Diarmuid, with Sakazuki and Kaido in tow, arced through the air and slowly landed on the battleship.
Gion hurried over and asked, "Are you okay?"
Diarmuid shook his head. "I'm fine, but Sakazuki..."
Diarmuid's display had been successful; he hadn't been injured by Charlotte Linlin or Newgate. But Sakazuki had taken a direct, close-range punch from the strongest man, and it made him cough up blood on the spot.
Before Diarmuid could finish his sentence, Sakazuki wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and declared, "I'm fine, too." After a slight pause, he saw the looks of concern on Diarmuid and Gion's faces and added, "It's a minor injury. Even if Whitebeard is strong, there's no way he could take me out with a single strike."
"That's good," Diarmuid nodded. He then used his Devil Fruit power to stabilize the slowly descending battleship in the air. The sea below was already raging, threatening to cause tsunamis at any moment. The sky was a much safer place to be.
Soon, under Gion's arrangements, the unconscious Kaido was locked up.
Diarmuid stood at the edge of the deck, watching the battle between the strongest marine and the strongest pirate on the island below.
Unlike his clash with Diarmuid, Newgate was completely serious when facing Garp. Even though Diarmuid seemed to have a powerful finishing move, Newgate didn't feel overly threatened by it.
But when facing Garp, Newgate's expression was incredibly serious. The world might call him "the strongest man," and he certainly lived up to the title. However, that didn't mean he was without rivals. If that were the case, the sea wouldn't be so chaotic; people would just show off their titles to see who was more famous, and the one with the biggest name would be the leader.
In this world, there weren't many people who could make Whitebeard fight at full strength, take him seriously, and make him unsure of a victory. But the Marine Hero, Garp, was absolutely one of them. In fact, if you went back far enough, Whitebeard had been defeated by Garp before.
During the God Valley Incident, Newgate was on the Rocks Pirates' ship. After that battle, the Rocks Pirates disbanded, and all the "shareholders" went their separate ways. It was, without a doubt, a defeat for them. As a member of the crew, Newgate had also tasted that defeat. He knew how strong Garp was, so he went all out from the start!
"HRAAAGH!!!" Newgate and Garp both roared at the same time.
Then, the clash of their Conqueror's Haki erupted and the stalemate was broken. Garp descended from the air, landing firmly on the ground, his eyes fixed on Whitebeard.
Newgate drew back his Murakumogiri, and the serious look on his face was replaced by a smile.
"Garp, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" Newgate said, propping Murakumogiri up beside him.
Garp flexed his wrist. His fists were brimming with Haki, and his aura was incredibly powerful. "It's been about ten years, hasn't it?" Garp said with a grin.
"Time really flies," Newgate said with a hint of nostalgia.
As the two legends chatted, Charlotte Linlin had already begun to lead the Big Mom Pirates in a retreat. She was done with this. Today's fight with the Whitebeard Pirates was clearly a misunderstanding. She'd been careless and almost had her arm severed by Diarmuid, and now the Marine Hero, Garp, had shown up. This was clearly a chaotic situation.
There was no need to get caught up in this mess. She couldn't even if she wanted to, as Whitebeard was clearly too arrogant to team up with the Marines. It was a good thing that he hadn't decided to have a pirate civil war in front of the Marines, which was the perfect opportunity for her to slip away.
Newgate and Garp both noticed that Charlotte Linlin was retreating with her crew, but at this moment, neither of them had any intention of stopping her. Garp couldn't stop her. Even though Charlotte Linlin seemed to have been seriously injured by Diarmuid, the Big Mom Pirates had come with a large force. Given Charlotte Linlin's strength, she couldn't be defeated that easily. They only had one battleship, and they had Whitebeard right in front of them, so they had no choice but to ignore her.
For Newgate, it was more than enough that Charlotte Linlin was leaving and wouldn't be causing more trouble. He had no intention of wiping out the Big Mom Pirates anyway. It wasn't the right time, and even if it were, Diarmuid and the other Marines would probably die laughing at him.
In this bizarre situation, the Big Mom Pirates quickly left the island and fled.
At the same time, Newgate and Garp stopped "reminiscing." Well, to be precise, they didn't have much to reminisce about; they were just two rivals of the same caliber who had a bit of a history.
"The troublemakers have left," Newgate said softly.
Garp grinned, a glint in his eyes. "I haven't been this excited in a long time, not since Roger's death."
As he spoke, Garp pushed off the ground, which shattered instantly. His figure shot toward Newgate like a cannonball.
Newgate was just as fast. With a roar, he imbued his fist with Haki and a dense tremor force, then threw a punch at Garp.
With a loud bang, the space around them shattered the moment their fists collided. The island itself began to break apart.
"Roger, huh? I do miss that idiot," Newgate said at last.
"I don't miss him at all. It would have been better if you guys had all died sooner!" Garp laughed. He pushed his fist forward, surprisingly pushing back Whitebeard's punch.
"Your fists are still as annoying as ever," Newgate said with a hint of awe. Then, he pushed back with all his might, his arm muscles bulging and veins pulsing. For a moment, he regained the upper hand.
"HRAAAGH!" Garp suddenly roared, using his punch to parry Newgate's attack. At the same time, he threw a counter-punch with his other hand, striking Newgate in the chest.
Newgate also took the opportunity to bring his blade down, cleaving Garp's chest.
Both of them took several steps back. Newgate, having taken a punch from Garp, had a little blood at the corner of his mouth, even with Haki covering his body.
That's right, even though Garp had only thrown a punch, a direct hit from him was enough to cause a minor injury to Newgate.
On the other side, Garp's gray suit had been shredded by Newgate's attack, revealing his toned muscles. There was a faint trace of blood on his skin.
Neither of them had gained an advantage, and neither seemed to be hurt. Without a word, they both lunged at each other again.
In a matter of moments, they had exchanged dozens of blows, constantly shifting their positions as they looked for an opening.
After about thirty or forty exchanges, Newgate tossed his Murakumogiri aside. He now fought with his bare hands, which were surrounded by transparent energy rings and Haki.
Garp had no special abilities, but his fighting power was absurdly strong. Haki seemed to pour out of his fists like water, with each punch being heavier than the last. Even when facing Newgate's combination of Devil Fruit power and Haki, Garp didn't feel like he was at a disadvantage. In fact, he occasionally had the upper hand.
Each time their fists met, a powerful shockwave and a clash of Haki would erupt, shattering the space around them. And in the next instant, neither of them would stay in a stalemate, instead changing their moves in perfect synchronicity.
As they fought, they moved around, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. The younger members of the Whitebeard Pirates had no intention of helping. At this level of combat, they would only get in the way. So, as their Pops and the Hero Garp fought with increasing intensity, they all retreated from the island and boarded the Moby Dick.
After all of his sons had left, Newgate seemed to unleash his full power. His strikes and attacks became even stronger. Garp was unfazed, his expression only growing more serious.
As their fight continued, the aftershocks of their power began to erode the entire island. After about ten minutes, a large portion of the island began to collapse, and a massive amount of seawater started to flood the interior.
With a cracking sound, Newgate's tremor power was released, partly deflected by Garp's punch and the rest spilling into the surroundings. It was at this moment that both Garp and Newgate's feet slipped, and the entire island began to flip over.
A look of surprise appeared in Newgate's eyes. In his lifetime, he had been in countless battles and had destroyed countless islands. He was an expert in this field. He was certain that the aftershocks of his and Garp's fight weren't enough to make the island give way this quickly. The island was severely damaged, but as long as its foundation was intact, it could have supported their fight for another two or three days.
But now, the island was tilting on a massive scale. This was a sign that its foundation had been completely broken. At this rate, with their continued fighting, the island would soon sink!
Before Newgate could figure out what was going on, Garp had already closed in and launched another punch.
Newgate's mind refocused, and he kicked Garp.
With a bang, both of them retreated a step, dispelling the force of the blow. In that very instant, the ground beneath their feet gave way again. A not-so-large crack suddenly appeared in the ground in the distance, and then, a jet of molten magma spewed out of it.
In that very instant, Newgate understood what had happened!
He realized that it hadn't just been Kaido and Diarmuid who had fallen from the sky—the magma bastard Sakazuki had been with them. Then, to cover for Sakazuki, Diarmuid had emerged from the crater with Kaido. Diarmuid's appearance and his fight with Charlotte Linlin had attracted everyone's attention, so much so that even Newgate hadn't noticed Sakazuki.
And that bastard Sakazuki clearly knew that Diarmuid was in a dangerous situation. He could hold on for a short time, but if the fight dragged on, they would be in serious trouble. He also didn't know when the battleship or any reinforcements would arrive.
It wasn't in Sakazuki's nature to wait for others to save him. So, while the fight was raging above, Sakazuki had used his ability to melt his way into the island's core and start destroying its foundation. That way, even if Garp and Gion couldn't arrive in time, he and Diarmuid could fight a full-on battle on the island and destroy it quickly. The moment that change in the battlefield happened would be the perfect opportunity for them to escape.
However, Garp and Gion had arrived a little too quickly. Sakazuki's plan had not come to fruition, and now Garp and Newgate had been drawn into his trap.
The entire foundation of the island had long been melted into magma by Sakazuki. If there had been no external forces, the island might have been fine, turning into a live volcano in a few years' time. But now, with the external stimulus of their fight, the island's foundation couldn't hold up. The whole island began to tilt and sink into the sea.
Newgate and Garp looked at each other, and both let out a cold snort, ending their battle.