The severe pain stimulated Charlotte Linlin's nerves. Her eyes turned bloodshot, and for a moment she seemed to be losing her mind.
But soon, she regained her composure. Her eyes filled with fear.
Can't win. Definitely can't win.
That thought dominated Charlotte Linlin's mind completely.
Rayleigh, the guy who'd suddenly appeared, had now been sealed in Planetary Devastation by Finn. He was probably dead and could no longer be relied upon.
The old bastard Whitebeard had also performed pathetically. Despite his grand reputation as the strongest man in the world, he'd been defeated miserably by Finn.
Charlotte Linlin felt a flicker of regret. If she hadn't stabbed Newgate at the start, would he have lasted longer? Would the situation be different?
Now, she'd also lost one of her arms to that bastard Finn. Without question, she was grievously injured.
On the other hand, Finn had suffered almost no losses at all.
If the fighting continued, she really couldn't win. The defeat would only become more catastrophic.
Thinking this, Charlotte Linlin no longer hesitated. A ruthless, resolute look flashed in her eyes.
Her soul power suddenly erupted. A hint of surprise crossed Finn's face, as if he'd realized something. His expression changed. "Damn it, that old hag is going to use the gift she left for Whitebeard!"
Kuzan's figure had just emerged from the ice. He hadn't yet understood the meaning of Finn's words.
The ground beneath his feet exploded. A violent detonation instantly swept Kuzan into its radius.
The next second, the entire Jam Island began to tremble. The tremor came from deep beneath their feet. It seemed like nothing had changed on the surface, but a terrifying aura was constantly emanating from underground.
Without saying a word, Finn made his body weightless and shot straight into the air.
Just after he'd risen less than ten meters, the entire Jam Island suddenly exploded like a massive powder keg.
Dazzling flames seemed to ignite the sky and sea, turning the entire world an orange-yellow color.
In truth, Finn had looked down on the so-called "Dyna Stone" in his heart, skeptical of claims it possessed power comparable to ancient weapons.
But in his memories from his previous life, Dyna Stone hadn't performed particularly well. Even Zephyr hadn't been killed by it.
But when you actually experienced the terrifying explosive force of hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of Dyna Stones detonating deep within an island, accumulating and breaking through the island's surface in a single cataclysmic eruption—
Finn had to admit that the claim about "power comparable to ancient weapons" wasn't just empty boasting.
This extraordinarily violent explosion not only destroyed the entire Jam Island but also triggered a severe tsunami in the surrounding waters, capsizing many pirate ships in the vicinity.
Finn's figure burst from the flames. Even at the most critical moment, he'd used extremely powerful Armament Haki, gravitational repulsion, and a series of other defensive methods.
But he still looked somewhat disheveled. Charred marks covered his body, and half of his Justice cloak had been burned away. He struggled to maintain flight for a while before finally finding a broken ship and landing on its deck. There was no one around.
"Cough..." Finn spat out a mouthful of blood.
Then his expression improved considerably. His internal organs had been injured by the violent explosion, but the damage wasn't serious.
With a crackling sound of electricity, Gion's figure carrying Kuzan also landed on the deck.
Kuzan looked far more disheveled than Finn. His hair, which had originally been somewhat shaggy, had now completely transformed into an afro.
"Ahem..." Kuzan exhaled two puffs of black smoke, then looked at Finn. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it?"
Finn's gaze remained fixed on distant Jam Island, now silent except for the roaring flames consuming it. He grinned. "This is a perfect ending that serves the Marines' interests, isn't it? The Dyna Stone problem is solved, and it gives us a legitimate reason to let them escape."
Kuzan also looked toward the burning island. After a long moment, he murmured softly, "Yes, but as a Marine, having to let these pirates go at the moment when we could have caught them all..."
Finn looked at Kuzan strangely.
If He remember correctly, in the original timeline, when he met the Straw Hat Pirates, Finn don't know how much Kuzan held back. It was practically an ocean's worth, wasn't it?
During the Battle of Marineford, Kuzan could freeze the entire bay in one move, but somehow couldn't catch up to Trafalgar Law's submarine. Truly impressive.
However, Finn didn't explain any of this to Kuzan. He waved his hand dismissively. "If you have questions or complaints, take them to the Fleet Admiral. This was his order."
"Not necessarily. With such a violent explosion, maybe they were all killed. After all, Whitebeard was already seriously injured. Even if he wasn't killed outright, this sea might bury them. I think Kaido is the biggest winner?" Gion said with some doubt.
After a moment of hesitation, Gion asked in surprise, "Where's Smoker?"
"Smoker's not with you?" Finn asked, equally surprised.
At that moment, a cloud of white smoke emerged from the flames of distant Jam Island, and Smoker quickly flew over.
He didn't seem to notice that everyone had momentarily forgotten about him. And compared to Finn and Kuzan, Smoker seemed completely unaffected, as if the fire and explosion posed no threat to him whatsoever.
In fact, his Smoke Fruit was quite reliable at times like these.
"Charlotte Linlin was taken away by Kaido, and I couldn't find Whitebeard. Maybe he's dead." Smoker said helplessly.
It seemed he'd been using his ability to observe the situation on the island.
Finn nodded. "The rest is up to fate. Whether that old man Newgate lives or dies depends on his luck."
"You don't have any backup plan?" Gion looked at Finn with suspicion.
Finn grinned. "What do you think?"
Kuzan didn't concern himself with these matters. He murmured with some emotion, "Nothing to show for it..."
"Who said that?" Finn retorted, then pointed to a massive sphere of earth and stone floating in the sky. "There's a Dark King imprisoned in there. Perfect for us to take back and present to headquarters. Couldn't be better!"
If Rayleigh knew the full story and understood that the Marines had no intention of annihilating all the pirates here, that all of this was just the arrangement and planning of that bastard Sengoku, he'd probably be furious enough to cough up blood.
In the end, he was the only one who was actually going to be captured by the Marines?
A gift from a thousand miles away, the courtesy light but the sentiment heavy?
I'm the clown myself?
At the same time, in a certain area of the sea around Jam Island, Teach suddenly poked his head above the water, took two quick gasps of air, and pulled the unfortunate Marco out as well.
Marco was obviously on the verge of drowning. After being pulled out by Teach, he greedily gulped two breaths of air and then said in a panic, "Where's Pops? Go save Pops!"
"Hold on tight!" Teach suddenly threw Marco onto a piece of tattered wooden wreckage. It was obviously a "relic" left over from the earlier Marine battle.
After settling Marco, Teach dove back into the sea, trying to find his captain.
But after going back and forth several times, he still couldn't locate him.
Desperation crept into his heart.
At the same time, in the sea neither too close nor too far from Teach, Newgate's tall, powerful body was slowly sinking into the deep.
A tremendous amount of blood flowed from the wounds on his body, constantly dyeing the surrounding seawater red.
The feeling of suffocation didn't make Newgate panic. He didn't struggle. He seemed to have accepted his fate, silently embracing it and waiting for death.
Originally, Teach had been carrying him to escape from Jam Island. But when they were about to reach the shoreline, the entire island had exploded. The powerful shockwave had blown both him and Teach away. The two had fallen into the sea one after another, and then the waves brought by the blast had swept Newgate away.
At this moment, in the haze between life and death, Newgate suddenly remembered the conversation he'd had with Finn.
"The sea has always favored the brave, and the sea has always been fond of burying the brave..." Newgate thought.
Is this journey finally coming to an end?
At this moment when he was truly about to die, Newgate asked himself again: am I unwilling to accept this?
While on the island, his answer had been no.
But in this moment, he felt that he was unwilling. Not that he was afraid of death, nor that he had any regrets. He simply felt that his death was too ordinary, lacking grandeur.
I really want a spectacular funeral.
Just as Newgate's consciousness was about to fall into darkness, he vaguely saw a figure approaching rapidly from the distance.
It wasn't an illusion. The next second, Newgate felt someone grab him and begin pulling him upward.
The person swam extraordinarily fast. In moments, Newgate was pulled from the sea. The instinctive desire to survive made Newgate take two deep breaths. It was then that he could truly see the figure who'd saved him.
"Jinbe!?" Newgate asked in surprise.
But his voice was very weak.
"Old man..." Jinbe looked at Newgate with a complicated expression.
That's right. Finn had prepared a backup plan after all, and that backup plan was Jinbe.
Jinbe, who'd owed Whitebeard a favor before, could finally repay it this time. Killing two birds with one stone.
Of course, Finn had made this arrangement casually. If it proved unnecessary, then it could only be said that Newgate was unlucky, and that would be the end of it.
If he died, all debts would be settled, and Jinbe wouldn't have to owe anyone favors.
Although Fleet Admiral Sengoku wanted to inflict as much damage as possible on them, he also wanted to ensure their survival to maintain stability in the New World. However, it still depended on fate.
Now, Smoker was the biggest winner. His forces could quickly wipe out the remaining stragglers from the Whitebeard Pirates, the Beasts Pirates, and the Big Mom Pirates in this sea area.
This would significantly destroy their military strength and reduce their power, which fell within the scope of "painful strike."
At the same time, although Kaido hadn't suffered serious losses, Newgate's injuries definitely wouldn't heal for at least a year or two. After he recovered, his strength would inevitably decline significantly. This was beyond doubt.
As for Charlotte Linlin, Finn had severed one of her arms, which would have a major impact on her combat ability.
All of this fell into the category of "painful strike."
From this perspective, it seemed Finn had perfectly completed Fleet Admiral Sengoku's strategic arrangements.
On the ruined deck, Finn held a Den Den Mushi in his hand, speaking with Queen Stussy.
"Well, regarding the Dyna Stone matter, I'll send you all the relevant reports when the time comes. You just need to cooperate and submit it. Say that this was a contingency measure implemented to annihilate the pirates, then send someone to investigate the final battle results." Finn's voice was low.
After Queen Stussy agreed, Finn hung up the Den Den Mushi, touched his chin, and said, "Find a proper ship. It's time for us to evacuate."
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