Chapter 211: Strike Where the Enemy Must Rescue
Rocks and Shiki flew the floating landmasses toward Newgate's position, facing interception from Marine elites along the way.
Some enemies, however, jumped off immediately. When the masses lifted, they missed the last ride out.
"Hey, why's everyone running?"
Fighting Garp, Roger stared blankly at the rising slabs.
I haven't boarded yet!
Across from him, Garp burst out laughing at Roger's expression.
"Haha! Roger, looks like they ditched you!"
"Damn it!"
Roger scowled. He should've known better. He and Rocks weren't partners. He only helped infiltrate Oss Island because he owed Rocks. Now that the scientists were gone, his fate didn't matter to Rocks at all.
They were never on good terms anyway.
Still, everyone else had gone to chase the floating mass carrying Rocks, so Roger only had to face Garp and a few scattered Marine officers.
"Garp, you think you can stop me?"
"Haha! This time we're not at sea—you're not getting away!"
Garp swung a heavy fist at Roger.
His confidence wasn't baseless. Since Roger first set out, they'd crossed fists countless times—and Roger ate dirt just as often.
In the original track of the world, Garp would still be a regular Marine recruit now, and Roger might not even have set sail. But with Silas changing the board, the World Government loosened Marine constraints, and Roger felt the pull of the sea.
They both arrived ahead of their era.
In that case, with an Admiral-level mentor, Garp naturally grew faster at first.
Their first decisive clash ended with Garp smashing the Roger Pirates, costing Roger a defeat as soon as he entered the first half of the Grand Line.
But with luck—and every encounter—Roger learned and escaped, growing rapidly through his duels with Garp.
After all, the first time they met, Garp was stronger, but he was still only a few years into the Marines. His edge over Roger wasn't overwhelming.
And every time they fought, Roger pilfered techniques and sharpened himself with his monstrous talent.
So over time, although Garp's growth was fast, having such a perfect rival meant Roger grew just as quickly.
Today, when they clashed again, their strengths were nearly even.
But as Garp said, they weren't at sea. If Roger wanted to run, he'd have to beat Garp first, then still have strength left to deal with other Marine officers.
"Roger, your luck won't save you this time!"
Laughing, Garp slammed into him.
Meanwhile, Shiki's floating island had climbed over a hundred meters high, a distance that left most pursuers behind.
But not the top-tier.
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn's body swelled to thirty or forty meters tall. With a Spider-Man hybrid leap, he rose higher than the floating slab.
Ptch!
A mouthful of venom spat toward Rocks and the others.
"Old man, not worried about splashing the unconscious scientists?"
Seeing the reckless attack, Rocks snarled without pausing his hands—blocking Glyndwr, who'd become a giant falcon to stop the slab, while fending off Saturn's assault.
He understood Silas a little more now.
Too many fronts at once.
He could beat any top-tier on the island one-on-one. Against two together, he'd strain. Against three, it was only a matter of time before he fell.
Right now, Rocks was stronger than Silas had been when he fought three at once in Elbaf—but weaker than Silas at Sabaody.
Fortunately, he'd learned Conqueror's coating.
Even against undying bodies like Glyndwr and Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, he could still restrain them.
As long as there were only two.
"Watch out!"
A slash—untargeted—tore skyward. It didn't care about Glyndwr, who was trading blows with Rocks. It went straight through the air toward both Rocks and Glyndwr.
The slab had risen two hundred meters. At that height, unless Saturn used a high-output attack, he'd struggle to touch it.
He could hang in the air briefly. But he couldn't stay aloft like with Moon Walk.
Now, he didn't need to.
The Supreme Commander of the God's Knights, and the order's current sole captain, arrived—opening with a long-range slash aimed directly at Rocks midair.
Cutting Glyndwr did nothing. He had an immortal body. As long as Saint Lucas didn't deliberately aim with Conqueror's coating to nullify him, Lucas's slash meant nothing to Glyndwr.
"Conqueror's coating!?"
Rocks's expression shifted when he felt Saint Lucas's attack.
He could handle two if one was a standard Admiral-level like Glyndwr—and even then, he struggled against stronger Admirals like Kong and Saturn. But Saint Lucas had Conqueror's coating and the confidence to meet him one-on-one. Rocks couldn't mow through him quickly.
Yet facing more and more top-tier enemies, Rocks wasn't cowed—he grinned, thrilled.
"Gihahaha! That's more like it!"
To Glyndwr's exasperation, the crossing strikes from Rocks and Saint Lucas shredded his body.
Then, one rising, one falling, Rocks and Saint Lucas collided midair.
"Get down!!!"
Rocks roared. His Conqueror's-wreathed blade smashed into Saint Lucas's rapier, the pressure shock detonating before steel even met steel.
Boom!
Air tore in sheets around them, black-red lightning crawling across Oss Island's sky like a nest of thunder serpents.
Rocks took the exchange by a hair.
The slash detonated like a shell in front of Saint Lucas. From a high vantage, Lucas fell faster than he'd risen—like a pillar from heaven crashing down—cratering nearly a quarter of Oss Island.
Half a month of battles had already shattered much of the island. Add the collision between Rocks and Saint Lucas, plus the earlier quakes from Newgate's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and the island's sinking was now a countdown.
"Crazy..."
Even Roger and Garp clicked their tongues. They weren't weak, but the gap to these monsters was still huge. A stray clash from Rocks and Saint Lucas would put either of them in a coffin.
Rocks had driven Lucas back—but he hadn't gotten off lightly.
Force acts both ways.
Top-tier duels usually meant seven parts strength, three parts reserve—to avoid stiffening when exhausted.
Rocks couldn't afford that luxury.
Enemies crowded from every direction. If he didn't swat Lucas back instantly, he'd be dogpiled.
Even so, no sooner had he blasted Lucas down, the God's Knights' captain, Saint Claude, lunged at him.
"You'll pay for my brother's blood!"
Claude thundered. His rapier streaked toward Rocks—about to land.
Clang!
Patrick Redfield returned in time, blocking the lethal strike—only to be swatted from the sky again.
"Patrick!!!"
Seeing his vice-captain struck, Rocks's temper snapped.
"Damn Celestial Dragons!!!"
Seizing the opening, Patrick bought Rocks just enough time to recover and counterattack Claude.
At the same time, Glyndwr's body—ripped apart by Rocks and Lucas—reformed again.
The huge falcon didn't fly at Rocks.
It dove for the floating island.
From Glyndwr's perspective, if he returned the kidnapped scientists to Oss Island, the mission was a success.
As for pinning down Rocks and the others? Good if possible. If not, don't force it.
"Hey, don't act like I'm not here!"
With Saturn's threat to the island reduced, Shiki could free a hand to screen incoming assaults.
He immediately spotted Glyndwr as the weakest of the top tiers.
Perfect for a warm-up!
But this wasn't a civilized one-on-one duel. It was a near double-digit top-tier free-for-all—only slightly less intense than the war Silas started at Acropolis Port.
On the World Government's side, besides Saturn, Glyndwr, Saint Lucas, and Saint Claude, there were also Kong and Stevens—two top-tier fighters from the Marines and CP, respectively.
Rocks had sent Kong flying earlier, but after a short recovery, Kong returned. Against a body arts monster like Kong, one-hit kills were not happening.
As for Stevens, he was last to arrive because he'd been furthest from the floating mass. The six top-tier guardians had been positioned around the island to prevent surprise strikes.
At their level, unless Silas himself moved, none of Silas's other people could one-shot them.
And except for Kong, everyone else had immortal bodies.
All six top-tier enemies had converged.
Shiki could at best tether the weakest—Glyndwr. Which meant Rocks had to face five top-tier enemies alone.
Would he win?
If he could, he'd challenge Silas when they returned.
So he roared:
"Newgate!!!"
"Coming!"
It wasn't just the World Government's top-tier elites that were converging. Rocks had been waiting for Newgate's backup, too.
Even standing over six meters tall, Newgate stepped across the air.
Moon Walk was his weakest of the Six Powers. But with a brief stall in the air, plus the launch from leaping off his ship, he finally closed the gap.
The moment he arrived, Newgate swung his long naginata.
Two years at sea, and the Supreme Grade blade, one of the twelve, named Cong Yunqie, finally rested in his hands.
But gripping a Supreme Grade blade, Newgate didn't preen.
He knew: a blade is just a blade.
What decides the ceiling is not the blade, but the man.
If his opponent were Silas, Newgate believed Silas could shatter Cong Yunqie with a kitchen knife worth a few Berries.
No arrogance—only the steadiness of growth.
He'd always been steady, even with Conqueror's Haki.
His Haki was never aimed at his comrades.
Only at his enemies.
Though Rocks had left the White Wolf Pirates three years ago, in the war against the World Government, Rocks came to help. That was enough to erase Newgate's last misgiving.
They might walk different paths.
But they were still family.
Still brothers.
Edward Newgate—the man who would be called "The Strongest Man"—roared before the world:
"If you want to hurt my family, step over my corpse first!!!"
A great moon hung on the horizon, but the milky halo wrapped Newgate's naginata. It was as if a second moon rose over the sea.
A bright moon rises over the sea!
Newgate's strike didn't target the others surrounding Rocks. He swung at Saint Lucas, who was still reconstituting after being carved down by Rocks.
Strike where the enemy must rescue.
If my blow lands, that Celestial Dragon dies. Rocks can then abandon the scientists and break out.
In some ways, Newgate was a pirate through and through—just like Rocks.
They cared only about what they cared about.
But Newgate believed that if he and Silas swapped places, Silas would make the same choice.
You can always seize more scientists later—the World Government needs them, not us. But if Saint Lucas dies, the World Government loses a top-tier fighter.
As one side falls and the other rises—
We profit big.
"You dare!!!"
Seeing this, Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, one of the Five Elders, erupted. Saint Lucas held lower status than him, but his strength exceeded Saturn's.
If Lucas died, who knew how furious Lord Imu would be?
So Saturn and the distant Stevens met eyes—and then both moved, forced to reposition.
They appeared around Saint Lucas.
But Newgate's all-in strike—
Still fell.
Like a vast moon slamming into a ravaged island.
With the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and Conqueror's force entwined—
In a single blow, Oss Island was split in two!