Hearing that, Kuzan frowned, confused.
But at that moment…
Boom!
An explosion sounded not far away.
Kuzan's face instantly changed. "Damn it, didn't you give up already?"
"Who said I gave up?"
"You really intend to destroy the New World?"
"Who knows?"
Zephyr didn't care about Kuzan's angry glare and said cheerfully: "But if you don't stop it soon, the New World really will be destroyed."
After saying that, without giving the dark-faced Kuzan a chance to respond, Zephyr took a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Everyone, follow my order… and retreat!"
The moment his words fell, those who had been fighting the Marines didn't hesitate. They ignored the Marines and all ran toward the shore.
In an instant, the battlefield grew even more chaotic.
Kuzan's expression turned even uglier, but thinking of the consequences of the Endpoint exploding, he shouted at the marines: "Strawberry, lead the fleet and follow me to stop the explosion!"
And that wasn't all. He turned to Borsalino and said. "Borsalino, I'm counting on you."
"I understand."
Hearing Borsalino's reply, Kuzan leapt toward the explosion site.
"This situation is really bad!"
Watching Kuzan leave, Borsalino withdrew his gaze. "I thought we had already stopped him. I didn't expect Zephyr-sensei to trick us."
"He said he wanted to give his students a farewell gift."
"That's one gift we don't need."
Borsalino complained dramatically, then looked at Ian, who was glowing.
Then he sighed in admiration. "What an impressive ability. But I have something more important now."
His expression hardened. Looking at the people running toward the shore, he crossed his wrists in front of his chest and said coldly: "Yasakani no Magatama!"
However, the moment the light formed in Borsalino's hands…
"Guillotine!"
Ian swung his axe without hesitation, striking down on Borsalino, interrupting his attack.
Then he stared straight at him. "Your opponent is me!"
"This is troublesome."
Borsalino scratched his head, annoyed at having his attack stopped. But a moment later, his hands were back in his pockets. "The sun is about to set. Your strength isn't as high as it was earlier. You can't stop me!"
With that, Borsalino turned into golden light again, instantly appeared before Ian, and attacked with a raised foot.
Seeing this, Ian frowned and lifted his axe.
"Particle Slash!"
But…
Bang!
An overwhelming force passed through the axe in an instant and spread through Ian's body.
At this moment, Ian understood clearly… This guy was finally getting serious.
In just a blink, under the speed of light, he didn't know how many times he was kicked.
Ian was sent flying, and Borsalino didn't even look at him.
He shifted his gaze to the people fleeing toward the dock, raised his foot, and was just about to rush forward when he suddenly felt something. He snapped his head toward where Ian had flown.
A blinding light burst out. Dust and stones that had been kicked up were blown away by the radiance, revealing a figure within.
For some reason, Ian, who had been kicked away, was now floating midair.
Countless rays of light seemed to gather around him, no longer spreading outward like before.
The sunlight shining on him now looked as if he had absorbed it… No, he really had absorbed it; he absorbed it into his body.
The once-gentle evening glow was compressed on him, releasing terrifying heat.
Even his originally black hair turned into strands of golden solar flame.
Borsalino's pupils shrank.
That towering and massive presence… No, that was the sun descending to earth.
Before he could speak…
Ian held a seemingly shrunken golden axe in his right hand, rested it on his shoulder as looked expressionlessly at Borsalino, and said: "The noonday sun may be dazzling, but the sunset's afterglow is just as scorching!"
A sudden change on Ian's side instantly drew everyone's attention.
Those strong and towering muscles like mountains… The full deltoids, broad pectorals, and the sculpted washboard abs revealed as his upper garment burst apart, at this moment, that cold, indifferent facial outline formed a stark contrast with his bulging muscles.
Golden flames like the fire of the sun wrapped around his entire body, and even his hair turned golden at this moment. His eyes were like blazing sun torches as he looked down at everyone from midair.
At this moment, Ian seemed to have become the incarnation of light.
Countless rays converged on him from all directions, and even everyone's gazes were the same; none could help but be drawn to him.
Like the sun itself.
"Holy crap, since when did this guy become so strong?"
Binz stared dumbfounded at Ian in midair with an axe resting on his shoulder. "Not only stronger, he even became cooler. Zephyr-sensei, I want to learn this."
"I want to learn it too."
Hearing Binz's words, Zephyr retorted irritably.
Couldn't he see that even he himself was baffled by this scene?
Speaking of which, he was someone who had practically watched this kid grow stronger.
Just two years ago, Ian couldn't even use the Marines' Six Style, and his Armament Haki and Observation Haki were both half-baked.
How long has it been? And he had already become this strong?
No wonder this kid was confident enough to say he wanted to take on an Admiral.
At first, Zephyr thought Ian only wanted to gauge an Admiral's strength and see how far apart they were. He never expected that this kid… Really had the ability to clash head-on with an Admiral.
Even Enel, usually arrogant, widened his eyes at this moment. Even though he had been defeated on Sky Island and gained knowledge of the wider world, his heart still retained great pride.
But staring at that figure wrapped in golden flames like a god, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
At this moment, he couldn't help but mumble: "God of Sun!"
It was just too similar!
It made him recall his strongest move, 200,000,000 V Amaru, which also made his body gigantic, turning him into a giant made of lightning, like a God of Thunder.
But that was only him imitating using his Devil Fruit ability.
This guy… Looked like a real God of the Sun.
Even the radiance of the sun was drawn toward him.
But just when Enel's gaze was completely captivated, Ace snapped out of his shock behind him.