On the Marines' side, the emotions of the top fighters were a messy swirl. They had been shouting to fight and kill, risking their lives for so long, and now the supreme commander of the enemy they hated to the bone… might actually become their highest leader.
Many of them felt a bizarre sense of unreality, wondering if everything happening today was just some kind of dream.
But plenty of the top powerhouses understood very well: Creed had consecutively crushed Akainu and the two Blood Shadow blades, and could still fight Shoku evenly. His strength was already enough for the World Government to abandon certain long-held principles.
With Creed's abilities, even if he lost today, he still had the power to escape.
Putting everything else aside—who here could stop him if he decided to use the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi (Op-Op Fruit) and the Pika Pika no Mi (Glint-Glint Fruit) to flee?
No one. Not a single person.
And beyond that, Creed possessed at least four top-tier sword intents.
Four top-tier sword intents—what kind of concept was that? Just from the one strike in which he shattered the Blood Demon Shadow and defeated the two Blood Shadow blades, it was clear that his swordsmanship was among the absolute best in the world.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was the true number one great swordsman alive.
With a monster like that, who would dare stand up and say they could stop him?
In any case, not a single top-level powerhouse present wanted that person to be themselves.
Aegis's words left the two Blood Shadow blades and Shoku completely stunned; their expressions shifted rapidly.
To be honest, they were extremely displeased at this moment.
Just thinking that Creed might become the "world president," second only to one person, made them feel as if they had swallowed a mouthful of flies—not only resentful, but utterly disgusted.
But what could they do? This was the divine decree of Lord Imu himself. In all the world, who dared defy it?
If you didn't look far, you only needed to look close—Rocks, the sea's overlord of the previous era, was already reduced to dry bones.
The one whose expression changed the most, however, was still Kong, standing on the distant main flagship.
Who would have thought that Aegis had come here carrying a mission like this, and that he, the Marshal himself, hadn't been given the slightest hint?
If Creed really became his boss's boss…
Just imagining that feeling made Kong want to crawl into a crack in the deck from sheer embarrassment.
All his careful plotting to annihilate everything related to Creed would become a giant joke.
Everyone thought Creed would accept. After all, the Creed Alliance was now at a complete disadvantage; the Marines' breaking of Whole Cake Island was only a matter of time.
There was no helping it—the World Government's high-end combat power was simply too deep. Even with Shiki and Big Mom helping Creed, it still wasn't enough to reverse the situation.
At this moment, not only those present on the battlefield, but even the people all over the world watching the live broadcast were holding their breath, waiting for Creed's answer.
In their eyes, with the World Government making such a massive concession, there was absolutely no way Creed could turn it down.
On a tall building on a small island somewhere, four "Dark Heavenly Kings" were also watching the broadcast, staring tensely at the screen, terrified that Creed might agree.
One of them even started muttering in a daze:
"Don't say yes… You absolutely must not say yes… Creed, you should have your own pride!"
They had already put all their chips on Creed's side. If Creed surrendered to the World Government, then while they could claim some credit for "supporting the rightful ruler," they would also face the danger of being dealt with after the fact.
With identities like theirs, dealing with the World Government was the same as bargaining with a tiger—getting eaten someday without even realizing it was only natural. Not to mention that everything they did today would definitely be written down in someone's little black notebook…
However—
Creed simply let out a cold laugh and replied:
"Go back and tell your Lord Imu this: I'll be coming to the Holy Land Mary Geoise to find him. He should clean the dust off that Empty Throne and wait quietly for my arrival."
The moment those words left his mouth, the sea fell silent for a heartbeat, then erupted into a tidal wave of furious shouts and roars.
"How dare you! To covet Lord Imu's Empty Throne is a capital crime!"
"Creed, what qualifications do you have to storm the Holy Land Mary Geoise? Today, we'll grind your bones to ash right here!"
"Enough talk—kill them all!"
"Pathetic pirates on the brink of ruin. Their brains must be waterlogged! The Empty Throne—is that something you can sit on?!"
Even Aegis, standing opposite Creed, had his smile freeze on his face before it twisted into anger.
"Creed, do you even understand what those words mean? If not for Lord Imu's appreciation of talent… I'll give you one last chance!"
"No need. I am king. I don't need anyone else's appointment."
Creed gave Rinne a shake in his hand. Sword intent soared skyward, making heaven and earth change color.
His other hand clenched into a fist, pure light coiling around it into a circular shell that crackled and hummed.
Crack—
In answer to Creed's declaration, the sky above them split like an enormous mirror, shattering in a spiderweb of fissures. The violent, explosive force roiling within was enough to freeze anyone's blood.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit (Gura Gura no Mi). No matter whose hands it was in, it would always be the World Government's nightmare.
Creed revealed his strength, shaking heaven and earth, like a king descending upon his domain. Together with that bold, sky-piercing declaration, he once again made this stretch of ocean fall into dead silence.
I am king. I don't need anyone else's appointment.
What a wild, heaven-piercing proclamation. Even a fearsome overlord like Rocks had only ever said, "These seas will be my territory," and nothing more.
In Loguetown, the entire square fell quiet as midnight.
Aegis relaying Lord Imu's message had already shocked everyone into disbelief. Creed's refusal, by contrast, plunged them into a heavy, stunned silence.
Anyone who paid even the slightest attention to current events knew exactly what Creed had just rejected.
"Waaah! Big bro Creed is way too cool!"
Luffy yelled, shattering the silence.
"Now this is a true top-class great swordsman. The heart of a swordsman is unstained by anything. I like this Creed guy."
Zoro stood with his arms folded, declaring loudly. At his side, Sanji snorted in disdain.
"Though Creed-kakka does have the legendary spirit of a knight, I, Sanji, am different from you, you moss-head. I like beautiful women. My tastes are perfectly normal."
"You ero cook with nothing but women in your head! Get lost!"
Zoro's eyes bulged as he glared at Sanji. Their gazes clashed, sparks flying everywhere.
"Geez… you men are so boring, always obsessed with fighting and killing."
Nami just let out a yawn.
All these world-shaking events on the live broadcast were less attractive to her than a big clearance sale at a major department store.
Out on the sea—
Aegis sneered.
"You don't need anyone else's appointment? Unfortunately, empty words don't add to your strength. Today, I, Aegis, will cut you down right here, Creed!"
His voice had barely fallen when another aura surged forth, piercing the heavens. The sky above had been filled with Creed's Tremor-Tremor power, but this new, immensely powerful presence actually tore open a section of that domain and forced its own might into view.
"Hm?"
Sensing the profound oddity within that power, Creed narrowed his eyes slightly, wariness stirring in his heart.
Aegis's aura contained a strange profundity. It not only broke through the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power, it actually devoured it.
"This is also a Devil Fruit ability?"
Creed hurriedly activated the system's scanning function.
(End of Chapter)
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