Pirates: Dangerous Options in My Brain

"Pops…"

Marco, circling in the air, looked down at the shocking scene below. Instead of feeling joy, he became extremely worried.

He knew very well the state of Whitebeard's health and understood that Pops was already at his limit.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was a spent force.

"If this continues, Pops might also…"

A terrifying thought crossed his mind.

At that moment of intense anxiety.

"Hey, birdman!"

Below, Vivian, dressed in a magician's outfit, suddenly shouted at him.

"Hmm?"

Hearing this nickname for the first time, Marco frowned and looked down at Vivian.

"Can you hold off Kizaru one more time? I'll go get Whitebeard."

"You?" Marco tilted his pineapple-shaped head.

"Loget Larvin? How do I know you won't harm Pops?"

"Do you have a better plan right now?"

The more than ten division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates had all sustained injuries in the intense battle and were now being tightly watched by the Vice Admirals, unable to break free.

This was the strategy the Marines had planned before the war, assigning elite Vice Admirals based on strength to deal with the division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates.

This was also why Sengoku had said there was a "new variable" when Vivian suddenly appeared.

As the two spoke, Kizaru once again turned into a beam of light, leisurely appearing near Whitebeard.

Is he planning a tag team?

When did that old guy Kizaru start working so hard?

"Hey, can you do it?" Vivian asked.

"Of course." Marco nodded expressionlessly.

Although he still harbored some hostility towards this guy named Larvin, he had no better option at this point.

"Remember, if anything goes wrong, the Whitebeard Pirates will hunt you to the ends of the earth." Marco left this warning and immediately dove down, transforming into his phoenix form and attacking Kizaru again.

"It's you again, phoenix. The first commander under Whitebeard is really terrifying."

Kizaru said his signature line, raising his right foot to clash with Marco's bird claw.

At the same time.

Taking advantage of Whitebeard's fatigue, Akainu gripped Whitebeard's wrists tightly. The extreme Armament Haki clashed fiercely with Whitebeard's Conqueror's Haki. The previously dominant Whitebeard was now forced to release his right hand.

"Gurararara…"

With blood at the corner of his mouth, Whitebeard couldn't help but laugh again. Then, under everyone's puzzled gaze, he said, "I am a remnant of the old era. The new era has no place for my ship."

"Children… run away… we lost this war."

"Pops!" Countless pirates shouted.

Whitebeard… admitted defeat.

That man could admit defeat?

Just as Akainu was about to punch Whitebeard's head.

Bang!

A bullet shot from the side, hitting Akainu's temple.

Although the lead bullet quickly passed through Akainu's head, in the moment of distraction while he turned his body into magma, Whitebeard seized the opportunity to slam him into the ground.

The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit instantly created a deep crater in the ground.

The Marines looked up at the direction the bullet had come from.

"Who?!"

"It's him again… that guy called Larvin."

"Damn it"

"Someone, shoot him!" a Vice Admiral shouted.

The next second, countless flintlock rifles aimed at Vivian, bullets raining down.

But Vivian quickly threw a universal capsule to the ground.

A small stone house appeared in front of him, serving as a shield and blocking all the bullets.

Before the battle, he had anticipated this situation and prepared a stone house, placing it in an empty universal capsule.

He had Marco to thank for this idea. If not for nearly being kicked to death by that birdman on Albaek Island, he wouldn't have thought of using a house as a shield in a pinch. Otherwise, he might have already reincarnated into another world.

"Akainu, I'm like a fly constantly annoying you. Let's see what you can do about it…" Vivian muttered, then took aim at Akainu and fired ten bullets, each hitting Akainu's body precisely.

Akainu had to use Observation Haki to sense the bullets and preemptively turn into magma or cover himself with Armament Haki to block them. This level of distraction, especially when fighting a top-tier opponent like Whitebeard, could be fatal.

Bang!

Another heavy punch landed on Akainu's head.

As blood spurted from his forehead, Vivian prepared to rush forward to see if he could save Whitebeard.

But then…

Whoosh—!

Rayleigh suddenly appeared between them, pushing Whitebeard aside with his shoulder and stomping on Akainu's body with his sandal-clad foot, deepening the crater.

Everyone was stunned.

Not because of Rayleigh's strength, but because he was covered in blood, looking like a dying man, his vision blurred, gasping for breath.

"Dark King… Rayleigh…"

Memories of the past suddenly resurfaced.

Seeing his old friend risking his life for him, Whitebeard's previously grim face showed a hint of emotion.

Vivian was equally surprised but then realized that fighting both Garp and Sengoku would leave Rayleigh in this state.

"Whitebeard… I didn't expect to meet you again under such circumstances…"

"Go quickly. I'll hold off Akainu, Garp, and Sengoku."

Rayleigh grinned, showing his blood-stained teeth, and smiled slightly. "You're right, we're both remnants of the old era. There's no place for us in the new era."

With that, he turned to look at the approaching Garp and Sengoku, using his last bit of strength to shout:

"I've seen One Piece with my own eyes…"

"It truly exists!"

"It exist for everyone on the sea!"

His voice echoed across Marineford.

Meanwhile, everyone watching the live broadcast was stunned, as if time had stopped, and the whole world fell into silence.