For Dragon, the Revolutionary Army still in its infancy lacked everything.
Weapons, manpower, intelligence… but above all, money.
Without funding, nothing could move forward.
And now, here they were, standing in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, the wealthiest place in the entire world.
Under the current chaos, wasn't this the perfect time to… "borrow" some?
"Leave it to us, Dragon. We'll secure enough funds to cover the Revolutionary Army for the next ten years!"
Ivankov puffed out his chest and struck a flamboyant pose, as confident as ever.
Dragon gave a curt nod. "Fine. But remember.. your safety comes first."
Then, his gaze shifted toward the East where heart of the Holy Land, Pangaea Castle was located.
As a former Marine Vice Admiral, once groomed to rise as an Admiral, even a Fleet Admiral, Dragon had visited this place many times.
He knew exactly where the center of the Celestial Dragons' power lay.
The core of the World Government.
The very foundation of the Tenryuubito.
There was no mistaking it, Pangaea Castle was the heart of it all.
"…Perhaps, this time will be the chance we've been waiting for."
A gust of wind swept through as Dragon vanished into the darkness.
Watching the revolutionaries scatter, Rain turned toward Kaido.
"We can move freely too."
"That's fine." Kaido nodded once before his massive figure disappeared as well.
Before long, Rain stood alone, overlooking the glittering Holy Land below.
"…It's almost time."
Sliding his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of ordinary stones. With a flick, he scattered them high into the air.
As they reached the height of Pangaea Castle, gravity pulled them back down.
That's when Rain's eyes narrowed.
"Form Magic—Amplify."
"Buzz!!!"
A wave of power erupted from him like an abyss tearing open, swallowing the stones.
In an instant, those harmless pebbles transformed...swelling, reshaping, igniting with blazing energy.
By the time they began to fall, they weren't stones anymore.
They were meteorites.
And they were crashing straight toward Pangaea Castle.
"The feast begins!"
After unleashing the storm, Rain's face twisted into a wild grin.
"What's going on?!"
"Could it be the Golden Lion?! Has he attacked the Holy Land again?!"
"Hurry up! Block it...Pangaea Castle must not be touched!"
Even though Pangaea Castle itself hadn't yet been struck, the rain of burning meteorites falling from the heavens was enough to send shockwaves of panic through the entire Holy Land.
Inside the heart of the World Government, even the calmest figures couldn't remain seated.
"CP0—move out! All of you!"
The Gorōsei's expressions twisted in fury and terror. One of them slammed the table, spilling coffee across his robes, but he didn't even notice.
Nothing mattered except protecting Pangaea Castle.
Because that person… was still inside.
If the "Lord" in Pangaea Castle were to be disturbed...no, if even a hint of danger touched them...the consequences would be unthinkable.
Even the Gorōsei themselves might have to commit seppuku to atone.
"Take action immediately! We cannot allow even a single fragment to reach Pangaea Castle!"
At the command, the masked elites of CP0 surged forward, their leader at the front.
Blazing techniques and long-range strikes lit up the night sky. Waves of power collided with the descending meteors.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions shook the heavens as fragments shattered, but the storm didn't stop.
There were too many.
More than a dozen massive meteorites still roared downward like the wrath of the gods.
"Fight with everything you have! You all know what will happen if Pangaea Castle is touched!"
The CP0 Chief's face had turned ashen green. Five meteors were gone, but nearly ten remained.
Without hesitation, he detonated another massive technique, his body straining under the effort.
"Go!!!"
The CP0 agents unleashed hell together.
Twenty masked assassins, each one powerful enough to rival the elite vice-admirals of Marine Headquarters. Their combined strikes tore across the heavens.
By the time the dust settled, every last meteorite had been destroyed.
Even the fragments were frozen in midair by their techniques, redirected, and hurled outside of Pangaea Castle's perimeter leaving not a scratch on the World Government's core.
"…They actually blocked them all?"
Rain's eyes widened slightly, genuine surprise flashing across his face.
For the first time, he had caught a glimpse of the hidden fangs of the World Government.
Twenty CP0 members.
Even the weakest among them stood on the level of Marine Vice-Admirals.
"And the strongest among them stood on par with full-fledged Admirals, though still weaker than even the lowest-ranked Greenbull from the anime, their strength remained somewhat close.
Rain's grin faltered for a moment. In the anime, no such figures had ever been shown. Which meant…
Either they had been wiped out in secret, or discarded when their usefulness ended.
Considering how spoiled and cruel the Celestial Dragons were, Rain didn't doubt it for a second.
"It's a pity… everything will be buried here today."
The words left Rain's lips with a cold finality.
In the very next instant, his figure blurred vanishing like smoke.
Swoosh!
When he reappeared, he was already in the midst of the CP0 agents. His blade, "Ace," gleamed as it tore free from its sheath.
"Divine Departure!"
"W-What?! Defense!!!"
The only Admiral-level combatant among them the CP0 Commander sensed the sudden presence and barked an urgent order. His face twisted in alarm.
But it was already too late.
Their stamina was drained, their energy spent from repelling the meteorite storm.
Against Rain's sudden strike stronger and heavier than anything they could withstand, they had no chance to react.
Shiiing—!!
Zaaap—!!!
The blade carved a perfect circle of light.
In a single swing, Rain's slash bisected the CP0 operatives around him...dozens of elite masked assassins falling in halves, collapsing lifelessly to the marble below.
Only the CP0 Commander survived, his body planted firmly as he raised his own defense to intercept the aftershock.
BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!
The slash that should have cleaved through half of Mary Geoise itself was barely checked, stopped cold by the commander's desperate block.
"…It's you? Rain?!"
The Commander's voice cracked with shock as he steadied himself. Of course he knew this man how could he not?
The infamous Rain.
A bounty hunter whose power rivaled Admirals and even the king of beast Kaidō himself.
To CP0, to the World Government, he was not an unknown.
But no one, no one expected him to appear here.
And the meteor shower just now… could it also have been his doing?
The thought chilled the commander's spine.
"What kind of Devil Fruit… did he eat?"
Even after reading through the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, he couldn't place Rain's ability.
Nothing matched.
But Rain didn't give him time to think.
His eyes narrowed. His grip tightened.
And then, with a voice that shook the heavens
"Kamusari!!!"
(Divine Departure!)
ZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!
The blade unleashed a golden crescent of raw, concentrated haki, tearing the very air apart.
The atmosphere itself cracked like glass, the shockwave splitting clouds high above Mary Geoise.
Lightning-like trails of Conqueror's Haki arced across the sky, blasting outward as if the heavens themselves roared in answer.
"Gh—!!"
The CP0 Commander's pupils shrank to pinpoints. He activated his ability in desperation, body flickering as he evaded at the last possible instant.
KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The slash detonated against the mountainside of the Holy Land, carving a massive wound into its surface. Marble, soil, and towers alike were blown away in a hurricane of destruction.
This was the legendary technique once wielded by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger himself.
And now, it was in Rain's hands.
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