"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard's signature booming laughter echoed through the valley like thunder.
It was as if he could already envision Marineford falling before overwhelming power.
High above the valley—
Bathed in boundless golden light, the "god" in the sky had opened his eyes. It was Lucian Thorn.
Lucian looked down at his divine body, forged from pure light energy, and felt the seemingly infinite, inexhaustible power coursing through him.
It was immense, majestic—absolute.
He felt that with a single thought, he could create life... or erase the world.
"So this is... the power of the Sun God?"
A flash of realization passed through Lucian's mind.
"As expected... extraordinary."
He could feel it clearly—at this moment, he was unrivaled beneath the heavens.
If the power of a Devil Fruit was like a "skill" bestowed by the System...
Then this Sun God's power had fused with his very soul and blood—it was his origin.
With a single thought, Lucian felt a surge of curiosity.
He wanted to see—just how strong this power truly was.
Slowly, he raised his right hand, fingers splayed toward his palm.
Buzz—
There was no deafening explosion.
Only an endless stream of light particles rushing in from all directions, swirling and compressing rapidly in his palm.
A golden point of light, no larger than a needle's tip, appeared out of nowhere.
Then—
It began to expand, violently.
In the blink of an eye, a blazing golden energy sphere, as radiant as a miniature sun, hovered in his palm.
Golden arcs of lightning crackled across its surface. The intense heat and light made even Whitebeard instinctively squint.
"This brat... what's he trying to do?"
Whitebeard's laughter stopped. He could feel it—this tiny orb contained enough destructive power to completely erase this island from the map.
Lucian stared calmly at the orb in his palm, then lightly tossed it toward the distant sea.
The golden sphere turned into a streak of light, shooting silently into the sky.
It wasn't aimed at any target. It stopped mid-air thousands of meters above the clouds.
The next moment—
The orb exploded.
It unraveled into billions of golden chains of light, crisscrossing and weaving across the sky.
A sword.
A sword over a kilometer long, forged entirely of light and heat, took form above the clouds.
Golden flames surged along its blade, its tip pointing straight at the tranquil sea below.
Lucian's golden eyes gazed down coldly at the massive blade.
He opened his mouth and spoke four words, each like a divine command.
"Light of the Corona."
As soon as the words left his lips—
That thousand-meter holy sword hanging in the sky moved.
BOOM—!
It fell.
No earth-shattering roar.
No sky-splitting shockwave.
Just a column of golden light—pure, silent, and vertical—plunging straight down and striking the calm sea below with absolute precision.
And then, it happened.
Even Whitebeard—the world's strongest man—felt a chill run down his spine.
The area of sea struck by the golden light, stretching several kilometers wide, didn't even get a chance to boil.
At the very moment the light touched the water—
It all vanished.
Evaporated.
"Schhh—"
A torrent of white steam surged upward like a tsunami, forming a massive mushroom cloud spanning dozens of kilometers.
Countless Sea Kings hidden in the deep were vaporized instantly, without even a cry of agony, dissolved completely by that sacred light.
The light lasted just three seconds.
Afterward, the golden pillar dissipated, and calm returned.
But where the blue sea should have been—
There was now a terrifying void.
A massive, bottomless crater on the ocean floor, gaping and exposed to the air.
Dark and wet seabed terrain lay bare, revealed in full.
One slash—scorched mountains.
One slash—boiled the sea.
Gulp.
Whitebeard felt a chill creep up his back and swallowed hard.
He tilted his head up, staring blankly at the spot where the sea had been wiped away, then at the radiant figure still floating in the sky. His mouth hung slightly open in disbelief.
"That whole section of ocean... got evaporated?"
He muttered, his voice thick with shock and disbelief.
He thought of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Yes, with it, he could summon massive tsunamis.
He could split islands.
He could even, as the legends claimed, destroy the world.
But...
To erase an entire sea region with a single attack?
To vaporize billions of tons of seawater in just three seconds?
Whitebeard asked himself honestly—
He couldn't do that.
Not even at his peak.
"This kid..."
"The power he's obtained... 'strong' doesn't even begin to cover it..."
"It's terrifying!"
As Whitebeard reeled from the shock—
Lucian slowly began withdrawing his divine power.
The massive golden sunwheel behind him gradually faded.
The golden divine armor melted into light particles and returned to his body.
His long, blazing gold hair reverted to its original short black.
His three-meter divine form shrank back to a normal height of around 1.8 meters.
Aside from the faint gold still lingering in his eyes, he had returned to being that same handsome young man.
Lucian descended slowly from the sky, his feet landing firmly on the ground.
Whitebeard strode over, his giant hand slapping Lucian's shoulder with a loud thud.
"Gurararara!"
He looked at Lucian, unable to hide the pride and excitement on his face.
"You brat… You've really gotten yourself one hell of a fruit!"
Feeling the still-surging energy inside him, Lucian grinned wide, flashing white teeth with a hint of modest bravado.
"It's alright."
Usable, at least.
Not bad.
Whitebeard blinked, then burst out laughing again, louder than ever.
"Gurararara!"
"A good ol' 'alright', huh?"
"'Not bad', huh?"
Lucian, infected by Whitebeard's wild laughter, couldn't help but laugh too.
"Hahahahahaha!"
One old, one young.
Their laughter echoed through the valley—filled with supreme confidence and untamed spirit for the coming war.
Marineford.
World Government.
Prepare yourselves.
The wrath of a sea emperor is coming.