The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

"Flame Shock - Fire Dance Kagura!!!"

At the center of the Five Elders' formation, Gern, in a sword-wielding stance, spun around and unleashed a ring of fiery blades.

The ring of fire expanded rapidly outwards from Gern, precise and merciless...

It swept past the Five Elders' bodies, which had moved slightly forward due to their attack and were now almost at the same level!

"Collapse of the country!!!"

"laugh!!!!"

A crystal-clear sound, a combination of burning flames and high-frequency cutting vibrations, rang out almost simultaneously!

In the distance, Luffy, Blackbeard, and the others stared at him in disbelief, almost in a daze.

The five Elders' bodies, each a different mythical beast, exuded terrifying pressure...

Starting at the waist, the five men were cleanly and precisely cut in half by the spreading ring of fire...

Divide it in two!!!

Chapter 697 The Insurmountable Gap Between 'King Level'

The moment the Five Elders were severed at the waist by Gern's "Shock Flame: Fire Dance Kagura," the entire battlefield seemed to be muted.

Luffy, Edison, Vegapunk, York, and the others were stunned, forgetting even to breathe.

Van Oka and Shiliu (the latter only remaining conscious) had their pupils constricted, and a chill ran down their spines to the top of their heads.

Only Blackbeard, after the initial shock, instantly understood.

The strength that Gern showed when he was chasing him was not his full strength at all!

This monster had been hiding all along, or rather, the previous battles were not even a warm-up for him!

"not good!!!"

Blackbeard roared and screamed, no longer caring about holding back or scheming!

At the critical moment of life and death, all the power within him surged wildly.

The dark red, domineering lightning crackled and exploded, coiling upwards!

With his right fist, a pale shockwave was compressed and condensed with unprecedented density, causing the surrounding air to crack inch by inch and groan as if it could not bear the weight!

He pushed the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to its limit.

This punch contains destructive energy powerful enough to trigger massive tsunamis and tear apart the bedrock of islands!

And everything that followed was exactly as he had predicted.

After delivering a powerful blow that temporarily "dismembered" the Five Elders...

Gern's attack did not stop for the first time.

Even faster and more ruthless!

"call out!"

Gern's figure left a blurry afterimage in place.

His true form had already taken a step forward as if teleporting, creating a spatial rift, and was heading straight for Blackbeard!

The black sword in his hand, "Eight Desolations," was covered in dark red, overpowering lightning that seemed to come alive.

The vibrating particles at the blade's edge converged at a high frequency, emitting a piercing shriek!

"Blackbeard!!!"

Gern's arm muscles bulged as he swung his sword in a horizontal slash!

"God falls!!!!!!"

A black and red shockwave slash, several meters wide, roared out from the Scythe of Destruction!

Wherever the slash passed, clear, spiderweb-like black cracks appeared, and they continued to spread and break apart!

A piercing scream that tore everything apart swept away everything!

Even more terrifying was what followed this massive black and red shockwave slash.

Gern himself, wielding the "Eight Desolations" weapon, moved with the blade, following the strike at an even faster speed, creating a double kill!

The shockwave slash clears the way, destroys defenses and spatial stability, while the main body slash is responsible for the final harvest!

Blackbeard's pupils shrank to pinpoints, and the hairs on his body stood on end!

He felt himself completely locked onto by an extremely cold killing intent, with no way to avoid it!

"Captain Teach!!!"

A furious roar exploded from the side!

Gizas Burgess, who was originally severely injured and listless, was seen...

Unleashing his final strength from an unknown source, his eyes turned bloodshot, and all his muscles swelled to their limit.

Armament Haki covers his entire body!

Activating the power of the Power-Power Fruit, he suddenly rushed in front of Blackbeard, blocking the path of that terrifying black and red shockwave slash!

“Burgess! You…” Blackbeard exclaimed in astonishment.

"Leave it to me!! Captain!" Burgess grinned, revealing bloodstained teeth, his arms crossed protectively over his chest.

They focused all their strength on defense, trying to block the first and most fatal impact for Blackbeard!

"laugh."

A soft sound, followed by the hot knife slicing through the thin paper.

The black and red shockwave slash pierced through his entire body without any hindrance or difficulty!

The ferocity and determination on Bages' face froze instantly. He lowered his head, and no blood gushed out.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but only managed a muffled hoarse sound.

His eyes rolled back, and his massive body seemed to have all its bones removed.

It slumped forward softly, crashing to the ground with a thud, raising a cloud of dust.

Blackbeard Pirates veteran, "Fighting Champion" Gizas Burgess...

He was beheaded!

"Burgess!!! You idiot!!!" Blackbeard's eyes widened in fury!

Although Burgess was reckless, he was one of the earliest companions to follow him!

The fact that he died protecting him at this moment filled Blackbeard with fear and even more rage!

But Gern's attacks will not stop because of anyone's death!

The black and red shockwave slash weakened slightly after penetrating Burgess.

Yet it still carried a destructive aura, slamming fiercely towards Blackbeard's hastily thrown right fist, which was wrapped in Conqueror's Haki and shockwave!

The fist and the shockwave clashed violently!

"Ughhh!!!" Blackbeard roared, straining with all his might, even at the cost of exhausting his physical strength and life force.

Only by pushing the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to its limit could it barely disperse and neutralize the aftershocks of that slash!

However, his right fist was already torn open and bleeding profusely, his arm was trembling uncontrollably, and his chest was churning with blood, almost causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood!

How could the aftershock of just one slash have left him in such a sorry state?!

Blackbeard's horror reached its peak as he stared intently at the figure approaching like the Grim Reaper, and roared hoarsely.

"This...is this your true strength?!"

The Heavenly Tremor, unique to the 'King-level'!

"You fucking hid your strength all this time?! Bastard!!!"

Gern appeared behind Blackbeard without warning.

Blackbeard could only realize that Gorn was behind him through that calm, despairing voice.

"because......"

"You... are not qualified."

Before the words were even finished!

Gern's left hand had somehow clenched into a fist and was now at his waist, the knuckles...

It lacked a dazzling, domineering aura, and it didn't unleash any spectacular shockwaves.

There is only one kind of ultimate refinement and restraint!

"Black Shock - Instant Prison".

Punch out!

Silent and without a sound, not even a whooshing sound!

The target of this punch was none other than Blackbeard's vital area in the waist and abdomen!

You can't dodge it! You can't defend against it!

At this moment, Blackbeard truly smelled the scent of death!

The terror on his face was instantly replaced by a death-defying despair!

"asshole."

"Am I... going to die here?!"

Chapter 698 The Radiance of the Sun!

"Puwa!!!"

Blackbeard's eyes bulged out, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed from his mouth!

His massive body arched like a shrimp, and he was sent flying diagonally toward the ruins at an astonishing speed!

This punch is enough to instantly render an ordinary Emperor-level expert powerless, or even bring them to the brink of death!

However, just as Blackbeard was blasted into the air, his body losing control due to the impact, at the critical moment...

A figure, having calculated everything perfectly, precisely cut into the trajectory of Blackbeard's backward flight.

Van Oka's eternally deadpan face

He had no expression at that moment, only a cold and resolute look in his eyes.

Even with the horrific scene of Burgess's recent slaying right before his eyes, he did not hesitate for a moment.

Because he knew very well

Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach is the absolute soul and core of their pirate crew.

He is the only one who can unite this group of unruly thugs and lead them to the "pinnacle".

If Blackbeard were to perish here, not only would his remaining officers have no chance of survival...

They survived the subsequent combined attack by the Navy and the World Government.

Their ambitions and future, for which they gave everything and even betrayed all morality and creed, will all vanish in vain!

Saving Blackbeard is saving themselves, it's preserving their last hope!

"Teleportation - Trajectory Displacement!"

Van Augur gave a low shout and extended his right hand, but did not directly touch Blackbeard.

Instead, it used its Devil Fruit ability to precisely predict a spatial node ahead of its flight path and activated its power!

An invisible ripple spread outwards.

It should have continued to smash into the distant ruins due to inertia.

Blackbeard, severely injured by the secondary impact of the landing