At the drill grounds of Mary Geoise Port, despite the sheer size of Pluto's main cannon, Ortoren lifted it with one hand, forcing the barrel to point straight into the sky.
That said, no one knew whether the main cannon had any massive recoil or other hidden factors. According to the blueprints, Pluto was an energy weapon, and energy weapons shouldn't produce especially extreme recoil. Even so, out of caution, Ortoren still braced the enormous cannon with both hands.
He glanced up at the control platform, where Sakazuki and Master Tom stood full of spirit, alongside Momonga, Katakuri, and Isshō.
And then Ortoren fell into deep self-doubt.
This isn't right, is it?
I'm the boss here, aren't I? So why am I down here holding the cannon, while my subordinates are up there looking like officials attending a ceremony?
While Ortoren was spiraling internally, Sakazuki's usually rigid face showed a hint of excitement as he looked his way.
"Ready, Ortoren?"
"Always ready… wait, no—damn it!" Ortoren blurted out on reflex, then immediately caught himself and cursed. "Just hurry up!"
Sakazuki's excitement dimmed slightly, and he complained, "This is the first reactivation of the Ancient Weapon Dark King Pluto in more than eight hundred years. Can't you show a little sense of ceremony, Ortoren?"
If time and space had allowed it, Sakazuki would have liked nothing more than to organize a full-blown viewing ceremony.
"Like hell. You come down here and hold the cannon, I'll go up there and press the fire button. Then we'll talk about ceremony," Ortoren snapped back.
Realizing he was in the wrong and also very aware that he couldn't beat Ortoren, Sakazuki pursed his lips and dropped the argument.
He adjusted his mindset, fixed his gaze on the firing button with visible excitement, and slowly extended his finger. After taking a deep breath, as if finally steeling himself, he pressed it down with a click.
Silence.
Nothing happened.
The main cannon remained completely still.
Sakazuki froze. Master Tom and the others also looked confused.
"Did it break?" Momonga asked doubtfully.
"That shouldn't be possible. The transport was stable, and there were no issues during dismantling," Katakuri said hesitantly. "Unless it stopped working centuries ago…"
Then he called out toward Ortoren, "Toren, check if the barrel's clogged."
"Oh…" Ortoren responded. His body turned into lightning, and in an instant he appeared at the muzzle, craning his head to peer deep inside.
The moment his head went in, the energy device suddenly roared to life. A blinding surge of light burst from within the barrel, nearly searing his eyes.
"Holy shit!" Ortoren shouted, instantly vanishing in a flash of lightning before reappearing at his original position, both hands snapping back to steady the barrel.
In the next instant, a column of energy shot straight into the sky from the muzzle.
The beam was dazzling and multicolored, flamboyant like a gathering of rainbows. Compared to the island, the cannon's muzzle wasn't particularly large, and the beam itself was about the same size as the lightning pillars Ortoren occasionally hurled skyward.
Yet for reasons unknown, once the beam rose about three hundred meters from the muzzle, it began to expand rapidly.
Like a peacock spreading its feathers, it flooded the sky in moments. Even though they had deliberately fired it as far from the Red Line as possible, it was still too close. The glowing halo skimmed past the edge of the Red Line without making direct contact, but the rocky layers were instantly scorched into crystalline formations, reflecting the shifting colors of the beam.
At an altitude of ten thousand meters, the sea of clouds was completely vaporized the instant the beam reached it. Even the deep blue sky itself was dyed by the light.
Looking up from below, it was as if the sky had been torn open, revealing a vast, multicolored void. Even from this distance, it looked to be roughly a hundred meters across. One could only imagine how terrifying its true scale was.
A large island, perhaps even a massive one, would likely be completely covered by it.
At that moment, Ortoren, hands locked around the cannon barrel, felt an overwhelming sense of danger. His instincts were screaming at him.
If the barrel exploded now, he would be utterly annihilated.
Then again, as a Logia ability user, he probably wouldn't actually die from it.
Despite the danger he felt, the cannon barrel itself was astonishingly stable. It remained ice-cold, without even a hint of residual heat. And yet, the energy beam had passed only dozens of meters from the Red Line and still managed to crystallize its rock layers. The temperature involved was terrifying beyond measure.
And here, there was nothing at all.
Staring at the enormous void in the sky that looked as if it would never close, Ortoren swallowed and muttered to himself, "An ancient weapon said to be capable of destroying the world… it really does live up to its reputation."
And this was only a single main cannon of Dark King Pluto.
In reality, Pluto had three main cannons and twelve secondary cannons. If it went all out, a single volley could probably erase a super-large island in one strike.
...
Ten minutes earlier.
While Ortoren and the others were test-firing the cannon, inside Pangaea Castle at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
Within the hall of authority, the Five Elders and Garling Saint were gathered together.
A disagreement had clearly broken out among them.
"Uranus isn't just a weapon of destruction. It's also our final retreat," Saint Peter said, frowning deeply. "How can we use it so lightly?"
Unlike Dark King Pluto, Uranus was, in essence, an enormous flying vessel.
More than two hundred years ago, Uranus's core device had been damaged, leaving it unable to recharge. The remaining energy was limited, but that energy could either be used to unleash so-called "divine punishment" and annihilate everything in the world, or be converted into propulsion, keeping Uranus suspended in the sky.
If the situation became hopeless, it could be used to evacuate Mary Geoise and flee into the endless heavens, avoiding Ortoren's pursuit.
If used as a weapon, the remaining energy might only be enough for two shots. But if used purely as propulsion and switched to an energy-saving mode, Uranus could remain airborne for five full years.
"What's the point of keeping a last escape route?" Garling Saint said coldly. "We might as well burn our bridges and decide the outcome with Uranus's power. As long as we win, this world will still belong to us."
Those words were somewhat disrespectful, given that the Five Elders stood at the pinnacle of authority, but at this moment, no one bothered to dwell on such details.
Saint Nusjuro nodded in agreement. "I think Garling Saint is right…"
"But how do we explain this to Imu-sama in the Flower Chamber?" Saint Warcury said in a low voice. "Who's going to tell Imu-sama that the situation has deteriorated so badly that we must rely on Uranus to turn the tide?"
The moment Saint Warcury said this, the room fell silent.
Uranus was under Imu-sama's direct authority. Without his approval, they couldn't use it at all. And now the problem was obvious: who would dare bring this up to Imu-sama?
If Imu-sama felt displeased or enraged, it wouldn't be strange at all for him to kill the messenger right there in the Flower Chamber.
So who would step forward?
Just as they were stuck on that question, beneath the Red Line, a rainbow-colored pillar of energy suddenly shot into the sky, illuminating the entirety of Mary Geoise.
"A rainbow light pillar?" Saint Peter stared at it in shock and murmured, "That… that's Pluto?!"
Pluto's attacks were far too dazzling to mistake. In this world, only the ancient weapon Dark King Pluto could unleash an energy blast that looked like a rainbow and carried such terrifying power.
At the same time, inside the Flower Chamber.
A figure turned his gaze toward the window, watching the rainbow pillar soar past the Red Line and into the heavens. He, too, seemed to realize exactly what it was.
And in his eyes appeared traces of remembrance, reflection, and a quiet sense of wariness.
"Pluto…?"
A soft whisper echoed through the Flower Chamber.