HST: Chapter 317/318

Chapter 317: Grandfather and Grandson

On the other side, five division captains of the Whitebeard Pirates, more than a dozen captains of subordinate pirate crews, and Luffy joined forces to attack the execution platform.

That was right, Luffy, who had been training with Rayleigh in the Sabaody Archipelago, had boarded Whitebeard's ship at some point and wanted to save Ace together with Whitebeard.

Because there was no Hancock to lead Luffy into Impel Down, he could only follow Whitebeard straight into Marine Headquarters to rescue Ace.

At this time, Luffy and the captains of Whitebeard's subordinate crews attacked the execution platform.

Their direct opponents were Garp and Aokiji.

To be precise, a dozen captains of Whitebeard's subordinate crews and division captains were besieging Aokiji together.

Luffy was dealing with Garp alone. The rookie pirate defending against the Navy hero alone made for a stark contrast.

"You stinky old man, why are you stopping me! Let me go, I want to save Ace!"

Luffy's body turned red as white steam continuously poured off him.

In Gear Second, blood circulated at high speed throughout the body, doubling one's strength.

"I am a Marine. I cannot move out of the way."

Garp spoke with difficulty, his face full of pain.

He treated Ace as his own grandson, no different from Luffy.

He also wanted to save Ace, but his identity as a Marine prevented him from doing so.

With the possibility of Luffy's arrival and the death of his two grandsons, he could not sit still any longer. He stopped Luffy because he feared others would kill him.

"Then I'll knock you away, you old bastard. I want to save Ace!" Luffy's face was grim, and he shouted firmly, "Gum-Gum Bazooka!"

He swung his fists at Garp, and his rubber-enhanced arms shot forward violently.

Like cannonballs fired from a gun, they created rings of sonic booms in the air.

Garp clenched his fists and looked at the charging Luffy with anguish. "I will not let you pass. I already told you to become Marines. Why don't you ever listen?"

If his two grandsons had become Marines instead of pirates, today would not have happened.

Why would these two not listen?

One was captured as a pirate, and the other rushed over to die.

Brotherly love was precious, but Luffy's arrival was only adding another life at stake.

Within a day, one grandson was certain to die, and the other was not far from it.

The fire in his heart raged. He was on the verge of going mad.

Garp swung his fist angrily, the muscles in his thick arms bulging.

He launched a fierce uppercut.

The air howled, and a strong wind kicked up from the ground.

Boom.

The fists collided, and Luffy's Gear Second punch had no resistance at all.

Garp's fist pressed Luffy's arms into his abdomen, and then the remaining force poured into Luffy's body.

The stone floor of the execution square exploded. A large crater opened beneath Luffy, and debris flew everywhere.

"Khah…"

Luffy's eyes bulged as his limbs jerked upward.

His belly where Garp had struck thinned like paper. It looked terrifying.

However, as soon as Garp withdrew his fist, Luffy stood up from the pit, full of energy.

A punch without Haki could not cause real damage to a rubber man.

At this time, Garp's attack was not as powerful as the Armament Haki-coated Iron Fist of Love back in Foosha Village.

"I will not give up!" Luffy stood, looked at Ace on the execution platform, and shouted, "Ace, wait for me, I will rescue you!"

"Luffy! What are you doing here, you idiot! You are going to die!"

Ace looked at Luffy and at the Whitebeard Pirates fighting because of him and felt endless regret.

If he had not acted impulsively, and had instead brought two captains with him to pursue Blackbeard, perhaps today's outcome would have been different.

But the mistake had been made, and there was no point in regretting it.

"Ace, you are the idiot. As a pirate, you got captured by the Marines. No one is more stupid than you!" Luffy flashed his two rows of white teeth at Ace, laughed, and said, "Don't worry, I will rescue you, idiot!"

"Luffy…"

Ace looked at Luffy and could not help but burst into tears.

"Garp, you old bastard! Stop blocking my way to save Ace!" Luffy blew air into his arm and shouted, "Gear Third, Gum-Gum Giant Pistol!"

Luffy's right arm expanded rapidly like a balloon. In the blink of an eye, it became a giant fist larger than a person.

With elasticity behind it, the giant fist blasted toward Garp.

A massive roar rang in his ears. The power of this punch was even stronger than a giant's.

"…"

Garp's eyes were lifeless.

He raised his fist mechanically and struck Luffy.

Once again, Luffy was knocked back, but he quickly got up and charged again.

Next to them, more than a dozen captains of Whitebeard's subordinate crews were struggling under Aokiji's oppression.

Seven more ice sculptures stood around them, including the 10th Division Captain, Curiel, the 11th Division Captain, Kingdew, the 7th Division Captain, Rakuyo, and three captains of affiliated crews.

These pirates had watched Garp and Luffy fight for a long time, with lots of noise but little damage, and they grew interested.

"The Navy hero Garp cannot even beat a kid. He is too old to use Haki. Let's break through him!"

A pirate yelled to his teammates.

In his view, Luffy's strength was decent, but still far inferior to the New World's pirate captains.

If even Luffy could fight Garp to a standstill, then they could definitely beat Garp.

Besides, this old man had not used Haki at all. He must be too old to use it.

"Okay! Let's start with that old guy!"

The other pirates nodded.

Those being beaten badly by Aokiji immediately sent some people to deal with Garp.

"…"

Aokiji shook his head and, with a backhand, froze the 9th Division Captain, Blenheim.

Luffy did not get hurt because he was family. What was their relationship with Garp?

"Shark Punch!"

"Elephant Flying Kick!"

"One Sword Style, Tornado Slash!"

The pirates unleashed various techniques and attacked Garp all at once.

"Damn pirates!" Garp's lifeless eyes suddenly sharpened, and all the muscles in his body tensed. "Galaxy Impact!"

Garp clenched his fingers into fists, veins bulging on the backs of his hands.

Jet-black Armament Haki covered his fists.

Then he suddenly leaped up.

He dropped again at tremendous speed, his momentum peaking as he fell.

"Crap!"

The pirates who rushed to besiege him were stunned, staring at Garp as if they had seen a ghost.

Just now, those fists were pale, with no sign of Haki.

How had they suddenly turned as black as ink?

That flowing texture was clearly the advanced Armament Haki, Ryuo.

This old man was devious. He had deliberately shown weakness to lower their guard.

Boom.

Garp's iron fists finally landed.

The massive impact area covered all the attacking pirates.

After a thunderous roar.

A huge crater was smashed into the ground, and several pirates were beaten unconscious. Their internal organs were severely damaged, and blood continued to spill from the corners of their mouths.

If possible, they would report him to the Admiral.

This old guy had been faking it and slacking off.

"Is there anyone else who can support us?"

The pirates knew they were powerless against Garp and could not help but look around.

However, everywhere they looked, members of the Whitebeard Pirates were fighting, and people were falling with every passing moment.

There were forty-six subordinate pirate crews under Whitebeard and sixteen divisions directly under him.

Each pirate was being attacked by at least twice as many enemies.

Occasionally, they held a numerical advantage, such as when more than a dozen of them besieged an Admiral together.

There was only one person who truly held the upper hand on the field.

That was Whitebeard, who had taken the life-risking drug and was fighting Akainu.

"Pops, will you win?"

The pirates looked at the towering figure and fell into uncertainty.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 318: The True Threat

At Marine Headquarters, where the fighting was fiercest.

Whitebeard and Akainu were battling, and the terrifying shockwaves between them were the core of the entire battlefield.

Whitebeard, already in his twilight years, had taken a life-risking drug that compressed his remaining lifespan, erupting with terrifying power in this moment.

Akainu, fighting against him, was almost being suppressed by Whitebeard.

Akainu was not displeased at all. Instead, he grew more excited as the fight went on.

Even if he was sent flying, he would only roar and continue fighting.

He could see that Whitebeard was at the end of his strength, and every strike consumed his vitality.

Whitebeard, you cannot hold on much longer.

Akainu's right arm turned into magma.

Scorching magma gushed from his arm.

Under his control, the magma transformed into a ferocious hellhound, howling at Whitebeard.

The air filled with the pungent sulfur stench of magma.

"Air Shock!"

Whitebeard struck the void with his left hand.

Accompanied by a sound like war drums.

The atmosphere was directly shaken and cracked, and everything in his path shattered under the terrifying power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

The magma hound was smashed apart, bursting into fragments of red-hot lava that scattered everywhere.

One shockwave after another blasted the scattered magma into the most densely packed areas of the Marines.

Lava fell from the sky like a meteor shower.

The Marines trying to surround them were battered by the shockwaves and magma. Before they could even get close, they were already gravely disabled.

"Damn it!"

Seeing this, Akainu's expression darkened.

Whitebeard's attack range was so large that it constantly caused trouble for other parts of the battlefield.

At this moment, Akainu no longer held back. Magma surged from his body as he engaged Whitebeard in close combat.

"Hell Dog!"

Magma rolled across Akainu's body, surging from his arms and condensing into a ferocious canine head lunging at Whitebeard. The magma hound was coated in jet-black Armament Haki.

Whitebeard gripped his naginata with both hands, black and purple Haki wrapped around the blade.

The two clashed fiercely. The deep red glow of magma and the violent quakes of the atmosphere spread across the battlefield.

The sky above was half dyed red, and the other half was shattered like a broken mirror.

As the strongest Admiral of the current era, Akainu had the power to contend with Whitebeard.

Even though Whitebeard had taken the life-risking drug and regained his prime for a short time, Akainu was still unafraid.

He even wanted to laugh. Compared to the battle during the siege of Caelan at the Sabaody Archipelago, Whitebeard's pressure was far from enough.

Back then, he, Kizaru, and Garp had besieged the enemy, yet were pushed back step by step by Caelan.

Now, facing Whitebeard alone, he was nowhere near as tense as he had been then.

So at that time, Caelan had already far surpassed the so-called world's strongest, Whitebeard?

Akainu felt a sense of urgency.

What was Whitebeard? After he became Fleet Admiral, only that man would be his true opponent.

With this thought, Akainu's attacks became even more frenzied.

Like a mad dog, he bit down on Whitebeard without letting up.

Clearly, Akainu was at a disadvantage in raw strength, yet he displayed an overwhelming ferocity, making it look as if he was suppressing Whitebeard.

In truth, it would have been easier to win by using Observation Haki to evade and delay. But with the Five Elders watching, he had to perform, to fight Whitebeard to the death and gain more leverage for the position of Fleet Admiral.

Pirates and Marines alike watched the two from the corners of their eyes and were stunned.

It was clearly just a duel between two men, yet it had become a natural disaster.

Every exchange between them had the power to kill thousands.

Numbers seemed meaningless before truly powerful individuals.

"Is that Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world? Even in his old age and frailty, he is still unbelievably powerful!"

Countless Marines looked at the towering figure gripping his naginata with awe.

It had nothing to do with sides. It was an instinctive respect for overwhelming power.

Even with Akainu holding him back, Whitebeard still dealt massive damage to Marine Headquarters, and countless Marines died in the aftermath of their battle.

It was not hard to imagine that if there were no equally powerful foes to stop him, the entire one hundred thousand elite Marines would not be enough for him to slaughter alone.

"Fortunately, we have Admiral Akainu!"

Then, the Marines set their sights on the crimson figure madly attacking Whitebeard, their eyes burning with fervor.

Facing the mighty Whitebeard, Admiral Akainu did not retreat, he advanced.

That courage and strength were a model for all Marines.

The pirates who saw this were filled with despair.

Their invincible "Dad," Whitebeard, was being held back by a single Admiral.

On the battlefield, their division captains and the captains of subordinate crews were defeated under the assaults of the two Admirals, Kizaru and Aokiji.

On the high platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku sat quietly, without making a move.

"We are finished!"

The Whitebeard Pirates knew their fate.

Their morale did not drop. It burned even higher.

Pirates are all men who stake their lives. If they were going to die, they would take a bite out of the enemy first.

"Fight the Marines!"

"Let them see the consequences of provoking the Four Emperors!"

"Even if I die, I will not let you have an easy victory!"

Fifty thousand pirates were reduced by thirty thousand, and the ones left were all the ruthless ones.

Their eyes were bloodshot as they attacked the Marines with growing ferocity.

Even though the Marines' strength was more than double in every aspect, it was not so easy to wipe them out.

…

Sengoku and Tsuru sat on the high platform before the execution stand.

They did not take action, only coordinated the overall situation in case of emergencies.

Naturally, those emergencies could involve Caelan, Shanks, and others.

Sengoku looked over the chaotic battlefield and frowned. "This is really a headache. We set up traps, yet the losses are still too great."

They were fighting on home ground, with the advantage of time, location, and logistics.

Even so, it would still cost a heavy price to completely eliminate the Whitebeard Pirates.

At least thirty thousand of the one hundred thousand Marines would die, and the remaining seventy thousand would at least be injured.

"Sengoku, this is a necessary price. At least from today on, one of the Four Emperors will be completely gone, and the sinful bloodline of the Pirate King will come to an end."

Tsuru offered some comfort.

"I understand that, but I still feel sorry for those fallen Marines." Sengoku looked at the bodies of Marines on the ground and could not help but ache with grief.

These were elite troops drawn from all over, officers at their original posts.

Now they were falling in droves here. It was truly a pity.

"…"

Tsuru did not know how to comfort Sengoku.

She felt the pain as well.

If a declining Whitebeard was this difficult to deal with, how terrifying would Caelan, who was still on the rise, be?

(To be continued.)