One Piece: King of the World-Chapter 340: A Worried Claudius

At the same time, Newgate didn't remain idle. He raised his muscular arms and roared, "The road ahead has been opened! Charge into the harbor!"

As his command echoed across the battlefield, countless pirates surged from their ships, shouting as they charged toward the harbor.

Suddenly, the shattered glacier, previously broken by Newgate's devastating strike began to shift unnaturally.

Sengoku's brows furrowed in confusion. He couldn't understand what was happening beneath the ice.

Claudius, too, watched with curiosity.

Then, without warning, an enormous arm burst through the glacier's surface. The arm alone rivaled the size of a Marine giant's entire body. Its staggering scale suggested that the figure beneath the ice was three, maybe even four times larger than an ordinary giant.

"If you wanna stop us, then try it!" came a deep, resonant voice from below the ice.

The colossal hands gripped the glacier from beneath. With a grunt of effort, the figure heaved upward, dislodging the massive ice sheet from the sea floor.

"Go!!!" the voice roared.

The glacier, now transformed into an icebound platform, hurtled toward Marineford's harbor.

"Oars…!!" Doflamingo exclaimed, recognizing the figure immediately.

On the glacier's surface, hundreds of pirates clung desperately to the unstable ice, while a few disoriented Marines scrambled to regain their footing. The colossal mass raced toward Doflamingo and the others like a battering ram.

The sheer scale of the moving ice rendered traditional defenses nearly useless. Even breaking the glacier would scatter deadly debris across the battlefield. Without hesitation, Doflamingo extended his hand downward and propelled himself into the sky using his strings.

Heavenly Yaksha wasn't just a moniker. As long as there was something to latch onto, clouds, mist, even ice particles Doflamingo could traverse the air with ease.

Hancock also retreated swiftly, guiding Salome away from the ice's trajectory.

Meanwhile, Mihawk drew Yoru with practiced precision. With one powerful swing, he sliced through the glacier. The cut was so precise that the ice split evenly in two. The ground beneath Mihawk's feet crumbled, leaving only the small patch he stood upon untouched.

As the ice fragments collapsed around him, golden sand swirled into the newly-formed crevasse. Mihawk glanced upward and saw Crocodile standing atop the ice sheet.

"Need me to pull you up?" Crocodile asked, his tone half-mocking as he gazed down at Mihawk.

Mihawk didn't respond. He simply bent his knees and leapt onto the glacier beside Crocodile.

The battlefield, once contained to the frozen sea outside the harbor, was now in utter chaos. Whitebeard's pirates streamed across Kuzan's ice fields, pushing into Marineford's inner defenses.

Half the glacier collapsed into the square, creating a direct path into the heart of the Marine stronghold. The vanguard of Whitebeard's forces leaped from the ice and immediately clashed with the Marines stationed there.

Doflamingo swung through the air a few more times before landing beside Claudius beneath the execution platform.

"Well, cousin, the frontline's collapsed. Still not planning to get your hands dirty?" Doflamingo asked with a sly smile.

Claudius clicked his tongue in annoyance as he studied the glacier. "Sakazuki! You'll need to melt that ice later. Otherwise, the surrounding walls won't deploy properly."

Oars Jr.'s glacier had carved a significant breach into the Marine defenses, allowing Whitebeard's forces to gain critical ground.

"Understood, Your Highness," Sakazuki responded without looking back.

Claudius turned toward Doflamingo. "You're slacking too, Doffy. Why don't you give me a hand?"

"Fuffuffu… Don't see much that requires my help right now," Doflamingo replied with a wicked grin.

"Yeah… same here," Claudius murmured.

His gaze drifted toward the distant horizon. A shadow of unease settled over his expression.

"What's wrong?" Doflamingo asked, noticing the shift.

"I don't know… Just got a bad feeling. Like we've missed something important," Claudius said, his brows knitted together.

Doflamingo tilted his head. "Reinforcements, maybe?"

"Reinforcements?" Claudius echoed. His mind raced through possibilities.

He scanned the battlefield until he spotted Teach. As expected, Teach was skulking around the edges, preying on weaker opponents while keeping a wary eye on Newgate. Waiting for his moment to strike, Claudius thought.

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But if Teach is here, then he didn't go to Impel Down.

That should mean no prison break. So what was triggering his unease? Could it be Kaido? Had he broken through the blockade at G-1?

"Vice Admiral Garp!" Claudius called. "Any news from G-1?"

Two days before the battle, Kaido had confronted Shanks at the New World's gateway. Marines had monitored the clash, but with the battle at Marineford looming, resources had been stretched thin. The G-1 base—led by Zephyr and Gion—had been tasked with containment.

Garp scratched his head at the unexpected question. "Last we checked, everything was normal. Kaido retreated to Wano after the fight. As for Shanks… he disappeared without a trace."

Claudius drummed his fingers against the chair's armrest.

Kaido's retreat made sense. He'd likely been forced back after a skirmish with Shanks' more unified crew. Shanks himself probably wouldn't interfere in this war. He was more likely to appear afterward to demand a ceasefire.

So why does this nagging feeling persist?

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid," Claudius muttered.

---

As Claudius brooded, the battle escalated dramatically.

Newgate finally disembarked from his ship. With Murakumogiri in hand, he led his captains into the thick of the fight. Within seconds, he sent two Vice Admirals flying, one of whom had been leading the charge against Oars Jr.

"Ice Time Capsule!"

Kuzan materialized before Newgate, raising one hand as a frigid blast shot toward the Yonko.

Newgate didn't even flinch. He swept his hand forward, dissipating the freezing mist with brute force.

At that moment, Oars Jr. swung his massive fist downward at Kuzan with bone-shattering force.

The punch connected, shattering the ice and sending Kuzan's body splintering into countless fragments.

But before Oars could raise his arm again, the icy shards on his knuckles pulsed with life. Frost spread up his arm with terrifying speed. Within moments, his enormous body was completely encased in ice.

Kuzan reappeared atop Oars' frozen shoulder, staring down at Newgate.

Before Newgate could react, Sakazuki descended from above.

"Hellhound!" Sakazuki roared.

His magma-coated arm morphed into the shape of a molten hound's head. The magma creature lunged toward Newgate with its jaws wide open.

"Get lost," Newgate growled.

With a single, decisive swing of Murakumogiri, he cleaved the magma hound apart. Without missing a beat, he shifted his grip and thrust the blade toward Sakazuki's chest.

Sakazuki's eyes sharpened. He raised his foot and stomped down on the naginata's tip. Magma surged from his leg, fusing briefly with the blade's steel.

Using his anchored stance as leverage, Sakazuki swung his molten fist toward Newgate's face.

The Yonko responded in kind, his fist crackling with the translucent shimmer of a quake bubble.

The two fists collided with explosive force.

***

Bonus chapter. Eid Mubarak ✨️ to my Muslim readers.

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