At that moment, both Sengoku's and Garp's expressions became extremely stiff.
Sengoku fell into deep conflict.
Dodge, or not dodge?
If he dodged, all the effort he had spent desperately blocking the first wave of attacks would be wasted. The remaining Heavenly Tribute would be reduced to ashes in the second bombardment, leaving not even scraps.
If he did not dodge... with this number of Tailed Beast Bombs, forget the Heavenly Tribute, even he and Garp might be buried here.
"Hahahahaha!"
Suddenly, Sengoku laughed without warning.
But there was no joy in that laughter. Only a kind of indescribable bitterness and relief.
After it continued for several seconds, it was replaced by a deep sigh.
"Forget it..."
"Uh?" Garp turned his head and looked at Sengoku. What was wrong with this guy? Had he been hit too hard? Sengoku, don't be like this. You're scaring me!
Of course, there was another person whose emotions were especially rich.
That was Whitebeard, who was currently standing on the only reef by the shore.
At this moment, he was looking up at Ron on the sea. The muscles on his face twitched slightly, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously pulled downward.
'Ron, you bastard. I'm still here, you know? Are you really not considering me at all?'
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The moment explosive sounds rang across the surroundings, Whitebeard knew this bastard Ron truly did not treat him as human.
When seven Tailed Beast Bombs fired at the same time, Whitebeard also leaped up, jumping toward the sea and toward the nine-tailed fox demon.
"Bastard Ron, catch me!" Whitebeard shouted.
Ron froze for a second. He had still been charging power, preparing for a third round, but when he heard that shout, his movements paused.
One chakra arm rapidly extended. Its golden energy hand reached out like a giant python and accurately grabbed Whitebeard by the waist in midair. Then it quickly withdrew, pulling him to Ron's side.
Boom, boom, boom!
At the same time, violent explosions came one after another on the island.
Seven Tailed Beast Bombs landed almost simultaneously. Firelight shot into the sky, dyeing the entire sky dark red.
Mushroom clouds bloomed one after another, and shockwaves swept everything away with gravel and scorched earth.
The aftermath rolled over, raising an enormous wall of water that slapped toward the nine-tailed fox demon.
"Why did you come over?" Ron asked in surprise.
The muscles on Whitebeard's face twitched. Listen to that. Was that a human question? If he did not come over, was he supposed to wait there and get caught in the blast?
"What do you think?" Whitebeard asked back irritably.
"Hahahaha!" Ron laughed lightly. "Sorry. I just wanted to test the power. I had absolutely no intention of stealing your opponent."
"Huh? You idiot, what are you talking about?" Whitebeard cursed in fury. "I think you were trying to kill me too!"
Ron paused, then immediately defended himself. "No, no... I just thought it shouldn't affect you."
After all, the man before him was the future "Strongest Man in the World." A few mere Tailed Beast Bombs should... be something he could endure, right?
"What do you mean it wouldn't affect me?" Whitebeard's voice changed from anger. He pointed at Ron's fox face. "I'm flesh and blood too! I can die too! You idiot!"
At this moment, Whitebeard had finally understood. This bastard Ron looked harmless, always smiling and easy to talk to, but in truth, he was far more dangerous than the others aboard the Rocks Pirates.
At least other people's hostility was laid out openly. Ron, this little bastard, specialized in "I don't care who you are, die together with the enemy."
"Hahahaha!" Ron was amused by Whitebeard's furious appearance.
"Can you stop laughing? That smile of yours is making my hair stand on end, bastard."
After a pause, Whitebeard added, "Also, those two bastards Stussy and Kaido ran away. If we don't catch up now, we'll have to figure out how to leave by ourselves later."
Ron subconsciously looked back. At the edge of his vision, a tiny secondary boat was sailing at full speed, almost becoming a small black dot he could no longer see clearly.
"What the hell?"
Ron blurted out a classic curse. 'I treat you like a brother, and you play mind games with me?'
"You seem very surprised," Whitebeard said indifferently.
"Uh..." Ron hesitated for a few seconds, then laughed softly. "Not really."
Indeed, not really.
It was not as if Ron did not know the Rocks Pirates' style.
On the contrary, if someone waited in place for you to return despite the risks, you should not sigh emotionally and say, "This person has turned over a new leaf." You should be on guard and wonder whether that bastard had been possessed.
"Do you still want to test your strength?" Whitebeard asked again, sweeping his gaze over the island.
Ron gently shook his head.
Actually, he had already finished testing it.
With his current strength, the Tailed Beast Bomb was already enough to bring effective damage to Garp and Sengoku.
There was little meaning in continuing to tangle with them here. After all, Sengoku and Garp were not pushovers either. If they truly fought to the death, Ron's side might not gain much advantage.
"Then let's go," Whitebeard said slowly. "Any later, and we won't even know which direction to start chasing."
"Mm."
Ron answered and exerted force under his feet, racing across the sea.
-------------------------------------
A short while later.
On the battlefield riddled with holes, smoke and dust lingered everywhere and refused to disperse.
The air was filled with the smell of burning and gunpowder, mixed together so strongly it made people cough.
Sengoku, whose clothes no longer had a single intact spot, sat on a scorched black boulder. Messy wounds covered his body. His eyes were dim and lifeless. He said nothing, only sat motionlessly while looking at the gradually calming sea in the distance.
Garp, whose clothes were also torn, stood beside Sengoku with both hands on his hips, looking out to sea. His mental state was clearly much better than Sengoku's.
"Sengoku, what are you so depressed about?" Garp said with a smile. "It's not like we've never failed before. If you're worried about accountability, just push it all onto me."
At this point, Garp's expression suddenly became more serious, and his gaze sank slightly.
"But... we did underestimate that bastard called Ron."
Indeed. With a lineup of Whitebeard, Kaido, Stussy, and Ochoku, they definitely should not have been able to come, rob, and leave cleanly.
But no one expected that a bug named Ron, who was not afraid of seawater and could even treat the sea like flat ground, would appear.
Because of this one person, the entire battle situation was completely rewritten.
Sengoku still did not speak.
He only slowly raised his head and looked at Garp. His lips moved, then closed again.
From today onward, the name "Ron" would be circled heavily in red on Marine Headquarters' high-level list.