Bzzzt!
The air itself seemed to crackle and distort.
A semi-transparent shockwave descended from the sky like a giant, inverted bowl of pressurized atmosphere.
Behind it, leaping high into the air, backlit by the setting sun, was Admiral Sengoku.
He had already transformed into his Zoan form.
A golden giant, dozens of meters tall, radiating an aura of divine judgment.
He conjured a massive, glowing shockwave between his palms and charged toward the pirate groups clustered on the beach.
'Heavens...' An old pirate, a veteran of a hundred raids, looked up at the descending golden god. His face showed not fear, but utter, blank despair.
'What kind of monster is that?!'
As Sengoku flew over their heads, he forcefully pressed the shockwave down upon the panicked, fleeing pirates below.
"Shockwave!"
BOOM!
A mushroom cloud of dust and debris rose from the ground with a violent, chest-thumping explosion.
From the blast center, layers of compressed air rippled outward, flattening trees and sending pirates flying like ragdolls.
The soldiers on the warships, who had been waiting for this moment, drew their swords one after another.
"Charge!"
"For Justice!"
They leaped from the landing boats, landing on the island in successive columns, ready for a life-or-death battle with the surviving, shell-shocked members of the World Pirates.
Whoosh!
With a violent gust of wind, a strange, perfect cube formed of compressed earth and mud was sent flying through the air.
Behind it stood Gaira, the combatant of the World Pirates and user of the Cube-Cube Fruit.
Just as Sengoku had flown over their heads, Gaira had utilized his Devil Fruit ability to create a massive earthen cube to block the worst of the shockwave, saving the core officers.
"Huff... huff..." Gaira panted, sweat dripping from his nose. "Did... did we dodge it?"
He cautiously peeked out from behind the mud cube, his eyes darting around the battlefield. It was chaos.
"The Marines are here! Prepare for battle, everyone!"
"Fish-Man Karate — Great Arrow Shark!" A furious roar echoed from behind Gaira.
It came from Sebastian, the blue-skinned Wotan (Fish-Man/Giant hybrid).
He wore sunglasses and sported the distinctive fins of his race.
He punched the air, sending a bullet of compressed water slamming into a squad of Marines.
Beside him stood Nairu, the ship's doctor, dressed in her pink cheongsam and white cloak, her needles ready.
Their expressions were grim as they gathered together in the crater.
Though physically unharmed for the moment, despair weighed heavily on their minds.
"Why is Sengoku here?" Nairu whispered, her voice trembling.
As a major pirate crew that had once operated in the New World, they were well acquainted with the Admiral.
Back then, most encounters had been pursuits.
Sengoku had chased them across the seas, but they had always escaped.
Relying on the power of the More-More Fruit to enhance their cannons, Byrnndi World had bombarded Sengoku from a distance, forcing the Admiral to protect his ships rather than attack.
Back and forth they went, a stalemate.
But here? On an island? Trapped? They exchanged glances, their eyes flickering with unease.
Most of the new recruits from the North Blue had been instantly wiped out by Sengoku's shockwave and the crushing weight of his Conqueror's Haki.
Fewer than one in ten remained standing.
Sebastian didn't overthink it.
He charged directly toward the Marine forces disembarking from the warships.
"Out of my way!" His reasoning was simple: if he could defeat the Marines before him and slip into the sea from the port, his Fish-Man heritage would guarantee his escape.
After Sebastian dashed forward, Gaira prepared to follow suit.
But before he could even take a step, the hairs on his body stood on end as if electrified.
A chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
The whisper of death roared in his ears.
A powerful foe had locked onto him. 'I'm going to die. I'm going to die!!!'
With adrenaline surging through him, Gaira moved at the fastest speed of his life.
He slammed his hands together, transforming the air in front of him using his ability.
"Air Cube!" The air condensed into a translucent, shimmering barrier, harder than steel.
"You can't block it, Gaira!" a voice boomed from above.
CRACK!
A crisp shattering sound erupted from the air itself.
The air cube Gaira had poured all his strength into creating didn't even hold for half a second.
Sengoku, now human-sized but still glowing with golden energy, smashed his fist through the cube without resistance.
His fist continued, striking Gaira square in the chest.
BOOM! Boom! Boom!
Gaira was sent flying backward by the punch, crashing through three consecutive ruined walls, stirring up clouds of dust with each impact.
He didn't get up.
Sengoku stood where Gaira had been moments before, dusting off his hands.
He clasped them in front of his chest, his gaze fixed upward, toward the mountain peak where flashes of light and wind were visible.
"I'll leave this place to you, Gion, Tokikake," Sengoku ordered without looking back.
After severely injuring Gaira, he no longer regarded the remaining officers as a threat.
The elite Marines could handle them.
With a powerful stomp on the ground, Sengoku shot upward like a rocket, a golden blur ascending the cliff face.
....
At the mountaintop.
Byrnndi World was locked in a desperate combat with Raleigh and Borsalino.
He dodged a beam of light from Borsalino, then ducked under a wind-enhanced kick from Raleigh.
Suddenly, his Observation Haki screamed.
An abyssal pressure was surging from behind him.
He swiftly turned around. His expression froze.
Sengoku had appeared behind him, floating in the air, his palm raised.
Seizing the moment of World's distraction, Sengoku's massive palm glowed with a brilliant white light.
"Impact!"
A giant, translucent bowl-shaped shockwave descended from above, trapping World inside its radius.
HUM!
The reverberating sound of the shockwave echoed around the mountain, a deep, vibrating bass note.
Then, the ground exploded.
Cracks rapidly spread across the rock, centered on Byrnndi World's body.
A crater approximately a hundred meters wide and seven meters deep was instantly carved out of the mountain.
In the center, amidst the settling dust, Byrnndi World knelt on one knee.
He was shielding something beneath him with his massive arms.
His body, fully clad in black Armament Haki, now showed multiple patches of exposed, raw skin, bleeding profusely.
But he hadn't blocked for himself.
He looked down.
Byojack, whom he had been protecting, lay motionless in the rubble with a trickle of blood running from his mouth.
Sengoku's shockwave had been overwhelmingly powerful—World had failed to protect his frail brother from the concussive force.
World abruptly raised his head.
Furious flames seemed to shoot from his eyes.
Blood trickled from his nose, ears, and mouth, but he didn't care.
With a frenzied and sorrowful expression, he looked at Sengoku, then at the other two.
"How dare you..." World whispered, his voice trembling.
"How dare you do this!" He roared, a sound of pure madness.
"HOW DARE YOU HARM MY BROTHER!!"
"I'll kill you all! I'll kill you all!!!"
"More-More — Hundredfold Speed!"
BOOM!
The compacted bottom of the crater exploded once more under World's frenzied stomping.
He moved so fast he vanished from sight. In the blink of an eye, Byrnndi World appeared directly before Borsalino.
"Die, you yellow monkey!"
This was World's hatred.
He knew Borsalino was a Logia, difficult to hit, but he was the closest target.
Sengoku was too tough, and Raleigh was too slippery.
"GO TO HELL!!!"
World's fists, coated in jet-black Armament Haki and moving at 100 times normal speed, slammed violently into Borsalino's chest before the Vice Admiral could fully materialize his light defense.
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