Novel Full [589] : A Stalemate
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Aokiji single-handedly held back the three All-Stars—while Akainu and Kizaru focused on Kaido.
The remaining pirates were left for the other Marines to handle. Several Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals had also arrived, giving the Marines the upper hand.
The top brass of Marine Headquarters were no pushovers.
Kaido, facing the combined might of Akainu and Kizaru, couldn’t afford to be careless. Akainu met him head-on, fearless, while Kaido also had to be wary of Kizaru’s sneak attacks.
Kaido’s defense was incredibly tough, but Kizaru’s Glint-Glint Fruit had serious piercing power to match. If Kaido let his guard down for even a second, he could get skewered.
The arrival of Shin’s Kuja Pirates brought the fierce battle to a brief halt. But seeing that Shin had no intention of interfering, they resumed their fight. However, both the Beast Pirates and the Marines were now wary of the Kuja Pirates.
After all, Shin and Kaido weren’t exactly buddies. In the past, Kaido might have had Big Mom as an ally, but now he was completely isolated on the seas.
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“The Whitebeard Pirates are here too,”
Hancock pointed at the approaching fleet. Compared to the Kuja Pirates, Whitebeard’s fleet was massive, with thousands of members.
Shin’s Kuja Pirates, on the other hand, had less than a hundred members.
“It’s not just the Whitebeard Pirates. Garp is here too—” Shin’s gaze shifted to the reinforcing Marine fleet.
“Will Whitebeard save Kaido?” Amatsuki Toki couldn’t help but ask.
“Whitebeard won’t make any reckless moves, and neither will Garp,” Olvia shook her head. Both sides were wary of each other.
The Whitebeard Pirates and Beast Pirates had been at each other’s throats for years—there was serious bad blood between them.
During the Summit War, the Beast Pirates had even tried to attack Whitebeard’s territory. That pretty much summed up their relationship.
In truth, if Garp attacked Kaido now, Whitebeard might actually step in to help the bastard.
Sure, they were enemies, but at the end of the day, pirates had to stick together against a common threat. If the Marines took down Kaido today, who’s to say the Whitebeard Pirates wouldn’t be next on their hit list?
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As expected, both the Whitebeard Pirates and Garp stayed at a distance, neither approaching.
Garp glanced at the Whitebeard Pirates and the Kuja Pirates.
“That old geezer Sengoku, always giving me trouble.” Garp yawned, feeling that Sengoku was just looking for trouble for him.
‘Isn’t it nice to sleep at Marine Headquarters? Why was I sent here?’
Coming here was incredibly risky. He might end up facing either Whitebeard or Shin Uzumaki. Against Whitebeard, Garp wouldn’t back down—he could hold his own in that fight.
But Shin Uzumaki? That was a different story entirely. Garp knew he didn’t stand a chance. The last time they’d fought—even with Sengoku backing him up—Shin had crushed them both without breaking a sweat.
“Vice Admiral Garp, are we really not going to act?” A high-ranking officer on the ship asked him.
“Now is not the time. Trust Aokiji and the others. They can handle Kaido’s pirate crew,” Garp said calmly.
Right now, the Beast Pirates were at a serious disadvantage. The Marines didn’t need to rush things, and Garp had no intention of getting involved.
If he jumped in, who knew how Shin would react—but the Whitebeard Pirates would definitely make their move. The Marines had enough firepower to take down any single Emperor, but fighting two at once?
That would be brutal. Against three? The Marines wouldn’t stand a chance.
The most powerful force in the One Piece world was actually the countless pirates scattered across the seas, but they could never work together. If pirates ever united, the World Government would be toast—completely overthrown ages ago.
But given pirates’ nature, that kind of unity was impossible. Most of them were just too greedy and selfish.
Sengoku calling pirates the scum of the sea wasn’t wrong. At least, most of them were exactly that. Even Whitebeard wasn’t some saint.
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BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Magma crashed into the sea, sending up clouds of steam. Even the seawater frozen by Aokiji evaporated on contact. Kaido was engulfed, as if bathing in magma. Only his Armament Haki kept him from being burned alive.
“Hmph.” Kaido snorted. He was not feeling good after being bathed in magma.
He swung his club at Akainu, this blow imbued with Armament Haki.
Akainu didn’t even consider taking the strike head-on. With Armament Haki nullifying his elemental form, a single hit could cost him half his life.
“<Light Speed Kick!>”
As Kaido was attacking Akainu, the flying Kizaru suddenly launched a surprise attack, kicking down at Kaido.
The moment Kizaru attacked, Kaido raised his hand to block the kick but still got sent flying several miles. This was exactly why Kaido had been fighting for so long without being able to finish off Akainu.
Every time he went on the offensive, Kizaru would hit him with a cheap shot. So Kaido didn’t hate Akainu the most—he hated that damn monkey Kizaru more than anyone.
“Kizaru, I’m going to kill you!!” Kaido roared, his terrifying voice shaking the sea and creating waves.
“Ooh~! So scary, so scary…”
Kizaru looked at Kaido with a sleazy, punchable face. He said it was scary, but it sounded more like a taunt.
“<Dark Hound!>”
While Kizaru was drawing Kaido’s hatred, Akainu wasn’t sitting idle. He seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack while Kaido’s attention was focused on Kizaru.
Akainu was capable of something like that, and he pulled it off flawlessly. After all, he wasn’t exactly a honorable fighter.
The two Admirals working together drove Kaido into a frenzy. Especially with a speedster like Kizaru in the mix, it was incredibly difficult for him to handle both Akainu and Kizaru simultaneously.
He couldn’t target Kizaru—the guy was too fast, unless he completely ignored Akainu and went all-out against Kizaru.
However, Akainu’s attacks were too vicious. Kaido didn’t dare turn his back on him.
As for landing a solid hit on Akainu, that wasn’t happening either. Kizaru would capitalize on any opening with a sneak attack.
With Whitebeard and Garp locked in their own stalemate and unable to intervene, the Beast Pirates were completely outmatched against the three Marine Admirals.
Moreover, the enemies the Beast Pirates were facing weren’t just the three Admirals, but also numerous Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals.
These Vice Admirals were no pushovers—they were just as strong as the top officers among pirate crews.
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