The Holy Land of the Celestial Dragons, Mary Geoise.
Once praised as the center of the entire world, it possessed wealth beyond comparison.
The city in the sky had been built by the Celestial Dragons to separate themselves from the "inferior people" below, but now it had lost all its former splendor.
Ruined walls and shattered buildings stood everywhere, scarred by artillery fire. The occasional burst of gunfire or cannon blast still echoed through the streets.
Dozens of enormous ships had descended upon this once-sacred land and brought war with them.
Mary Geoise's magnificent towers and palaces had been crushed beneath the ships or blown apart by cannon fire. Smoke blanketed the city while flames raged throughout the ruins.
The Revolutionary Army had already fought the Cipher Pol agents responsible for defending Mary Geoise for three days and three nights.
The Celestial Dragons who called themselves gods could do nothing but hide in underground shelters with Cipher Pol's protection and wait for the fighting to end.
Then unrest broke out among them as well.
An enraged voice rang through the shelter.
"What are those filthy commoners thinking?! How dare they attack Mary Geoise!"
"When I get out of here, I'll make every last one of them my slave! I'll force fathers to kill their sons and mothers to kill their daughters!"
Once one Celestial Dragon started shouting, the others immediately joined in.
"I left so many of my toys behind! Those were part of my personal collection!"
"Are the Five Elders ever going to deal with those commoners? I'm sick of hiding in here like a rat! I want to go outside and sunbathe!"
"Mere insects dare challenge the great gods? Once the Five Elders defeat them, I'm going to torture them properly!"
The CP0 agents assigned to protect them could only pretend they had heard nothing.
These were not words that could ever be repeated outside.
The Celestial Dragons could say whatever they liked among themselves, but anyone else who overheard them was usually executed.
Fortunately, they still possessed enough sense not to disobey the Five Elders and insist on going outside.
That made the CP0 agents guarding them feel slightly more at ease.
Their relief did not last long.
Tap… tap… tap…
Footsteps echoed through the dark underground shelter.
The Celestial Dragons and CP0 agents immediately fell silent and prepared themselves.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone rapped on the door.
The CP0 agents instantly sensed that whoever stood outside was neither one of their own nor a member of the World Government.
"Hello? Is anyone in there?"
A strange man's voice came from the other side.
Rust suddenly spread across the supposedly indestructible door.
Within a few breaths, the steel looked as though it had endured thousands of years of corrosion. A large hole crumbled open in its center.
A Marine officer lowered his hands, then respectfully stepped aside to reveal the man behind him.
"The Marines?"
"How did you find this place?"
The CP0 agents tensed.
They knew that the Marines and the World Government had already become mortal enemies.
The Celestial Dragons behind them, however, had never been told anything about that conflict.
When they saw the Marines, they assumed rescue had finally arrived.
After recovering from their initial fright, they immediately began hurling abuse.
"You dogs took long enough! Do you know how much wealth and how many slaves I lost because you arrived late? The Marines will compensate me for every last one!"
"You're here, so the Revolutionary Army must already be defeated, right? Hurry up and get us out! I haven't bathed in three days. It's disgusting!"
"Hey, Marine! Did you save a few Revolutionary soldiers for me? I want to train them personally!"
Momonga showed no reaction to their vulgar demands and arrogant shouting.
He merely stared coldly at the CP0 commander before him.
Sweat rolled down the agent's face.
He had recognized Momonga, as well as the humanoid weapons standing behind him with red light glowing in their eyes.
"Vice Admiral Momonga, did the Five Elders order you to come here?"
The CP0 commander attempted to stall for time.
While speaking, he discreetly signaled one of his subordinates to call for help.
Momonga had served as one of Raleigh's closest followers for years and had witnessed every kind of scheme the sea could offer.
The agent's small movements did not escape him.
"Don't bother resisting. It won't help."
A cold flash cut through the darkness.
The Cipher Pol agent who had just pulled out a Den Den Mushi was instantly decapitated.
A figure slowly emerged from thin air.
The Mihawk Seraphim.
The other Seraphim behind Momonga also stepped forward.
Aside from the damaged Edward Newgate Seraphim, Momonga had brought the Seraphim based on Golden Lion Shiki and Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin.
"Bastard! What do you think you're doing?!"
The Celestial Dragons erupted in fury at the sight.
"We are gods! How dare you commit violence in the presence of gods!"
"I'll report every one of you to the Elders and have you all executed!"
Several enraged Celestial Dragons pulled pistols from their clothes and aimed them at Momonga.
Their behavior surprised him for a moment, but after thinking about it, he understood.
The World Government and the Five Elders had raised the Celestial Dragons into pampered livestock who knew nothing beyond eating, drinking, and indulging themselves.
They had never needed to think about anything else.
Momonga quickly lost interest and turned away.
Before leaving, he activated the order he had prepared in advance.
"Erase everyone."
The Seraphim, who had remained motionless until then, suddenly opened glowing red eyes.
Mechanical voices came from their mouths.
"Extermination order received."
"Commencing extermination. Targets: all Celestial Dragons and Cipher Pol personnel."
Boom!
Charlotte Linlin moved first.
Even without her Homies, her monstrous body alone was enough to crush the Cipher Pol agents standing in her way.
Anyone who tried to stop her was casually swatted aside and sent flying, their survival uncertain.
Cold flashes repeatedly cut through the air.
With two of the world's greatest swordsmen present, the battle was nothing more than a massacre.
The screams and pleas of the Celestial Dragons stirred no emotion in the Seraphim. Perhaps they had long since lost anything resembling a human heart.
Blood and severed limbs covered the shelter.
The Celestial Dragons, who had spent their entire lives being waited upon, lacked even the courage to run or resist.
They could only watch as the blades descended over and over again.
"No! Don't kill me! I can give you endless wealth!"
"Women, gold—whatever you want! Spare me, and I'll give you everything!"
"You can't kill me! I'm a Celestial Dragon! When the World Government finds out, you and your entire family will be buried with me!"
"Kill these rebelling insects! Hurry up and kill them!"
Under the Seraphim's slaughter, the Celestial Dragons looked remarkably similar to the nobles of member nations begging the Revolutionary Army for mercy.
Whoosh!
Even in this situation, the Cipher Pol agents refused to abandon their duty.
They hid among the crowd and waited for opportunities to ambush the three Seraphim.
But their movements were far too slow.
The Seraphim had been created from some of the most famous powerhouses on the sea.
Even without all the strength they had possessed in life, Vegapunk's technology still placed them far beyond ordinary agents.
Slash!
A cold gleam appeared from nowhere and split a Cipher Pol agent hiding in the shadows cleanly in two.
The figure vanished into the air again immediately afterward.
Boom!
Charlotte Linlin fought with broad, devastating movements. With her overwhelming physique, she did not care about the agents' sneak attacks.
Even when they used all their strength, they struggled to leave a fatal wound on her body.
A casual sweep of her arm, however, sent them crashing into the walls like birds, bursting into clouds of blood.
Mechanical clicking rang out.
Charlotte Linlin raised her mechanical arm.
Vegapunk had upgraded laser technology into a full laser cannon and installed it inside the prosthetic limb.
The moment the laser cannon appeared, everyone's remaining will to resist collapsed.
The Seraphim moved with terrifying speed.
In less than ten minutes, not a single Celestial Dragon or Cipher Pol agent remained alive inside the shelter.
Tap… tap… tap…
The sound of military boots echoed once more.
Momonga walked back in without expression and looked over the floor covered in corpses and blood.
Terror remained frozen on the Celestial Dragons' faces. Some had even lost control of their bodies in their final moments.
Momonga shook his head.
These people who called themselves gods were no different from the civilians pirates slaughtered every day.
In the end, the so-called gods had shown no divine power before dying at the hands of those they considered inferior.
"What a delusional group."
"Power is the only truth in this world."
"If you possess the power of a god, then you are a god. Bloodlines and titles mean nothing."
Momonga glanced at the bodies with disgust, as though looking at them any longer would dirty his eyes.
"Burn it."
After his cold command, Golden Lion Shiki manipulated the fuel they had prepared and spread it evenly across the floor.
His famous blade scraped against the ground, and the resulting sparks ignited the oil.
Black smoke and the stench of burning flesh soon poured from the chamber.
After confirming once more that no one remained alive, the Seraphim left the shelter together.
Flames roared behind them, no different from the fires consuming the rest of Mary Geoise.
...
Several scars from artillery fire now marked the once-pristine palace of Mary Geoise.
The Five Elders stared at Monkey D. Dragon in the distance, their faces dark with fury and frustration.
Only a day earlier, they and the Shield of the Celestial Dragons had nearly defeated Dragon.
Then Monkey D. Garp had suddenly appeared.
Without listening to any explanations, he immediately attacked the Shield of the Celestial Dragons.
Garp's strength needed no introduction. With him on the battlefield, the Five Elders could no longer easily bring Dragon down.
Both sides had been forced to pause their own clash while their subordinates continued killing each other throughout Mary Geoise.
Nusjuro frowned.
"Where is Shanks? Bring him out."
"The Revolutionary Army must be eliminated today. Even if Garp chooses to stand with them, he is no exception."
Warcury answered calmly, "I have already notified Shanks. The problem is that the others still haven't chosen a side."
"Among the Marines, only Garp has intervened. Sengoku and Kong have both remained neutral."
"If word spreads that we have joined forces with pirates, I fear Sengoku and Kong may abandon that neutrality and side with the Revolutionary Army."
Nusjuro shook his head and gritted his teeth.
"The Marines have already become our enemies. We will have to deal with them sooner or later."
"If they truly dare stand with the Revolutionary Army, then even if Mary Geoise is destroyed, we will wipe them out completely."
The reason the Five Elders had not yet asked Imu to use Uranus was that Mary Geoise genuinely mattered to them.
They had lived here for eight hundred years. Unless there was no other choice, they would never willingly abandon it.
"Enough hesitation. If they insist on fighting, then we will destroy them."
"Mary Geoise is only a city. If it is shattered, we can build another."
"Lord Imu will soon become the King of the Void. This city should have been rebuilt for that new era anyway."
Having made their decision, the Five Elders no longer cared what consequences their next actions would bring upon Mary Geoise.
They would eliminate the Revolutionary Army at any cost.
Slash!
An enormous sword beam erupted from the ruins of a collapsed building.
The hundred-meter slash tore violently through everything in its path.
Boom!
A thunderous impact rang out.
Before the sword beam could reach the Revolutionary Army's position, a pair of iron fists stopped it.
The slash expanded wildly as it tried to break through the fists' defense, but it made no progress.
With a casual sweep of his arms, the man redirected the enormous sword beam into the sky.
Crack!
Two fists collided.
The moment the cursed-blade Elder's attack was deflected, the muscular Elder rushed forward.
His iron fists, coated in Armament Haki, slammed against Garp's.
Boom!
Neither man retreated even a single step.
However, judging by their expressions, the muscular Elder was clearly losing.
Sweat slowly appeared across his forehead, and his gaze began to waver.
Rumble!
Garp suddenly drove more power into his fist and sent the muscular Elder flying.
Standing in place like a massive mountain, Garp formed an unbreakable defensive line.
Behind him, Dragon and Sabo were still locked in battle with the Shield of the Celestial Dragons.
The explosions in the distance revealed the enormous scale of the conflict.
Commander-in-Chief Kong was currently fighting his most accomplished student, Sengoku.
Boom!
The impact rang like an enormous bell, forcing both men back several steps.
"Sengoku, you should not have involved yourself in this. You understand how important this matter is."
Kong's face remained expressionless, but helplessness lingered deep within his eyes.
Towering nearly a hundred meters high in the form of a golden Buddha, Sengoku slowly shook his head.
"Commander-in-Chief Kong, I cannot stand by and watch you join the Celestial Dragons in surrounding Garp."
"Even if what I'm doing is wrong, I cannot simply watch and do nothing."