The moment the Bull of Heaven descended, Newgate knew that this move would never reach its conclusion.
As lightning flared, his towering figure leapt straight off the Moby Dick and into the battlefield.
With a heavy thud, his feet hit the ground, and Newgate stood firm amid the chaos.
"Oyaji!"
"Protect Oyaji!"
Several nearby pirates shouted as they rushed toward him.
Newgate ignored them. With a casual swing of Murakumogiri, he blasted away several Marines who had tried to ambush him. His gaze lifted back toward the high platform, the corner of his mouth curling into a fierce, confident grin.
"If you want to stop me," he roared, "then come and try!"
Watching this, Ortoren burst into laughter.
"Since you're inviting me so enthusiastically, then I won't hold back!"
As his words fell, Ortoren didn't immediately turn into lightning and charge in. Instead, he pushed off the platform with a powerful step and leapt down into the battlefield.
Almost at the exact moment Ortoren entered the fray, Newgate had already charged alone into the depths of the Marine formation, leaving the pirates who had followed him far behind.
The area he was heading straight for was the defensive line held by Vice Admiral Cancer.
"Of all the places…" Cancer muttered with a bitter smile as he watched Whitebeard charge toward him, Murakumogiri swinging wildly. "You had to come this way."
He knew full well that he was no match for Whitebeard, that his strength was nowhere near enough to stop the man's advance.
But on the battlefield, there was no room for choice.
Either he showed the backbone and resolve befitting a Marine Vice Admiral, drawing his blade even in the face of defeat—
Or he tucked his tail between his legs and fled like a beaten dog, disgracing the Marines before a worldwide broadcast.
And as a Marine Vice Admiral, how could he lack that resolve?
"Come on!" Cancer roared, shouting as much to steel himself as anything else. He slashed down two pirates in front of him and strode straight toward Whitebeard.
When he closed to within a little over ten meters, Cancer stamped his foot and activated Soru. His figure vanished in a blur.
In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Newgate, swinging his blade with a ferocious expression, as if he meant to cut Whitebeard down in a single strike.
Though he didn't shout something like "You've left yourself open, Whitebeard," Newgate simply threw a casual punch into empty air.
A terrifying shockwave exploded from his fist. The space in front of Cancer shattered like a spiderweb, and an invisible force surged straight into his body, causing his face to flush a deep, sudden red.
In less than a heartbeat, Cancer choked, coughing violently as a spray of dark blood burst from his mouth. His body was blasted backward, flung dozens of meters away before slamming into the ground and rolling several times.
He wasn't dead, and his injuries weren't immediately fatal, but Cancer was completely unable to continue fighting. Half-crouched on the ground, he gasped for breath as blood dripped steadily from the corner of his mouth, his condition pitiful.
Smoker happened to be nearby. He shoved aside two pirates and moved to Cancer's side, guarding him as he asked,
"Vice Admiral Cancer, are you alright?"
"It's bad… but I can still hang on…" Cancer spat out two more mouthfuls of blood, his voice weak. "So this is the man they call the strongest… What a monster…"
It was clear that even elite Vice Admiral–level Marine officers, strong as they were, still faced an unbridgeable gap when compared to the very peak of the world, the man known as the strongest—Whitebeard.
Against him, they were little more than targets waiting to be taken down.
At the same time, on another part of the battlefield, Ortoren descended from the high platform. The instant he landed, a figure wreathed in blue flames, wings beating, swept toward him.
It was Marco.
Marco had been fighting Gion earlier, but his mobility far surpassed hers. The moment he spotted Ortoren entering the battlefield amid the chaos, he sensed an opening.
Shaking off Gion in an instant, Marco lunged straight for Ortoren.
This wasn't about duels or one-on-one pride anymore. This was war, a full-scale war between the Marines and the pirates. Marco never expected to defeat Ortoren in a single blow; that was unrealistic. But if he could cause Ortoren some trouble before Ortoren clashed with Oyaji, shaving off even a bit of his strength, that would already be worth it.
The plan sounded good.
Reality, however, was merciless.
Marco was confident in his speed. He had chosen his timing perfectly, striking at the exact moment Ortoren's feet touched the ground, when his force was momentarily unsettled. By all logic, it should have worked.
But in the next instant, lightning erupted across Ortoren's body. His powerful arm lifted, and in a blink, the two passed by each other.
"Lariat!"
Ortoren's low shout rang out.
Only then did Marco's situation fully manifest. With a loud bang, the blue flames around Marco's neck exploded outward. His head separated from his shoulders and was sent flying like a ball, carried by the delayed shockwave. It landed dozens of meters away on the battlefield, only to be kicked another ten meters farther by an unsuspecting pirate.
After instantly taking Marco down, Ortoren didn't even bother to look back. He casually rolled his shoulder, then began walking toward Newgate at an unhurried pace, as if strolling through a quiet alley, the battlefield itself completely beneath his notice.
Only then did Marco seem to react.
The severed head that had been kicked away was instantly incinerated by blue flames. At the same time, torrents of blue fire surged from his broken neck, and in just a few moments, a brand-new head regenerated.
It had to be said. Marco's Mythical Zoan ability truly lived up to the name of the Immortal Phoenix, at least when it came to surviving damage.
With Kaisha's and Marco's surprise attacks on the opposing supreme commanders both ending in failure, the remaining Marines and pirates, seeing their respective leaders walking straight toward one another, finally stopped their pointless probing. One by one, they retreated to either side, instinctively clearing a wide path between the two.
From that moment on, Ortoren and Newgate wasted no attention on anything else. Their eyes were fixed solely on each other.
With every step they took forward, the pressure they gave off intensified. That overwhelming presence spread outward with their movement, pressing down on everything around them.
Even the Marines and pirates who had already cleared the path found it hard to endure. Under that crushing aura, they were forced to retreat even farther, only then feeling as if they had escaped from thick mud. When they looked down, they realized their bodies were already drenched in sweat, soaked through without them even noticing.
As Ortoren and Newgate drew closer, the broadcast Den Den Mushi shifted all focus to this moment, transmitting the scene to every corner of the world.
At the same time, on Whole Cake Island, Charlotte Linlin, seated upon her throne, finally stopped ravaging the pastries before her. She straightened unconsciously, a sharp glint appearing in her eyes as she stared at the two figures steadily closing in on the screen.
…
Wano Country, Onigashima.
Kaidou paused his heavy drinking, leaning forward slightly as his gaze locked onto the massive screen nearby.
"Is it starting?"
Truthfully, Kaidou had never fully acknowledged Whitebeard's so-called title as the strongest. He believed that in a true one-on-one fight, his current self might not necessarily lose to Whitebeard.
In the original story, he had even earned titles like "Strongest in a One-on-One" and "Strongest Creature of Land, Sea, and Air."
But now, because of Ortoren's appearance, Charlotte Linlin had undergone a dramatic change. In the past, she had relied heavily on her natural talent, constant childbirth, and unrestrained gluttony. To avoid being backstabbed by Ortoren, that so-called dutiful son, she still gave birth and still indulged, but she no longer simply coasted on talent alone. The fact that she could now control her figure said enough.
Whenever she had free time, Charlotte Linlin trained her strength relentlessly.
Not long ago, she had gone to Onigashima to take Yamato back to Whole Cake Island for a visit. Kaidou had refused, and the two had clashed fiercely along the shores of Wano.
The result was clear. Charlotte Linlin thoroughly beat Kaidou and successfully brought Yamato back with her. Not long after that, Katakuri personally went to find Rouge, bringing both Rouge and Ace to Whole Cake Island. At present, Ace, Rouge, and Yamato were all staying with Charlotte Linlin.
All in all, based on Kaidou's current feelings, he believed he might not be inferior to Whitebeard. But reality had proven one thing very clearly.
He couldn't beat Charlotte Linlin in a one-on-one fight.
So in a way, Kaidou felt that Charlotte Linlin might actually be the strongest in the world.
As for Whitebeard's title, it wasn't wrong either.
The strongest man.
After all, Charlotte Linlin was a woman.