Marco rolled dozens of times before stopping, coughing up blood. His face was grim. "Sengoku, Big Buddha Shock!" he said, recognizing the attack. He hadn't expected Sengoku to step in now, but the timing was perfect—Whitebeard was alone, and no one was free to help him.
That guy is a real strategist, Marco thought, a knot of anxiety tightening in his stomach. He knew he was no match for the Fleet Admiral and that he couldn't get away. The others were all tied up, leaving Whitebeard to face the lunatic Akainu all by himself.
The situation was too dangerous.
Carl saw it, too, and rushed forward to help, but Garp blocked him again.
This time, Carl was genuinely furious. "Old man Garp, don't mess around right now. If something happens to Ace, you'll be the one to suffer!" he snapped.
Garp just glared at him. "Carl, don't talk nonsense. You're trying to help Whitebeard, not Ace!"
"It's the same thing! If Whitebeard dies here, Ace won't make it out either. If you want your grandson dead, just say so!"
"You little brat! How could I kill my own grandson?!"
"Then stop getting in the way! Just pretend to fight some grunts. Let me knock you out right now so no one can say you were playing favorites. It's not a big deal to get beat by me!"
Carl's words left Garp speechless, and he looked genuinely conflicted. The people nearby rolled their eyes, amazed at how openly these two were conspiring.
But in the end, Garp didn't back down. He continued to block Carl, saying that since Ace chose to be a pirate, he must be ready to die at any moment. Garp believed that if Ace died, no one could be blamed.
Carl wanted to smack the old man upside the head. What you're saying sounds reasonable, but let's see you say that without crying when Ace dies, he thought. There was no point in arguing with such an old stubborn man, so Carl gave up trying to reason and got ready to fight. He knew he couldn't win against Garp, but he wasn't going to lose either. Soon, the old man and the young man clashed, their fists and swords meeting in a flurry of blows.
Meanwhile, Whitebeard was left alone to face Akainu, who continued to pump magma into his stomach. The pain was too much; Whitebeard finally dropped to one knee.
"This is the end!" Akainu roared. "Hahahahaha! What a shame, Whitebeard!" He continued his furious attack.
But Whitebeard, with a sudden surge of strength, grabbed Akainu and slammed him to the ground. He plunged his Murakumogiri into the ground, and a giant white shockwave formed around his other fist, which he brought down on Akainu's head.
BOOM!
The entire ground of Marineford split in two. Akainu's head was a bloody mess as he fell into the newly formed chasm, seemingly dead.
But Akainu's will was too strong. With one last burst of energy, he used his Dark Hound to melt the stone wall and sprinted upwards like a volcano erupting. He emerged from the ground in less than two seconds. Everyone who had thought he was dead went silent. Though Akainu looked terrible, he was still alive. In comparison, Whitebeard's injuries were far more severe.
Luffy and Sabo were shocked. They couldn't believe how far Akainu was willing to push himself. He was fighting like a madman, almost to the death, and had managed to severely injure Whitebeard. At that moment, Luffy finally understood why Carl had been so wary of Akainu.
Luffy was still tied up with Kizaru, and he also had to worry about his crew. Zoro was being held back by Marine Vice Admiral Onigumo, and Law was no match for Marine Vice Admiral Onigumo. Even Usopp was struggling with his hypnosis against the mole guy. The Straw Hat Pirates' situation was not looking good.
Marie, riding on Reiju, was having a field day, constantly suppressing PX1. The cyborg was already shredded by Reiju's claws but was still struggling to attack. Finally, Reiju delivered a final powerful blow, and PX1 stopped moving for good.
Marie looked around and saw that Nami and the others had successfully taken care of PX5 and PX7, which was a rare sight. She watched Bepo, Shakky, and Penguin perform a three-stage kicking attack on PX5, constantly pushing it back.
She had to wonder if their feet hurt. Robin then used her power to sprout a pair of hands from the ground to grab PX5's feet, making it fall flat. Nami pointed her Clima-Tact, and a black cloud in the sky shot a lightning bolt that hit PX5. Arcs of electricity erupted from its body, causing it to shake violently before it finally went still.
"I get it!" Nami said, proud of herself. "The robot's inner workings are all electrical! My lightning strike short-circuited it and made it stop working!"
Her analysis was met with nods of approval from the others.
"Enough with the chatter! Come and help me!" Franky yelled from a distance. He was fighting PX7 alone and was getting a terrible beating. His attacks barely affected the cyborg, while PX7's blows were seriously damaging him. His steel skin was cracked, and one of his hands had been torn off.
Nami stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. She then shot a bolt of lightning at PX7. The cyborg seemed to sense the danger and dodged the attack, confirming everyone's suspicion that electricity was its weakness. With cruel smiles, they all charged at the poor PX7, which had no idea it was about to be torn to pieces by these "kind" humans.
Before long, all three Pacifistas were on the ground. Franky immediately tied them up, planning to take them back for research. He figured if he could study them and figure out how they worked, he could get just as strong. He decided that he would use cola as a power source, which would make him resistant to lightning attacks.
"The three robots are done. Let's head back to the Merry to help!" Nami urged.
Everyone agreed. Luffy, Zoro, Law, and Usopp would be fine for now. They could all head back to the Merry, which could also sail on land.
"Bepo, where's Brother 3?" Marie asked, a question she had been wanting to ask.
"Oh, he went off on his own after the captain rescued him," Bepo replied honestly. "He said Mr. Carl had something he wanted him to do."
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