78 Chapter 78: Two Veterans

"Just to see if there's anyone truly as strong as the Marines claim, and if so, this opponent has undoubtedly surpassed Whitebeard"

In the original story of Hawkeye during the Summit War, he slashed Whitebeard. He did so, he admitted, to gauge the gap between himself and Whitebeard. Bluntly put, Whitebeard's title as the strongest would only hold weight as long as he remained alive.

Among the Four Emperors, Shanks' strength appears to be quite average.

Hawkeye believed there was still a considerable gap between himself and Whitebeard, which is why he attacked Whitebeard directly. However, Jozu blocked the attack.

This is also one of the reasons Hawkeye's strength is considered inferior to the Four Emperors. However, it's important to remember that Jozu is no weakling himself. He even managed to strike Aokiji until he vomited blood.

Aokiji also struggled somewhat to defeat Jozu. This suggests that Admirals and the Four Emperors are on a similar level, with no clear distinction in strength.

Therefore, it's not necessarily a slight on Hawkeye's abilities that his attack was blocked.

Given the Marines' intel suggesting Luo Ning's strength might have surpassed Whitebeard, Hawkeye naturally felt compelled to test this claim.

Without wasting words on the others, Hawkeye immediately drew his weapon and unleashed a powerful slash. The enormous green energy attack, spanning hundreds of meters, shattered the ice as it hurtled towards Luo Ning.

"Hawkeye?"

Luo Ning narrowed his eyes. Instead of dodging the attack, he raised his left hand to meet it head-on.

The slash collided with Luo Ning's left hand in a blink of an eye.

"How is that possible?!"

The Marine executives who had never witnessed Luo Ning's true power and the surrounding onlookers still awake erupted in a chorus of disbelief.

Hawkeye, the world's greatest swordsman, had unleashed a slash. While many might have predicted his attack would be blocked, using a bare hand to do so seemed utterly implausible. It appeared as if Hawkeye's slash possessed no power whatsoever, completely nullified by the mere blocking of Luo Ning's arm.

In a swift motion, Luo Ning exerted force with his hand, causing Hawkeye's slash to deviate from its intended trajectory and hurtle directly back towards its source.

Witnessing this scene, Hawkeye's eyes narrowed. He retaliated with another slash, the two attacks colliding with a resounding boom!

The resulting explosion shattered the ice into pieces. Thankfully, Aokiji swiftly activated his powers once more, stabilizing the ice and preventing a complete breakdown.

"Blocked such an attack with your bare flesh and blood, without a trace of Armament Haki? Even Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, couldn't manage that!"

The notion of the impossible settled over many minds. Luo Ning stood completely unharmed, not even a hint of exertion evident on his face. It was as if the attack had been nothing more than a mere illusion.

"Did he use some form of defense other than Armament Haki?"

Hawkeye himself harbored no doubts. He understood the immense power of his own slash. It was inconceivable to cleave through an undefended flesh-and-blood body without the fortification of Armament Haki. Luo Ning must have employed a unique defensive ability.

"Indeed, the defensive capabilities of the previous doppelgänger were worlds apart from this!"

Witnessing this spectacle, Sengoku finally grasped why Garp and the others had readily identified the previous opponent as a clone.

This defense is completely different. The previous attack by Akainu and others could injure the opponent, although the ability to injure in the blink of an eye has recovered.

But it did break through the defense. However, Hawkeye's attack was not weaker than Akainu's.

Even such a slash can't break through the opponent's defense. This is obviously the main body, and the gap between the main body and the clone is not small.

"That's right, this should be the main body. How about it? Are you following the previous plan? Shichibukai are obviously unreliable here!"

Garp took a look at Shichibukai. Among the Shichibukai, Hawkeye and Kuma are the strongest. Kuma has no intention of making a move. Even if he does, it is probably just a symbolic move and will not shoot again.

A few other Shichibukai, it's not that Garp looks down on them, they're just really average.

"Then do what you said before. I haven't done much for so many years, and my bones are rusted!"

Sengoku tore off his coat of justice, and Garp did the same. The two jumped off the ship and onto the ice.

This was what they had discussed before. Although Kizaru and Akainu could join forces to deal with Luo Ning, once they did it, there was no room for others to intervene, otherwise they would be affected.

So let him and Garp play the main attack. If the two of them can defeat Luo Ning, then there is no need to say anything. If they still can't defeat each other, then Kizaru and Akainu can take advantage of the loopholes to support.

Akainu and Kizaru's attack is very difficult for others to intervene, but Sengoku and Garp are different. After all, they don't have the kind of large-scale barrage attack of Logia.

So they changed the order of primary and secondary.

In fact, Sengoku and Garp teaming up to deal with Luo Ning now is a bit embarrassing, after all, it is two against one. But after confirming that Luo Ning is the main body, and thinking about the previous battle between Garp and Luo Ning, Sengoku must help, otherwise it would be even more embarrassing, as he is definitely not Luo Ning's opponent individually.

This also rendered Sengoku helpless. He had to fight in a group to defeat his opponent. It was shameful, but he couldn't control himself any longer.

"These two really pulled it off this time!"

Everyone except the Marine executives was shocked. Needless to say, Sengoku was an Admiral back then, having been promoted from the position of Marshal. Garp is a legendary Marine who has defeated two generations of Pirate Kings.

Having refused promotion to Admiral several times, even if the strength of these two veteran powerhouses has declined, their combined attack surprised everyone. It was a two-on-one situation, which indeed seemed excessive.

"It seems the Marines' information isn't fake. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a 2v1 scenario. This is quite interesting!"

Doflamingo was also very intrigued to witness this unusual scene.

"I thought Garp and Sengoku wouldn't take action in the future, let alone join forces, but I never expected to see them team up again."

Regardless of what others thought, Sengoku's body began to swell significantly as he approached the ice, causing significant cracks to spiderweb beneath his feet.

Sengoku activated his devil fruit power, transforming his body into a giant, golden Buddha that towered tens of meters tall.

"You think highly of me. But is this truly a righteous two-on-one?"

Luo Ning emphasized the word "righteous," a reference to a joke from before he transmigrated, but it seemed quite fitting for the Marines. Especially Sengoku, who placed great importance on the so-called "justice"!

"Stop spouting nonsense! Any method is justified when dealing with criminals!"

Sengoku responded directly.