Facing the punch from Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi, the three main forces of the Heart Pirates immediately reacted.

"Mira Inferno!"

"Ice Fang!"

"Earth Release - Earth Flow Wall!"

First, Ace's flames attacked, but facing the enormous tidal wave, they basically dissipated in a puff of smoke, ending there. After all, flames are naturally restrained by seawater.

Next, Yamato's icy breath froze the tidal wave into ice blocks, but she wasn't a Devil Fruit user specializing in ice abilities like Kuzan, so although she managed to block most of the tidal wave, there were still plenty of residual waves crashing in.

Finally, Youta's Earth Flow Wall, supported by his chakra, almost reaching the pinnacle of the Shadow level, expanded the wall's scale to almost ten times its usual size, barely managing to block the oncoming tidal wave's aftermath.

As for the other members of the Heart Pirates, besides shouting encouragement from the sidelines, they kept their distance, lest they be taken out by the residual waves.

"Hahaha, spirited newcomers!" Whitebeard leapt off the ship and walked slowly towards the three. Marco, Shanks, and the rest of the crew followed behind him.

"What should we do, Captain? I don't think we stand a chance in a one-on-one or a group fight. Shouldn't we just surrender?" Youta joked with Ace.

"How could we give up so easily?" Ace chuckled confidently. "I'll take on Whitebeard, and you two just cover me."

Youta nodded immediately. Covering sounded good; at least he wouldn't end up with a pig's head from the captains of Whitebeard's crew.

His strength wasn't inferior to the average captain in Whitebeard's crew, but dealing with figures like Phoenix Marco, Diamond Jozu, or Flower Sword Vista, he didn't have much chance of winning.

Moreover, Whitebeard had brought seven or eight division commanders this time. If Yamato could hold off Phoenix Marco, the rest would definitely overwhelm him.

On the other hand, Yamato was still eager for action, whether because she saw the real members of Whitebeard's crew from the Odente Notes or simply couldn't contain her desire for battle.

Of course, Ace had spoken, and Yamato wouldn't disobey her. So in the end, only Ace stepped forward.

Seeing Ace alone stepping forward, even Whitebeard's sons, despite their concern for their father's health, couldn't possibly join Whitebeard.

After all, with Whitebeard's proud personality, how could he let his sons gang up with him against the new generation of supernovas?

Moreover, although Whitebeard's health had begun to deteriorate, it hadn't reached the dire state it would two years later, so Marco and the others still had confidence in Whitebeard.

In this tense atmosphere, almost everyone focused on the duel between Ace and Whitebeard, except Youta, whose gaze inadvertently shifted to the last of Whitebeard's crew, a chubby man enjoying a black cherry pie.

Youta knew almost without looking that the battle between Ace and Whitebeard would end predictably. Although Ace had grown a bit since the original story, facing Whitebeard, he could only take a few more punches.

Sure enough, after chatting for a while, Ace started to attack. But after just a few moves, Ace was already coughing up blood. In the eyes of the members of the Whitebeard Pirates, this was still because Whitebeard held back and didn't go all out.

"Cough, cough, cough, Fire Fist - Hinokagatsuchi!"

The blazing flames erupted fiercely, but in front of Whitebeard, they were like a gentle breeze. His Conqueror's Haki rippled slightly, shaking the intense flames into sparks.

Youta was somewhat surprised. Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi was indeed used to perfection. Even his Conqueror's Haki attacks carried a vibration attribute. If the attack wasn't condensed enough, it would be directly dispersed upon collision with him.

With a casual punch, Ace was once again sent flying ten meters away. As he struggled to get up, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

"Is this the Four Emperors? He's as strong as a monster!"

On the other side, seeing Ace's condition, Yamato was getting impatient. She was about to step forward when Marco stood in her way.

Although Youta didn't move, the other division commanders also looked at him, clearly wary of him.

At that moment, Ace suddenly raised a wall of fire, blocking the Heart Pirates from the Black Spade Pirates.

"Cough, Youta, Yamato, take the rest of the Black Spade Pirates and leave first!"

"Ace!"

"Listen to me, just go!" Ace's face was serious, but Yamato was also stubborn. How could he persuade her?

Instead, Dias was calmer. He gritted his teeth and whispered to the remaining members of the Black Spade Pirates, "Listen to me, let's leave now. Once we're on the ship, we'll ambush the Morsdick from behind!"

It had to be admitted that although Dias wasn't strong in combat, his mind was quite sharp. If he really did it, the Whitebeard Pirates would suffer.

Unfortunately, in the world of pirates, individual strength still reigns supreme. Tactics only have some effect when the gap in strength is not too big. If the strength gap is too large, no trickery will work.

Dias led the rest of the crew to retreat to another part of the shore. Youta keenly felt that on the other side of the firewall, Blackbeard seemed to have started moving.

"What an opportunity..."

Dias and his group reached the shore in ten minutes, only to find that the Whitebeard Pirates had already intercepted them.

"Damn, were we expected so soon?" Dias gritted his teeth, but seeing that they were only being intercepted by a group of ordinary soldiers from the Whitebeard Pirates, the most formidable-looking one being just an ordinary fat man, he couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope.

Then they were thoroughly beaten by the ordinary fat man and his group of soldiers, and they ended up failing...

Even the soldiers who could board Whitebeard's Morsdick were the elite among the Black Spade Pirates, and in the Marines, they could at least become Captain of the Headquarters, and in the Four Seas, they could even reach a bounty of tens of millions. Their strength was not inferior to the members of the Black Spade Pirates.

Of course, the most important thing was that the ordinary fat man in Dias's eyes was none other than Blackbeard, who had left scars on the eyes of the young Shanks! Even if it was just leaving a scar on the young Shanks's eyes, it was already quite difficult.

Now, even if Blackbeard hadn't eaten the Dark-Dark Fruit, his combat power among the 46 division commanders under Whitebeard's command would definitely rank in the top five.

To put it bluntly, even if Dias and his group joined forces, facing a serious Blackbeard would only take one or two minutes.