"Combined Technique: Heavenly Buddha Falling Star!"
A furious roar tore through the heavens.
High above the clouds, Sengoku's golden Buddha form gathered overwhelming power between its massive palms.
Garp stood atop the Buddha's head, his fists wrapped in pitch-black Haki that surged like a raging tide.
Boom!
Garp threw a punch. Sengoku thrust his palm forward.
Crackle.
The golden Buddha palm and the black fist force twisted and collided violently in midair.
Above the sky's dome, a colossal dark-gold hand appeared, vast enough to blot out the heavens.
Carrying the authority of judgment upon all living beings, it slammed down toward the tiny pure-white battleship below.
"Hm?"
On the deck of the white battleship, Zephyr casually slung the unconscious Saint Shamrock over one shoulder.
He looked up at the descending Buddha palm, a strike powerful enough to erase an entire island, and curled his lips into a grin.
"Those two old men…"
"They're really enjoying themselves."
Zephyr muttered softly, and his figure vanished from the spot.
"Bastards!"
On the other side of the deck, Saint Somaz and Saint Chilingham were utterly terrified.
They could feel it clearly. That gigantic palm was formed by the fusion of two supreme Conqueror's Haki wills.
Against power like that, their so-called immortality stood no chance.
"Somaz!"
Saint Chilingham threw his head back and roared as lightning exploded around him. His body expanded wildly as he transformed.
In an instant, he became a mythical beast clad in jet-black scales, a single horn rising from his head, lightning coiling around him with terrifying might.
"Got it!"
A ruthless glint flashed in Saint Somaz's eyes. He plunged both hands into the deck. Thick thorny vines burst through the wood and wrapped tightly around Chilingham's massive body.
"Thorns: Armament!"
With a wet tearing sound, countless vicious thorns spread across Chilingham's form, shaping into a grotesque and massive suit of thorn armor.
Roar!
"I'll smash it apart!"
Chilingham bellowed, turning into a streak of black lightning as he charged upward, meeting the descending giant palm head-on.
Boom!
The black lightning collided with the golden palm in midair.
In the instant of contact, the once-arrogant mythical beast, along with its thorn armor, was erased into nothingness.
The giant palm did not slow even slightly.
It continued downward and pressed onto the pure-white battleship.
Crack.
The ship let out a final wail before being crushed completely into dust.
The palm then slammed into the sea.
The surrounding waters sank abruptly.
A massive, bottomless handprint appeared on the ocean's surface.
Water surged back like a broken dam, crashing violently into the void left behind.
Only after a long while did the sea gradually return to calm.
The ship that represented the World Government, along with everyone aboard it, vanished without a trace.
Only a few shattered planks floated quietly on the surface.
Splash.
Splash.
Sengoku and Garp descended from the sky, landing firmly at the harbor.
Zephyr reappeared beside them, still carrying Saint Shamrock on his shoulder.
Garp rolled his neck, joints cracking loudly, and burst out laughing.
Sengoku leisurely pulled out a bag of rice crackers.
"That really hit the spot. I haven't enjoyed beating someone like that in a long time."
He glanced at Zephyr.
"So, Zephyr, how do you feel?"
Zephyr felt the power surging through his body and grinned.
"Better than ever."
He paused, then tossed Shamrock onto the ground with a slight frown.
"But the God's Knights… are they immortal?"
Even while unconscious, Shamrock's life force was still stubbornly repairing his injuries.
Sengoku let out a cold laugh.
"There's no such thing as true immortality in this world."
"Conqueror's Haki, especially when trained to the extreme and infused directly into attacks, is a natural counter to this kind of so-called immortality that relies on special abilities."
"The stronger the will, the stronger the suppression."
"As for those two God's Knights just now, they were strong, but their resolve wasn't firm enough."
"Under the combined Conqueror's technique Garp and I used, Heavenly Buddha Falling Star, both their wills and bodies were wiped out completely."
"I see…"
Zephyr nodded, the doubt in his heart finally cleared.
No wonder he had failed to deal real damage to Shamrock. It was because of Conqueror's Haki.
At that moment, Garp, who had been standing off to the side picking his nose, suddenly let out a puzzled sound.
His gaze fell on the unconscious Shamrock.
That handsome face. That red hair.
"This guy…"
Garp scratched his head, confused.
"Isn't he that brat Shanks?"
Sengoku and Zephyr both turned their eyes to Shamrock's face.
Now that Garp mentioned it, the resemblance to Red-Haired Shanks was impossible to ignore.
"No. It's not him."
Sengoku shook his head, digging up a long-buried piece of intelligence.
"I once heard that the Figarland family of Mary Geoise had twin sons."
"And the current head of the Figarland family is the supreme commander of the God's Knights, Saint Figarland Garling."
"Shanks went missing during the God Valley incident as a child and was picked up by Roger."
Sengoku continued calmly.
"So this one should be his twin brother."
Garp suddenly understood.
"So the Figarland family head's sons…"
"One got killed by that Hawk kid, and the other ended up in our hands."
"Doesn't that mean old Garling is completely finished?"
Sengoku let out a low, satisfied laugh.
"Garp, you're not wrong."
Zephyr stood to the side, listening to the two old comrades banter, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"Hng…"
Saint Shamrock let out a painful groan, his eyelids twitching as he began to wake.
Zephyr raised a hand, stopping Garp, who was about to smash him again.
In the next instant, Zephyr drove his fist forward, piercing Shamrock's chest once more.
Shamrock's eyes widened briefly as consciousness returned, then went dull as he passed out again.
Zephyr slowly withdrew his fist and spread his fingers, palm facing upward.
The newly absorbed life force rapidly condensed in his hand, forming two blood-red droplets that gleamed like rubies, floating silently.
With a flick of his arm, the two droplets turned into streaks of light and drifted toward Garp and Sengoku.
The two exchanged a glance and caught them without hesitation.
The moment the droplets touched their skin, they merged into their bodies.
A warm current surged through their limbs and bones.
The faint exhaustion from unleashing the combined technique was completely wiped away.
Zephyr laughed heartily.
"There's still plenty of room to develop this Mythical Zoan power."
"But this kid's still too weak. Not much to squeeze out of him."
"I'll need a stronger blood bag."
In Zephyr's mind, the images of the five lofty figures in Mary Geoise surfaced.
"The highest authority of the World Government…"
"That sounds just about right."