PIRATES: I WORK IN NAVY FROM NINE TO FIVE

"Careful?"

Everyone present froze at once.

Cough! Cough!

Whitebeard suddenly dropped to one knee and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Luo Yu's arrival had indeed shifted the flow of events.

However, Whitebeard had already been injured by a sneak attack, and his aging, battered body had not changed.

Faced with Akainu's relentless and desperate assault, his worn-out frame had clearly reached its limit.

"Pops!" Marco's face changed drastically. He cried out and tried to rush over to heal him.

But he had barely taken a step when two beams of light pierced straight through his body.

"Hehehe… Marco, now's not the time to be distracted!" Kizaru laughed eerily as he ghosted into view behind Marco.

Marco's expression twisted, and he hastily activated the Phoenix Fruit's regenerative powers.

Yet the healing energy had only just flared—before it was cut off.

"Marco, sorry—but you're under arrest!"

A cold voice rang out as Vice Admiral Onigumo snapped seastone cuffs onto Marco's wrists.

The sudden ambush caused everyone on the battlefield to recoil in shock.

As the 1st Division Commander and one of Whitebeard's spiritual pillars, Marco's fall was devastating.

"Marco, I'm coming for you!" Diamond Jozu roared, bulldozing Marines aside with brute force.

But before he could act, an icy chill swept across half his body.

In the next moment, a blade made of crystallized ice slashed down.

Thud!

A frozen arm spun through the air.

Blood splattered violently across the battlefield.

Whitebeard wounded… Marco captured… and now even Jozu had lost an arm?

This was beyond disastrous—it was a full collapse in morale.

"Whitebeard, your era is over… Now DIE!!" Akainu bellowed, erupting from the ground.

His magma-coated fist smashed directly into Whitebeard's chest.

Zzzzzzzt!

The searing sound echoed across the battlefield.

Everything froze.

As Whitebeard's chest was pierced clean through, everyone stared in utter disbelief.

"POPS!!" Ace howled from atop the execution platform, tears streaming down his face.

He had the clearest view—but also the most helpless one.

All he could do was watch, powerless, as his comrades fell one after another to protect him.

"CRUMBLE, WHITEBEARD PIRATES!!" Akainu roared again, preparing to land the final blow.

At that moment—before he could strike again—Whitebeard suddenly looked up, blood covering his face. With a crunch, he bit down on three differently colored pills.

"Haha… I don't even know if this thing works on non-Zoan users. But I'm betting it all this time!"

"Don't forget—I'm WHITEBEARD!!"

With a thunderous roar, Whitebeard's muscles swelled like granite, veins bulging hideously across his body like writhing centipedes.

Blood oozed through his skin as his entire figure turned a deep, furious red.

His Paramecia-type Tremor-Tremor Fruit powers surged uncontrollably, exploding from within.

BOOM!!!

A massive shockwave erupted like a hurricane.

Akainu, who had been standing right in front of him, took the full brunt of the blast.

He coughed blood and was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing straight into the execution platform.

Everything within a kilometer radius was blasted apart.

Marineford itself trembled as if a giant had flipped it over.

Jozu, despite his severed arm, and Marco, though cuffed, were both hurled by the wave of destruction.

When they finally regained their footing, they were surrounded by unfamiliar faces—but they could only stare at Whitebeard's terrifying form.

Blood-red, his muscles bulging like rocks, veins like writhing beasts—he looked like a monster on a rampage.

They were completely stunned.

No…

This was beyond anything they had ever imagined.

Only Marco's face was pale as he spoke through a trembling voice, filled with sorrow.

"I never thought it would come to this… It's all because I was too weak…"

"Marco, what the hell happened?! Why is Pops like this?!" Jozu shouted, ignoring his own severed arm.

Everyone's eyes turned to Marco.

This wasn't just a surprise—it shattered every prediction they had made.

"Pops… took the drug!" Marco clenched his fists, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Before we came, he had already made up his mind. That drug—meant to trigger Devil Fruit rampage—it was originally only for Zoan types. But Chopper and I altered the formula…"

"I told him not to use it… I never thought he'd bring it anyway…"

"A Devil Fruit rampage drug?!" Jozu's face turned ashen. He grabbed Marco's arm, roaring, "Are you insane?! You're going to kill him!"

The entire battlefield was shell-shocked.

No one could believe that the proud Four Emperors' captain, Whitebeard, would resort to such madness.

Popping drugs to rage out?

If that's not insanity, what is?

Even Sengoku and Garp stood there, speechless, disbelief written across their faces.

"Jozu—shut your damn mouth!" Whitebeard's hoarse voice suddenly thundered.

He looked up, bloodshot eyes wide with fury. Each movement sent shockwaves through the air.

No…

At this point, his Quake-Quake powers had gone completely berserk—like a wild beast broken free.

Every gesture shattered the surroundings.

He gripped his naginata tightly, blood dripping from his hands, and bellowed once again toward the execution platform.

"Quit whining! I'm WHITEBEARD—and this is STILL my era!!"

"All of you—DON'T STOP! Tear a path to the platform!!"

"EARTHQUAKE!!"

Whitebeard's roars shook the heavens.

He slammed his naginata into the ground.

BOOOOM!!

Marineford exploded with the sound of thunder.

Shockwaves rippled outward from Whitebeard's feet, splitting the earth and collapsing the very foundation of the island.

The force didn't stop—it surged directly toward the execution platform.

In that instant, chaos erupted across the battlefield like a towering tsunami.

Everything in its path was obliterated.

Even the execution platform and Marine headquarters themselves crumbled into ruin.