Bucking and Weevil were seeing, for the very first time, a sailing ship that could dive straight beneath the waves without a coating.
They both stood frozen in shock.
Suddenly, the Pacifista beside Aramaki blared an urgent alarm, its mechanical voice echoing across the area.
"Warning! Warning! Enemy approaching at high speed. Prepare—"
Before it could finish its report, the Terror Ghost proved the threat with action.
Boom—
The sea bulged upward. Amid the exploding spray, the sharp prow of the Terror Ghost pierced straight through the bottom of the Navy warship Aramaki stood on. It lifted the entire ship up—then brutally slammed it back down!
Aramaki was flung into the air, hurtling toward the sea.
At the very last moment, the "Forest-Forest Fruit" user sprouted a flower on his back.
Its petals and stem spun rapidly, lifting Aramaki away from the surface and carrying him into the sky.
Good thing he rose in time—because the instant he glanced back, he saw the Terror Ghost drive the entire warship down into the sea!
The two Pacifistas and the soldiers aboard were dragged underwater as the ship sank.
Aramaki stared wide-eyed.
"It's practically a monster ship! Now I finally understand how Davy Jones kept winning naval battles in the Paramount War, the Punk Hazard conflict, and the Silent War."
"No… ordinary ships basically never stood a chance against it."
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Admiral Kizaru were right—this is the era of Dr. Vegapunk's technological power!"
He had seen battle reports from Marine HQ and G-5 describing the Terror Ghost, but seeing it with his own eyes was something else entirely.
The mountainous waves surged several meters high, crashing toward Bucking and Weevil's pirate ship. It nearly capsized them!
Bucking, already over seventy years old, had thought she'd seen everything. But even she had never witnessed a scene like this.
Even "Green Bull" Aramaki couldn't stop it—so what chance did they have?
Her face turned deathly pale. Panicked, she barked an order at her son—a terrible one.
"Hurry! Weevil! Use your father's strength—destroy it! Destroy it or we're all going to die!"
Weevil snapped out of his daze, obeying her without question. He hurried to the rail.
He had no idea where the Terror Ghost was—he just swung his massive blade downward on instinct!
BOOM—
Gifted with monstrous strength and empowered by the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the strike even resembled one of Whitebeard's attacks. The sea shook violently, splitting apart.
But he completely missed the Terror Ghost. Instead, the shockwave swept into several Marine reinforcements—capsizing their ships!
Aramaki cursed the mother-son duo for making things worse—but then his Observation Haki screamed a warning.
Damn!
He shouted urgently toward Weevil and Bucking:
"Behind you! Look out!"
But his voice was swallowed instantly by the explosion that ripped through the storming waves.
CRASH—
The Terror Ghost burst out of the sea, its spear-like prow stabbing straight into the pirate ship's side—skewering through it completely!
The ship lurched. Bucking panicked, waving her cane as if she wished she had the Tremor-Tremor Fruit herself so she could fight back immediately.
"Hurry!! Weevil, attack that ship! Don't let it drag us under! Move!"
Unlike Aramaki, she and Weevil could not fly.
Bucking could at least swim—if she got hold of some driftwood, she might survive.
But Weevil, a Devil Fruit user, would be helpless once submerged—an easy kill.
And with his huge size, she absolutely couldn't haul him back up from the depths.
They could not allow that to happen.
Weevil always reacted a beat slow, but with Bucking yelling at him, he didn't have to think. He just followed orders.
"Don't worry, Mama! I'll stop it!"
His massive frame thundered across the tilting deck.
He swung his blade again, sending a quake-filled slash tearing toward the Terror Ghost's bow!
BOOM—CRACK!
But the attack was repelled by a burst of brilliant flame—like a spray of fireworks.
The slash veered away, crashing into the sea and sending water shooting skyward.
Marco descended, azure-gold wings unfurling, talons gripping the mast's crossbeam as he glared down at Weevil and Bucking.
The old man's Tremor-Tremor Fruit…
Every time he saw Weevil using that power, Marco couldn't help biting his lip, memories of fighting beside Whitebeard flooding back.
In truth, the Whitebeard remnants often fell behind in fights with Weevil. Not because they couldn't beat him… but because they couldn't bear to look directly at that stolen power.
His appearance, his blade, that mustache, the way he used the Fruit—all of it made their hearts waver.
But not today.
Not after so many brothers had died because of him.
Marco had sworn: this would be the last time he hesitated.
From here on, he would face this enemy with unshakable resolve.
"Weevil—!"
His voice rumbled with suppressed fury.
Weevil looked up at him.
"I've warned you countless times! You fraud using Pops' name—don't show your face here again!"
Weevil showed no fear at Marco's arrival. He simply repeated the line he'd said countless times:
"I am Whitebeard II, Edward Weevil! You Whitebeard 'sons' should kneel before me and help me become a great pirate!"
Bakkin regained her composure, raising her cane.
"I was Whitebeard's lover! And Weevil is the fruit of our love! If you refuse to serve him, you're betraying Whitebeard!"
Marco didn't believe a word.
He'd followed Pops for nearly thirty years—never once had Whitebeard mentioned a "Bakkin" or a "Weevil."
Whitebeard wasn't the type to abandon a lover or child.
And the fact that this pair only appeared after his death made it even more suspicious.
Pops couldn't come back to refute their lies.
The more they repeated the claim, the angrier Marco became.
Without another word, he ignited his phoenix flames and shot toward Weevil.
Weevil truly was a wild beast in battle.
He raised his massive blade as Marco closed in.
CLANG—
Shockwaves and flames clashed, shattering everything around them.
Marco darted through the air, dodging most of Weevil's quake slashes. Then he dove behind him and kicked him hard, driving Weevil deep into the deck.
Marco moved to follow up—
—but a sharp whistling cut through the air.
He jerked aside, narrowly avoiding a vine spear stabbing past his head.
Turning, he saw Aramaki landing on the deck.
Vines surged from his body, like a mass of tentacles, burrowing into the ship. Moments later they erupted from the deck and hull.
In seconds, the entire pirate ship became part of him.
Creaking echoed across the vessel as trees sprouted from the fused wood—towering trunks growing limbs of vine, faces forming in the bark.
Tree-men?!
Marco stared as their massive shadows fell over him.
They lashed at him with whip-like vines.
Marco weaved through the strikes, blasting flames to burn them.
Fire ran up their branches instantly—
—until Weevil swung his blade again.
BOOM—
The quake shockwave blew away most of the flames, scattering them as drifting sparks.
Weevil charged again.
Marco didn't have time to engage him.
He twisted aside as a giant vine-hand burst from the deck, closing around where he'd just been.
PS: Access the complete/finished chapters/series at Patreon: NanamiTL
Please drop some power stones support me at my Patreon