#1480 - Chapter 1490: The Battle of Marineford

A cloud of thick smoke billowed up, gradually enveloping the two figures. As the smoke slowly dissipated, Garp's towering figure reappeared.

"Vice Admiral Garp, are you alright?"

Seeing Garp in such a state, the surrounding marines were immediately alarmed and rushed forward in a swarm, asking with concern.

Garp's condition was indeed worrying. Blood streamed down his forehead, continuously flowing down his cheeks and staining his grizzled beard red.

His once-neat marine uniform was now tattered, covered in shocking cuts. In particular, the sleeve of his left arm had completely disappeared, exposing the metallic gleam of his mechanical left arm.

However, facing the concerned greetings of the many marines, Garp seemed deaf to their words, not even sparing them a glance.

His eyes, as sharp as a hawk's, remained fixed on Whitebeard in the distance.

"Is it really time to say goodbye to this era? I must say, you've chosen the perfect moment!"

Garp murmured to himself, his voice soft but filled with an unspeakable heaviness and emotion.

At the same time, on the other side of the plaza, forcibly separated, a large number of Whitebeard Pirates were running madly towards the coastline.

Roughly estimated, there were about three to four thousand of them.

Each of them had a fierce look on their faces, their battle cries shaking the heavens and the earth, like a pack of ferocious beasts, unstoppable.

The Whitebeard Pirates, this time, in order to rescue Ace, had unhesitatingly come out in full force, with a total of about fifty thousand men!

However, in just one short day, their numbers had been drastically reduced to only three to four thousand.

Such a huge number of casualties was truly beyond the realm of ordinary imagination.

"Brothers, hurry! Run towards the coast with all your might!"

A Whitebeard Pirate crew member shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice particularly abrupt in the chaotic battlefield.

"Listen up, everyone! All of us who are left must retreat back to Paradise!"

Another crew member then yelled loudly, waving the weapon in his hand to signal others to follow.

They relayed the message to each other, echoing each other, hoping to save as many of their comrades' lives as possible.

Just then, a burst of gunfire suddenly erupted from the towering siege walls.

"Don't let those damned pirates escape! Fire at them, eliminate as many as you can!"

The navy obviously didn't want to miss this excellent opportunity to strike the enemy, so they issued a merciless order to pursue and kill.

Whitebeard, after struggling to repel Akainu and Aokiji, suddenly raised his enormous naginata and swung it with all his might towards the distant marines.

"Damn it!"

Akainu's eyes widened, his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets, roaring with a ferocious expression.

Aokiji, on the side, was also gnashing his teeth in anger, his forehead veins bulging, his eyes spitting fire, as if he wanted to burn everything he saw to ashes.

"Aokiji, you hold back that old geezer Whitebeard for me. I'm going to go and wipe out those trash now!"

Akainu didn't even bother to see if Aokiji responded to him. Before the words were finished, his figure flashed, rushing forward like a fierce beast, and in the blink of an eye, he swept past Whitebeard's location.

Seeing this situation, Whitebeard was not willing to let Akainu leave so easily, and immediately waved the huge long blade in his hand, trying to stop Akainu.

However, at this moment, Aokiji launched an attack in an instant, his figure appearing like a ghost in front of Whitebeard, forcibly blocking Whitebeard's path.

"Hmph, with me here, don't even think about leaving!"

Aokiji's face was terribly gloomy. His once neat hair was now disheveled, as if it had been ravaged by a hurricane.

There was still a trace of bright red blood hanging from the corner of his mouth, slowly flowing down his chin. And his body was even more of a mess.

Obviously, Aokiji was now completely enraged.

Whitebeard was unconcerned about Aokiji's obstruction, a contemptuous smile on his face: "Just you? Might as well give it a try!"

With that, Whitebeard's arm swung violently, the giant long blade slashing down with unparalleled force.

Only to hear a loud "clang", the weapon in Aokiji's hand shattered in response, turning into countless tiny fragments flying everywhere.

At the same time, a powerful impact was transmitted along the weapon to Aokiji's hands, instantly shattering his hands into powder, ice turning into debris scattered everywhere.

However, before long, an amazing scene occurred - Aokiji's hands, which had been twisted and deformed, quickly returned to their original shape! As if the attack had not affected him at all.

"Elementalization? What a nuisance!"

Whitebeard's face sank slightly when he saw this scene, looking somewhat ugly.

Obviously, Aokiji had successfully predicted and used elementalization to avoid the damage.

Whitebeard and Aokiji collided like two meteors, each confrontation causing violent vibrations in the surrounding air.

Although from the outside, Whitebeard seemed to be coping quite easily, in reality, his heart was becoming more and more anxious.

Because his attention could not be relaxed in the slightest, he had to be constantly aware of Akainu chasing closely behind him.

At this time, Akainu was like a ferocious beast, breaking through the Whitebeard Pirates' defense lines one after another.

Seeing his sons falling one by one under the enemy's feet, Whitebeard was anxious, and the strength in his hands also increased a bit.

Under the pressure of his powerful force, Aokiji gradually fell into a passive position, unable to fight back for a while.

Just then, Luffy noticed Ace, who had been standing still.

He walked quickly to Ace and said urgently, "Ace, let's go! The old man is ready to face death!"