A Painful Sight for the World
The Holy Land, Mary Geoise, Pangaea Castle.
"Those bastards Kaido and Big Mom are fanning the flames. If they really get that God from Beyond the Domain to reveal the God Valley incident and the history of the Void Century to the public, our rule will suffer a tremendous blow," Saint Shepherd Ju Peter said, his face dark.
The other Five Elders' expressions were naturally no better.
"Not getting rid of them along with Rocks at God Valley was a tremendous mistake," Saint Topman Warcury said.
"It's too late to say that now! Who could have imagined that anyone in that rabble would one day grow into a ruler of their own domain?" Jaygarcia Saturn Saint said helplessly.
"Forget those emperors of the sea for now!" Saint Marcus Mars said gravely. "The God from Beyond the Domain is still our most urgent concern. If they expose the God Valley incident, we might still find a way to remedy the situation. But if they reveal the history of the Void Century, everything will be finished. We have to find a way to deal with them."
"It seems we can only request another audience with Lord Imu. Hopefully, they'll see us this time, and we can ask them to intervene and stop that God from Beyond the Domain," Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro proposed.
The other Five Elders exchanged looks. "Then that's all we can do!"
With that, the Five Elders rose and headed deeper into Pangaea Castle, toward the Flower Room.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's Office in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
Sengoku picked up the Den Den Mushi on his desk and held it to his mouth. He opened his mouth, but had no idea what to say to the person on the other end. He put it back down, then picked it up again. After repeating this several times, he finally gave up and slumped over his desk, deciding to do nothing for now and let everything take its course.
He simply didn't know how to deal with the mess they were in, so he could only let things continue to unfold.
I just hope the God from Beyond the Domain will show something favorable to the World Government and the Marines later!
Sengoku said a prayer in his heart, then gave a helpless, bitter smile. He was the Fleet Admiral himself, yet he had to pin his hopes for the public's goodwill toward the Marines and the World Government on something as intangible as the thing in the sky. How pathetic!
In the end, all he could do was let out a wordless sigh. "Sigh!"
The Four Emperors' comments had indeed caused a stir around the world, but people paid more attention to the battle between Luffy and Lucci in the video on the screen. By now, the fight had reached a fever pitch.
Suffering from Gear Third's side effect, Luffy had originally planned to hide until this period of helplessness passed.
But Lucci found him anyway and beat him up, then embedded him in a wall and prepared to deliver a fatal blow.
Lucci unleashed Shigan: Madara, stabbing at Luffy with the fingers of both hands like a shower of raindrops.
But halfway there, he suddenly spat blood and staggered several steps backward. Clearly, Luffy's Gear Third had dealt him considerable damage.
At that moment, Luffy finally overcame Gear Third's side effect and escaped from the wall. Looking smugly at Lucci, he said that his attack had been pretty effective after all, hadn't it?
Lucci's face darkened instantly, but Luffy didn't waste any more words. He activated Gear Second again, his skin turning red as steam rose from his body.
He was ready to put his life on the line. He absolutely would not deactivate Gear Second before defeating Lucci.
And so their final battle began. Though both had reached the limits of their stamina, they put everything they had into every blow they threw at each other.
Finally, after taking Luffy's Jet Twin Pistols, Lucci decided to hold nothing back. He unleashed Rokushiki Ogi: Rokuogan on Luffy, driving both fists into his abdomen.
Luffy was sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut. He landed on the ground, gasping for breath. Lucci's attack reminded him of being struck by an Impact Dial on Sky Island, but it was several times more powerful.
But Lucci's assault wasn't over. He raised a foot and fired Rankyaku: Kicking Bird at Luffy, sending a bird-shaped slash toward him. Luffy dodged it with a quick movement, but the wall behind him was sliced open.
Just then, Marine cannon fire blew apart the section of the Bridge of Hesitation connected to the first pillar, exposing Luffy and Lucci to everyone's view.
Then the two of them heard Usopp and the others calling from the other end of the Bridge of Hesitation.
They told Luffy they were all safe and that Robin had been rescued. All that remained was to defeat Lucci, and then they could all leave here alive together!
A smile touched Luffy's lips when he heard this, and he nodded gently. He had been on the verge of collapse, but now he was instantly filled with strength again.
Confused comments immediately appeared on the screen. {Huh? How did everyone in Straw Hat Luffy's crew get here?!}
{What happened? Weren't Roronoa Zoro, Black Leg Sanji, and Sogeking just at the Tower of Justice on the other side of the bridge?}
{How did they make it here alive through a passage flooded with seawater? Don't tell me they can fly?!}
{God from Beyond the Domain, hurry and show us what happened?!}
{...}
{...}
As though responding to the comments' request, the video on the screen suddenly changed, and the system's text appeared: "Now, let us turn back the clock to a few minutes ago."
As the system's text disappeared, the video shifted to beneath the sea.
The first things the world saw were Zoro, Usopp, and the others, unconscious and with their eyes rolled back, as though they had seen something terrifying.
The next second, the world learned what they had seen. In front of them was a person—or rather, a fish, a mermaid—desperately pulling the whole group along as she swam.
The mermaid had long, fluffy green hair, a fat body, and a face covered in wrinkles. That was right: it was Kokoro in her mermaid form.
In an instant, the world understood how Zoro and the others had made it from the Tower of Justice to the Bridge of Hesitation. Kokoro had brought them there.