“Gurararara…”

Whitebeard’s mighty laughter echoed through the air.

The atmosphere quivered as he raised his naginata and swung it fiercely. The gusts of wind roared, his terrifying aura surging like a tidal wave crashing against the surroundings.

“Dad’s angry.”

“Of course, he’s furious. Being underestimated like this, one hour to beat him? Who does he think he is?”

“Even if it’s Kuke, he can’t disrespect Dad like that.”

Whitebeard’s sons all felt deeply insulted.

“Kuke might be stronger than Dad, but to mock him like this is going too far,” said Diamond Jozu, clenching his fists.

Standing nearby, Marco looked at Jozu and the others in disbelief, questioning whether his ears were playing tricks on him.

Why would they think Kuke is stronger than Dad?

“Hey, hey, hey! I’ve only been gone for half a year. What nonsense is this? Kuke stronger than Dad?” Marco exclaimed, his eyes wide with anger.

“You’re all Dad’s sons, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you believe in him unconditionally? Dad is the strongest man alive—how could anyone be stronger than him?”

“Marco, are you seriously unaware of what’s happened?” one of them asked.

“Unaware of what?” Marco looked puzzled.

“Kuke is incredibly strong—Kaido lost to him, and so did Charlotte Linlin.”

“What?” Marco’s eyes bulged in shock.

“Even if Kuke beat them, that doesn’t mean he’s stronger than Dad. Dad could defeat them too.”

Jozu and the others were at a loss for words. They didn’t entirely believe Kuke was stronger than Whitebeard, but they admitted the possibility was high.

“Dad, you’ll definitely win, right?” Marco turned to Whitebeard.

Whitebeard remained silent for a few seconds before responding, “Marco, calm down. Don’t worry. I’m Whitebeard. There’s no way I’d lose in just one hour.”

Despite Whitebeard’s reassurance, Marco’s anxious expression did not ease. The world seemed to spin around him as though everything he knew was collapsing.

Dad’s tone… even he didn’t sound confident about defeating Kuke? The confidence lay only in not losing within an hour?

How could this be possible?

What exactly had happened in the past six months?

Marco began to doubt whether he’d truly only been imprisoned for six months. Could it have been ten years or even longer? Everything felt so unfamiliar.

Was his understanding of the world wrong?

Marco stared blankly at Kuke. The man hadn’t changed at all from six months ago; he was still the same.

“If I don’t last an hour…”

Kuke frowned in thought. Whitebeard didn’t seem to have anything that particularly interested him.

Starting a massacre would risk major butterfly effects, like preventing the Dark-Dark Fruit from appearing. Killing Whitebeard would waste the potential of his Devil Fruit powers.

“If I lose in an hour, I’ll tell the entire world that I’m no match for you—not even close,” Whitebeard offered.

At first glance, the cost didn’t seem significant. However, for someone like Whitebeard—a pirate emperor—this was no less severe than dying in battle.

Kuke looked at the serious expression on Whitebeard’s face. He was sincere.

“If I can’t last even an hour, then you deserve to step over me and ascend to the pinnacle of the world.”

“Deal,” Kuke agreed.

Glory meant nothing to him. What mattered was the influence Whitebeard’s admission of defeat would have on the world.

The news of defeat, coupled with the strongest man himself publicly acknowledging it, would have vastly different impacts.

“Of course, if I win, you and your crew will have nothing to do with me or my people from now on,” Whitebeard added.

Whitebeard wasn’t solely preparing for the possibility of defeat; he was also entertaining the thought of victory. Lasting an hour was his minimum goal, but he intended to go all out to try and defeat Kuke.

If he were to lose, it would be on his own terms rather than being granted mercy. But if he could win, it would guarantee his sons’ safety.

“Let’s change the venue,” Kuke suggested.

They were currently at sea. As a Devil Fruit user without the ability to fly, Whitebeard would be at a significant disadvantage if he fell into the water. Kuke didn’t want to exploit this.

“Fine,” Whitebeard agreed.

Against anyone else, he might have acted differently, but he couldn’t afford to be reckless with Kuke. Too many people had suffered losses at Kuke’s hands, and Whitebeard had no intention of becoming another victim due to overconfidence.

“Southeast, thirty nautical miles away, there’s an uninhabited island,” Whitebeard suggested.

This was Whitebeard’s territory, and he knew the surrounding islands like the back of his hand.

The location was decided, and both sides began sailing toward the island.

On the way, Marco eagerly questioned his crewmates about what had transpired during the past six months. His expression changed constantly as he heard their answers.

“Sengoku is dead? Fleet Admiral Sengoku of the Marines was killed in Sabaody Archipelago?”

The revelation hit Marco like a bolt of lightning. His limbs went numb.

He had anticipated that Kuke’s resurrection would cause trouble for the Marines, but he never imagined Sengoku would be killed.

“Kaido lost in four hours? His wives were stolen, and he was driven out of his home?”

Marco’s voice rose sharply in disbelief. He stared dumbfounded at Izo, who was recounting the events to him.

“Are you sure you’re not making this up?”

“Poor Kaido,” Marco murmured, feeling a pang of sympathy. Even the most troublesome brute in the sea had been reduced to such a miserable state.

“A month ago, Kuke won over Big Mom and her four daughters? He even brought Big Mom herself into the Sun and Moon Pirates?”

Marco’s eyes glazed over as he processed the information. He stood frozen for several minutes before his gaze slowly regained focus.

Turning stiffly to his crewmates, he finally understood why they had reacted the way they did earlier and why even Whitebeard lacked complete confidence.

After hearing everything, Marco realized that anyone would think this way after witnessing Kuke’s exploits.

“Just six months—only six months—and Kuke has accomplished all of this. It’s… it’s…”

Marco struggled to find the words. After a long pause, he finally muttered, “None of these achievements resemble anything a normal human would do.”

Aboard the Radiant Eclipse, Kuke remained composed. Declaring that he could defeat Whitebeard in an hour wasn’t an empty boast.

Although battles between the strongest pirates often seemed to last days, they could actually be resolved quickly. Kuke had personally tested this.

The key to rapidly deciding a battle was a relentless, all-or-nothing approach. Kuke’s unparalleled physique made him the ideal combatant for such tactics.

“Violet, what are the movements of the World Government and the Marines?”

For Kuke, the time it would take to defeat Whitebeard was secondary. He was far more concerned about the movements of the World Government and the Marines.

Currently, no pirate could truly pressure him. Only the combined forces of the Marines and the enigmatic World Government posed a challenge.

He had instructed Violet to monitor their activities daily, keeping tabs on their strongest operatives.

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DONT FORGET POWER STONE

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up 40+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep