"I won't stop! No one can hold me back!"
Luffy's eyes were bloodshot, but he showed no sign of retreating in the face of Aokiji.
The muscles in his legs tensed violently, his body twisted and stretched, and his legs, wrapped in thick Haki, swept out with immense force.
"Gomu-Gomu Rhino Gatling!"
The sharp leg wind tore through the air, carrying a powerful force straight toward Aokiji's face.
Faced with the ferocious attack, Aokiji's expression remained unchanged, his eyes cold as he parted his thin lips:
"Ice Age!"
In an instant, extreme cold erupted, and an overwhelming force of ice swept across the battlefield.
The frigid air instantly solidified the atmosphere, freezing the sea breeze. Layers of thick ice surged forth, encasing Luffy's entire body in an instant.
The fierce assault came to an abrupt halt. Luffy's body was firmly imprisoned within the thick, hard ice, his limbs unable to move.
Trapped in the icy cage, Luffy struggled with all his might, but he couldn't break free in the slightest.
At this moment, he had been instantly defeated by a serious Admiral!
"Calm down, Straw Hat," Aokiji said in a flat tone, his gaze calm as he looked at the completely frozen Luffy. He was trying to save his life this way, preventing him from dying at Akainu's hands.
But unexpected events always come without warning.
Just as Aokiji temporarily restrained Luffy and the situation stabilized slightly, Akainu, standing to the side, transformed his arm into magma and struck out fiercely.
"Great Eruption!"
Scalding magma tore through the sky, striking the thick ice encasing Luffy with pinpoint accuracy.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted.
The hard ice shattered instantly under the scorching heat of the magma. The fierce impact, accompanied by rolling waves of heat, sent Luffy flying violently out of the ice.
Luffy crashed heavily onto the shattered ground, old wounds layered with new ones. Large areas of his skin were burned and torn open, blood dripping everywhere.
Having endured freezing, burning, and the heavy blow of magma, his body, already pushed to its limits, completely gave out.
His eyes slowly lost their light, and he lost all ability to fight. He lay in a pool of blood, breathless, as if dead.
Witnessing this scene, Aokiji erupted in fury. The cold air around him surged violently as he shouted angrily at Akainu:
"Sakazuki, what are you doing!"
Faced with Aokiji's questioning, Akainu's expression remained unmoved.
His eyes were cold and unyielding, his tone indifferent:
"I am merely carrying out the Navy's duty—to execute heinous pirates. That is all.
In the face of absolute Justice, any personal feelings are insignificant."
Just as the two Admirals stood in direct confrontation, from the distant ruins, Garp, who had been unconscious and fallen to the ground, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Those cloudy, aged eyes no longer held any trace of gentleness. Instead, they were filled with boundless rage and icy killing intent.
An immense, violent, and surging Conqueror's Haki erupted from him, sweeping across all of Marineford like a storm.
The dark Haki crushed everything around. Weaker Navy soldiers and pirates instantly fainted and collapsed. The sea churned violently, and the ground trembled incessantly. The invisible pressure even made the Three Admirals feel a heavy weight in their hearts.
On the execution platform, Sengoku's expression changed drastically. Sensing the uncontrolled aura emanating from Garp, he hurried forward, reaching out to restrain the enraged Garp while shouting urgently to dissuade him:
"Garp, calm down, get a hold of yourself!
Remember your identity—you are a Marine Vice Admiral, a pillar of the Navy. You absolutely cannot lose control here!"
But at this moment, Garp was already consumed by overwhelming rage and despair, ignoring Sengoku's pleas. His killing intent was firmly locked onto Akainu, every muscle in his body tensed, ready to erupt at any moment.
Sensing this murderous intent, Akainu's face turned pale, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.
He knew all too well just how terrifying a completely unhinged Garp could be.
If this veteran top-tier powerhouse were to attack him without restraint, given his own combat strength, he might not be able to withstand it—there was even a high chance he could fall on the spot.
What was even more terrifying was that if Garp were to openly turn against the Navy and attack a Navy Admiral, the morale of the Marine forces would collapse.
If that happened, the Navy would undoubtedly lose this Summit War.
For a long time, Garp had been desperately holding back.
If it were only Ace facing death, he might have been able to suppress his personal feelings with the Justice he had upheld his entire life, silently enduring this heart-wrenching pain and living on alone with regret and guilt.
But now, Akainu was pressing forward relentlessly, determined to kill Luffy, forcing him to watch both his grandsons perish at Marineford.
If even the last trace of his bloodline were severed, if these two kind-hearted, pure children—who had never committed any great evil—were to die tragically before his eyes...
Then what meaning would there be in the Justice he had upheld his entire life?
What purpose would there be for him to go on living alone in this world?
In this moment, the weight of family temporarily outweighed the Justice ingrained in his bones.
The world believed pirates to be heinous villains, but in Garp's eyes, Luffy and Ace had never been evil.
They sailed the seas, chasing freedom and dreams, and along the way, they had saved countless innocent people time and again.
Kind-hearted, loyal, and righteous, their actions were far purer than those of the corrupt Celestial Dragons and the shadowy World Government.
They were merely adventurers yearning for distant horizons—they should not be branded as pirates, nor should they die so tragically in this merciless war.
Intense killing intent coalesced into form as Garp slowly clenched his fists. Layers of pitch-black Armament Color stacked upon his body, every inch of muscle brimming with destructive power.
He began to move, step by step, toward Akainu. A deadly battle that could overturn the entire war was about to erupt.
Just as the situation was on the verge of complete collapse, a low, rhythmic, and strangely melodic drumming sound suddenly began to echo, without warning.
Thump... thump... thump...
Thump... thump... thump!!
The rhythm was slow yet powerful, as if it originated from the distant heavens or emanated from deep within Luffy's body. It echoed clearly across the skies of Marineford, piercing through the clamor of battle and reaching the ears of everyone present.
Though hearing it for the first time, everyone instinctively felt that this drumming contained freedom.
This was the drumming of freedom!
Everyone paused their actions, instinctively turning their gaze toward the source of the sound.
The next moment, Luffy, who lay unconscious in a pool of blood, began to tremble and rise faintly.
From his blood-stained body, faint yet peculiar wisps of white light slowly seeped out from within him.
The glow was soft yet radiant, carrying an indescribable vitality as it gently enveloped his battered and wounded form.
The originally lifeless and dull black hair began to drift slowly, with strands of white hair quietly emerging.
His weary face gradually relaxed, the pain and despair between his brows completely fading away, replaced by a strange, lazy, casual, and free-spirited aura.
The wounds covering his entire body healed at a visible rate.
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