Golden sunlight poured down from the sky, bathing the blood-soaked, silver-haired boy in a warm shower of light.
That bloodied figure, with a sword in his chest and a head in his hand, was like an eternal image, destined to be firmly etched in the hearts of countless marines.
The temporary deathly silence of the world was suddenly shattered by earth-shaking shouts and cheers.
"Shiki the Golden Lion is dead! Major General Rorschach, he killed Shiki!"
"Major General Rorschach! Major General Rorschach!"
The marines' faces were flushed with excitement. They screamed hysterically, as if releasing the pent-up frustration and anger in their hearts.
In this war, too many comrades had died.
"Why isn't Major General Rorschach coming down yet? He looks so seriously injured, and he's bleeding so much." Tashigi, clutching her long sword, bit her lip, suppressing the shock in her heart. Her eyes were a little wet as she looked at Rorschach, who stood motionless on the edge of the island.
From too far away, her eyesight could only make out Rorschach, who was completely red with blood.
Smoker threw away the shortened jitte in his hand, his eyes also filled with confusion.
This was until Vice Admiral Tsuru's sigh came from the side.
"Sigh, he's passed out."
"What?" Tashigi's pupils widened, and her lips trembled. In her blurry vision, the figure that was falling with the island was clearly still standing straight, propped up by his weapon.
"I'll go get him and bring him down for treatment!" Smoker's lower body turned into a cloud of smoke and shot into the sky, flying toward the island that was coming down.
But someone had already rushed up faster than him.
The moment Rorschach appeared, Hibari had already turned into a cloud of mist and ascended, flying toward the sky.
When the anxious Hibari flew in front of Rorschach, her vision suddenly blurred.
Tears filled her eyes.
Because at this moment, Rorschach's entire body was covered in blood, and his body was crisscrossed with wounds.
Each of those horrible wounds was so deep that the bone was visible.
A wide, long sword was stuck in his chest, and the sharp tip came out of Rorschach's back, still dripping ruby-like drops of blood.
He stood there, his right hand gripping the halberd that was embedded in the ground, and one hand holding Shiki's head, his eyes open, like a spear.
If Hibari's Observation Haki hadn't sensed that Rorschach was still alive, she would have thought that Rorschach had died.
Hibari, her eyes red, stepped forward and gently reached out to wipe the blood from Rorschach's face.
"Big Brother Rorschach, are you an idiot? Why do you always do this to yourself? Can't you take good care of your body?"
"Time and time again, like an idiot, like... Dad. Why are the people I love all like this? Do you know that this makes me so worried?"
Hibari's hands were stained red with the blood from Rorschach's face. She bit her lip, and tears fell like a kite with a broken string.
She opened her arms and gently hugged the unconscious Rorschach. Her body turned into a surging cloud of mist, which gently lifted Rorschach and carried him away from the roaring, falling Vermilion island.
Deep in the island below, a massive azure dragon, with its body several hundred meters long, soared into the sky, taking off with a flying Pteranodon.
Below the azure dragon, Akainu, covered in blood, wanted to chase after them by walking on air, but Sengoku stopped him.
"Don't chase them, Sakazuki! Let him go! Our current mission is to stop these islands from falling!"
Sengoku's eyebrows were furrowed, and his face was full of worry as he looked at the islands falling from the sky. A golden shockwave burst from his feet, and he was the first to take off and rush toward the nearest island.
Although he had a premonition of the various consequences that Shiki's death might bring, the current situation still far exceeded his expectations.
A quick glance at the sky showed at least thirty-one islands of varying sizes that were falling.
The largest of these islands was Vermilion, where Rorschach and Shiki had fought. It was more than fifteen kilometers in diameter and larger than G1 island. Although two parts had already broken away from the main body, its size was still large enough to cover the sky.
He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of terrible disaster such a massive island would cause by falling into the sea from tens of thousands of meters in the sky.
Tsunamis, storms, earthquakes, and even a global apocalypse were possible.
Not to mention that besides Vermilion, there were also thirty other islands of all sizes.
If Shiki hadn't been interrupted by Rorschach earlier, the Vermilion island would have fallen directly. It had only been hovering a few thousand meters above the sea, which had cushioned the impact a little.
Then, during the consecutive battles, the island had gradually fallen to a height of a thousand meters above the sea.
G1 would have probably been swallowed by the endless seawater by now.
In the face of this kind of world-ending disaster, he couldn't care less about Kaido's departure.
The top priority was to get the warships as far away from the center of the impact as possible, and then to concentrate the Navy's top-tier forces to destroy the islands.
They didn't have to be completely pulverized. They just needed to be broken into smaller pieces so that the impact wouldn't be too great.
The only good news was that, perhaps due to Shiki's Fuwa Fuwa no Mi ability, the speed at which the islands he had brought into the sky were falling was not as fast as a meteor.
Unless they were directly pulled by a living Shiki's ability, the islands' falling speed was only slightly faster than the speed at which Shiki had sent them into the sky.
This gave them about ten minutes to evacuate G1.
It was precisely because of this that Sengoku and the others didn't completely give up on the hope of stopping the disaster.
But even so, Sengoku was still overwhelmed.
These islands were far apart from each other, almost covering an area of a hundred kilometers around the G1 sea.
Even if they could destroy all the islands, there wasn't enough time.
So, the Navy Vice Admirals, led by Vice Admiral Tsuru, quickly retreated with the wounded from G1 island, accelerating their departure toward the distant sea.
Sengoku, Garp, Akainu, and the others all took to the air, rushing toward the nearest island, Vermilion, which was partially overlapping with G1 island.
This island was too big for one person to destroy in a short amount of time.
"Just shatter it! This island is too close to the sea. There's no time to waste!"
Garp grabbed a handful of glass vials, put them in his mouth, and bit them, swallowing the concentrated nutrient paste and some glass shards.
"Life Return!"
He took a deep breath, and his entire body swelled up. His skin was hot and red, emitting white steam. He clenched his fists, which were flashing with black lightning, and stepped on a sonic boom cloud, arriving above Vermilion island with Sengoku and Zephyr.
Before they could even throw a punch, they saw the ground of the island, which was covered in large cracks like a grand canyon, and holes a thousand meters in diameter.
The land was riddled with scars, as if it had been hit by a meteor shower.
It was clear that this was the destruction caused by the battle between Shiki and Rorschach.
Without the slightest hesitation, the six of them simultaneously unleashed their strongest attacks, striking the already cracked Vermilion island.
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!
In a series of earth-shattering explosions, the Vermilion island, with a diameter of more than ten kilometers, was forcibly shattered into pieces by the six of them and fell toward the sea to the right of G1.
Even after being shattered, each piece of the island was still several kilometers in size.
Sengoku and Garp wanted to break them into even smaller pieces, but there was no time.
The shattered islands crashed into the sea with a series of earth-shaking tremors, instantly raising hundred-meter-high waves.
The entire sea tilted and undulated.
Tens of millions of tons of seawater were displaced by the island fragments, roaring and rushing in all directions.
The first to be hit was the nearest G1 island.
A piece of the Vermilion island, a thousand meters wide, hit the right side of the ground, causing the entire island to shake violently, and dust rose like a long dragon.
A huge amount of seawater poured in from outside the island, instantly submerging the entire G1 plaza and the shattered fortress, turning it into a vast ocean.
In the roaring waves, one could still see huge floating icebergs, which were Kizaru's masterpieces from when he had frozen the sea earlier.
It wasn't just floating ice. Giant sea kings, hundreds of meters to a thousand meters long, were also swept onto G1 island by millions of tons of seawater.
These sea kings were usually the absolute rulers of the deep sea.
But at this moment, in the face of this world-ending rage, they were nothing but fragile bits of duckweed, at the mercy of the roaring waves.
The thundering waves, carrying them, slammed them against the surface of the sea or against the island, instantly crushing the flesh of these massive creatures, turning them into a splash of blood in the endless seawater.
Even the most powerful life was insignificant in the face of nature.
No one knew that the impact caused by the fall of this shattered Vermilion island alone had almost destroyed Fish-Man Island, which was ten thousand meters deep in the sea below this vast area, due to the collapse of the bubble membrane that enveloped the island.
If not for the sudden appearance of several super-large sea kings that blocked the sinking island fragments, the Ryugu Kingdom, which had existed for thousands of years, would have disappeared like a broken bubble in this catastrophe at the end of the year 1517, becoming the first kingdom to be affected and destroyed by this war.
"Faster! Faster!" On the deck of the Kirin, Bepo was yelling at the top of his lungs.
"I'm going as fast as I can!! Trust Major General Rorschach's warship! Trust the Kirin! We can definitely get out of here!"
Pamela's arm muscles bulged as she controlled the ship's rudder, speeding away from G1.
On the deck of the Kirin, more than three thousand marines were crowded together.
They were the last group to retreat from G1 island.
Because the Kirin happened to be stranded on the edge of the island, everyone had pushed it into the sea and boarded the hundred-meter-long warship.
It was fortunate that the entire Kirin was made of the durable Adam wood, which was why the ship had not been destroyed in this fierce battle.
Although the mast on the ship was broken, the retractable steam wheels on both sides were still in good condition and could be used normally.
So, the original crew of the Kirin immediately got to work, controlling the warship and quickly escaping the center of the disaster.
The blow-back shells at the stern of the warship were all opened, and the boilers in the engine room were furiously burning.
Even without sails, relying on the wind and the rolling outer wheels, the Kirin's escape speed was far superior to that of ordinary warships.
"They're coming! The tsunami is coming!" Bepo, at the violently shaking stern railing, gripped the broken mast tightly. He looked at the monstrous tidal wave, roaring like a beast, and his small eyes were full of terror. He couldn't help but shriek, "Hurry! The tsunami is catching up!"
Pamela kept the Kirin's direction steady. She gritted her teeth and roared, "The speed has reached its limit! Think of something else!"
Bepo was drenched in sweat. He grabbed his bear face and shrieked, "What else can we do? This is a tsunami! I'm not the Major General!"
"Get out of the way! Let us handle it!"
At this moment, a dozen people shouted in unison from behind.
Bepo quickly turned his head and saw a dozen blood-soaked Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals move past him. They stood side by side at the stern railing of the Kirin, all of them slashing their weapons at the roaring, collapsing tsunami.
A dozen slashes and impacts broke through the air and struck the hundred-meter-high tidal wave, which was like a rolling mountain.
Boom!
In the deafening explosion, the giant wave exploded from the middle. Water splashed everywhere, and large amounts of it poured down on the deck of the Kirin.
The powerful impact of the water was enough to break the muscles and bones of many marines and cause them to spit blood.
Some were even killed on the spot.
A monster fish, dozens of meters long, was swept up by the angry wave and scraped the side of the Kirin's hull, smashing a part of the hull and deck.
A hundred marines who were crowded together were carried along and fell into the turbulent deep sea.
"Grab on! Everyone, grab onto the warship! Grab onto your comrades!" Law's right hand opened, and a circle of surgical space appeared, enveloping the hundred marines who had fallen into the deep sea.
"ROOM! Command Stick!"
He flicked his finger. The soldiers who had fallen into the deep sea with the resolve to die were suddenly teleported onto the deck, falling into the crowd.
At the stern, Momonga, Onigumo, and the others had shattered the pursuing tsunami. They were also sent flying by the powerful rebound force, crashing one by one into the cabin wall of the captain's room, which was shattered.
The Kirin's speed increased greatly, and it instantly surpassed the several ordinary warships next to it, sailing farther away.
The marines on the Kirin had mixed feelings.
They were happy to have survived this monstrous tsunami, but they were also heartbroken by the fact that their other comrades could not escape.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The monstrous tidal wave crashed down. Several warships that had not had enough time to get away were instantly shattered by the roaring wave crests, and the desperate marines on them were swept into the deep sea by the huge amount of seawater.
Some were killed by the impact of the water, and some were knocked unconscious and drowned in the deep sea.
In the face of nature's wrath, no matter how elite the marines were, they were so insignificant and powerless.
And this terrifying wrath was caused by a dead man.
Looking at the warships a little behind them being mercilessly swallowed one by one by the monstrous tsunami, the many marines and vice admirals on the deck of the Kirin all had red eyes and shed tears.
"I finally know why Major General Rorschach fought and trained so desperately."
Pamela raised his head, letting the hot tears roll down his cheeks.
"Because if we're not strong enough, we can't even stand up to nature, let alone uphold justice or change the world."
Above the G1, which had been swallowed by the seawater, Sengoku and the others, who had shattered Vermilion, watched as the warships in the distance were swallowed by the tsunami, their eyes filled with sorrow.
But the current situation didn't give them time to grieve.
Because more islands were continuously falling.
Suddenly, a group of paw-shaped air bubbles shot out from a distance and hit several people.
Sengoku turned around. "Kuma, why aren't you leaving yet?"
In the sky not far behind him, Kuma's body was also enveloped by a paw-shaped air bubble. He was flying toward a falling island.
Sengoku thought Kuma had already left.
After all, he was only a Shichibukai who was conscripted to participate in the war temporarily. He had no obligation to fight to the death.
Compared to guys like Empress Boa Hancock and Doflamingo, who didn't even show up, Bartholomew Kuma had already done more than enough.
Even if he didn't fight to the end, Sengoku had no reason to blame him.
But to Sengoku's surprise, the man known as the Tyrant was still here.
And after shooting out the air bubbles that could accelerate their flight, he took the initiative to rush toward a falling island.
Seeing this, Sengoku couldn't help but feel grateful.
He thought that in the future, he might be able to have the Navy branch in the South Blue provide more protection for Kuma's hometown, the Sorbet Kingdom.
Just as they were each rushing toward the next island, Sengoku's heart suddenly sank. He looked at the sea a few kilometers away.
There, a large ship shaped like a white whale and a large ship with a dragon's head were floating on the turbulent sea.
"It's Whitebeard and Red-Haired Shanks!" Sengoku's face instantly became extremely ugly.
He hadn't expected that at this moment, Whitebeard and Red-Haired Shanks, who had not participated in the war, would arrive after the battle had already ended.
What were they trying to do?
Were they trying to take advantage of the situation and attack them?
Thinking of this, Sengoku couldn't help but speed up. After shattering a small island with a single Haki-infused blow, he roared toward the two ships below: "Whitebeard! Red-Haired Shanks! What are you trying to do? Haven't you had enough fighting? What time is it now? If we don't stop these islands, the New World will suffer the human tragedy of dozens of islands being submerged! Tens of millions of people will die in this disaster! If you have even a little humanity..."
"We're here to help!"
A figure shot up hundreds of meters into the sky with a swoosh. It flew past the startled Sengoku with an astonishing speed, soaring thousands of meters into the sky. It slashed a falling island with a single sword.
"Divine Exorcism!"
Boom!
A thousand-meter-long sword flash, wrapped in black and red lightning, instantly broke through the hard rock at the bottom of the island. Under everyone's gaze, it sliced the several-kilometer-wide island into two halves.
Then, the one-armed man swung his sword again.
A terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted, and the sword flash tore through the sky, splitting the two halves of the island into four, which fell in different directions.
"Red-Haired Shanks!" Sengoku's heart was shaken.
At the same time, Whitebeard on the Moby Dick took to the air with his huge halberd. He flew into the sky like a rocket, stepping on shockwaves. A white-hot shockwave appeared with a humming sound on the blade of his halberd, and he slashed down at an even bigger island.
Separated by a hundred meters, the halberd struck the empty space a thousand meters above.
With a series of crisp cracking sounds, fissures rapidly spread from the blade of the halberd, extending toward the island above.
When the shattered air reached the island, a violent, unparalleled shockwave erupted, collapsing the edge of the island like a hot knife through butter, and penetrating all the way to the inside.
Finally, the entire island was completely broken, then shattered again, turning into countless falling fragments.
Sengoku took a deep look at Whitebeard and Shanks. He nodded slightly, said nothing more, and rushed toward the next island.
End of Chapter)
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