Kaido growled and took to the sky, massive wings stirring hurricanes as he flew toward the battlefield.
Below, the naval forces stationed on the Red Line began to tremble as Kaido's colossal dragon form approached—with Rhett Vane standing atop his head, his golden armor gleaming in the sunlight.
Two Yonko. The most terrifying of the Pirate Emperors had arrived.
Among the naval officers were Vice Admirals Hina, Mole, and several others, overseeing the forced capture of slaves. Thousands of innocents were held here—non-combatants who hadn't escaped the World Government's grasp. Those with power had either fled or died resisting. The ordinary navy's strength was impressive, but even they paled in comparison to what now descended from the skies.
Vane looked down coldly at the trembling marines.
"Do you want to die?" he asked, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Don't push your luck!" Vice Admiral Mole shouted, though his voice betrayed his unease. "Justice doesn't allow you to act !"
Vane's voice cracked like thunder. "Today, if I want these people freed—they walk free."
The words alone nearly made the rank-and-file collapse. The weight in his tone, the sheer presence, was overwhelming.
"What kind of justice is this? Enslaving innocents for the Celestial Dragons? Don't insult the word."
Behind the marine lines, several World Nobles—Celestial Dragons—hid in cowardice, wrapped in their protective bubbles. These so-called nobles wielded unchecked power, deciding life or death with a word, living off the suffering of others.
Vane leapt down from Kaido's head and strode toward the marines, unwavering.
No one moved to stop him. Even the Vice Admirals hesitated.
"Hina," Vane said as he walked past her, not sparing her more than a glance, "I expected better. Justice isn't protecting monsters and enslaving the weak."
Hina trembled, unable to speak. The last time she'd seen Vane, he was a rookie—now, he was a Yonko. Follow current novels on ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt
Vane passed straight through the naval blockade. No one raised a weapon. Some marines nearly passed out from fear.
A cluster of Celestial Dragons screamed in terror, huddling behind rows of guards.
[King's Treasure Activated — 200 Rounds: Golden Magic Circle!]
Weapons bathed in golden light materialized and opened fire like divine artillery. Screams erupted. Blood painted the ground. Flesh tore. Marines froze, paralyzed by horror. The slaves—finally—saw a glimpse of hope.
Thirty seconds later, silence.
He turned to face the navy. Most had collapsed in shock or fainted outright. The ground was soaked in fear, tears, and something worse.
"This world," he said, "is full of rot. Some people were never meant to exist."
"The Celestial Dragons should all die."
He looked to the mass of imprisoned slaves. "You're free."
To them, this man in golden armor wasn't just a pirate. He was salvation.
"Go," Vane said, "Leave the Red Line. Your chains are broken."
The crowd stirred—various races, ages, and tribes. Many wept.
Even so, the world would not welcome them. Slaves of the Celestial Dragons were marked. Stained. Many would be hunted or forced into piracy to survive.
"The Revolutionary Army will take you in," Vane added. "You won't be alone."
He vaulted back onto Kaido's head. The dragon hovered just twenty meters from the ground.
Below, the mass of slaves surged away in a flood of desperation and freedom. No one stopped them.
Vane and Kaido hovered high above the broken marines.
"Isn't your job to uphold justice?" Vane asked the navy below. "This is your justice?"
Vice Admiral Mole clenched his sword but didn't draw it. What difference would it make?
"Kaido," Vane said, "fly higher. That rabid dog Akainu is on his way."
"Why don't we kill him?" Kaido grinned. "I never liked him."
"Not yet," Vane replied. "There's a war coming. I want him alive for now—it'll make the chaos more interesting."
Kaido chuckled and soared three hundred meters into the sky.
Sure enough, Akainu soon arrived.
"You useless fools!" he roared, landing among the shattered marines. "You just let them go? You let the Celestial Dragons die?! Round up the slaves! ALL of them!"
"Admiral Akainu, we—" Ghost Spider began.
A golden blade dropped from the sky, spearing Akainu directly through the skull.
Before anyone could react, a rain of divine weapons followed. In under ten seconds, Akainu was reduced to a bubbling pool of magma, only to regenerate—
—and get crushed again by another falling weapon.
The navy was speechless. Above them, two Pirate Emperors stared down from the heavens, like gods of judgment.
"Kaido," Vane called, "let's go."
He glanced to the skies—where a far more dangerous threat loomed.
Her hair and clothes billowed unnaturally as she floated high above the clouds. Ten massive hands made of storm clouds held aloft a meteorite that could level the entire Red Line.
"She's losing control," Kaido noted.
"She claims to be the 'Heavenly King,'" Vane said. "Of the three Ancient Weapons, I think this one's the most dangerous."
"If she loses it, we all go down," Kaido muttered. "If she abandons Mariejois, we lose this foothold."
"Let's see how the world reacts," Vane said. "Today's events can't be hidden. By tomorrow, every sea will know. Let the world burn."
Kaido roared and surged a kilometer into the sky, leaving the ruined holy land behind in seconds. With them, the Heretic Golem and the Nine-Tails vanished as well.
The marines were left to deal with the aftermath—and the looming meteorite.
In the skies above, Im snarled. "I will kill that brat!"
Storm clouds churned, forming two colossal red giants. Ten divine hands handed the meteorite to them. The strain made Im pale—this wasn't sustainable.
She guided the giants across the sky, aiming to hurl the meteorite toward the New World.
Far below, in the deep ocean near Fish-Man Island, two massive Sea Kings—each over 5,000 meters long—cruised silently.
One of them looked up. "Something's falling."
"I feel it too," said the other.
These were the ancients—Sea Kings that had seen generations of Poseidon rise and fall. They had slumbered for centuries, waiting.
Flames blazed in the sky.
One Sea King surged upward, leaping two kilometers into the sky. Its twin fists, each the size of an island, slammed into the falling rock.
Cracks spiderwebbed instantly.
Before the meteorite could regain momentum, the Sea King struck again and again, shattering it into burning fragments.
The giant returned to the sea, silent.
From above, Im watched, eyes narrowed.
"The Sea Kings… Have they revived?" she muttered.
Long ago, she'd feared the sea. Feared the one known as Poseidon.
Now she feared it once again.
Im lingered in the air for half an hour, then disappeared—drained, pale, and nearly broken.
The gods had clashed—and the world would never be the same again.