Chapter 156

When Jin Ni, Fuz Fuh, and Rossyndi retreated to the Eastern Sea Emperor at an altitude of ten thousand meters.

The moment three meteorites plummeted from the sky, the battle between the Navy's admirals and the Morning Star Pirates erupted without hesitation.

But it was not entirely one-on-one duels.

The Golden Lion vowed to wash away the shame of having been defeated by Karp and Sengoku while not in his full lion state, and he held both Karp and Sengoku off single-handedly.

Mihawk faced Hiyori, proving to Saint Saint Saiwen that he would never lose again.

Master Tenghu continued his battle with Aokiji.

Bear and Yuzhi Xiliu joined forces to block Garen Saint.

Lei Li clashed with Nase Shourou Saint in fierce combat.

Tie Lei transformed into a lightning squirrel form and matched Zefa, in his half-crippled state, in raw strength.

Akainu, brimming with murderous intent, surged toward Saint Saint Saiwen with molten lava jetting from his back.

"Ming Gou."

Ming Gou is a technique that rapidly extends the molten-armored limb to strike the enemy—its speed is extraordinary, and its power is unmatched.

In the original manga, Akainu used this move to obliterate half of Whitebeard's face in one blow.

It was clear that Akainu's murderous intent had never been so intense—he opened with his ultimate technique, showing no intention to warm up.

Saint Saint Saiwen also unleashed his full power.

First, he drew his sword, Mengxiang Yixin, from his chest; crimson-black lightning ravaged the battlefield, turning him into a human shockwave device that blocked all enemy Kenbunshoku perception.

Facing the so-called Half-Head Fist technique,

Saint Saint Saiwen did not dodge or evade—he caught the punch squarely with his thunderous hand.

His other hand swung out the instant Wu Xiang Yi Dao, but Akainu barely dodged it by instinct.

"Tch. Low-class Navy."

Akainu paid no heed to the taunt—he swung his molten iron fist again, charging forth with overwhelming murderous intent and boundless hatred.

"Ming Gou!"

After enduring Master Tenghu's three meteorites, Akainu knew the fifty thousand Navy soldiers and the hundred Celestials were already dead; when the Morning Star Pirates' interns retreated, they took only Elaine Saint with them.

Fifty thousand Navy soldiers!

One hundred Celestials!

For how many years had the Navy and the World Government never suffered such a catastrophic loss?

As the architect of this Shumon Plan, Akainu knew that even if he succeeded in killing Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen, the World Government would still hold him accountable.

One hundred Celestials could not die in vain.

Even Rossyndi… had been forced by Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen to kill two Celestials.

He could never return to the Navy.

He could only spend the rest of his life as a pirate.

If so, then let him fight until death.

There are no Navy Admirals locked in Impel Down—only Navy Admirals who die on the battlefield.

Even if he had to sacrifice his life, he would eliminate Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen to give the Navy's next generation hope.

To win hope for the Age of Great Pirates, not merely to grovel under the tyranny of the seas.

Akainu fought with his life, burning his very existence to gain a brief surge of fury.

And he used no other techniques—only those with narrow range but extreme concentration, capable of piercing through targets and leaving nothing but death or grievous injury—

"Ming Gou!"

Saint Saint Saiwen, meanwhile, used his Suishui Fruit ability to slowly comprehend the effects of the Magma Fruit—how to develop and utilize it, how to simulate the Magma Fruit with his own Suishui Fruit.

For a time, neither gained the upper hand.

This further strengthened Akainu's confidence—he believed that since the Ohara Shumon two years ago, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's power had not significantly improved.

If he fought hard enough, he would surely leave Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen dead in Marineford.

If he could trap Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen here, even dying in battle would be worth it.

His life as Akainu had never betrayed the Navy.

Rampaging crimson-black Haki, searing magma iron fists, flying slashes that pierced the earth, freezing waves, light-energy shockwaves, golden Buddha forms…

Marineford became a hellish slaughterhouse, a meat grinder devouring the lives of Navy soldiers.

Even though Akainu longed to save them,

the fifty thousand elite Navy soldiers, unconscious, were being continuously sliced, shredded, and annihilated by the residual shockwaves of the battles raging around them.

The stench of blood saturated Marineford; severed limbs and scattered body parts littered the ground.

Akainu's eyes bled—he abandoned all defense, concentrating every ounce of his Armament Haki into his magma iron fist, resolved to trade his life for Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's.

He hated himself even more for lacking Conqueror's Haki.

If he ever got the chance, he would unleash a Ming Gou at this cruel heaven and ask it why he could never awaken Conqueror's Haki.

"Ming Gou."

"Red Gou."

As Akainu swung his magma iron fist again, he froze in horror—Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen had used the exact same Ming Gou… Red Gou.

Worse still, Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen's arm had transformed into identical bubbling magma.

"Surprised? Shocked?"

Akainu hesitated for a second—Saint Saint Saiwen seized the opening with perfect precision and struck him with an instant Wu Xiang Yi Dao, sending him flying hundreds of meters, spewing blood.

Compared to Lox's single slash that killed a civilian Admiral, Saint Saint Saiwen felt he still had room to improve.

Of course, perhaps it had something to do with Akainu not being a civilian Admiral but the strongest among the Three Admirals in overall power,

Replacing him with a civilian admiral, Saint Saint Saiwen would almost certainly stab him through with one slash.

Saint Saint Saiwen vanished in an instant, pressing the advantage, vowing to kill Akainu on the spot and eliminate the threat forever.

More accurately, Saint Saint Saiwen didn't dislike Akainu; from the perspective of civilians or the Navy, Akainu was better than ninety-nine percent of the Navy.

This war was merely a matter of opposing positions.

The Navy sought to exterminate the Morning Star Pirates mostly to crush the threat in its cradle.

The World Government felt the same.

And Saint Saint Saiwen fought this battle to clearly tell the Navy and the World Government: the cost of provoking me is one you cannot bear.

Until the Navy and the World Government dare not provoke him again.

As for where Baki was right now, it didn't matter; with Elaine Saint in hand, he could always trade him back—Baki might suffer a bit, but that was all.

Only by making the Navy and the World Government feel pain could the Morning Star Pirates gain more time to grow, using Wano as a model to find a path of liberation suited to the pirate world.

Not by blindly copying.

Successfully simulating the Magma Fruit's ability using the Sui Sui Fruit's awakening confirmed Saint Saint Saiwen's hypothesis—

If the existence of countless worlds and cross-dimensional travel were possible, what wasn't?

Saint Saint Saiwen decided to kick a man when he was down.

Kick Akainu, who had lost because he'd distracted himself for a second.

Of course, such an opportunity had maximum effect only the first time; after the Navy learned of it, the impact would greatly diminish.

After all, unless he had known beforehand—

No one could imagine that their own Devil Fruit ability could be mimicked.

After Akainu was struck by the Instant Wu Xiang Yi Dao, Saint Saint Saiwen flashed forward and unleashed two more Instant Wu Xiang Yi Dao strikes, reducing Akainu to the brink of death.

Four slashes to kill a military admiral was enough.

Just as Saint Saint Saiwen prepared to finish off Akainu, he sensed Akainu's critical injuries—Karp broke off his duel with the Golden Lion and rushed over at full speed.

"Barzab, stop now."

"Stop?!"

Saint Saint Saiwen felt as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Mr. Karp."

"I once wanted to be a good man, but you never gave me the chance."

As he spoke, Saint Saint Saiwen drew the bone-removing knife Baki had gifted him, precisely inserting it into Akainu's eye socket, plucking out an eyeball, and burning it to ash with flame.

"Since you won't give me a chance—"

"Then let us all perish together."

Saint Saint Saiwen then plucked out Akainu's other eyeball and burned it to ash with the same fire.

Doesn't the Navy need a blind admiral?

Master Tenghu had already been healed by Saint Saint Saiwen; Akainu, before dying, could temporarily serve as the blind admiral.

By the time Karp launched his attack, Saint Saint Saiwen had already burned both of Akainu's eyeballs to ash using his speed advantage.

"Wuxian Quan Gu: Conflict."

Saint Saint Saiwen held his blade in one hand, blocking the iron fist, while his other hand, adorned with the Imperial Artifact Water Dragon's Possession, targeted Akainu's body and controlled his blood.

The blood surged like a dam breached, spewing from three deep wounds cutting into Akainu's bones.

"Barzab!!!"

The sight of his old friend Sakaski's agony sent Akainu into a rage, cursing himself for not having had the heart to arrest and imprison Barzab in Impel Down back then.

Back then, he'd been too soft.

Because of his ambiguous justice, and because of Barzab's claims about the hundred-year blank history, he'd chosen to let Barzab go.

And now his old friend Akainu suffered this fate.

The Yellow Emperor lunged forward with a lightning kick, yet it struck layer upon layer of barriers—no matter how hard he tried, he could not advance.

Even Karp's iron fist was blocked.

"Conqueror's Haki Defense?!"

The only way to break Conqueror's Haki Defense is to wield Conqueror's Haki stronger than the user's own.

Back at the God Valley—

The demonized Rocks used Conqueror's Haki Defense to force Karp and Roger to pour all their Haki into their strongest attack before finally defeating Rocks.

Karp instantly reacted.

"Porusarino, stop the Golden Lion—only Conqueror's Haki can break Conqueror's Haki Defense."