# Chapter 36: Hammered Flat
Moria's corpse fell to the ground. Su Xiao looked toward the battlefield where Whitebeard was fighting. Magma and ice spread everywhere, intense light flashed, and the rumbling sounds of vibrations were unceasing. A large ice wall had isolated that area, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.
Inside the ice wall, Aokiji was slightly out of breath. Compared to Akainu and Kizaru, he was under the most pressure. Before fighting Whitebeard, he had already clashed with Su Xiao twice.
Bang!
Magma splattered. The naginata in Whitebeard's hands swung down toward Akainu's head. The ice beneath Akainu's feet cracked. He couldn't understand how the 72-year-old Whitebeard still possessed this kind of monstrous strength.
The moment Akainu blocked Whitebeard, Kizaru, holding the Amaterasu Sword, had already appeared behind Whitebeard, the blade slashing toward the back of Whitebeard's neck.
A sound of wind breaking came. A weapon resembling a hiltless rapier stabbed toward Kizaru's head. Kizaru's cheek visibly twitched. His inner thought was that Moria had died far too quickly. As for guilt—sorry, that was a pirate.
Seeing the Banishment flying toward him, Aokiji's eye also twitched.
"Moo!"
The familiar cow roar made Aokiji want to kill someone. With a rumble, Amu smashed through the ice wall. Wearing bruised eye sockets, he was furious. As the saying goes, when enemies meet, their eyes burn with hatred.
Just as Aokiji was entangled by Amu, Su Xiao was already standing not far from Kizaru, with Banishment circling around him to guard against Kizaru's photon rays.
"Come."
Su Xiao raised his chin toward Kizaru. Kizaru spoke somewhat lazily:
"Sakazuki, hold on for a while."
"!"
Akainu's eyes widened. The next moment, a powerful naginata swung toward him. With no other choice, Akainu used an utterly undignified combat roll.
With a rumble, the naginata struck the ice. Akainu was now facing Whitebeard at his peak strength.
As soon as Akainu rolled aside, Whitebeard thrust his naginata into the ice beside him, clenched one fist, and crossed his arm in front of his chest.
Thump~
A punch struck down, splitting the air. A vibration surged toward Akainu. Akainu immediately elementalized, his body turning into magma.
After throwing that punch, Whitebeard charged toward Akainu with large strides.
Akainu crouched on one knee, his right arm turning to magma. Fists formed from magma flew out, striking toward Whitebeard.
Whitebeard, charging forward, did not dodge. This was Whitebeard's weakness—due to his size, his speed was only average.
Boom, boom, boom...
One magma fist after another struck Whitebeard's body. His coat behind him caught fire, and several patches of scorched black appeared on his chest.
Although Whitebeard was heavily hit by the magma fists, he didn't stop for a single step. This compensated for his speed disadvantage. As Whitebeard clenched his right fist, a spherical halo of light appeared around it, and he punched directly toward Akainu.
Akainu was tall, a full three meters, but his height only reached Whitebeard's abdomen. When Whitebeard's fist came down from above, Akainu had no chance to sidestep—the punch was coming straight down from above.
Akainu leaned back as far as he could, but his head inevitably touched the white light sphere on Whitebeard's fist. With just a slight touch, Akainu felt his vision shake, his mind became dazed and confused, forcing him to only partially elementalize his body.
Thump!!
Whitebeard's punch pinned Akainu to the ground. Akainu lay sideways, his head in close contact with the ice. The surrounding ice quickly cracked, and high temperatures evaporated steam.
Blood gushed from Akainu's mouth. His head was deformed from the blow, but fortunately, this was due to elementalization, not bone fractures.
Lying sideways on the ground, Akainu straightened his body and grabbed Whitebeard's wrist with both hands.
Sizzle~
White smoke rose. Whitebeard winced in pain, furrowing his brow. He continued pressing his fist down, and the strength in Akainu's hands weakened.
"Magma Dog."
Akainu fully elementalized, turning into a mass of dark red magma. An arm formed from magma shot toward Whitebeard's abdomen at incredible speed.
Whitebeard's eyes widened in anger. His hands formed claws as he pulled downward with all his strength, seemingly tearing at the atmosphere itself. The burning white coat behind him fluttered loudly. Everything around him tilted due to his pulling force, including Akainu.
With a bang, Akainu's fist only struck Whitebeard's side, scorching a large patch of skin.
Whitebeard didn't care about this minor flesh wound at all. He reached forward, grabbing Akainu's head directly. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power appeared in his hand.
Just as Akainu tried to grab Whitebeard's arm again, an intense shaking sensation appeared on his head. As the saying goes, it loosens the tendons and invigorates the blood—specializing in treating cerebral thrombosis.
Whitebeard lifted Akainu up. His other hand, also wrapped in Tremor-Tremor Fruit power, punched Akainu in the chest.
Crack!
Bones broke. Blood sprayed from Akainu's mouth. He endured the discomfort in his head, half of his body turning to magma.
A magma explosion occurred. Magma splattered everywhere with Whitebeard at the center. Akainu's strength was never about the temperature of his magma fruit, but about the explosive force of magma. Akainu's ability was like a volcano—the impact and explosive force when a volcano erupts were far more terrifying than the temperature.
Whitebeard retreated several large steps, shaking off the magma on his hands. A few meters in front of him, Akainu was crouching on one knee, his face covered in blood, gasping heavily.
"Magma brat, your magma can only light candles."
Whitebeard pulled his naginata from the ice. His body had multiple burn marks—an unavoidable consequence of fighting a Magma-Magma Fruit user.
"Cough, cough..."
Akainu wanted to counter with some sarcasm, but unfortunately, his hardware didn't allow it. He could only spit out a few mouthfuls of blood.
Akainu had been beaten badly by Whitebeard, but he was still an Admiral. He wouldn't die at Whitebeard's hands in a short time—unless Whitebeard ignored Akainu's attacks and traded wounds with him. In that case, Akainu would die horribly in a short time. But Whitebeard couldn't do that; they still hadn't broken through to the plaza on the port.
Whitebeard charged toward Akainu with large strides. Akainu had suffered greatly in close combat with Whitebeard, so he planned to use his fruit ability to attack Whitebeard from mid-range. He couldn't fight this monster in close quarters anymore—he would die!
However, Whitebeard suddenly threw his naginata. Akainu, crouching on the ground, immediately elementalized. With a sharp sound, the naginata pierced through Akainu and stabbed into the ice.
Just as Akainu completed his elementalization, Whitebeard had already charged forward. His right leg bent, his entire body's muscles bulging, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit power wrapping around his foot.
A deafening roar spread. Whitebeard kicked Akainu flying.
Whoosh! Akainu flew across the icy battlefield, over the port plaza, past the execution platform, and crashed into the wall of Marine Headquarters.
An arm extended from the large hole in the wall. Akainu rolled out of the broken hole and fell onto a chair below. This was where he had been sitting before. And now, he had been kicked back here by Whitebeard.
Akainu lay on the ground, trying to stand up, but after several failed attempts, he finally lay still.
Undoubtedly, Whitebeard's choice was very wise. Killing Akainu was no simple matter. With the Whitebeard Pirates unable to break through for so long, Whitebeard needed to personally lead his pirates to charge onto the port and reach the plaza in front of the execution platform. Only there would there be a chance to save Ace. Whitebeard wasn't here to fight the Marines—he was here to rescue someone. He had never forgotten this from beginning to end.
Just as Akainu was kicked flying, Aokiji froze Amu with ice. Although he knew this was helping Amu replenish his stamina, it was a choice made under duress.
Almost simultaneously, Kizaru elementalized into a beam of light, bouncing several times in mid-air before retreating far away.
Both Aokiji and Kizaru had fled. Or rather, if they hadn't retreated, Su Xiao + Whitebeard might really have been able to kill one of them in a short time.
Whitebeard glanced at his scorched abdomen. This was a light injury. He nodded to Su Xiao to express his gratitude.
"My sons!"
Whitebeard's voice spread across most of the battlefield. The pirates' morale reached its peak.
"Charge with me! Rescue Ace!"
"ROAR!!"
The pirates were as if injected with stimulants. Whitebeard charged into the battlefield with large strides, like a bulldozer. Vice Admirals and the like were knocked down in a single encounter.
Ten minutes. Just ten minutes. The pirates had crossed the icy battlefield and entered the plaza above the port, clashing with even more Marines. The execution platform with Ace was right in front of them, but Sengoku beside him remained expressionless.
The sounds of battle filled the plaza. Long blades clanged. Blade auras crisscrossed. When Su Xiao stopped swinging his blade, there was already a large pile of corpses beneath him. Below the corpse pile stood a circle of terrified Marines. In the advancing formation, Su Xiao was in the most forward position, less than a hundred meters from the execution platform.
On the execution platform, Ace stared dumbfounded at Su Xiao standing on the corpse pile. His thought at this moment was: 'Who is this? Is he really here to save me?'
It was no wonder Ace thought this way. The aura Su Xiao emitted on the battlefield was too fierce. He was fundamentally different from the surrounding pirates. At most, pirates killed other pirates or Marines. But Su Xiao had crawled out of battlefields littered with mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
"Soul Severing Shadow Stone, 86 meters away."
Su Xiao flicked the blood off his blade, completely unconcerned about Sengoku on the execution platform, whose face was as dark as water.