Who is Whitebeard?
Nicknamed Whitebeard, his full name is Edward Newgate. He was one of the three legendary pirates alongside the Pirate King Roger and the Pirate Admiral Golden Lion Shiki.
With the Pirate King Gol D. Roger executed in the East Blue and the Pirate Admiral Golden Lion Shiki defeated and imprisoned, Edward Newgate—Whitebeard—was undoubtedly a living legend.
He consumed the Gura Gura no Mi, hailed as the strongest of the Paramecia-type Devil Fruits. However, opinions are divided on whether it was the Gura Gura no Mi that made Whitebeard formidable or if it was because he, the "strongest man in the world," wielded it that the fruit gained its reputation as the strongest.
What is indisputable, though, is that Whitebeard possessed immense power. As a great pirate capable of contending for the Pirate King title against Roger, his signature crescent-shaped, upward-curving white mustache, along with his name, resounded across the seas. Even the songs sung by children around the world described him as "more terrifying than a monster."
Sakazuki lost his usual composure. He abruptly rose from his comfortable chair and grabbed Neptune's thick, curly, orange-red beard.
"You agreed to let Whitebeard station troops on Fish-Man Island? What the hell is going on?!"
It was no wonder he lost his composure. They say even if Mount Tai collapses before them, a man of great courage remains unmoved—but Sakazuki was facing someone who could casually collapse mountains and effortlessly trigger tsunamis: the Earthquake Man.
The war at Marineford that shattered the world's balance was undoubtedly a grand display of the top combat powers in the pirate world.
The Marine Headquarters and the World Government mobilized 100,000 elite marines—usually deployed to safeguard various regions. Not a single one of the Marine Headquarters' three strongest fighters was absent. The current Fleet Admiral, the Marine Hero, and even the Seven Warlords of the Sea, one of the three great forces, were all assembled.
It could be said that in this war against Whitebeard, the World Government spared no effort in gathering the combined might of two major forces to stop this rightful ruler of the New World.
Since arriving in this world, Sakazuki had come to understand his superior, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, quite well. The "Buddha" was an incredibly rational and pragmatic man.
With such a powerful lineup, Sengoku undoubtedly saw the war at Marineford as a battle he was destined to win.
But winning beautifully, minimizing losses—that was the problem that strategists wracked their brains over.
Even though Whitebeard was aging and severely ill, Sengoku remained cautious and calculated, using deception, division, specially designed defensive barriers... These two old rivals engaged in a tactical duel, countering each other move by move.
And yet, despite all of this, Marineford was still devastated in the war's aftermath, forcing the Marine Headquarters to swap locations with the G-1 Fortress on the opposite side of the Red Line.
The atmosphere turned tense in an instant. The Fish-Man Island king, whose beard had just been grabbed, had an apologetic look in his eyes.
"Whitebeard and I had a prior connection. As the island's security situation worsened, I had no choice but to take a desperate measure," Neptune swallowed nervously.
"Before you entered the island, I was discussing matters with Newgate. He told me not to worry about the island's situation, saying he was 'disciplining a sugar-crazed mad girl' and would personally come to Fish-Man Island in due time."
Damn it. In this world, the only person who would dare to call Charlotte Linlin a "sugar-crazed mad girl" was Whitebeard.
Sakazuki released Neptune with a defeated sigh. Venting his emotions now was meaningless; coming up with a countermeasure was far more important.
The Fish-Man King tentatively suggested, "How about I tell him the island is at peace and persuade him to leave?"
Lindeman chuckled bitterly and retorted sarcastically, "Do you think Whitebeard is your pet whale? Calling him to come and shooing him away at will?"
Onigumo took another cigarette from his pack and lit it.
"It's too late. If Whitebeard mistakenly believes you were coerced by the Marines into saying that, the situation will only escalate."
"Onigumo, cigarette." Sakazuki beckoned with a finger, signaling his subordinate to hand him one.
This was the first cigarette Sakazuki had ever asked for in the world of One Piece. The pressure Whitebeard exerted on him was immense. If the Marines were defeated by Whitebeard, everything he had done on Fish-Man Island would be for nothing but to pave the way for the pirates.
"Vice Admiral..." Onigumo looked at his idol with some concern.
Already burdened with immense pressure and risk in carrying out a classified World Government mission, now he had to deal with the chaos of Fish-Man Island—where the Marines had been painstakingly battling against pirates and slave traders, working tirelessly to persuade the Neptune Army to take action against the radical extremist factions entrenched on the island.
Just when their efforts were about to bear fruit, the great pirate Whitebeard swooped in to reap the benefits.
The frustration of investing everything into a plan, only for the final reward to be seized by an enemy—anyone else would have mentally collapsed multiple times over.
Onigumo remained silent, unsure how to comfort this dedicated general. In the end, he could only clumsily flick his lighter and light the cigarette in Sakazuki's mouth.
The Vice Admiral took a deep drag. The strong, sun-dried tobacco that Onigumo favored had an intense, smoky aroma. Instantly, his mouth and nasal cavities were filled with a rich, almost overpowering spiciness that made him furrow his brows.
The potent cigarette gave the transmigrator an oddly familiar sense of unfamiliarity.
Using the cigarette to calm his inner turmoil and anxiety, Sakazuki forced himself to focus on strategizing a solution.
Facing Whitebeard head-on would accomplish nothing but proving how stubborn he was—plus, it would earn him a concussion for free.
Even when aged and gravely ill, Whitebeard took a stab wound from Squard, endured a storm of bullets from 100,000 elite marines, and fought three admirals head-on.
More than that, despite having half of his face blown off by Sakazuki's Meteor Volcano, Whitebeard still managed to overpower the admiral, smash Marineford in half, and nearly kill Blackbeard in a single blow.
And that was a Whitebeard at death's door.
At his peak, Whitebeard was in his absolute prime—both physically and mentally. His mastery of all three types of Haki was undisputed.
The world-shaking power of the Gura Gura no Mi, capable of easily tearing islands apart and summoning apocalyptic tsunamis, would only be even more terrifying in the hands of a peak Whitebeard.
Sengoku's assessment of his old rival was no exaggeration. This man, known as the strongest in the world, truly possessed the power to destroy it.
Sakazuki slowly exhaled a stream of smoke. Fighting head-on wasn't an option—but that didn't mean there was no other way to stop him.
Judging from Whitebeard's personality, if he truly intended to come, he might just be testing them—but there was no way Sakazuki was going to gamble the lives of over a thousand marines on Whitebeard's mood.
Fish-Man Island would not be handed over to pirates—not even to Whitebeard.
"Charlotte Linlin..." Sakazuki murmured the name of another great pirate of the New World under his breath.
Neptune's words had reminded him—Big Mom wasn't the only formidable pirate in the New World.
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