape!
They would be trapped rats, waiting to be exterminated.
Of course, there was risk in this strategy. If the pirates were left with no way out, they might fight to the death, dealing heavy casualties to the Marines.
Especially with Dragon, Rayleigh, and Shanks—three top-tier powerhouses—still in the fight. Even with Shanks injured by Kizaru, taking them down would come at an enormous cost.
But to Akainu, it was worth it. If they wiped out both Yonko crews and the Revolutionary Army's main force here at Marineford, there would be no force left in the world capable of challenging the Marines.
"Damn it! Stop him! He's going after the ships!" Beckman froze for just a second before his face twisted in shock. Ignoring his wounds, he roared the warning. With Akainu's destructive power, all he needed was a few minutes, and he could send dozens of pirate ships to the bottom of the sea.
"What?!" "Stop him! Now!" "Shit! That bastard's too fast!"
Panic erupted among the pirates and Revolutionary Army soldiers. But none of them could match Akainu's speed. They could only watch—helplessly—as he soared over the last remaining Moby Dick.
The only surviving sister ship of the legendary Moby Dick. Still carrying hundreds of Whitebeard Pirates, most of them severely wounded and unable to fight. Among them were seven or eight of Whitebeard's division commanders.
"BURN IN THE ABYSS OF FLAMES AND MAGMA! LAVA TSUNAMI!" Akainu grinned viciously. Ignoring Whitebeard's death, the injured pirates on this ship were some of Whitebeard's strongest warriors. The ones who had survived this long—the elites. The commanders. And now—They were about to be wiped out.
If he ignored Whitebeard's kill count, this single attack of Akainu's would be more devastating than the entire combined effort of 100,000 Marines.
"Damn it…! This can't be how it ends!"
"Akainu, you bastard! Come down here and fight!"
"Shit! We were so close to escaping…"
The wounded pirates could only curse. Even at their best, they would have struggled against Akainu. But now? Even the least injured among them could barely lift their weapons. Most who were still capable of fighting had gone to help the Red-Haired Pirates—leaving only those too wounded to move.
"Hah… so this is how I die, huh?" Vista, covered in wounds, reached for his twin swords, ready to fight until his last breath. But—His body was too broken. He gripped the hilt—But couldn't even swing. All he could do was watch—As the blazing tsunami of magma came crashing down—
And then—A streak of blue fire blazed through the sky—Faster than the eye could follow.
"PHOENIX BRAND!" A colossal blue flame erupted between the Moby Dick and the falling magma, forming an enormous barrier—Blocking the molten destruction.
"MARCO!" Namur, the 8th Division Commander, cried out in shock and relief. In a burst of blue flames, the Phoenix emerged. The lava sizzled—And vanished into the ocean.
Marco, his wings blazing, glared at Akainu.
"If you want to hurt my comrades…"
His dead-fish eyes narrowed.
"You'll have to step over my dead body first."
His words burned with passion—Yet somehow, coming from him, they still sounded lazy.
"Perfect. Then I'll kill you first! HELLHOUND!" Akainu didn't even hesitate. He had dealt with too many "last-minute saviors" today. He was done with the interruptions. No hesitation. No words. He attacked immediately.
As Marco clashed with Akainu, Dragon, still locked in battle with Aokiji, let out a slow breath. Akainu's instinct for opportunity was terrifying. If Marco had been even a second late, it would have been over.
Even if the Marines lost 100,000 soldiers, as long as their Admirals and top brass survived, they could rebuild. They could draft new soldiers from across the world. Within a few years, the Navy would be fully restored.
But if the two Yonko crews and the Revolutionary Army's main force were wiped out—Even if Kaido and Big Mom allied, they wouldn't be able to resist the Navy's full force invasion of the New World. If the Marines secured the New World—The World Government could rule for centuries more.
"No matter what tricks you have left—" Akainu's voice was ice-cold. "None of you are leaving Marineford alive."
While still fighting, Aokiji spoke in a low voice to Dragon. The man who had once been less experienced and weaker than him was now faintly stronger.
But Aokiji knew his role in this battle. He was here to stall Dragon—to keep him too busy to scheme up any new plans.
Even without Kizaru's foresight, Kuzan could instinctively tell that most of the unexpected developments in this war were tied to Dragon.
The explosion in the outer seas, the Pure Gold, Rayleigh, and even Shanks' arrival—Aokiji suspected Dragon was behind it all.
"That's not necessarily true…" Dragon suddenly chuckled, raising his hand to the sky.
A violent gale roared from all directions, whipping across the battlefield with such force that no one could even keep their eyes open.
Aokiji instinctively moved to stop him, but then—Something clicked. His head snapped upward—and his expression shifted.
A strange floating island had somehow drifted over Marineford. On it, a group of oddly dressed people were rushing to prepare something.
"Move it, move it! Dragon has already begun!"
A white-bearded old man, dressed like a wizard, barked out orders.
This was Birkan, a floating island of weather scientists—who had nearly destroyed their own home in an experiment gone wrong.
Dragon had saved them. He had protected their research and their island. And now, he needed their help.
So they would not fail him now.
With the combined efforts of Dragon and the scientists of Birkan, an enormous tornado began to take shape—slowly wrapping around all of Marineford.
The winds within the eye were gentle—leaving Marineford relatively untouched.
But if you looked from far enough away, you'd see the true danger—Clouds.
Massive storm clouds were being sucked into the whirlwind—converging above Marineford at an alarming speed.
The sky darkened. The clouds grew heavy.
A supermassive thunderstorm was forming.
"What are you planning?!"
Aokiji's expression changed.
The most terrifying force on the sea had never been the Marines or the pirates.
Not even the Sea Kings.
There had once been an aerial pirate fleet of over a hundred massive ships—a force so strong it could challenge Marine Headquarters.
And yet—They were wiped out.
Not by the Marines. Not by a Yonko.
By a storm.
The Edd War Maelstrom had annihilated them overnight—leaving behind only one survivor.
Gol D. Roger.
And now—Aokiji realized the truth.
Dragon was trying to recreate that storm.
Marineford was a fortress—but the Marines knew well that no nation had ever been safe from the wrath of a hurricane.
Against the fury of nature, even the strongest warriors were helpless.
"What the hell?! Why is it getting so dark?!"
"Shit! The wind is insane!"
"What is that thing up there?!"
Panic swept through the Marine ranks.
For the first time—they ignored orders.
Because at that moment—something more terrifying than any pirate loomed over Marineford.
For those who had spent their lives at sea, the horrors of a storm were far beyond what anyone living inland could comprehend.
Even though they were on solid ground, an instinctual unease began to creep into their hearts.
"Wind speed… 10… 11… 12! Damn it! Get me down from here!"
Inside an observation tower, Nami stretched out her hand, feeling the wind against her fingers.
With her natural navigator's instinct, she could precisely gauge wind speeds—and this wasn't normal.
Not only had the storm winds appeared abruptly, but they were also intensifying at an unnatural rate.
"Oh? You need me? Okay! No problem!"
Baby-5 beamed with joy—then picked Nami up and jumped off the tower.
For a moment, Nami thought this crazy woman was trying to take her down with her, and she nearly screamed in terror.
But just before impact, Baby-5's legs transformed into rocket thrusters, blasting out flames and slowing their fall.
"Agh—! The wind is insane!"
Nami stumbled as she landed, nearly getting blown away—only for Baby-5 to grab her just in time.
"Find Borsalino! Tell him a storm is coming—an unprecedented storm! The wind speeds could exceed 17!"
"Ohhh! I'm needed again?! Yay! I'll go find Borsalino right now!"
Baby-5 cheered and dashed off immediately, like an excited puppy off-leash.
"Damn it! If only I had brought that weather monitor Dr. Vegapunk made…"
With no time to dwell, Nami fought against the raging winds, searching for a place to take cover.
Luckily, Marineford was full of fortifications, and she quickly found refuge inside a permanent artillery bunker.
Meanwhile, Baby-5, after leaving Nami, ran toward Borsalino and Shanks' battlefield.
Only to be blown back by the relentless storm winds.
So—she transformed into a rocket and took off.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sky, shrouded in storm clouds, had plunged Marineford into darkness.
Baby-5's visibility was terrible—she could barely see anything, much less Borsalino himself.
Luckily, the battle between the two legends was impossible to miss.
Flying slashes and devastating shockwaves erupted in the air—stronger than the storm itself.
Any sane person wouldn't dare go near.
But Baby-5, being Baby-5, charged forward anyway.
"Borsalino! Nami-chan said a storm is coming—an unprecedented storm!"
She shouted at the top of her lungs the moment she spotted him.
She didn't dare get any closer—one stray flying slash and she'd be sliced in half.
Before she could blink, a golden flash appeared—and suddenly, she was back in her normal form, dangling in Borsalino's grip.
And strangely—the wind was gone.
Even though the storm howled around them, even though debris and stone were being hurled through the air—none of it touched him.
It was as if an invisible barrier surrounded Borsalino, repelling all that was against him.
°°°
If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon
Link: Patreon/Moziel