Rocks and Shiki flew in the direction of Newgate while carrying the floating landmass, facing interception from Marine powerhouses all along the way.
But there were also people who had jumped off the slab as soon as things started, and when the slab finally flew off, they had missed the last ride out.
"Oi, why is everyone running off?"
Still fighting Garp, Roger stared blankly at the rising slab.
I have not even gotten on yet, damn it!
Across from him, Garp saw his expression and burst into wild laughter.
"Hahaha, Roger, looks like they ditched you."
"Damn it!"
Roger's face twisted in anger. He should have known. He and Rocks were not comrades. He had infiltrated Osgu Island only because he owed Rocks a debt.
Now that the scientists were being taken away, his survival meant nothing to Rocks.
Their relationship had never been good in the first place.
Fortunately for him, everyone else had run off to chase the floating slab that Rocks was on, so at least Roger only had to deal with Garp and a few scattered Marine officers.
"Garp, you think you can really stop me?"
"Haha, this time we are not out at sea. You are not getting away."
Garp roared as he threw a punch at Roger.
His confidence was not unfounded. From the moment Roger set sail until now, they had crossed fists countless times, and Roger had eaten dirt just as many.
In the original timeline, Garp would still be a normal rookie Marine at this point, and it was not even clear if Roger would have gone to sea yet.
But because Magnus existed, the World Government had relaxed promotion limits for the Marines, and the idea of going to sea had taken root in Roger's heart.
They had both stepped onto a stage that originally did not belong to them.
In that situation, a Garp trained by Marine Admirals could not help but grow faster.
Their first clash had ended with Garp shattering the Roger Pirates, forcing them to suffer defeat the moment they entered the first half of the Grand Line.
But thanks to good fortune, Roger had survived every encounter with Garp, and each time he crossed fists with him, he used that battle as a stepping stone to grow.
When Garp first met him, he was indeed stronger, but he himself was also just a Marine rookie who had joined not long before. The gap between them had not been that wide.
And after each clash, Roger, blessed with monstrous talent, would steal techniques and insights from Garp.
So over and over again they sharpened one another.
Garp's growth was rapid, but with such a perfect rival in front of him, Roger's growth was just as fast.
By today.
When Roger and Garp fought again, their strengths were nearly equal.
However, just as Garp had said.
They were not standing on the sea now, but on solid land. If Roger wanted to escape, he would have to defeat Garp first, so he would have enough room to deal with the other Marine officers.
"Roger, this time, your luck will not save you."
Laughing wildly, Garp smashed into Roger head on.
At that moment, Shiki's floating island had already risen above one hundred meters in the air. That height was enough to put them beyond the reach of most enemies.
But it still was not enough against top tier fighters.
Jaygarcia Saturn's body had swelled to over thirty meters. With a powerful leap of his half man, half spider body, he jumped even higher than the soaring landmass.
Thwip.
A massive jet of venom sprayed from his mouth, heading straight toward Rocks and the others on the slab.
"Old man, you are not worried you will hit those unconscious scientists?"
Seeing Jaygarcia's reckless attack, Rocks swore as he moved.
He had to block the hawk shaped Grindwin, who was flying ahead of the floating slab to stop their advance, while also dealing with Jaygarcia Saturn's offense.
Now he truly understood how Magnus had felt in the past.
He did not have enough hands.
He could defeat any one of the top tier fighters on this island one on one, but against two top tiers he would start to feel pressured. Against three, it would only be a matter of time before he fell.
Right now, Rocks was stronger than Magnus had been when he fought three top tiers alone in Elbaf, but he was still weaker than Magnus had been in the battle of Sabaody.
Fortunately, he had already mastered Conqueror's Haki infusion.
Even against monsters with undying bodies like Grindwin and Jaygarcia Saturn, he could still restrict them.
As long as he only had to face two at a time.
"Watch out."
A slash flew into the sky, ignoring the Grindwin who was locked in combat with Rocks, cutting past him and aiming straight for Rocks and his opponent.
The floating island slab was now more than two hundred meters up. At this height, unless Jaygarcia Saturn used some massive area attack, it was already difficult for him to reach it.
His body simply could not stay airborne.
He could leap.
But he could not use Moonwalk to hover in midair.
Now, he did not need to try.
The Supreme Commander of the God Knights and the order's only active captain had stepped in, unleashing a long range slash that streaked toward Rocks.
Grindwin could be sliced apart and it would not matter. He was immortal. As long as Lucas Saint did not deliberately target him with infused Conqueror's Haki, Lucas's attacks meant nothing to him.
"Conqueror's Haki infusion?"
Rocks's expression shifted slightly as he saw Lucas's attack.
His so called two on one fight only looked good because Grindwin was an ordinary Admiral level fighter. Even earlier, against Kong and Jaygarcia Saturn, both a little stronger than a standard Admiral, he had felt pressured.
But Lucas Saint had mastered Conqueror's infusion and was perfectly capable of fighting Rocks one on one.
At the very least, Rocks had no way to put Lucas down quickly.
Yet facing more and more top tiers, Rocks did not show fear. Instead, a wild smile spread across his face.
"Gyahahaha, now this is interesting."
Under Grindwin's helpless gaze, Rocks and Lucas's combined attacks shredded his body.
Then, one rising and one falling, Rocks and Lucas collided in midair.
"Get down there."
Rocks roared as his long blade wrapped in Conqueror's Haki met Lucas's thin rapier. Even before their weapons clashed, their Haki crashed together, causing a booming impact.
Boom.
The air around them was torn apart, black and red lightning crawling like countless snakes across the sky above Osgu Island.
In the end, Rocks had the upper hand.
The slash from his blade, backed by infused Conqueror's Haki, exploded like a cannon right in front of Lucas. Standing above him in midair, Rocks sent Lucas Saint plunging toward the earth even faster than the momentum from his own leap.
Like a divine rod of punishment dropping from the heavens, Lucas Saint slammed into Osgu Island, nearly shattering a full quarter of it.
Half a month ago, during the first battle, Osgu Island had already been heavily damaged. Now, the clash between Rocks and Lucas, plus Newgate's earlier use of the Quake-Quake Fruit, had pushed the island's collapse into its final countdown.
"So over the top."
Even Roger and Garp could not help but click their tongues.
They were already strong by most standards, but compared to these monsters, the gap was still huge. A single strike from Rocks and Lucas would kill either of them on contact.
Rocks had driven Lucas back, but he was not unscathed.
Force always worked both ways.
Top tiers usually fought with seventy percent of their power, leaving thirty percent in reserve to avoid the stiff weakness of overexertion.
Rocks did not care.
Surrounded by enemies, if he failed to repel Lucas immediately, he would simply be buried in a tide of attacks.
And even now.
After hurling Lucas away, he barely had time to breathe before Claude Saint, captain of the God Knights and Lucas's brother, came charging in.
"You will pay first for the sin of killing my brother."
Claude roared as his rapier thrust straight toward Rocks.
In that split second.
Clang.
Baloric rushed back just in time, blocking the fatal blow for Rocks.
The price was that he was sent flying again.
"Baloric."
Seeing his first mate wounded, Rocks exploded with rage.
"Damn Celestial Dragons."
In that instant Baloric had bought him, he forced his body to recover a bit of strength and counterattacked Claude.
At the same time, Grindwin's body finally reformed after being shredded by Rocks and Lucas.
The giant hawk did not charge at Rocks.
It dove at the floating island instead.
In Grindwin's eyes, as long as he returned the kidnaped scientists to Osgu Island, their mission would be a success.
As for keeping Rocks and the others?
That would be nice, but not necessary. They did not need to force it.
"Oi, stop acting like I am not here."
With Jaygarcia Saturn's threat to the floating island greatly reduced, Shiki could finally free up his hands to defend it.
One look was enough. Among all these top tiers, Grindwin was clearly the weakest.
The perfect opponent to practice on.
But this was not a one on one arena. It was a chaotic melee of nearly ten top tier fighters. The intensity of this war was second only to the battle Magnus had started at Acropolis Harbor.
On the World Government's side, beyond Jaygarcia Saturn, Grindwin, Lucas Saint, and Claude Saint, there were Kong and Stephens, two top fighters belonging to the Marines and CP respectively.
Rocks's earlier slash had sent Kong flying, but after a short pause he had returned. Against a pure martial monster like him, Rocks had no way to kill him in one blow.
As for Stephens, he had arrived last simply because he had been positioned farthest from the floating island when the attack began. The six top tier defenders of Osgu had been spread out around the island precisely to prevent such surprise assaults.
At this level, unless Magnus himself moved, none of his subordinates could kill them instantly.
Especially when, aside from Kong, every one of them had an undying body.
All six top tiers had converged.
At best, Shiki could contain the weakest one, Grindwin. Which meant Rocks, alone, had to face five top tier fighters.
Could he win?
Rocks felt that if he could, he would be qualified to challenge Magnus as soon as he got back.
So he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Newgate."
"Here."
It was not just the World Government's top fighters who were converging. Rocks had been waiting this whole time for Newgate's support.
His body was over six meters tall, yet he used Moonwalk to step through the air as if he were on solid ground.
Moonwalk was the weakest of the Six Powers techniques he had learned.
But with one huge leap off his ship followed by a few steps in the air, it was enough to bring him into the fight at last.
The moment he arrived, Newgate swung his great naginata.
After two years of sailing.
One of the twelve supreme grade blades in the world, Cong Yunqie, had finally fallen into Newgate's hands.
But even wielding such a sword, Newgate did not show the slightest arrogance.
He knew clearly.
A blade was just a blade.
The one who decided the real upper limit was not the weapon, but the person holding it.
If his opponent were Magnus, Newgate believed that even with a kitchen knife forged from a few berries, Magnus could still smash his supreme blade to pieces.
There was no blind pride in him, only the calm steadiness of someone who had grown.
In truth, Newgate had always been this way.
Even possessing Conqueror's Haki.
His dominion was never aimed at his comrades.
Only at the enemy.
Although Rocks had left the White Wolf Pirates, the moment he had come to support them three years ago in the war between the White Wolf Pirates and the World Government, every last trace of resentment in Newgate's heart had faded.
They might have chosen different paths.
But they were still family.
Still brothers.
The man named Edward Newgate, who would one day be called "the Strongest Man in the World", roared his declaration to everyone watching.
"If you want to hurt my family, you can step over my dead body first."
A huge moon hung over the sea, but a milky white glow wrapped around Newgate's blade, as if a second moon were rising from the surface of the water.
A moon rising over the sea.
Newgate swung his blade, not at the other enemies surrounding Rocks, but at Lucas Saint, still in mid recovery after being shattered by Rocks.
Strike where the enemy must rescue.
If this blow landed cleanly, Lucas would die. Rocks, on the other hand, could give up the scientists and flee.
In some sense, Newgate and Rocks were both pirates.
Because they only cared about those they cared about.
Newgate believed that if Magnus were standing where he was now, he would make the same choice.
You could always go and snatch more scientists later. The World Government needed them, not the White Wolf Pirates. But if Lucas Saint died, the World Government would lose yet another top tier fighter.
That sort of gain and loss.
Was a bargain.
"How dare you."
Seeing this, Jaygarcia Saturn flew into a rage. Although Lucas's status was lower than his, his strength surpassed him.
If Lucas died, who knew how furious Lord Imu would be.
Jaygarcia locked eyes with Stephens in the distance, and the two of them were forced to change course.
They appeared around Lucas Saint.
But even with them stepping in, Newgate's all out blow still fell.
Like a second moon crashing onto the already ruined island.
Carrying the power of the Quake-Quake Fruit and Conqueror's Haki together.
With that single strike, the entire Osgu Island was split in two.
(End of Chapter)
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