Insect swarms, explosions, screams, slaughter…
In the past eight hundred years, this was not the first time Mary Geoise had been attacked by invaders.
Yet looking across all of history, the number of times this so-called supreme holy land—revered above all else in the hearts of the world's people—had been turned into a living hell like this could likely be counted on one hand. Perhaps only that gigantic robot that suddenly appeared two hundred years ago could compare.
…
…
BOOM!!!
Under the moonlit night,
a holy radiance like a colossal blade slammed head-on into a massive mass of vegetation shaped like a ferocious wolf. The violent shockwave erupted once more, rolling and surging across the skies above the Holy Land.
"Damn it! At this rate, won't this never end?!"
Having already been entangled with Usopp for quite some time, Emilagon Palace's once-serene and sacred face now bore eyes flickering with resentment.
After watching Usopp repeatedly gain perfect chances to retreat—only to deliberately turn back and continue pestering her—she had already realized the truth…
This long-nosed bastard never intended to decide a winner with her, nor to escape Mary Geoise safely and make a name for himself!
From the very beginning, his goal had been to restrain her—preventing her from investigating the castle district and stopping her from sending any intelligence back to Pangaea Castle.
In fact, during her battle with Usopp, Emilagon Palace had already noticed Sanji and the others moving through the residential area.
Yet every time she tried to intercept Sanji, or attempted to have someone else pass the information along, that long-nosed nuisance would always interfere in one way or another.
Now, it was no longer a matter of whether she wanted to punish Usopp.
Rather, she was desperately trying to disengage from the fight—only for that long-nosed bastard to sense her intentions every time and prepare countermeasures in advance.
This realization shook Emilagon Palace to her core!
Even if she ranked last among the three deputy commanders of the God's Knights, across the entire sea she was still an existence that stood near the very top.
And yet… her opponent not only anticipated her thoughts, but possessed an endless variety of methods.
Plants, insects, artillery shells, and elemental attacks carrying all sorts of bizarre effects…
Flames that refused to be extinguished, lightning that locked her body in place, frost that inexplicably slowed her movements…
If she weren't in such a hurry to report on the situation in the residential area, Emilagon Palace would truly have liked to capture Usopp and deliver him to one of the Five Elders—Saint Saturn—for study.
She wanted to know how someone with a body as unimposing as Usopp's could unleash such strange techniques—attacks that even Haki couldn't fully defend against.
"No… this can't continue."
Irritation flashed through Emilagon Palace's eyes.
The duty of the God's Knights was to protect the Celestial Dragons.
Yet now, pinned down by Usopp, she could only watch as that group of bizarre figures broke into one Celestial Dragon castle after another, utterly destroyed them, and then swaggered away.
"And another thing…"
"What's going on with those idiots at Sophia Palace?! Why hasn't there been even the slightest bit of news?!"
After slashing away yet another shell powerful enough to annihilate a large warship, Emilagon Palace cast a glance toward the direction of the Celestial Dragons' ammunition depot.
She had dispatched her subordinates there to investigate over an hour ago.
Yet up until now—there hadn't been a single sound.
That alone was enough to chill her to the bone.
Though the warriors of Sophia Palace were weaker than her, they were still elites qualified to join the God's Knights.
Already proficient in both Armament and Observation Haki, and empowered further by Devil Fruits bestowed by Pangaea Castle, their strength rivaled that of elite Marine vice admirals.
No matter what, it shouldn't have ended in complete silence.
…
…
At the same time, deep within the Celestial Dragons' underground ammunition depot—
As a calm divine light flickered, Roronoa Zoro's body slowly reverted from that of a massive dragon back to its normal form.
He removed Wado Ichimonji from his mouth and sheathed it together with Narukami and Sandai Kitetsu.
Only then did Zoro shift his gaze to the three fallen members of the God's Knights lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.
"Tch… to think I'd get lost all the way down here…"
"Since you saw me, guess that just means you're unlucky."
"Hey, Red?"
Zoro suddenly spoke through the telepathic channel in his mind.
"These two seem to be Paramecia-type Devil Fruit users."
"I think their abilities are pretty interesting. Might want to consider taking them in."
"I deliberately didn't cut them down outright."
"Oh?"
A mildly intrigued voice sounded within Zoro's mind.
The next moment, Red, who had been providing support for Usopp, suddenly appeared inside the underground passage.
At a glance, Red noticed the three fallen God's Knights.
Naturally, he was no stranger to them.
In fact, these three had entered his field of vision even earlier than Emilagon Palace.
It was honestly absurd.
Knowing that Mary Geoise had underground tunnels, Red had originally assigned Zoro a task—stuffing ammunition from other depots into the tunnels, planning to give the Celestial Dragons a massive "farewell gift" before leaving.
Yet before Zoro could even begin, after finally locating the depot under Red's guidance, these three God's Knights rushed in.
To prevent them from spreading word of their actions, Red immediately activated his new power—Dragon-Command Force—instantly accelerating Zoro's dragon evolution.
After ordering Zoro not to let them leave the tunnels, Red hurried back outside to watch Usopp's performance.
Compared to Zoro, who only got lost, the relatively weak Usopp was the one Red truly worried about.
"So… which two are the Devil Fruit users you mentioned?"
Pressed for time, Red got straight to the point.
Zoro immediately pointed.
"This one, and this one."
"One of them can fire beams of different colors. Anyone hit by the beams has their emotions altered."
"Based on his own explanation, it seems to be a Paramecia-type Emotion-Emotion Fruit."
"The other one's even weirder. His ability is called the Write-Write Fruit, also Paramecia."
"He summons a strange notebook, and whatever he writes in it seems to turn into reality."
"It's not permanent, but it caused me quite a bit of trouble during the fight."
"Emotion-Emotion Fruit? Write-Write Fruit?"
Red's eyes flashed sharply.
Just from Zoro's description, neither fruit sounded particularly overwhelming.
One required light beams to hit the target, the other required frantic writing.
Especially the Emotion-Emotion Fruit—it resembled the ability of Miss Goldenweek, who served as vice-captain of the palace guard far away in Alabasta.
But the fact that Zoro had described them as troublesome was proof enough that their potential was enormous.
Swish! Swish!
With two sharp sounds, Red directly snapped a pair of Seastone handcuffs, looted from a Celestial Dragon castle, onto the wrists of the two God's Knights.
Then he turned his gaze to the last Celestial Dragon, looking at Zoro with curiosity.
"And this one? A Devil Fruit user too?"
"Yeah, him as well."
Zoro nodded, then added:
"But he's a Logia-type—Mercury-Mercury Fruit."
"Didn't you say that unless there's a chance to use them, Logia users aren't worth keeping alive?"
"So I wasn't careful and hit a bit too hard. He's already on the brink of death."
"Mercury-Mercury Fruit, huh… sounds pretty strong."
Red frowned slightly.
But as Zoro said, a Logia ability that couldn't be replicated wouldn't be very useful even if contained.
As for hypnotizing and recruiting him?
Before hypnotizing Enel, Red might've considered it.
But now, he treasured every bit of his hypnosis capacity.
Enel was simply too much of a genius—or rather, his compatibility with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was perfect.
Just by generating electricity daily to power the Going Merry, his strength steadily increased.
And as his strength grew, the share of Red's hypnosis capacity he occupied grew as well.
Add to that Kid, who had already mastered both Haki and the Six Powers, and the CP9 agents…
Red truly didn't dare waste hypnosis casually anymore.
At the very least, not on this God's Knight.
"What a pity. Guess your luck just ran out."
Red cast one last regretful glance at the fallen Celestial Dragon, then brought two fingers together and slashed downward.
Psychic power manifested instantly, forming a razor-sharp blade that sliced across the man's neck—killing him on the spot.
A peerless genius.A Logia Devil Fruit user.A member of the God's Knights.
Dead.
After quickly securing the two Paramecia users, Red nodded toward Zoro.
"Alright. Since the obstacles are cleared, the rest is up to you."
"I've left clear landmark markers in your mind with psychic power. If you still get lost following those…"
"Then I really have nothing left to say."
"Hey, hey!"
Seeing Red's resigned expression, Zoro grumbled unhappily.
"So I've got bad direction sense—why do you all talk like I'm an idiot?"
"And besides…"
"You're exaggerating it way too much! It's not that bad, alright?!"
"Heh."
Red lightly patted Zoro's shoulder, leaving behind a comforting smile.
Then his figure flickered—and he vanished, reappearing beside Sanji and the others.
At this moment, Sanji was leading a group of powerful fighters in a relentless sweep through the Celestial Dragon castles, sparing not a single living creature.
Even the Celestial Dragons' pet parrots were chopped up and fed to one of their dogs—then the dog was chopped up and fed to a crocodile in a tank—then the crocodile was chopped up…
The cycle repeated until Sanji finally set the entire castle ablaze.
Only then did everyone regroup toward Capone, entering his body and heading for the next Celestial Dragon castle.
At first, the freed slaves were unfamiliar with this kind of uprising—this act of turning the tables.
But after following Sanji to destroy several castles, rescuing many comrades and swelling their ranks, their coordination became increasingly flawless.
Unfortunately…
With this speed alone, rescuing all slaves was nothing more than a fool's dream.
So after discussing it with Red, Sanji produced a powerful Devil Fruit looted from the Celestial Dragons' treasury—
the Paramecia-type Hole-Hole Fruit.
Among the rescued slaves were many who had long lost their homes.
Some of them were exceptionally strong.
Along the way, they told Sanji they planned to form a brand-new pirate crew after going to sea—and to join under the Straw Hat banner in repayment for the Straw Hat Pirates' salvation.
From among them, Sanji selected a suitable candidate and had him eat the Hole-Hole Fruit.
The Hole-Hole Fruit allowed its user to open perfectly round holes in any non-living object.
Going door to door through every Celestial Dragon castle was no longer realistic.
So Sanji ordered the Hole-Hole Fruit user to form guerrilla squads with several Supernovas and other strong fighters, using the fruit's power to directly free all the slaves inside the castles.
Although this would inevitably expose what was happening in the castle district to Pangaea Castle—rendering Usopp's diversion useless—
At this point, it was the only option left.
All they could say was that their preparations had been insufficient.
Otherwise, Red could have chosen pirates with ground-type abilities capable of using Dig, or had Usopp leave behind insects that could burrow underground…
They wouldn't be this pressed for time.
With the true powerhouses of Mary Geoise about to appear, they could only race against every second!
…
…
Meanwhile, far from the castle district, inside Pangaea Castle—
Everything remained as calm as ever.
The Celestial Dragon clan heads were still immersed in sleep or nighttime activities, utterly undisturbed by the chaos elsewhere.
As for the Five Elders, whom Red had been most wary of, none of them had any intention of leaving Pangaea Castle.
Protecting Mary Geoise and the Celestial Dragons was the duty of the God's Knights—not the Five Elders.
With Emilagon Palace still fighting the invaders in the skies above the castle district—and holding the upper hand—no one saw a need to intervene.
If anything went wrong, they could simply hold the God's Knights accountable later.
With that mindset, the Five Elders remained seated in Pangaea Castle.
Rather than worry about how many buildings were destroyed, it was far more important to ensure the invaders never reached Pangaea Castle.
Disturbing Imu-sama would be far more serious than losing a few useless Celestial Dragons.
The Celestial Dragons who treated others as lesser beings beneath the Red Line—were they not just as "lesser" in the eyes of the Five Elders?
Thus, no matter how fiercely the castle district burned, the Five Elders had no intention of acting personally.
What they hadn't expected was that the very thing they feared…
Was already happening.
(End of Chapter)