Luffy's Call: My Journey with the Straw Hats

"Oh, how scary!" Seeing Aokiji repelled, Kizaru stood up, his body gathering light as he prepared to fly down. Aokiji could no longer face Whitebeard alone; he needed support. Even with two Admirals, their opponent was still Whitebeard.

But just as he was about to act, a figure with a golden, pineapple-shaped pompadour leaped up from behind Whitebeard. Two wings of blue flame suddenly appeared on his back, and he soared into the air. The next moment, he was engulfed in blue flames, transforming into a massive bird that flew straight at Kizaru. He was so fast that Kizaru seemed stunned, and before he could react, the fiery bird kicked him.

"BOOM!" Kizaru was sent flying, crashing into a wall.

"I won't let you disturb our old man so easily," Marco said lightly.

"Marco, the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!" everyone gasped. He had actually kicked an Admiral away.

"It's an extremely rare Zoan-type Devil Fruit, a Mythical Zoan!" Sengoku's eyes narrowed. In this simple exchange, they were already at a disadvantage.

"Attack!" With Kizaru and Aokiji engaged, the war had officially begun. Countless Marines charged across the ice, their swords drawn, heading for the Whitebeard Pirates. A barrage of cannonballs flew through the air, piercing the sky and falling onto the battlefield. The Whitebeard Pirates roared and met the Navy head-on. They would rescue Ace.

"Where are we?"

"Buggy, your foot is on my ass!"

"You damn rubber bastard! What the hell?!"

At that moment, high above Marineford, within a massive block of ice, Luffy and the others were frozen. The tsunami had lifted their ship into the air, and then Aokiji's attack had frozen it solid. Now, they were all trapped in the ice, crowded into a small space, unable to move.

"This is a tragedy!" Buggy and the others screamed, but there was nothing they could do.

Jinbe, remaining calm, noticed an icebreaker on the ship. But with his own power, breaking through the thick ice would take an eternity. Seeing this, everyone began to work together.

"Has the war begun?" Moonlight stood outside Impel Down, looking at the chaotic prison behind him and sighing. Blackbeard had reached the sixth level and released many ferocious criminals, recruiting them to his crew. Among them were prisoners whose strength was no less than Douglas Bullet's. These men, like tigers released from their cages, were now destroying everything in the prison. When they returned to the sea, the world would surely be plunged into chaos. But this was the general trend of the era, and he couldn't change it. A single Bullet was terrifying enough, let alone the others.

He jumped into the sea and, using Raptor's Air Rend, sprinted toward Marineford. There was still an hour until Ace's execution; he had enough time to make it. But as he left, he could already hear the terrifying sounds of battle echoing from Marineford. One hundred thousand Marines, tens of thousands of pirates, and many other powerful individuals were all fighting at once. The sound shattered the very clouds in the sky. Even from tens of miles away, he could hear it clearly. He didn't dare to delay and rushed toward the battlefield. No matter what, he had to save Ace.

A massive melee had erupted in Marineford Plaza. Though the Navy had one hundred thousand elites, the Whitebeard Pirates also had tens of thousands of men, and their fourteen commanders were all unique and terrifyingly powerful individuals. Men like "Flower Sword" Vista, "Diamond" Jozu, and Blamenco were capable of breaking through armies. The Navy had its own talented officers—Vice-Admirals Momonga, Doberman, Onigumo, and Yamakaji—but they were still no match for Whitebeard's commanders. The Warlords were there to balance the scales.

The Admirals were engaged with Whitebeard's top commanders: Aokiji against Whitebeard himself, and Kizaru against Marco. Neither Aokiji nor Marco were true opponents for their respective foes, but they were managing to hold them in a stalemate. The other pirates and Marines were locked in a life-or-death struggle, and the two sides were evenly matched. The Strongest Man in the World truly deserved his reputation.

Sengoku's expression was grim. As the commander-in-chief, he had to oversee the entire battle and couldn't join the fight himself. Garp stood with his head bowed, looking from Ace to the battle below, his thoughts unreadable. Only Akainu remained seated in his Admiral's chair, his expression dark and brooding.

At that moment, Whitebeard made another move. He swung his bisento, Murakumogiri, one of the twelve Supreme Grade swords, and the terrifying power of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit exploded outwards. Aokiji and Kizaru were both forced to retreat, but they were still injured by the shockwave. Aokiji was shattered into ice again, and Kizaru dissolved into light, reappearing a safe distance away.

"ROAR!" Seeing this, the pirates' morale surged. A giant ten meters tall, "Little" Oars Jr., holding a massive axe, charged toward Ace's execution platform, shaking off anyone who tried to stop him as if entering an empty land. Finally, looking at Akainu sitting before him, he lifted a block of ice the size of a mountain and hurled it down. "Ace!"

"Oars!" Ace cried out in response. The mountain of ice fell, covering most of the plaza. The power of a giant was truly terrifying.

"Look out!"

"Run away!"

The nearby Marines fled in terror. At that moment, Akainu stood up abruptly. "If you all run away, who will protect this place?" he roared. Magma rolled over his body, and he threw a punch. "Great Eruption!" His fist swelled to a massive size, becoming a super-sized fist of pure magma. The violent force shattered the massive iceberg, sending an endless shower of fireballs raining down on the battlefield.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Countless men were caught in the magma baptism. Not only that, but Akainu then turned into lava and flew into the sky. "The magma is flying!" everyone shouted in shock. Akainu punched the air, and countless meteorite-like magma fists fell toward the earth. "Meteor Volcano!"

The earth was suddenly shrouded in an infinite shower of mountain-sized magma meteors. Everywhere they landed, pirates and Marines alike were hit hard. When the meteor shower ended, the battlefield for a hundred meters around was a mess of craters and destruction. The casualties were immense.

Akainu's power was terrifying. Compared to Aokiji's ice and Kizaru's light, his magma was far more domineering and fierce. Of the three Admirals, Akainu was faintly the most dominant.

"Hiss! Admiral Akainu has made his move!"

"Too horrible!"

"He's even killing his own men!"

Countless men gasped at the terrifying scene. Many were frightened by Akainu's indiscriminate attacks. In addition to the pirates, many Marines had died under his assault.

"What a great magma brat," Whitebeard sighed, looking at the destruction. Akainu's strength had earned his notice. But only his notice.

"Whitebeard, you are just a loser from the last era!" At that moment, Akainu attacked. Terrifying magma jets shot out, turning the hundred-meter area around him into a world of lava. He threw a punch at the Strongest Man in the World without hesitation.

"Yes, I was a loser in the last era," Whitebeard laughed. "But don't be too arrogant, you magma punk!" He threw a punch of his own.

"Crack!" The void was filled with cracks, shaking and rolling. The earth in a hundred-meter radius instantly collapsed. Magma spurted indiscriminately, and gravel shot everywhere.

"Hound of the Red Lotus!" But at that moment, Akainu, carrying the terrifying force of the tremor, condensed his Armament Haki around his arm, his body rolling with magma. His right arm melted into a giant dog's head of lava, and he forcibly penetrated the force of the shockwave, biting at Whitebeard. He had actually blocked Whitebeard's tremor and still had room to attack.

"Pops!" the Whitebeard Pirates cried out in shock. The Navy's morale surged, and they cheered.

"Crack!" But the next moment, Whitebeard's other hand, holding Murakumogiri, swung down sharply. The lava dog's head was immediately shattered. Not only that, but Akainu himself, the ground behind him, and even the plaza all the way to Ace's execution platform were all severed by the blow. An extremely terrifying gap appeared in the battlefield.

And Akainu's body was cut in two.

"Hiss!"

"Admiral Akainu!"

"Too horrible!"

Everyone gasped at the sight.

"Is this the strength of the Strongest Man in the World?" Mihawk's pupils shrank. Doflamingo, Moria, Hancock, Kuma, Aokiji, Kizaru, Garp, and Sengoku all took a sharp breath. The world's strongest, indeed.

But after being chopped to pieces, Akainu did not die. Instead, he quickly reformed. He was a Logia user, and his fruit had been developed to its extreme. His Haki was also at its peak, making him almost immortal. Though Whitebeard was incredibly strong, he couldn't kill him in a single blow. But he had been injured. Blood dripped from his head.

Whitebeard was very strong. Compared to Roger, he may have been a loser, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. Akainu knew that unless he, Aokiji, and Kizaru ganged up on him, they couldn't suppress him. But that was impossible. The other two were busy suppressing the rest of the battlefield, and Whitebeard's commanders were masters in their own right. He had another strategy, however. He looked toward Sengoku, who gritted his teeth and nodded. All's fair in love and war. Since they were fighting pirates, there was nothing despicable about using trickery.

Akainu nodded and, after a deep glance at Whitebeard, temporarily withdrew from the battlefield.

At this time, with Whitebeard having repelled Aokiji with one blow and Akainu with two, and Marco holding off Kizaru, the three Admirals were all tied up. The morale of the Whitebeard Pirates soared. Though the Navy had one hundred thousand elites and the Warlords on their side, with Whitebeard present, they were actually at a disadvantage.

Karp shook his head and gritted his teeth. This was the power of Whitebeard, the strength of the Strongest Man in the world.

As Whitebeard burst forward, rushing to the execution platform to save Ace, a man with long hair and a spider tattoo on his forehead suddenly appeared behind him. Whitebeard was overjoyed to see him. "Squard! You're still alive, my son!"

Squard was one of his most trusted allies. He was supposed to be commanding the allied pirate fleets, but he had gone missing during a mission. To see him again at this time, Whitebeard was overjoyed.

"Stab!"

But Squard stabbed him.

"Puff!"

Whitebeard was stunned. He didn't even try to dodge, letting Squard's blade pierce his heart.

"Pops!"

"Pops!"

The sudden change shocked everyone. Marco and the others cried out in alarm. The pirates around Whitebeard rushed forward. On the Navy's side, they stared with wide eyes, their faces filled with disbelief. What was happening? Why had they turned on each other at this crucial moment? The Warlords were also stunned, watching the show unfold.

Only Akainu's mouth curved into a smile of conspiracy. The plan had succeeded.

"Don't come any closer!" Whitebeard stretched out his hand, stopping everyone. He looked at Squard, a surprised look on his face, but he smiled gently. "My foolish son, why are you killing me?"

"Pops!" Squard trembled. That single smile was worth a thousand words. He knew the man before him truly cared for him like a son. He called everyone under his command his son, and it wasn't just a turn of phrase; it was how he felt. What had he done? He had actually stabbed his old man.

"Why didn't Pops dodge?"

"Is he seriously ill?"

Vista and the others were puzzled. It was impossible for Whitebeard to have been unable to dodge an attack of that level.

"He didn't want to hide," Marco said, tears streaming down his face. He knew this man best. If it had been an enemy, he would have fought back fiercely without hesitation. But it was his son who had attacked him. He could never bring himself to strike his own son. This was who Whitebeard was.

"Kill!" At that moment, Akainu gave the order, and countless Marines roared and charged at Whitebeard and his crew. With Whitebeard's morale plummeting, this was the perfect time to turn the tide.

"Crack!" But at that moment, the thick layer of ice high above the plaza suddenly broke. A ship fell from the sky, and from it, countless black spots descended. The figure at the lead was none other than Luffy.