One Piece: Lightning's Heir

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Losing two pillars of the Pirate world would relieve immense pressure on the Marines, allowing them to intensify their campaigns to crush the remaining crews.

Even Roger ushering in a new age wouldn't change that outcome.

A new era would only bring a motley crew of wannabe Pirates playing house—not a single decisive force among them.

By the time they grew strong enough to matter, the ship would have already sailed.

Rayleigh instantly grasped the worst-case scenario. He had to stop the fight between Whitebeard and Arthur.

But as Rayleigh considered this, the strategic genius on the Marine warship—Fleet Admiral Sengoku—understood the same principle. This was a golden opportunity to annihilate the Pirate threat.

Sengoku quickly pulled out a Den Den Mushi connected to Marine Headquarters and dialed Fleet Admiral Kong's private line.

"Buruburuburuburu!"

"This is Kong," Came the calm, heavy voice of Fleet Admiral Kong.

"Fleet Admiral Kong, it's Sengoku! Long story short, Arthur and Whitebeard's battle has reached a point of no return. Should the Marines wait until they're exhausted to arrest them or even... execute them??" Sengoku's eyes burned intensely behind his round glasses.

"I need orders from Headquarters or the World Government!"

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Marine Headquarters, main office building.

Kong watched the broadcast of the duel projected on the wall, mulling over the feasibility of Sengoku's plan.

"Their duel is unstoppable now. One of them is bound to fall... But is there a chance someone might intervene?? For instance, Rayleigh and Scopper Gaban, who haven't been seen for a year! And what about the Red Count, Patrick Redfield, on that very same ship!"

Kong pointed to the screen, where the infamous Pirates, despite their attempts to lay low, were still glaringly conspicuous.

Although Sengoku couldn't see him, he understood the implication perfectly.

As for someone like Big Mom—she couldn't care less if Whitebeard and Arthur killed each other. She could be safely ruled out.

"Well..." Sengoku hesitated. The moment he made a move, Rayleigh and the others would undoubtedly step in.

It was a matter of the bigger picture.

"If they both suffer heavy losses, Whitebeard will surely be rescued by his sons. But Arthur... he's all alone. The number of Pirates coveting his head is staggering. We might not even need to lift a finger," Kong said, his fingers steepled on the desk.

"That's not quite right... If they're both badly injured, would Arthur really be completely drained of stamina?? They've only been fighting for a day. No matter how intense the battle, they must have conserved some energy... and he can fly!" Sengoku also saw the problem.

Capturing Arthur hinged on them fighting to the point of total exhaustion.

"In that case, we absolutely cannot let Rayleigh and the others interrupt this fight!"

The Den Den Mushi call ended, and Fleet Admiral Kong sank back into contemplation.

The Roger Pirates had been missing for so long, without a single trace. Even the World Government's direct intelligence agency, CP, couldn't find a single clue.

What are they plotting??

Rayleigh and Scopper Gaban had suddenly appeared near Alasolan Island. The two right-hand men were together, but their captain, Roger, was still nowhere to be found.

There was reliable intelligence that someone strongly resembling Roger had been spotted in the South Blue.

The World Government had sent CP0 to investigate, but they found nothing...

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"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!"

Arthur was sent flying once more, crashing into a pile of rubble. Whitebeard's breathing had grown heavier as well.

Every time he used the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, his own body suffered a recoil. If this dragged on, he would be the first to collapse.

"Cough, cough... cough!"

Arthur coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face pale, but his purple eyes remained as bright as ever.

His situation was dire. His internal organs burned with a searing pain. He finally understood the gap between himself and Whitebeard.

Their raw power was almost on par, but when it came to focused, destructive strikes, he couldn't hold a candle to Whitebeard.

If he could just develop a stronger offensive ability, he wouldn't lose to him.

"Old man Whitebeard, I lose this round!" Arthur pushed himself to his feet, wiping the blood from his lips, his expression serene.

Admit he wasn't as skilled??

Expose his weaknesses??

Such thoughts never even crossed his mind.

This was a matter of his pride!

"Gurararara... Gurarararara! You think you can just kneel and beg for mercy, lightning brat?? I told you, I'm taking your head to avenge Squard!!" Whitebeard scoffed, his towering figure seeming to touch the sky.

"No, no, no—you've got one thing wrong!"

Arthur's pupils blazed with a brilliant purple light. "I lost to you... only because I wanted to see for myself why they call you the World's Strongest Man. I wanted to know the limits of your power, that's all!"

"In a head-on clash, I am indeed no match for you. I'll give you that! However... I never once used my fruit's fully developed abilities on you. Using them... would be admitting to myself that I was afraid to face you head-on!"

Arthur's body slowly began to levitate, a dazzling, purple aura of lightning radiating from him as he instantly reactivated his [Thunder Emperor] form.

"I may have lost in a contest of pure strength, but I never said... that my abilities are weaker than yours!"

The real reason he hadn't used the [Electromagnetic Isolation Field] was that, deep down, he couldn't admit he was afraid to clash directly with Whitebeard—

—When he fought Garp, it was because he knew in his heart that he couldn't beat him at that time, so he used the field to neutralize the impact.

But this time, after a year and a half of transformation, he believed his power was on par with Whitebeard's. He had intended to overwhelm him with raw strength.

He hadn't expected to be defeated by that concussive force... Arthur lost due to a lack of instantaneous burst damage. In terms of raw power, he and Whitebeard were nearly equals.

"Gurarararara, what a load of hot air, brat! No matter what tricks you pull, you're still going to die!" Whitebeard roared, his power surging once more after a brief rest.

Arthur paid him no mind, his face dark with frustration. He muttered to himself.

"What a shame. A real shame... I couldn't defeat the World's Strongest Man with absolute power before the new era arrives."

"Electromagnetic Isolation Field———!!"

An invisible electromagnetic force enveloped his body, rendering him almost immune to external pressure.

Arthur met Whitebeard's fist head-on, throwing a punch fueled by pure, unadulterated frustration!!

Just as their fists were about to collide, a figure shot out from a small, blood-red boat on the horizon, moving at an astonishing speed.

"SWISH!!"

"BOOOOOOOOOM!!!"

The figure entered the battlefield in the instant their fists connected, flashing between them and simultaneously blocking the cataclysmic force of their attacks!

"That's enough, Edward Newgate... and Seabury D. Arthur!"

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