Chapter 249

For him.

The one who killed Doflamingo…

was his benefactor.

…………

"Bear…"

Ivankov stared at Bartholomew Kuma blocking in front of him, his pupils contracting sharply.

Former companions, now enemies on the battlefield.

"If you could travel, where would you want to go?"

Bartholomew Kuma looked at Ivankov and spoke, his voice mechanical.

Ivankov's eyes welled up, a line of tears spilling over.

"Absolutely! I will absolutely rescue you!"

……

Whoosh!

A dark-green slash shot up from the frozen inner bay, and the elite Marines and Whitebeard Pirates ahead were all sent flying by the sword pressure carried within that slash.

Hawkeye, gripping the world's greatest black sword, walked step by step toward the battlefield between Whitebeard and Akainu.

……………………

Under the gaze of the entire world.

The Summit War, which had escalated to a white-hot stage around 'Fire Fist' Ace, grew ever more chaotic and fierce.

The Marines held the advantage in combat power, but those advantages could not decide the outcome in the face of Luo En's extraordinary strength and the unexpected reinforcements of Sabo and Luffy.

Until this war reached its very end, the result was hard to predict.

Up to now, not a single person at or above quasi-Admiral level on either side had died.

The turning point that would decide the war's outcome had yet to arrive.

……

Beneath the execution platform.

"So strong!"

Panting heavily, Luffy stared at the Green Bull and Peach Rabbit ahead, his eyes full of strain.

"One quasi-Admiral level, and one with Admiral-level strength, huh…"

Sabo stared fixedly at the two, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Just the two of us, Luffy and me, absolutely cannot break through here."

His gaze swept backward.

Ivankov and Jinbe were both tied down; Zoro, Sanji, and the others were also mired in bitter fighting.

"Could it be… that it ends right here?!"

Sabo looked toward Ace on the execution platform, teeth clenched, face full of unwillingness.

"We're in the middle of a fight here — looking around isn't a good idea."

Green Bull appeared before Sabo with astonishing speed, throwing a straight punch.

Even though Sabo crossed his arms, hardened with Armament Haki, in front of him to block, he was still sent flying back dozens of meters by the punch, both arms trembling ceaselessly.

One could see just how powerful that punch was.

"What on earth is this guy's background?"

Sabo stared fixedly at the Green Bull in the distance, who wore a casual expression.

Tall and burly, draped in a Justice coat, with long green curly hair, Green Bull stroked his chin, looked at him, and grinned: "Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff — you're Sabo, right?"

"I'm quite interested in your leader, Dragon. He didn't come this time?"

Sabo's eyes narrowed.

215. Huang Yuan… is dead!

Not far away.

"Straw Hat kid — Vice Admiral Garp's grandson, huh."

Peach Rabbit easily dodged the machine-gun punches Luffy sent at her after activating Gear Second, looked at the Luffy before her, and smiled: "You know Luo En, don't you?"

"So what? Gum-Gum…"

"But why is your current strength not even on par with his when he was fourteen? At this rate, you won't be able to save your brother Ace."

Peach Rabbit tilted her head to evade his kick, thrust the hilt of her longsword forward, and struck him squarely in the chest; Luffy was sent flying backward at once.

"Cough!"

Luffy, sent flying backward, stared at Ace on the execution platform — a distance of barely a hundred meters, yet it felt as distant as if he could never reach it no matter what.

"Is the gap in strength really this huge?!"

For the first time, the usually carefree, confident, and optimistic Luffy felt his own weakness deeply.

He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, tightened his fists, and let out a soul-deep, unwilling roar from the depths of his throat.

"Dammit!!"

A strange power erupted from his body.

That was an awakened Conqueror's Haki.

Although far inferior to Luo En's Conqueror's Haki, the moment it erupted, it directly intimidated the surrounding Marine elites whose wills were not firm enough; everyone in the plaza, feeling that Conqueror's Haki, turned their heads to look that way.

When they saw that the Conqueror's Haki came from Straw Hat Luffy.

Sabo, Jinbe, Ivankov, Zoro, Sanji, as well as Marines like Momonga and Onigumo, all showed looks of surprise.

"Conqueror's Haki... so it actually came from that straw-hat Luffy?"

Wusong was somewhat stunned.

"Luffy..."

Ace also stared blankly at Luffy — in just this short time, he had already grown to this extent...

"Does that kid also have the qualifications of a king?"

Sengoku on the execution platform narrowed his eyes, killing intent stirring within him: "Indeed, I cannot let him continue to live."

"Sengoku."

Vice Admiral Tsuru turned her head to look at him, her brows slightly furrowed.

"Xiao He, the lesson I learned from that Luo En is... no matter how small the spark, you cannot let it burn unchecked! Garp's grandson is no exception."

Sengoku's burly figure, draped in the Justice coat, rapidly expanded, and in an instant transformed into a golden Buddha blazing with golden light. He raised a palm and slammed it down toward Luffy below the execution platform.

In Sabo, Ace, and Garp's drastically contracted pupils—

That powerful shockwave, wrapped in killing intent, crashed down onto Luffy with a thunderous roar.

Boom!

The air twisted, and the ground within a hundred meters around cracked inch by inch beneath that shockwave.

When the gale and dust scattered—

A massive crater appeared on the spot, and Luffy lay bathed in blood at its very depths.

Whether alive or dead, unknown.

Ace saw this scene, his pupils contracting to a single point in an instant.

"Luffy!"

Sengoku suddenly attacking the straw-hat boy was beyond everyone's expectations.

Including Luo En, whose Observation Haki had enveloped the entire field — he too hadn't expected something like this to suddenly happen.

"Luffy..."

Sabo was furious beyond measure.

"It can't be..."

Zoro and Sanji stared in that direction, their eyes trembling violently.

"Luffy!"

Ace stared fixedly at that spot, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, nearly grinding every tooth in his mouth to dust.

"Sengoku..."

Garp looked toward Sengoku, who had transformed into a golden Buddha, and roared: "Why did you strike?!"