Because the Main Cannon's power had been far too terrifying, an enormous crater had appeared where the fireball had erupted.
And Pluton, which had surged up together with the seawater, was a kilometer-class colossus that could still dock inside that crater.
At the same time, densely packed angels poured into Wano after it, beginning their own battle.
Find, pursue, capture, or kill every enemy they encountered!
Information crossed rapidly through the Cluster Network. Angel 001 continuously gathered intelligence—or rather, served as a relay station.
Robin's analysis was transmitted throughout the entire Angel Legion, allowing Violet's role to be maximized to the fullest.
What could be confirmed was that the earlier shot from Pluton's Main Cannon had destroyed one-quarter of the Beasts Pirates' forces.
It had killed three of the Tobi Roppo: Sasaki, X Drake, and Who's-Who. Four of the Numbers were gone as well, and the enemy forces deployed in the Kuri region had basically been wiped clean.
Of course, the price was that a large portion of Kuri's land had vanished. At this point, it was almost more like "three or four ri" than Kuri.
However, according to Violet's observations, a large number of Beasts Pirates members stationed in other areas were rapidly moving into the Kibi and Udon regions.
It was obvious that they intended to turn those places into the battlefield where the two sides would clash.
Ren paid no attention to such matters. News from other locations came through the Communications Den Den Mushi.
New Marineford Headquarters.
Almost as soon as Cross Guild made its move, they had also begun to act.
Over ten thousand Marine elites were mobilized, boarding dozens of large warships and advancing toward Wano under the leadership of numerous powerful Marines.
They did not gather into one large fleet. Instead, they spread out across the islands surrounding Wano.
These places were all within the Beasts Pirates' sphere of control, so nothing went wrong.
At most... there was something somewhat dissonant about it.
Vice Admiral Doll stood on a warship, looking at the pirate below who was sneering and gesturing mockingly. She could not help but frown.
"Do you know him?" Gion asked from the side.
"An opponent I met before. We fought several times. He escaped from my rhythm every time."
Vice Admiral Doll frowned slightly. "Even now, I still can't believe that we Marines are actually cooperating with the Beasts Pirates."
"If this were in the past, something like this would definitely have been unacceptable.
"But now... does that still have any meaning?"
Gion lit a ladies' cigarette, her beautiful face indifferent. "We are merely acting out of habit for the sake of justice. We have no right to question the choice justice has made."
"..."
Doll fell silent for a moment and did not refute her.
After the Marineford War, the essence of the Marines had changed. That was why Zephyr, who had students all over the world, established the NEO Marines—and then died at the hands of his own students.
People like them had simply walked too far and could no longer turn back, so they were still here.
"The battle is about to begin. Rather than this, we should think about how to completely strangle Ren's group."
Gion sighed. "Our mission is to capture the core members of the Demon Pirates..."
She did not finish the sentence, because saying it aloud would be too cruel.
Anyone with even a bit of sense could see what kind of force the Demon Pirates were.
Under such circumstances, if they wanted to forcibly crush the enemy, they had to put up stakes heavy enough to matter.
In other words, their side had essentially also been put on the table as stakes. And their main purpose... was to restrain!
At that instant, Gion suddenly snuffed out the cigarette in her hand. The Den Den Mushi on the warship rang at exactly the same time.
However, she had no time to pay attention to it. Instead, she drew her beloved sword—Konpira!
Only then did the attack in her perception reveal itself.
A blue-green flying slash crossed the sea, sweeping toward the warship with terrifying force. Its scale made it look like a long ribbon, somewhat plain and unremarkable.
Yet the warning from her Observation Haki was so vivid.
If it struck... the warship would be finished!
"Power like this..."
Gion pressed her red lips together, gripped Konpira tightly, and leapt forward with a slash. Her heavy, forceful strike forcibly shattered the blue-green slash.
The scattered remnants of the slash raged around the warship, piercing through one Marine warship after another.
Even the pirate on the shore who had been provoking Vice Admiral Doll could not escape. Despite using Haki, he was still split in two.
"Mihawk..."
Gion landed atop the ship's roof and sheathed her blade. What entered her sight was a black coffin boat.
Standing on that boat, Mihawk was expressionless. The Yoru in his hand was the source of that slash just now.
"How truly... flattering of them to think so highly of me."
Gion sighed, yet she had no intention of retreating in the slightest.
This was her mission—or rather, this was what the World Government expected the Marines to do.
Delay!
Elsewhere, on another island where the Marines were stationed.
An icy cold wind swept between sea and sky, freezing the green shoots that were about to sprout. Extreme cold froze the entire island.
Whether it was the warships, the Marines aboard them, or even the Marine Vice Admirals—
All of them became ice sculptures in the cold wind, without even the chance to struggle.
Before a serious Kuzan, enemies below the level of a commander practically had zero chance to fight back.
The only one who could still move was Aramaki, who was on the same level.
Ryokugyu's Devil Fruit ability represented nature itself, and now nature was fighting against ice and snow that extinguished all life.
But honestly speaking, extreme low temperature was also an enemy of nature!
In the end, sprouts still broke through the ice. Plants grew at an astonishing speed and transformed into a tree-man.
Aramaki's face emerged, staring fixedly at the great enemy before him. "Kuzan, are you really going to help the enemy!?"
"I'm fighting for my own justice."
Kuzan had no intention of saying anything more. Without hesitation, he revealed his trump card.
If Akainu was a walking volcano, then he was a walking world of ice and snow. Once a Logia at this level became serious, they were a true natural disaster in every sense.
Aramaki's face turned even greener, and he had no choice but to make the same move, using nature to oppose nature.
But it could be seen that, in terms of strength, he was still a step weaker than Kuzan.
Farther away—
"This is seriously exaggerated."
On a warship, Chaton, Tokikake looked at the meteor shower overhead and began sweating heavily.
He, an Admiral candidate, was not as powerful as those people ahead!
Was it really necessary to use this level of combat power to look after him?
"Still, at least the mission of restraining them has been completed... As for capturing people, that will depend on forces outside the Marines."
Just dealing with the scene in front of him was already quite strenuous for Tokikake.
Within the perception of his Observation Haki, a "powerful figure" had been watching him from the sky the entire time.
With the slightest carelessness, he was afraid he might die here today.
"If I'd known, I would've confessed to Gion one more time before leaving... But if she rejected me again, that would make it the 107th time, wouldn't it?"
With the situation having reached this point, the Marine side's combat power had basically been countered by the cards in Ren's hand.
Even if there were still forces outside the Admirals—such as experts from Cipher Pol—Phoenix Marco, Kuma, and the other experts would respond to them.
Both sides continued to play their cards in the process, continuously restraining one another and entering a kind of equilibrium.
However, the gap in top-tier combat power was extraordinarily huge.
"Will this really be all right?"
Dragon left Pluton. He did not pursue Ren's footsteps, even though he truly wanted to.
But in the end, he chose to believe in Ren's ability. Even so, he could not help but feel worried.
Because he roughly understood Ren's plan, and he also knew what kind of lineup Ren would have to face.
There were only so many top-tier fighters in this world. After the World Government cooperated with pirates, that number had reached an astonishing level.
The Five Elders, who had already been confirmed to be commander-level. Kaido, Big Mom, Akainu.
A full eight peak-level powerhouses were waiting for Ren at the end of this game.
The reason he had stayed here was to prevent Nami and the others from being captured and used as leverage against Ren.
At the same time, they were using this method to hook the enemy in reverse, making them believe they had a chance to trap Ren and kill him.
"Only this way will they all come out in full force."
That was what Ren had said at the time. In his eyes, the Wano incident was also a perfect opportunity to catch them all in one net.
In terms of intent, both sides were each other's hunters and prey.
"Let's believe in him. If he can accomplish something like that, I don't think he'll lose to those people."
Dragon took a deep breath, then transformed into a hurricane and swept into the sky.
Within the clouds above Kuri, an enormous strange bird cruised through the clouds, watching for an opportunity.
The only one not present—Saint Mars, Itsumade Form!
At this moment, Ren, who was playing the role of hunter, had already entered the interior of Wano.
Premonition Perception and Observation Haki swept outward, and then he headed to Onigashima.
It was not the Onigashima on the inner sea side of Wano. Because the inner and outer waters had been connected, the sea level had fallen.
Kaido had moved Onigashima to a place above Mount Fuji. It was an area he had forcibly opened up with Blast Breath, a space large enough to contain it.
It allowed Onigashima to be embedded into the main body of Mount Fuji.
Golden light crossed the sky, then landed on Onigashima, which was theoretically the enemy's main base.
Ren fell straight down onto the skull dome, almost completely without concern.
But the moment he landed, he could not help raising an eyebrow. The temperature on Onigashima was rather high.
It reminded him of how it had felt when he fought Akainu.
"Is there really a need to hide? Gentlemen, why not all come out together?"
Ren casually swept his gaze around, his voice shaking the atmosphere.
As soon as his voice fell, an azure dragon filled the sky above Onigashima. Amid the thunderstorm it stirred up, Big Mom appeared riding Zeus.
But... that was not all. One aura after another appeared, carrying sharp killing intent as they arrived.
Saturn appeared from Ren's east. Saint Nusjuro appeared from the west. Saint Ju Peter appeared from the north. Saint Warcury appeared from the south.
The four of them sealed off every direction Ren might flee. Above him, Kaido and Big Mom watched like tigers eyeing their prey.
"You are not surprised by our appearance or the current situation."
Saturn frowned. Seeing through Ren's attitude, he could not understand where this reaction came from.
"Hmm?"
Ren was a little surprised, then suddenly clapped his hands in realization. "A Devil Fruit ability?"
Saturn's face darkened, but he did not speak.
"No wonder that thing felt resistance when it looked at you. So it turns out there was interference from a Devil Fruit ability."
Ren spread his hands. "But aren't you looking down on me a bit too much? Even if you blocked off the information, that can't change the things you've already revealed, can it?
"As long as you don't change those things, isn't what you can do rather obvious?"
At this point, he looked around in amazement. "Still, this lineup really is luxurious.
"Even Whitebeard only had to face the five of you, while I've actually made two opposing camps join hands to deal with me.
"Let me think. The one beneath my feet should be Akainu, right? Even if I smash through the ground, I won't be able to escape immediately. How thoughtful.
"And the missing Saint Mars should be at the main battlefield, planning to seize hostages, right?
"Seven peak-level powerhouses, and you went to so much effort.
"Hahahaha, this is truly—delightful!"
When he said the word "delightful," Ren's voice turned much colder. A surging, boundless killing intent was released, transforming into a ferocious demonic shadow.
However, this degree of murderous force was still nothing to the people present.
"So you little brat did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Big Mom seemed to realize something and immediately looked toward the surrounding sky, pushing her Observation Haki to its maximum.
Yet... she found nothing.
"Don't look. There is no accident. There is nothing else. What exists here—is only me."
Ren's tone was calm. "It is not that I have changed my nature and stopped relying on external forces, nor is it that I failed to calculate your plan.
"It is merely because there is no need. Even all of you combined are no longer worth me using schemes and tricks."
"Mamamama, don't tell me you think Pluton can still play a role here?"
Big Mom was the first to disbelieve him. She had fought Ren before.
Although she had been absolutely suppressed throughout the entire battle, the gap between their strength had not been that extreme.
Saturn and the other three frowned, seemingly calculating something. Then, the conclusion they reached was that there could not possibly be any unexpected factors.
"You don't understand? That makes sense. You people always like to measure me by common sense."
Ren shook his head and placed his hand on the Blazing Sun Furnace in his chest. "When all was said and done, Red Hair endured three of my moves.
"I'm very curious whether all of you together can let me enjoy myself."
"Worororo, now this is interesting. If I hadn't dealt with you before, I'd think you were joking right now—"
Kaido laughed widely. He had only just begun to continue speaking when he saw Ren insert his hand into his chest. His five fingers clenched, and he pulled out a blazing long blade.
Almost instantly—The eyelids of the seven people present twitched. Their Observation Haki sensed that abnormal danger.
It was like—
The blazing sun!
"Whether or not it's a joke, won't we know once we try?"
Ren flicked his hand, and under the control of the Float-Float Fruit, Zanka no Tachi hovered beside him. Then he spread both arms and activated the Blazing Sun Furnace.
Terrifying heat was released, then transported elsewhere by the Float-Float Fruit.
Almost instantly, the temperature across all of Onigashima climbed sharply.
1,000°C—
2,000°C—
3,000°C...
The scene from Hachinosu appeared once again. Excessively released heat energy caused even the air to combust.
In mere moments, the entire skull dome turned into a sea of raging flames.
Beneath Onigashima's skull dome,
Akainu, who had been watching the movement at all times, was waiting for the moment Ren would be beaten down in a wretched state.
In order to severely wound Ren at that moment, he had transformed Onigashima's interior into an active volcano.
However... terrifying heat was now transmitted down from above the skull dome.
It was hotter than magma, more violent than a volcano. At this moment, a sliver of power that stood above him revealed itself.
Like—
The blazing sun!
(End of Chapter)