One Piece: Surrounded at Marineford? Just kidding!

Chapter 610: We're partners!

The dust hadn't settled. The acrid smell of burnt food mixed with the stench of blood filled the nostrils. A cold wind whipped up ashes. At the bottom of the giant pit, rubble tumbled down.

A petite figure, carrying a giant medical kit, sprinted frantically down the steep pit wall. It was Chopper. He tumbled and scrambled towards the bottom of the pit. Tears blurred his vision. His lungs rumbled like bellows.

His knees slammed heavily onto the scorched, frozen earth. The first-aid kit was roughly thrown aside. His hands trembled violently as he ripped off the latches. Hemostatic agents, anesthetics, and bandages scattered all over the ground.

Sanji lay on his back in a pool of blood. His right calf was completely charred. The flesh was torn open, and charred bone pierced through the blood and flesh. Chopper gritted his teeth. A high-concentration hemostatic agent was poured directly onto the top of the charred wound.

The medicine sizzled as it was poured onto the scalding flesh. White smoke rose. Chopper's hands moved swiftly. A special bandage was tightly tightened into Sanji's calf artery.

He turned and lunged at Zoro. The swordsman crashed into the rubble. His arms twisted and broke. His arm bones were dislocated. His Haki cycle was broken. The Sandai Kitetsu lay on his fingertips, but his fingers were stiff and unable to move.

Tears fell onto Zoro's blood-stained chest. The doctor's hands, however, remained as steady as a rock. He located the dislocated joint, and with a sudden burst of strength, pushed upwards with his deformed arms, twisting them violently.

"Click."

The bones snapped back into place with a crisp, resonant sound. Zoro let out a muffled groan. Cold sweat instantly soaked his forehead. Chopper grabbed a splint and bandages and swiftly secured it.

Zoro tilted his head and vomited thick blood. Blood clots mixed with fragments of internal organs. He gasped hoarsely. His deformed fingers dug desperately into sharp rocks. His nails snapped. Blood flowed down. Half of his body was forcibly propped up.

On the other side. A bloodied hand reached inside the suit jacket. A solid gold lighter. Half a cigarette butt.

He bit into the smoldering cigarette. His thumb struck the lighter. The flame leaped, illuminating his deathly pale face. He inhaled. He exhaled, the smoke mingling with the stench of blood.

moment.

Zoro froze. Sanji's lips tightened. His honed Observation Haki was frantically alerting him.

A terrifying aura assaulted my senses. The air distorted violently. Light refracted erratically.

Pupils constricted sharply. Absolute power.

"Chopper!"

The two turned around at the same time and roared at Chopper.

"Get back to the palace immediately!"

Zoro's one eye is bulging with bloodshot veins.

"Run! Don't worry about us!"

Sanji spat out the cigarette and shoved Chopper frantically.

Chopper shuddered. He looked up and followed the gaze.

Ten meters ahead, space was forcibly torn apart like a tattered rag. A pitch-black crack exploded out of thin air. Dark red demonic energy surged forth. The frigid tundra was corroded by the demonic energy, turning into a foul-smelling black swamp.

Two black combat boots stepped out of the crack at the same time.

Saint Somaz. Saint Qilin Gom.

The Celestial Dragon, who had just been cleaved in two, stood unharmed at the bottom of the pit. His body had completely reformed, covered in thick black armor. Dark red demonic patterns flickered wildly across the armor's surface.

The aura surged. A pure will to destroy.

Somaz Saint held his long, black sword upside down. He stepped closer. The tip of the blade dragged through the hard, frozen earth. The sound of metal scraping against metal pierced eardrums. Sparks exploded wildly at the tip of the blade.

"What a tenacious vitality!"

Somaz looked down at Sauron with a mocking tone.

"Bestowed such a sacred death upon you by Lord Im, you lowly prey, are you still not quite dead?"

The Qilin Gom Saint twisted its neck. Bones cracked. Fists covered in demonic crystals collided. Dark red lightning leaped from their knuckles.

"That kick just now hurt a lot. Now, I'm going to crush your other leg inch by inch."

despair.

A dead end. Zoro's Haki is depleted. Sanji's internal organs are ruptured. Chopper is powerless. Facing them are two monsters who have been forcibly resurrected and strengthened.

Somaz stopped five meters away. He raised his black sword. Dark red demonic energy gathered wildly at the blade. The air seemed to be sucked away instantly. The demonic energy slash was ready to be unleashed.

Somaz grinned maliciously. He swung his longsword down suddenly.

A hair's breadth away.

A loud blast of air exploded.

Four figures leaped out of the dust like arrows released from a bow.

Nami. Usopp. Franky. Brook.

There was no tactical communication. The moment they landed, the four of them lined up in a row. Their flesh and blood stood firmly in front of the three seriously injured men.

A violent surge of demonic energy swept over them. Clothes were torn apart by the strong wind. No one retreated even half a step.

Zoro's eyes widened in horror. His heart pounded. The monster's strength was far beyond what these four could handle. Staying meant certain death.

"What are you doing?!"

Zoro's forehead veins bulged as he roared.

"The monsters on the other side are far beyond your capabilities! Retreat immediately! That's an order!"

Sanji braced himself against the ground, desperately trying to stand up. He couldn't let the woman stand in his way. He absolutely wouldn't allow his comrade to die.

"Get out of here, you bunch of idiots!"

Sanji roared and exerted all his strength. His broken ribs pierced his lungs instantly. A searing pain exploded within him. His body gave way, and he crashed heavily back into a pool of blood. Blood gushed wildly from the corner of his mouth.

The four people at the front remained completely still.

Nami stood on the far left, her hands gripping the Weather Rod tightly in front of her chest. A violent blue-white current surged from the rod's tip, fine arcs of electricity dancing through her long orange hair.

He didn't turn around. He stared intently at Saint Somaz ahead. His voice trembled, but his tone was as hard as steel.

"Luffy is fighting! You two are fighting too!"

Nami retorted loudly. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but her gaze was intensely bright.

"Everyone is fighting tooth and nail to survive! How can we fall behind?!"

The sound echoed at the bottom of the pit. Blue and white lightning illuminated the resolute face.

"We're partners! If we're going to die, we'll die together!"

A promise. The Straw Hat crew's absolute resolve to fight together. Even the weak have dignity. Never run away from a comrade facing death.

Usopp was beside him.

His legs trembled violently. His knees pounded uncontrollably against each other. Cold sweat soaked through his goggles and headscarf. Faced with a monster that even Zoro and Sane couldn't defeat, his survival instinct screamed wildly in his mind.

But the hands that were drawing the bow were extremely steady.

The muscles in his arms were taut. The black slingshot was pulled to its full length. The rubber band snapped under the strain.

Loaded with Boeing Islands' specially made explosive seeds. Dark Armament Haki instantly enveloped him. His single eye fixed intently on Kirin Ghom's brow.

"Don't look down on me! You bunch of Celestial Dragon bastards!"

Usopp roared at the top of his lungs. His voice cracked with fear, but his momentum was extremely fierce.

"Now, I'll show you the power of the Straw Hat crew! I'm a brave sea warrior with eight thousand men under my command!"

Franky stood on the right. His massive mechanical body resembled an iron wall. His feet were firmly planted in the frozen ground.

"I'm so annoyed!"

Franky pushed up his sunglasses. His shoulder armor suddenly popped open, revealing two heavy cannons.

A mechanical hum filled the air. A blindingly bright blue light converged wildly at the muzzle. The dual-shoulder heavy cannons were fully charged at their highest level. They locked onto the enemy's chest.

Brook stood on the far right. His skeletal body stood ramrod straight. He drew the Soul-Slaying Sword from his waist.

The sword was drawn. The temperature plummeted. A chilling aura filled the air, reminiscent of the underworld. A green, icy mist swirled beneath their feet. The frozen ground instantly solidified into a ghastly white frost.

"Even though I don't have a heart anymore, seeing my comrades injured still makes it so painful I can't breathe."

Brook's hollow eye sockets flickered with eerie green soul fire.

"Hehehe. Let me play a funeral requiem for you two."

Four people. Four forces. Flesh and blood formed the final bulwark called "Partners".

The two Celestial Dragons stopped in their tracks. Looking at the weak pirate before them, they burst into contemptuous laughter.

"Hahaha! What a touching display of camaraderie!"

Somaz laughed wildly.

"Do you think you can stop the gods with these few pieces of scrap metal?"

"It's just a few more ants coming to their deaths."

Qilin Gom licked his lips. His dark red armor erupted with dazzling light.

"Since you're in such a hurry to go to hell, then I'll grant your wish!"

Before the words were even finished, demonic energy erupted.

A dark red shockwave overturned the rubble. The two transformed into jet-black lightning, carrying an aura of destruction, and charged straight at the four people who were waiting in battle.

A fierce battle broke out.

The gaze shifts away from this desperate battlefield.

Two kilometers from the palace. On the other side of the ruins.

A battlefield in another dimension. The fighting here has surpassed the limits of human comprehension.

A violent tremor and extreme darkness intertwined in madness.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar erupted. Vast areas of frozen soil were uprooted. Hard rock layers shattered inch by inch. Half of a mountain, hundreds of meters high, was forcibly leveled to the ground by the collision of terrifying energy.