World-Shaking
"Ha, face? I thought you'd rush at me for revenge the moment we met? I didn't expect you to be able to hold back!" Roy laughed.
"The hatred is etched in my heart, and I will never forget it!" The Masked Man stared into Roy's eyes. "But I also know that even if this war continues, it will not be a serious blow to you. On the contrary, it will easily expose your true strength."
"So, I'm also waiting for an opportunity, a chance to kill you in one blow!"
"One-hit kill? Sounds good, then good luck!" Roy shrugged and said nonchalantly.
"Nightmare, that's enough, you two. Are you still going to fight this war or not?" Seeing Nightmare chatting away as if no one else cared about them, the Five Elders shouted at him with a sense of humiliation.
"What he said is not wrong. I do not intend to start the final war now, but you think you can leave without paying a price? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"
Hearing Roy say this, the Five Elders were relieved. As long as they could get out of the quagmire of war and return to the Holy Land as soon as possible, everything would be fine.
What do you want?
"Regarding the four Road Poneglyph of Laugh Tale, I have obtained three from Wano Country, Kaido, and Big Mom. The last one is rumored to be known only to the Roger Pirates. However, I seem to have heard that Roger's last Road Poneglyph actually came from within your World Government. I wonder if you could provide me with a copy of the Road Poneglyph inscribed on that Poneglyph?"
The Five Elders instinctively wanted to deny it, but then they thought that since things had already gone this far, Nightmare would not be making baseless accusations, so even if they denied it, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
Moreover, compared to Nightmare's ambition, the mere title of Pirate Kings is nothing. If he were to become obsessed with the fame of Pirate Kings, it would actually be a good thing for the World Government.
"I think I can agree."
"Don't forget, Lord Imu ordered the destruction of all information about Laugh Tale. If we..."
"It's time to make a choice. He has granted us supreme power, but he has also imprisoned our hearts. Celestial Dragons, descendants of gods, how laughable..."
"You want to use Nightmare to break the deadlock?"
"He would be a more suitable pawn than Red Hair!"
"Hmph, have you ever seen a chess piece that can control a player's life?"
"Laugh Tale? His target is this?" The Masked Man also fell into deep thought. "This might be an opportunity. No matter how strong the Nightmare monster is, it can't escape the limitations of human power. And on that Island of Sealing and Termination, there are monsters beyond imagination..."
Just as Roy was getting impatient and the Giant Sea Kings beneath his feet began to roar wildly, the Five Elders finally gave their answer.
"Alright, the rubbing of the fourth Poneglyph will soon be delivered to you. Now, may we leave?"
"Of course, I'm an honest and trustworthy pirate!"
After a while, watching the World Government's warships depart, Roy tossed the last rubbing of the Poneglyph to Robin, who was already waiting.
"Captain, just as you guessed, the World Government's trump cards are extremely limited, and they are unwilling to use them unless absolutely necessary."
"As you instructed, Captain, after breaching the Holy Land, we did not set foot in those ruins. Instead, we sent the Giants suicide squad to follow the Revolutionary Army into the depths of the Holy Land."
"Not long after, all the Giants' Vivre Card were burned to ashes. The last message they transmitted via Den Den Mushi mentioned that they lost their powers after entering a temple deep within the Holy Land..."
"Lost your power?" Roy asked, quite puzzled.
"Yes, but they didn't have time to explain further; almost all the giants were killed in an instant!"
"I remember... those twelve giant elders from Elbaf last time, they also participated in this war, right?"
"Yes, the last five giants to enter the temple were killed without any resistance, which is enough to show that the temple definitely contains great danger."
Roy wasn't too surprised by this. While the top combatants of the Giants were not weak, they were still no match for an ancient monster like Imu who might have lived for hundreds of years. What concerned him was the last thing the Giants said during this test, "Lost his power? Was that person also Devil Fruit User?"
"After that, the Holy Land was enveloped in a dazzling light. When the light faded, all those who remained on Mary Geoise at that time had vanished without a trace. Now that I think about it, they must all be dead."
"The Revolutionary Army wanted to use Pluton to launch a counterattack, but unfortunately, the firepower that suddenly appeared on the 'Government's' side was too fierce. Endless light enveloped the entire sea area, not only completely suppressing Pluton but also destroying most of Pluton's body. As for the Revolutionary Army left inside Pluton's body, they mostly suffered heavy losses," Enel said with a hint of schadenfreude.
Roy didn't care much. In any case, the bloodline of the Giant Royal Family had been exhausted. This Pluton was just a one-time use item. Moreover, he had already had most of Pluton's defense and attack systems removed and were going to install them on the Giant Soldier. Otherwise, with Pluton's power, it shouldn't have been so easily defeated by Uranus.
As for the life and death of the Revolutionary Army, what does it have to do with him?
"Endless dazzling light... Is this the Uranus's attack method?" Roy stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Never mind, there will be many more opportunities in the future. Uranus ... Imu, I hope you won't disappoint me!"
A few days later, a series of shocking news spread across the ocean, causing the restless world to boil over.
When the outside world heard about what happened that day, their first reaction was disbelief. Even those who watched the first half of the war broadcast found it too unbelievable. How could the Marine Headquarters, which suppressed the Grand Line, be destroyed in a war, especially by someone single-handedly?
However, as more and more inside information was leaked, the whole world fell silent.
"Whitebeard, the World's Strongest legendary pirate, was killed by Nightmare? Doesn't that mean Nightmare is now the undisputed World's Strongest Man?!"
"What a joke? The Fleet Admiral, the Marine Admiral, the Marine Hero, almost all of them were killed by Nightmare. The 100,000 elite naval soldiers are also almost gone. The Marine Headquarters is practically dead?"
"Gulp... If the Marine Headquarters is gone, who will protect the peace of this world? Are we going to have to spend our days killing and running away from now on?"
"Hahaha, Impel Down and Marine Headquarters, which are nightmares for countless pirates, were actually destroyed by Nightmare. This is a true great pirate! What kind of Pirate Kings is Roger, who was executed by the Marines!"
"I heard that even the World Government has been affected by the Nightmare. This monster is truly terrifying!"
"The era of the Four Emperors is now a thing of the past; the next era will belong to Nightmare!"
From then on, Nightmare and the World Government ruled the sea separately, and this sea officially entered an era of two-way competition for supremacy, changing from a unipolar world with multiple strong powers.