Perhaps the Celestial Dragons had already seen through the King's plan—
But in the face of such advanced and unfathomably complex technology, they were utterly powerless.
Although they could not directly control the Heavenly King, the Celestial Dragons understood one thing clearly:
If they wished to preserve their rule in the long term, they had to do everything in their power to sabotage the mechanism of "Destiny" and prevent Joy Boy from ever being reborn.
That was why, once they sensed signs of Luffy's awakening, the Celestial Dragons had almost mobilized their full strength—determined to erase Luffy and his crew completely.
…
…
As Xiao laid bare the truth, the previously surging, unstoppable force in the heavens suddenly froze.
For a brief moment—
Everything stagnated.
But in the next instant, that terrifying power crashed down upon Xiao once more like a raging tide, fiercer and more violent than before, as if determined to tear him apart entirely.
"Haha… anxious?"
"Anxious, aren't you?"
Xiao's lips curled upward, nearly reaching his ears, revealing a playful and mocking grin.
The moment he completed his deduction of fate's true nature, the invisible mountain that had weighed on his heart shattered completely.
He felt unprecedented ease—light, free, exhilarated.
There was no helping it.
Xiao had been deeply influenced by primordial cultivation worlds, where the concept of Heaven's Will was absolute and terrifying.
But now he finally understood—
This so-called fate was nothing more than a counterfeit.
Not some supreme, unchallengeable existence.
And once that realization took hold, fear vanished entirely.
Rumble—!
The Heavenly King was clearly enraged by Xiao's mockery.
Its attacks grew increasingly violent, the destructive force escalating without restraint.
Yet no matter how ferocious the assault became, Xiao stood unmoved—firm as a divine mountain.
Natural forces were indeed powerful—
But they had limits.
With Xiao's current strength, unless the Heavenly King could directly cast him into the planet's core, it could not inflict any real damage upon him.
"What a meaningless death struggle…"
As Xiao spoke softly, endless darkness surged forth, rapidly condensing into a massive cloak that settled silently behind him.
"Sky-Waving Cloak!!"
Xiao swung his arms with full force.
The cloak behind him instantly billowed and expanded, growing monstrously large in the blink of an eye—until it blotted out the sky and eclipsed the sun.
Darkness descended like a colossal curtain, covering the heavens above Sky Island and continuing to spread outward without end.
"Hahahahaha—!"
Xiao laughed wildly.
The sound rolled like thunder, as if the entire world were drowning in his laughter.
The darkness opened like a massive maw, greedily devouring the sky itself, as though it intended to swallow the heavens whole.
Meanwhile, the Heavenly King continued to frantically mobilize natural forces—
But Xiao felt only delight.
Go on, he thought.
Mobilize everything you have.
The more energy you gather, the stronger I become.
Since his battle with Ace, Xiao had perfected the Sky-Waving Cloak, and he had grown increasingly fond of this terrifying technique.
At the same time, his blazing gaze pierced toward the distant Red Line.
He knew the Celestial Dragons would never sit idle while the Heavenly King caused such massive disturbances.
Sure enough—
In less than ten seconds, the power released by the Heavenly King suddenly became distorted and unstable, like a rooster whose throat had been clamped shut.
That once-arrogant, domineering momentum vanished without a trace—
Replaced by absolute silence.
"Hahaha~~~!"
Xiao clenched his fists, feeling the surging power coursing through his body, and laughed once more at the Heavenly King.
His laughter thundered across the skies.
At the same time, his unparalleled kingly aura burst forth, sweeping across the entirety of Sky Island at terrifying speed.
The Sky-Waving Cloak, which had swallowed the heavens, gradually condensed under Xiao's control—
Transforming into a colossal Black Sun suspended in the sky.
It radiated a pressure so immense that it made hearts tremble.
Across Sky Island, countless people gazed up at the Black Sun blotting out daylight.
Under this supreme power, they instinctively knelt, praying and crying out the name of the Black Sun.
Seizing the moment, Conis spread the teachings of the Black Sun, persuading her people to undergo transformation—
And thus, the Iron Wings Legion began to take shape.
…
…
"Gulp… was that the captain's laughter?"
Elsewhere, Poison Q and the others—still searching for the Ark: Proverbs—swallowed hard, their voices trembling.
At this point, words meant nothing.
They had seen it with their own eyes.
Especially Poison Q.
Before this, he had been deeply skeptical of Burgess's almost fanatical worship of Xiao.
He hadn't believed a word of it.
But after witnessing everything firsthand, he finally understood—
The so-called destiny he once believed in was absurdly fragile in front of Xiao.
Only now did he truly grasp why Burgess and the others obeyed Xiao without question and never dared to resist.
If he had known Xiao possessed such world-shaking power, he would never have doubted him.
"So this… is the realm of ascension to godhood."
Lafitte spread his arms wide, letting the oppressive aura and Black Sun power wash over him completely.
His eyes burned with awe and fervor.
Yes—
Only power of this magnitude was worthy of being called divine.
This was exactly what he had pursued his entire life.
Before such earth-shattering might, beauty, wealth, authority, and status became utterly meaningless.
"They're all trivial."
"Hurry up! Stop spacing out and get over here!"
Van Augur shouted impatiently, swinging the massive, razor-sharp cloud saw in his hands as he carved through the dense cloud layers blocking their path.
"If we don't find the Ark: Proverbs before the captain finishes over there, we'll really be nothing but useless trash!"
"If we get abandoned, don't say I didn't warn you!"
His heart was pounding with anticipation and tension.
After arduous exploration, he had finally pinpointed the Ark's location—
Only to find it sealed behind thick layers of cloud islands.
"I know! I'm coming—let's get to work!!"
Hearing Van Augur's call, Burgess didn't dare delay for a second.
He answered loudly, grabbed a shovel, and began digging frantically—
Like a man possessed.
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