"I'll be right there!"
Click.
Hanging up, Kong stood at once.
"Damn it. How did this happen."
He saw Borsalino still sipping tea and finally understood what that earlier remark had meant. His anger flared.
"You still have the mood to drink tea! Go stop them first! I'll arrive soon!"
He rushed out the door, stepped into using Geppo, and dove straight off the Red Line.
Borsalino slowly finished his tea.
"Sigh~ So troublesome~"
Light scattered from his body and he vanished.
* * *
Holy Land of Mariejois.
A few minutes later, inside the hall where the Five Elders met.
A CP agent ran in and reported.
"Honored Elders. A battle has broken out at Marineford."
The Elders froze. Confusion filled their eyes.
Who would dare cause trouble in Marine Headquarters...
Nusjuro spoke up. "Who is it?"
The agent still looked shocked, almost unable to believe it. His throat bobbed as he forced the words out.
"The ones fighting are… Fleet Admiral Sengoku versus Admiral Akainu.
"Admiral Aokiji versus Vice Admiral Enel, candidate for admiral.
"And Admiral candidate Bullet versus former 'Marine Hero' Vice Admiral Garp."
All five Elders shot to their feet.
"What?!" ×5
Mars reacted first. "Where is Kong?"
"Commander-in-Chief Kong has already headed to Marineford," the agent answered quickly.
The Elders' faces turned grim.
"Guards!"
* * *
Marineford, far out at sea.
Broken icebergs lay scattered everywhere. From afar, they looked larger than the island itself.
Tall, narrow ice peaks rose from the sea, covered in Haki like a forest of thorns aimed at Enel.
Lightning flashed as Enel flickered through the sky. A three-meter lightning spear formed in his hands, and he hurled it at Kuzan.
It reached him almost instantly.
Kuzan's pupils shrank. His body paused for a split second as the spear shot through him and struck the ice below.
A deadly pulse burst from the impact point and a half-sphere of blinding light expanded.
Boom!
A mushroom cloud hundreds of meters tall rose. The shockwave tore across the sea.
Countless dead sea creatures floated to the surface.
Kuzan's body appeared on a shattered iceberg far away. He had slipped aside at the last moment and remained unharmed.
He watched the waves and the sweeping pressure.
"Oh my. That's scary."
He raised his hands as freezing mist gathered in his palms.
"Ice Age!"
Cold shot out. Jagged ice pillars formed midair, then drove into the wave. Where they struck, the sea froze and spread outward in a rush.
Kuzan let out a frosty breath. "Haa."
An ice blade formed in his hand. He swung it behind him.
Enel vanished and reappeared in front of him.
"Too slow."
The golden staff in his grip had turned into a short blade. It crackled with lightning as he stabbed for Kuzan's heart.
Clang!
Sparks burst. Kuzan flew back, covered in blackened Haki. At the same time, spikes of ice shot up beneath Enel with a faint trace of Haki.
Enel sneered. His body shifted into lightning before the spikes hit. They passed harmlessly through his form.
He tilted his head and lifted a hand glowing with thunder.
"I said it's too slow."
A single tap sent compressed lightning into the ice below, forcing Kuzan out.
The heat thawed the ocean rapidly, causing steam to rise in thick clouds.
Kuzan gathered cold again. Ice crystals formed and wrapped in Haki as he aimed at Enel.
"Ice Prison!"
A sphere of freezing energy tore through the air.
Enel sensed Zephyr rushing in, along with Vice Admiral Tsuru who was about to arrive. His body turned to lightning and slipped past the attack, then vanished into the clouds.
Crack!
The missed ice sphere exploded.
In a blink, it expanded into a massive frozen cage covered in black Haki.
But it hit nothing…
Within the clouds, Enel shifted fully into lightning. His Observation Haki swept the area again and again while his hands continued to move.
"Raigo!"
Dark clouds spun and merged, forming a sphere of storm the size of an island.
Bolts poured down in a dense curtain of lightning, sealing off the battlefield as the massive thunderball slowly descended.
* * *
Marineford, back mountain.
Boom!
Two raging figures clashed and broke apart. Dust filled the air but was blown away by the force of their collision.
Bullet, in his Asura King form, looked beaten. Blood dripped from his mouth. His eyes burned red as he locked onto Garp.
"Old man, your bones are tough."
Garp's body was wrapped in Haki. His chest was slightly dented. He looked just as battered but refused to back down.
"You're still too green, kid."
Their pure hand-to-hand battle was fiercer than any other fight.
Bullet grinned. "Still talking tough, huh."
Haki surged around him. A ferocious ghostly image rose from his arms and glared at Garp.
Boom!
Their fists met again and sent another violent shockwave out.
The ghost-like aura along Bullet's arms crawled upward. Yet against the massive, dense Haki coating Garp's arm, it meant nothing. It couldn't slow him at all.
Bullet never expected it to. He used it as a bridge as his hand twisted from a fist to an open palm, grabbing Garp's wrist.
His ability surged at twenty times speed. He couldn't control it well…
But at this range, Garp had no time to react before Bullet's other hand clamped onto his face.
With a cruel twist of his torso, he slammed Garp's head straight into the ground.
Boom!
The earth shook, and cracks spread across the ground.
Garp's eyes widened in fury. One hand shot up and seized Bullet's wrist. Power burst through him.
He flipped off the ground and hurled his opponent into it.
The two locked each other's wrists, rolling like wild beasts. Each impact made the land tremble.
Mid-roll, Bullet shifted on top. He kicked off hard and unleashed his ability. Both shot into the sky.
In a second they were a thousand meters high. Veins bulged on their faces as they held tight, neither giving in.
Bullet suddenly grinned savagely whipped around.
They spun downward toward Marineford.
Staring at Garp, he murmured.
"Thirtyfold speed."
The moment he activated it, even he couldn't react. They dropped from the sky like a teleportation and smashed into the island.
BOOOOOOM!
It was like a bomb went off. The ground quaked as countless buildings collapsed across Marineford.
A giant crater dozens of meters deep formed, and at some point the two had separated.
Bullet pushed himself up, head spinning.
"Cough..."
His mind was blank and blood filled his throat. No one could take that impact unharmed. He looked forward.
Garp also rose, coughing blood.
"Cough… you brat..."
His voice was low. The killing intent in him undisguised. If this kept up, one of them might actually die.
Bullet smiled and pulled out a small, palm-sized missile from his pocket.
Buzz!
It expanded to human size immediately. He removed the tail piece and coated the entire shell in black Haki.
This kind of missile was specially made. If one did not use Armament Haki to break its inner core, it would not detonate even if it was thrown into a fire.
Bullet grabbed the bottom of the missile and gave it a shake.
There was no technique in his movements. His body radiated a violent aura as he charged at Garp.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The two men fought in the most brutal, primitive way. No dodging. Every strike landed.
Crack!
The missile hammered against Garp's body could not withstand the two of them who fought like beasts. It snapped in half and exploded.
A deafening blast followed.
A mushroom cloud dozens of meters tall shook the island and forced the two apart for a moment.
They shook their heads and climbed out of their respective craters.
Bullet pulled out another miniature special missile. It enlarged in an instant as he charged…
BOOM!!
* * *
Above Marine Headquarters, close to the Red Line.
Several thousand meters in the sky.
Sakazuki had entered his Crimson Lotus Mode. Magma flowed across his body, and golden light burned in his eyes as he clashed with Sengoku.
The giant golden Buddha towered almost a hundred meters tall. Compared to it, Sakazuki looked like a small dot.
But the force between them was equal, and Sengoku was even pushed back.
Unlike the other two battlefields where both sides were fighting to kill, these two still held back. After all, both were leaders of the Marines.
The fight had erupted without warning. Sengoku's attitude lit Sakazuki's fuse. Sakazuki's words provoked him in return.
Once their tempers exploded, they forced them down again. Reason regained control, but the fight still needed a winner.
Sakazuki swung his arm, and a three-meter magma sword covered in Haki took shape in his hand.
He stepped forward and appeared atop the Buddha's head. The blade in his grip flickered with black violet lightning as he raised it and slashed.
Sengoku's eyes tightened. He lifted his arm to block.
Crackle!
The blade and his arm never touched, yet the space between them erupted with lightning. A dense black sphere of compressed energy formed, radiating danger.
They stared at each other, locked in place briefly.
BOOM!
The compressed sphere detonated abruptly.
Sengoku's huge golden body shot downward like a beam of gold. An ember red figure followed close behind, the crimson glow growing brighter.
Sakazuki closed in on the falling Sengoku, his body swelling until he matched his opponent's size.
The magma giant's arms, coated in Haki, reached for the golden Buddha. Simultaneously, a ring of shockwave light expanded around the latter to block the arms.
The two figures shouted at the same time.
"Impact Wave!"
"Magma Burst!"
Gold and magma clashed and expanded. But compared to the towering Red Line behind them, the explosion was tiny.
The golden glow was swallowed by the magma. The shockwave barrier could not match the constant surge of molten energy.
Thousands of meters of altitude vanished in seconds.
A curtain of magma wrapped around the golden light as it plunged toward the sea. Inside, Sengoku and Sakazuki collided repeatedly.
Only a few hundred meters remained before the ocean surface.
"STOP RIGHT NOW!"
A furious shout came from above.
Kong dove headfirst. His right arm turned pitch black with Haki. A spiraling airflow wrapped around his fist.
He punched through the magma and shockwave barrier in one blow.
BOOM!
Everything shattered, exposing the two fighters.
Kong forced them apart and released a wave of Conqueror's Haki.
"What do you think you're doing?! One of you is Fleet Admiral! The other is an Admiral! Do you want the Marines to become a joke to the world! Return to headquarters!"
**
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