ALL NOVEL Chapter 104: CHAPTER 104
This ship was Whitebeard's flagship, the Moby Dick, the centerpiece of his fleet. Onboard were Whitebeard, Marco, and the other division commanders.
Diamond Jozuu grinned confidently.
"Alright! With this, we'll reach Marineford in no time and rescue Ace!"
Marco chuckled beside him. "Father really is young at heart."
Whitebeard, however, chuckled with a hint of amusement, though his expression quickly turned serious.
"It's just a little strategy," he muttered, his tone dismissive. "Nothing special... huh?"
Suddenly, Whitebeard's expression shifted from amused to one of shock.
"Father, what's wrong?" Marco asked, his voice filled with concern.
Whitebeard didn't respond immediately. He stepped to the edge of the ship, peering down into the depths through the reinforced coating that kept the ship afloat under the sea.
A moment later, his eyes widened.
"Is there someone else at the bottom of the sea?"
The captains gathered—Marco, Jozuu, Bista, and the others—gathering behind Whitebeard, all equally stunned by his reaction.
Whitebeard's usually calm and imposing demeanor shifted into one of grave concern as he spoke, his voice laced with tension.
"There's definitely someone down there. Someone unexpected. What's he doing here? Is he trying to avenge me?"
"Who is it, Dad?" Marco asked, his voice shaky.
Whitebeard's gaze remained locked on the figure beneath the waves. His mouth tightened.
"You've seen him before, Marco. The one who dared to defy me."
As the words left Whitebeard's mouth, the captains collectively gasped. The figure of a tall man who had confronted Whitebeard head-on emerged in their minds.
"Thunder Calamity Alastor."
"Why's he here? Does he think he can fight us?"
"He's got guts, I'll give him that. Killing a Celestial Dragon and bringing the wrath of the world government down on his head."
"Father, what do we do?"
Whitebeard studied Alastor's figure through his observation haki. The man beneath the waves grinned up at him confidently. Whitebeard let out a hearty laugh.
"Go ahead," he said, chuckling. "Let him come. Our real enemy is the Navy, not some reckless fool seeking revenge."
The captains exhaled in relief but couldn't shake their concern. After all, Alastor was the infamous Thunder Calamity, and no one knew what plans he might have brewing beneath the surface.
"But right now," Whitebeard continued, his tone calm but commanding, "the Navy is our top priority. The 100,000 sailors they've brought are the real threat."
"Float Up!"
With that, the Moby Dick began to rise toward Marineford. Alastor watched silently from beneath the waves, his eyes locked on the massive ship as it ascended.
To be honest, he didn't have much personal animosity toward Whitebeard. Though he had been on the receiving end of Whitebeard's wrath, pirate life was full of such clashes. Kill or be killed—it was just the nature of the world they lived in.
Still, Whitebeard was a legendary figure, someone Alastor had to acknowledge—far more just than the tyrant Kaido.
"Just wait," Alastor muttered with a smirk, his gaze remaining locked on the retreating figure of the Moby Dick. "We'll cross paths again."
As Whitebeard launched his colossal tsunami, the entire bay shook with the force of his power. The waves surged toward Marineford, threatening to submerge the entire port.
But before the tsunami could reach its full potential, the air grew cold.
Suddenly, Aokiji's icy grip covered the waters. His freezing powers solidified the massive wave, turning it into a wall of solid ice that extended deep into the bay.
Alastor, trapped by the thick layer of Aokiji's ice, examined the impenetrable surface. It felt as hard as steel beneath his touch. Aokiji's strength was far more fearsome than he'd expected.
"With this ice barrier," Alastor muttered, "it's time for me to move."
He sank deeper into the bay, his eyes scanning the surface for his target.
Ahead of Alastor, a massive wall loomed. Thick chains secured it in place, anchoring it to the seabed. This was the wall designed to lift the elevator system connecting Marineford to the surface.
With a smirk, Alastor stepped toward the chains, his palms crackling with jagged bolts of thunder.
In a single, effortless strike, he severed the chains, causing the wall to tilt and groan under its own weight.
Alastor's mission was clear: to disrupt the Navy's plans and exhaust both the Whitebeard pirates and the Navy forces. His focus was on the stronger adversaries—the admirals, particularly Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru.
Just as he cut the final chain, a massive shockwave rippled through the ice.
"Hm?" Alastor raised an eyebrow.
Through the frozen barrier, he could feel the power of a slash—enormous, precise, cutting through the ice with ease.
The voice that followed sent a chill down Alastor's spine.
"Let's see how much the strongest in the world have changed."
It was Mihawk—the world's greatest swordsman—his emerald green blade glowing brightly as he cleaved through the ice.
Alastor clenched his fists.
"Do you want to test the gap between us, Mihawk?"
With a fiery glare, he unleashed his own blade, transforming it into a mighty thunder sword.
"This fight is long overdue."
The violent surge of thunder engulfed Alastor's entire body. In an instant, he transformed into a bolt of lightning, breaking through the thick ice with explosive force and charging directly at Hawkeye, the world's greatest swordsman, who unleashed an immense slash aimed at Whitebeard.
Hawkeye, known as the most solitary member of the Seven Warlords, chose to strike first—an action that caught everyone by surprise.
The three admirals, standing nearby, couldn't help but glance at him in confusion. Even the empress, who detested men, couldn't help but admire Hawkeye's sharp, eagle-like gaze.
"Even so, it still feels... uncomfortable," the empress murmured, her beautiful eyes flashing strangely. After their last encounter, she had become intimately familiar with Alastor's presence, sensing his aura hidden beneath the depths of Marineford. "Only he could pull off something like this."
Ka Ka Ka!
The massive emerald-green slash Hawkeye unleashed left a deep gash in the thick ice, surging toward Whitebeard on the bow of the Moby Dick with overwhelming power.
Every eye was fixated on the slash.
Almost everyone was transfixed, wondering if the world's greatest swordsman's slash could pierce the invincible defenses of the world's strongest man.
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes but made no move, confident his son would intervene.
Marco, still fighting a navy lieutenant general, glanced over at Jozu, who was fending off his own opponents nearby.
Sure enough, Jozu broke free from his battle, grinning confidently.
"Is that the strongest slash in the world? Please, what's that? I'm made of diamond!" Jozu boomed as he charged toward the oncoming attack. His massive frame moved swiftly despite his size, determined to shield his father from the incoming strike.
The other captains of Whitebeard's crew watched with relief as Jozu stepped in. His diamond-hard body was renowned for withstanding immense power, making him the perfect choice to counter Hawkeye's slash.
However, something unexpected happened.
Just as Jozu reached out, a figure suddenly burst through the ice with blinding speed, cloaked in crackling lightning. Alastor had arrived, his presence electrifying the battlefield.
Jozu skidded to a halt, his eyes wide with confusion. "You...!" he exclaimed, disbelief washing over him. "You came up from the seabed?"
He couldn't believe what he was witnessing. A man who had been hidden beneath the depths had surfaced to block Hawkeye's devastating strike—a man they believed to be an enemy.
"You bastard, what the hell are you thinking?" Jozu demanded, his nervous energy palpable. "We're enemies! What are you trying to pull?"
Alastor's thunderous gaze bore into Jozu, sending a shiver down his spine. The purple lightning in his eyes left no room for doubt.
"Ignore distractions," Alastor said, his voice calm yet commanding. "Concentrate, or you'll lose more than your arm."
Jozu's face twisted in fury, but he couldn't afford to waste time arguing. He could feel the intense, crackling energy of Alastor's presence, and he wasn't sure if even his diamond-hard body would withstand such raw power.
Hawkeye stood on the execution platform, his sharp eyes narrowing as he observed Alastor.
"That man...!"
He recognized Alastor immediately.
"The one who killed the Celestial Dragons!" Hawkeye murmured, his tone laced with both curiosity and caution. "What's his defense like?"
Alastor could feel the overwhelming power of Hawkeye's slash bearing down on him, yet he didn't flinch. His swordsmanship might have reached the level of a great swordsman, but even he couldn't match the sheer force of Hawkeye's strike.
"This isn't enough," Alastor thought. "To become the strongest, I need more than just defense. I need to face these crises head-on."
Determined, Alastor channeled even more lightning through his body, forming a dense, crackling Thunder Armor around him. The electric energy wrapped around him like armor, crackling with the intensity of a storm.
"This is my Thunder Armor," Alastor declared as he faced Hawkeye's slash directly.
Zizizi!
The massive emerald-green slash collided with Alastor's Thunder Armor, producing a deafening roar.
Hawkeye, his eyes widened in surprise, stared at the scene before him.
"That power...!" Hawkeye murmured. "To withstand my slash... This man is far from ordinary."
The empress, standing nearby, watched with a flicker of pride in her eyes.
"Are you surprised?" she said with a knowing smirk. "He's the man I chose."
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