C73:-OnePiece_TL_WBPirates_Ron

73. Wang Hao’s death at Marco’s hand.

│3rd Person POV│

[Grand Line, New World, Beehive Island…]

Ron remained oblivious to what happened between Teach and Fossa.

At this moment, he was fully engrossed in the battle.

As he continued to engage in combat with Snow Leopard, Ron's comprehension of his own physical abilities, Armament Haki, and Copied Devil Fruits’ powers continued to enhance.

Especially the Steel Body technique of the Enhanced Marine Six Styles.

From time to time, instead of amplifying his endurance and strength to withstand his opponent’s blows, he would use Steel Body in conjunction with Armament Haki.

Teach observed the fight from a distance.

Having decided that Ron could handle this on his own, Teach sat down on the spot. He had a calculative gleam in his eyes while observing Ron improve in front of his eyes.

=+=+=+=< Scene Change >=+=+=+=

"It's almost time to finish," declared Marco with an expressionless face.

After an extended period of fighting, both he and Wang Hao had already expended tremendous energy.

In such a fierce battle, injuries on both sides were rapidly accumulating.

However, Marco, the owner of Phoenix Fruit, had his injuries rapidly healed. Wang Hao on the other hand had reached the limits of injuries he could sustain.

Even though Wang Hao was also a Mythical Zoan Type Devil Fruit user, his Netherworld Phoenix was far inferior to Marco’s Phoenix in terms of self-healing and regeneration.

To compensate for that, Wang Hao’s Devil Fruit had more destructive power compared to Marco’s.

However, that was before Marco had improved the power of his Blue Flames.

Suddenly, Wang Hao messed up an attack and left himself with no way to defend.

Marco was not one to miss such an opportunity, so he rushed forward and used one of his stronger moves.

"Phoenix Seal!"

The next second, Marco’s talons covered in a layer of Blue Flames and Armament Haki, penetrated Wang Hao’s chest.

Pfft~

Blood splattered from his back and chest, and Wang Hao’s face turned pale. Right after, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Looking at Marco, his eyes were filled with resentment and unwillingness as he exclaimed, “How is it possible for you to become so much stronger from last time!?”

"Nothing is impossible," replied Marco with a laid-back smile. He continued, "If it were a month ago, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat you so soon. The situation would have been in a stalemate for a long time.

“However, it is the luck of Whitebeard Pirates that we gained a wonderful member. Because of him, I was able to develop my Phoenix Fruit a step further.

“Even if it has not yet awakened, I think I am close. On top of that, the strength of my Armament Haki has also increased.

“Although I still couldn’t use Advanced techniques, it wouldn’t take long for me to add those techniques to my arsenal.

“Wang Hao, as the Vice-Captain of Ochoku Pirates, your existence is extremely detrimental to the Whitebeard Pirates! So, you must die!

"Blue Flames: Phoenix Sky Strike!"

In an instant, Blue Flames erupted from Marco in massive quantities and took the shape of Phoenix.

Immediately afterward, the Phoenix made up of flames was launched by Marco toward Wang Hao.

The flames started ravaging Wang Hao’s body and the area around him.

Wang Hao's screams resounded throughout the area as the flames continued to burn, visibly consuming his body.

Knowing that escape was impossible, Wang Hao transformed into his Beast Form, the Netherworld Phoenix form to put up a final resistance.

However, even his Zoan form proved to be pretty much powerless against Marco’s enhanced Blue Flames.

The temperature of Wang Hao’s Netherworld Phoenix’s flames was only about four hundred degrees Celsius, and it was a form of cold flame.

After the enhancement of Marco’s Blue Flames, it was able to easily subdue Wang Hao’s Netherworld Flame.

However, Wang Hao’s Devil Fruit was a Mythical Zoan Type after all. So, his vitality was very strong, and even though half of his body had already been burned very badly he was not yet dead.

"It's really hard to kill a Mythical Zoan Type Devil Fruit user!" Marco muttered with a frowning expression, unsatisfied with the current situation.

In the corner of his mind, he feared Wang Hao's injuries would recover if he left him alone.

With such thoughts in his mind, Marco said loudly, “Wang Hao, give up resistance! You have no chance of survival."

Saying that he proceeded to launch various attacks on Wang Hao using his Blue Flames and Armament Haki.

Facing Marco’s relentless attacks, Wang Hao wasn’t able to hold on for much longer.

"ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!"

For a moment, only Wang Hao's dying screams echoed in the area.

His screams drew the attention of almost every member of the Ochoku Pirates present in the vicinity of Marco and Wang Hao’s battlefield.

"It's Vice Captain Wang Hao!"

"How is it possible? How can the Vice Captain be in such a miserable state!"

“Did the Vice Captain fail to defeat Marco the Phoenix?"

At this moment, the Ochoku Pirates were dumbfounded.

Seeing Wang Hao dying in such a brutal way, they were all in disbelief.

Some of them wanted to step forward and help their Vice Captain, however, they knew that they would die even before they could close the distance between them and Marco.

Additionally, almost all of them were in battle with a member of the Whitebeard Pirates. They couldn’t disengage from their fight unless they killed their opponent.

After a few more moments of relentless attacks, Marco finally stopped.

Carefully observing Wang Hao’s situation, Marco saw that most of his body had already been turned to ashes and whatever remained of his body was covered in burnt flesh.

With his Observation Haki, Marco confirmed that Wang Hao was dead.

"No!!!"

As the flames cleared, the members of the Ochoku Pirates also noticed Wang Hao’s body. Some of them couldn’t help but cry out after watching the scene.

This was a huge blow to them, as with their Vice-Captain dead, who would be able to stop Marco now?

Someone like Marco was a huge threat to the other senior cadres of Ochoku Pirates if there was no one to keep him busy.

"Commander Marco is mighty!"

"Commander Marco won!"

“...”

The next instant, the members of Whitebeard Pirates cheered loudly.

With the Vice Captain of Ochoku Pirates dead, the scales of the war had begun to tip in favor of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Now, it was only a matter of time before the Ochoku Pirates would be completely annihilated.