Kizaru's Lingering Fear, and Absolute Godspeed Beyond Capture!

Death was close at hand.

Yet, facing Kizaru's fatal Laser Beam that was about to pierce his skull, Gild Tesoro, lying in a pool of blood, showed not the slightest trace of fear in his eyes.

With difficulty, he turned his blood-blurred eyes and looked past the blinding golden light at the tip of Kizaru's finger toward the distant horizon.

There, Ronan's spear tore through the vault of heaven like a raging dragon, while the black-gold gods and demons Luffy had transformed into let out an earth-shaking roar.

A blinding Light of Hope radiated from them, one that even this dark world could not conceal.

He looked around again.

This false dream city, built with half a lifetime of his efforts and piled high with countless riches, had now become a sea of fire and ruins.

"Hehe... is this the end?"

At the corner of the mouth, Gild Tesoro somehow managed to force out a bleak yet relieved smile.

"How ironic... Stella. I had only just broken the shackles in my heart, only just seen what true hope was, and yet my life has already reached its end."

Gild Tesoro slowly closed his eyes, savoring the final tranquility before death.

He had no regrets.

From the moment he decided to stand with the Straw Hat Pirates, from the moment he unleashed that furious Conqueror's Haki upon the Five Elders, he had already cast life and death aside.

At last, he had found the self who had once sworn to fight the Celestial Dragons.

"Your Excellency Ronan, everyone of the Straw Hat Pirates..."

Gild Tesoro let out one final cry from the depths of his heart, a resolve that entrusted his entire soul to them:

*"Take my hopes with you... take the fury of all those suffering in this world... and