Chapter 15: The World Bears Witness
The explosion over the Red Line wasn't a sound, but a phenomenon. The atmospheric pressure created by Kelean's final strike instantly circled the globe. Every single newspaper printer on every island in the Four Blues and the Grand Line seized up, the ink blurring, the machines unable to process the scale of the impending news.
Wano Country: The Silent Triumph
In Wano, the storm finally lifted. Monkey D. Luffy lay exhausted but victorious, his Gear Fifth transformation fading as his crew and allies celebrated their liberation. The entire nation was free, but the celebration was muted by the incomprehensible energy pulse they had just felt from the sky—Kelean's final message and the destruction of the Void Weapon.
Luffy, regaining consciousness, rubbed his head, a single tear—not of sadness, but of respect—running down his cheek. He had felt the immense release of pressure when the Ancestor vanished. He didn't understand the history, but he understood the sacrifice.
"That old man… he was really strong," Luffy mumbled to Zoro, who was standing watch. "He didn't want me to stop fighting."
"He cleared the path for the future," Zoro replied, looking westward with grave intensity. "Now we have to walk it. The true enemy knows you are the key, Captain."
The Grand Line: The Hole in the World
The visual proof was undeniable. Marine observation ships, struggling through the chaos, sent back shocking images. The Red Line, the immutable, sacred continental wall, was severed. A massive, kilometer-wide canyon plunged from the stratosphere to the seafloor, connecting the East and West halves of the Grand Line in a colossal, turbulent waterway. Mariejois, once perched safely on a mountain, now overlooked a terrifying, open chasm.
The global reaction was catastrophic:
The Seas United: Pirates, travelers, and smugglers were ecstatic and terrified. The unpassable wall was breached, promising new routes and an end to the geographical tyranny enforced by the World Government.
Fish-Man Island: The citizens below the Red Line wept with joy. The massive, natural foundation of the world, which had served as their eternal roof, was cracked. The Sun was finally accessible. The ancient prophecy of Joyboy seemed on the verge of fulfillment.
The World Economy: Financial markets and kingdoms immediately imploded. The World Government's authority, built on control and isolation, was shattered along with the rock. Revolutions immediately sparked in every country ruled by a World Government King.
Mariejois: The New Target
Inside the ruined Pangea Castle, Imu was slowly regaining their composure, attended by the terrified Five Elders. The loss of the Void Weapon was a critical blow, but the fundamental authority of Imu remained.
"The fool broke the world to save the child," Imu whispered, the black blood around their wound slowly receding. "Kelean believed that by destroying the Wall and the Weapon, he secured the Dawn."
Imu looked at the Elders, their eyes blazing with a cold, terrifying light. "He was wrong. Our authority is not geographical; it is spiritual. We still command the Marine Forces, and we still command the ultimate power over the final battlefield."
Imu rose. "The Founder's sacrifice has simplified our strategy. We no longer need to contain the world; we need only to eliminate the problem."
The command was absolute and immediate, broadcast to every Marine base, every Cipher Pol agent, and every remaining Warlord successor still loyal to the system.
"The World Government will declare a state of Total War. The target is no longer the collective pirates, but a single individual. The one Kelean protected."
Imu pointed a single, trembling finger at a holographic image of the newest Emperor, whose face was still that of a perpetually grinning fool.
"Monkey D. Luffy. He is the New Joyboy, the inheritor of the ancient crime. All forces will converge. We will crush the Dawn before the sun rises on the new age. Annihilate Wano Country and all who sail with the Straw Hat Pirates."
The era of managed chaos was over. The Final War had begun, with the World Government focused on a single, impossible bounty: the total eradication of the man who carries the Founder's hope.