"Ma ma ma ma ma..." Charlotte Linlin laughed again. Then a fierce look flashed in her eyes. "At this point, there's no need for such nonsense, right? Provocation? I'm going to kill you today, old man!"
As soon as the words fell, Charlotte Linlin exerted force with her hands and squeezed Marco violently, crushing him like a piece of fruit.
Then she threw his body to the ground, landing at Newgate's feet.
A gleam of fire burned in Newgate's eyes, but he said nothing and took no action.
A normal person would definitely be killed if treated like this by Charlotte Linlin, just like Buffalo Atmos.
But Marco, as a Phoenix user, quickly recovered with burning blue flame. Reluctantly, he stood up. "Sorry, Pops..."
Newgate knew Charlotte Linlin was a formidable opponent, but he'd never thought Marco could win against her. He didn't care at all. He waved his hand. "I'm glad you're okay. Where are the others?"
"Pops, after your Moby Dick appeared on the horizon, the Big Mom Pirates began evacuating. I was caught by Charlotte Linlin when I was chasing Katakuri," Marco explained quickly.
"Evacuate?" Newgate frowned, feeling puzzled.
Why evacuate? Hadn't they set up this trap here and chosen the location for the final battle?
But then he reconsidered. As long as Charlotte Linlin remained here, that was enough.
In truth, all the major pirate crews currently were maintained with the captain as the core.
Just as Charlotte Linlin and Kaido thought that killing Whitebeard would finish the Whitebeard Pirates soon after, Newgate also didn't take Katakuri and other "small fry" seriously. In his opinion, as long as Kaido and Charlotte Linlin were killed, the Big Mom Pirates and Beast Pirates would all collapse.
So as long as Charlotte Linlin was here, that was sufficient!
Perhaps Charlotte Linlin felt the others being present would only cause complications?
So she'd driven them all away early?
The possibility was quite high!
However, Newgate still felt there might be some conspiracy here. No, it should be said there must be some conspiracy. And Marco and the others really couldn't help him. At most, they could only deal with Katakuri and the others.
If those people had evacuated...
Thinking of this, Newgate said seriously, "Marco, you should take your men out too."
"Pops!?" Marco asked in surprise.
"I want to see what they're up to!" Newgate snorted coldly and swung Murakumogiri, bringing out an invisible vibrating force.
Charlotte Linlin's lips curled into a wicked, ferocious smile. With a burst of power, her two arms transformed. One wrapped in flames, the other condensed with thunderous energy.
Seeing this, Marco no longer hesitated and quickly retreated.
The next second, Newgate stomped the ground. His sturdy figure rushed directly toward Charlotte Linlin.
Charlotte Linlin also shouted loudly. With a flick of her flaming arm, the Emperor Sword Napoleon instantly fell into her hand and struck at Newgate.
"Hahaba!" Charlotte Linlin roared.
Newgate didn't have fancy names for his techniques. He usually used simple, clear declarations: airquake, seaquake, earthquake. Straightforward yet extremely violent and powerful.
Facing Charlotte Linlin's blade, Newgate didn't think twice. He brought his own blade down.
The powerful attack instantly overwhelmed Charlotte Linlin's strength. The invisible vibration force of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit shattered the surrounding space the moment it contacted Napoleon.
Then the trembling force followed the blade of the Emperor Sword and rapidly eroded Charlotte Linlin's arm.
Even though Charlotte Linlin's physical strength was monstrous, she was still suppressed by Newgate's strike.
In just moments, Newgate's Murakumogiri pressed Charlotte Linlin back continuously, forcing her to retreat. She left deep pit-like footprints with every step.
Although clearly suppressed by Newgate, Charlotte Linlin had a wild smile on her face.
"Ma ma ma ma ma..." Charlotte Linlin laughed. "Old man, you really are aging. No wonder you want to fight us now. Compared to you a few years ago, your strength has decreased significantly!"
Newgate's eyes filled with anger, but he said calmly, "Maybe..."
The moment he finished speaking, he exerted force through his feet and twisted his waist. A powerful vibration burst along Murakumogiri's blade, directly launching Charlotte Linlin backward.
After the blow, Newgate said seriously, "Who do you think I am? I'm Whitebeard. Maybe my strength has declined a little, but I'm more than enough to deal with you!"
As soon as the words fell, Newgate backhanded a punch through the air. The shocking force instantly spread outward.
Charlotte Linlin was merely repelled, showing no sign of weakness. With a sinister grin, she unleashed her own punch toward the shockwave.
Rich power of fire instantly burst from her arm, annihilating the trembling force.
Meanwhile, Marco had not yet retreated to the port when he happened to see Teach rushing toward him urgently.
"Teach!?" Marco exclaimed in surprise.
When Teach saw Marco, his expression lit up. "I finally found you, Marco!"
"Looking for me?" Marco was confused. Why was he looking for him?
"Where's Pops?" Teach asked quickly.
Before Marco could reply, the aftermath of the battle between Newgate and Charlotte Linlin stirred up dust and impact, transforming into a gust of wind that flew past Teach and Marco from the distance.
"Ahead," Marco replied.
"Come with me quickly! We need to get Pops away from here. This is a trap!" Teach grabbed Marco urgently.
In Teach's opinion, Marco was the best shield to protect Pops!
Marco was grabbed by Teach and dragged for two steps before he regained his senses. He asked quickly, "What conspiracy? What trap?"
"Dyna Stone. Do you know about Dyna Stone?" Teach explained.
"I don't know..." Marco said, puzzled.
Teach pulled Marco back while explaining the matter of Dyna Stone.
Marco quickly understood. No wonder the Big Mom Pirates had retreated quickly as soon as Pops arrived, leaving only massive numbers of Homies and Charlotte Linlin as the rear guard.
Thinking of this, Marco was even more surprised. He asked incredulously, "Why is Charlotte Linlin still here?"
Teach was cunning and shrewd. He said directly, "Iron balloon! She must have done experiments beforehand. That Dyna Stone won't work on her! She wants to use the Dyna Stone's power to catch Pops off guard, or even sink the entire island and kill him here! And those evacuating are probably making follow-up preparations..."
He had to admit, this old bastard Teach was remarkably perceptive.
He'd guessed correctly. Charlotte Linlin had indeed experimented with Dyna Stone, personally withstanding blasts and emerging completely unscathed.
Yes, it was that absurd!
That's why she was so confident and dared to set up this trap. She was betting that Whitebeard's defense couldn't match hers. She was betting that at the moment the Dyna Stone exploded, Newgate would be at an extreme disadvantage. That would be her chance to "kill" Newgate!
This was just the first layer of the plan.
If Newgate wasn't severely damaged by the Dyna Stone, Charlotte Linlin would rapidly detonate the entire island, completely sinking Jam Island and perishing together with the white-bearded old man.
Of course, this was just superficial mutual destruction. Charlotte Linlin had already prepared a backup plan!
At this moment, dark clouds suddenly descended from the sky. Marco and Teach looked up simultaneously.
A dragon's head slowly emerged from the clouds. It was Kaido...
"Whitebeard!" Kaido grinned fiercely. A powerful heat breath brewed in his mouth...
"Go save Pops!" Teach pushed Marco away.
Marco reacted extremely quickly. He opened his arms, transformed into a phoenix, and flew directly into the air.
The next second, the heat breath from Kaido's mouth instantly descended.
However, Newgate didn't care about the Blast Breath at all. He punched the air with his backhand, directly shattering space and exploding the heat breath mid-air.
At that moment, Newgate suddenly discovered that bottles and jars were emerging from the ground around him. They all looked identical, with noses and eyes. Definitely Homies.
But they weren't just Homies. These bottles and jars filled with pink liquid gave him an instinctive sense of crisis.
"This is..." Newgate said in surprise.
Then Charlotte Linlin grinned. "Die, Whitebeard!"
Charlotte Linlin suddenly slammed her arm, condensed with thunder power, to the ground. A massive amount of lightning energy instantly burst from her arm. In the blink of an eye, it shattered the "Dyna Stone Homies" surrounding Newgate!
The Dyna Stone, originally soaked in special liquid, was instantly exposed to air.
In Newgate's surprised pupils, a Dyna Stone detonated first, causing a violent impact and explosion.
"Pops!" Marco shouted.
His figure streaked like green flame, rapidly crossing the sky and instantly diving toward Newgate.
Then a series of explosions quickly engulfed Charlotte Linlin, Newgate, and Marco.
Above in the sky, Kaido continuously sent down thunder, powerful winds, and heat breath.
In just a moment, the center of the entire Jam Island had completely transformed into a violent hell. Flames and explosions consumed everything. Lightning, heat, and howling winds dominated the landscape.
The explosion's impact instantly swept across the entire island. Honestly, if Charlotte Linlin hadn't transformed all the Dyna Stones into Homies, the impact alone would have been enough to detonate more Dyna Stone buried throughout the island and sink everything!
"Worororororo!" Kaido laughed loudly in the clouds, then shouted, "Attack! Surround all members of the Whitebeard Pirates in this sea area! Don't let them escape!"
At this moment, the offensive and defensive positions reversed!
A large number of Beast Pirates warships, controlled by Kaido's Flame Clouds, suddenly descended from the sky and rapidly surrounded the entire Jam Island. Artillery fire roared. A fierce naval battle erupted once again!
But at that moment, a violent tremor rapidly spread from the explosion's center. Then Charlotte Linlin's tall figure seemed to be struck by someone and was thrown backward like a cannonball, crashing into the massive jam wall.
"Cough..." Charlotte Linlin spat blood.
She was covered in dust and looked disheveled, but it was just appearance.
"Ma ma ma ma ma..." Charlotte Linlin was obviously a mess, but she burst into laughter instead.
Looking again, Newgate's figure emerged from the smoke of the explosion.
The Dyna Stone's power was indeed formidable, but it wasn't enough to harm Newgate significantly. Marco had helped him block a wave. Newgate had reacted extremely quickly and used his Haki and vibration power to block most of the remaining explosive impact.
But there was no doubt the huge power of this sudden explosion had caught him off guard.
Unintentionally...
At this moment, Charlotte Linlin's Emperor Sword was embedded in his chest!