The Eerie Silence! Bullet's First Challenge!

last night.

After the NEO Marines captured Dyna Stone...

Boom!

Absolutely dazzling!

Incredibly powerful!

Flames and smoke shot into the sky tens of thousands of meters high, displaying their unparalleled destructive power!

The entire island was melting away, turning into dust in this unprecedentedly terrifying explosion.

Not far from the explosion's epicenter, several warships drifted on the sea, constantly being pushed backward by the surging waves.

There is a NEO Marines warship here, as well as several regular Navy warships.

On the bow of this NEO Marines warship, Zephyr quietly gazed at the distant island, now utterly destroyed. "Gion, how are you feeling?"

Beside him, Vice Admiral Momousagi, his prized disciple who had followed him in establishing the navy, wore an expression of undisguised shock. "Incredible! Just a few stones completely destroyed the entire island."

"How could such an illogical mineral be formed in the world?"

"They even have Devil Fruit, so Dyna Stone is nothing compared to that."

Zephyr simply said calmly.

Compared to the bizarre and truly unreasonable Devil Fruit, Dyna Stone is quite reasonable.

"If Dyna Stone already possess such power, what about the actual Ancient Weapon?"

Gion couldn't help but gasp, "What kind of power do those Ancient Weapon, capable of destroying the world, possess?"

Pluton, who can sink an island with a single shot; Neptune, who rules the seas; and Sky King, who reigns supreme in the sky!

What kind of strength do they possess?

At this moment, Gion suddenly understood why the World Government strictly prohibited people from exploring Ancient Weapon.

Because it's too terrifying.

If even a piece of Dyna Stone, possessing only a fraction of the power of Ancient Weapon, can create such a terrifying scene, it's truly unimaginable how terrifying real Ancient Weapon must have been.

"But Teacher Zephyr,"

Gion asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why did you blow up this island?"

Was it simply for testing the power of Dyna Stone?

Zephyr simply said calmly, "Gion, have you heard the legend of End Point? This island that preserves the Dyna Stone is one of them."

"End Point?"

Gion was taken aback, then her pupils contracted. "The legendary three islands located at the magma node of the New World —if they are destroyed, all the underwater volcanoes of the New World will erupt, turning this entire sea into a sea of fire?"

Is this legend true?

Zephyr nodded slightly.

"Teacher Zephyr!!"

Gion Ikkyu.

Could it be that after suffering such a blow, Teacher Zephyr has gone to such an insane degree?

There are indeed many damned people in the New World, but there are far more innocent civilians!

"I had thought that way before too."

Zephyr didn't care, and simply said calmly, "But it's pointless."

"Pirates are merely a symptom of the world's problems; the real root cause lies with the World Government."

"As long as the World Government, which tolerates pirates, continues to rule this world, there will always be a new Pirate Emperor, and a new Ian will be born!"

Zephyr had completely lost hope in the World Government.

In his view, Ian was a complete bastard who was being indulged by the World Government.

If we had dealt with him sooner, how could this guy have grown to such an unstoppable level?

"Then, Teacher Zephyr,"

Gion asked, "What exactly do you want to do?"

"I want to intimidate the monsters of the New World!"

"Deterrence?"

"Let's go! That's enough. Now it's time to keep things quiet."

Let's return to the present, to Hachinosu Island.

"So, one of the End Points has already been blown up by that guy Zephyr?"

Ian scratched his head in exasperation. "If Zephyr blows up the remaining two islands, the entire New World will be completely destroyed?"

"That's how it is theoretically."

Stussy said with a wry smile, "The entire New World will become a sea of fire, and everything will be consumed by flames."

After glancing at Ian, she added, "Of course, Lord Ian, you'll definitely be alright."

Neither flames nor lava would be of any use to the man before him.

"This is interesting."

Ian sighed.

Is Zephyr really trying to completely destroy the New World, just like in the movie?

etc.

If the existence of these three magma nodes is real, does that mean the World Government can destroy the New World at any time?

Oh, no wonder the World Government doesn't really care about the pirates gathered in this area; they've simply given up this area for the pirates to use as their battlefield.

Is that the reason?

Because they possess the power to destroy the entire New World at any moment?

Such foresight! Such foresight indeed!

"Tell me as soon as you hear news about Zephyr."

Ian said.

The government is now frantically searching for Zephyr's whereabouts.

Destroying the New World is, of course, a desperate, last-ditch effort that should only be considered as a last resort.

At least for now, the World Government does not want to completely destroy this sea area, after all, there are still quite a few Affiliated Nation in this sea area.

And the World Government certainly still wants to retrieve Dyna Stone.

This thing is extremely unstable, and the slightest carelessness can lead to disastrous consequences.

But its power is indeed terrifying enough.

just.

Ian was also very interested in the Dyna Stone.

Imagine the power that Violet's long-range observation and positioning, and Bear's long-range delivery capabilities could unleash when combined with Dyna Stone.

Do you even understand the deterrent power of intercontinental ballistic missile warheads?

If we can seize the Dyna Stone from Zephyr, then we won't need to be so wary of the World Government anymore.

The very next day, Morgans brought Ian some inside information.

Zephyr approached him and asked him to publish a declaration in the World Economic News Paper.

In this declaration, Zephyr made no mention of End Point, only saying that he had mastered a terrifying weapon called Dyna Stone.

Another island that was blown to smithereens is the work of Dyna Stone.

He declared that all those who dared to act recklessly, whether it was the World Government or pirates in the New World, would face his divine punishment.

He'll blow those guys to smithereens with Dyna Stone.

"So,"

Ian scratched his head, feeling somewhat bewildered. "Does this guy think he's some kind of Supreme Court Justice?"

"But I have to say,"

Morgans chuckled and said, "Being targeted by the current Zephyr would be a terrifying thing."

"Hehe, besides the Dyna Stone, he also has the first batch of bombers that the Marine Science Unit just manufactured."

So much time has passed, and the World Government has naturally already created its own fighter jets modeled after the Beasts Pirates ' bombers, but mass production has only just been completed.

Previously, to show their support for the naval guerrillas, the Gorosei gave Zephyr a batch of mass-produced machines.

These fighter jets weren't anything special in themselves; Ian had a large number of fighter jets under his command, far more than Zephyr had.

However, these fighter jets are a different story when paired with Dyna Stone.

Even Ian had to be wary of it.

Even he couldn't maintain his Observation Haki around the clock; there would always be times when he revealed a weakness.

If the bombers sent by Zephyr happen to seize that opening, the outcome could be dire.

"Really."

Ian sighed, "We need to deal with the NEO Marines as soon as possible."

Whether it's to seize the Dyna Stone or to protect their own safety, they need to find Zephyr and his NEO Marines as soon as possible.

After all, Ian was quite self-aware; he knew there was indeed a lot of hatred between him and Mr. Zephyr.

Not only did they cut off his right hand, but not long ago they also mocked him so much that they killed his disciple right in front of him.

If Zephyr were really planning a terrorist attack, wouldn't he definitely be the first target?

Thinking about it this way, Ian also felt a headache coming on.

There was no other way but to assign Enel, the island's second-strongest Observation Haki, to keep watch at night.

This guy's Observation Haki range is not only ridiculously wide, but his movement speed is also among the top two in the world.

With him around, forget about dropping Dyna Stone, even NEO Marines bombers won't be able to get close to Hachinosu Island's airspace.

Besides him, the bombers that had become Homie would also patrol the surrounding sea and sky to ensure that there were no oversights.

However, unexpectedly, Zephyr and his NEO Marines then fell completely silent.

They didn't even bother to bombard the second lava convergence point; they completely vanished from the sea, and nobody knows where they went.

This surprised both the World Government and Ian, who were watching with predatory eyes.

Was blowing up End Point really just a warning?

This is really troublesome.

I'm not afraid of Zephyr taking action; I'm afraid he'll hide and not act.

Even with the possession of Dyna Stone, the NEO Marines's strength in a direct confrontation is still quite weak.

Both Ian and the World Government could easily defeat them.

However, it must be admitted that the hidden NEO Marines is indeed like the Sword of Damocles hanging in mid-air.

Who knows when the Dyna Stone will fall from the sky?

Ian wasn't the only one feeling a headache; the Gorosei of the World Government were equally furious.

"Damn it!! That bastard Zephyr, how dare he!!"

"Find him! Find him right now! Don't worry about anything else, there's no one in the world more dangerous than them!!"

Consequently, the World Government's entire focus was diverted to the NEO Marines.

However, the World Government dared not take any large-scale action, fearing that if it angered Zephyr, Mary Geoise would be hit by a Dyna Stone.

They only dared to send their intelligence agencies to search.

Ian was also silently cheering on the government, hoping they would find Zephyr.

But to be fair, as expected of a former Marine Admiral, Zephyr's counter-surveillance awareness is truly top-notch.

For the next two months, the World Government still couldn't find any trace of Zephyr.

The NEO Marines's whereabouts were not difficult to trace, after all, they were not as elusive as the previous Cross Guild.

They even brazenly occupied a territory in the New World, bringing several non- Affiliated Nation into their sphere of influence.

After all, they need to eat too.

However, key members such as Zephyr have vanished without a trace, and even CP0 cannot find them.

The navy also dared not forcibly take action against the NEO Marines.

In fact, besides the World Government and Ian, we are also very concerned about the other monsters in the New World.

Both Crocodile and Charlotte Linlin reacted with the same message: Dyna Stone? That's something! We want it!

However, just like the Navy, they dared not take direct action against the NEO Marines.

They could only secretly investigate the whereabouts of Zephyr and other key NEO Marines officers, just like the government and Ian.

The end result was that the New World fell into an eerie silence.

Even though this area of the sea was already packed to the brim, no one dared to cause any trouble.

This most chaotic and disorderly sea area in the world is now even calmer than the weakest East Blue.

However, Ian's calm did not last long.

One day, on Hachinosu Island.

"Ian! Let's fight!!"

The entire island began to tremble, and a terrifying Haki emanated from it, radiating intense black Inazuma in all directions.

Vast numbers of residents fell like harvested wheat, and even the pirate forces patrolling the coast were unable to resist.

A strong man piloted a boat from the sea and crashed it onto the island's beach.

He stood arrogantly at the bow of the ship, laughing loudly, "Ready to be crushed by me?!"

At that moment, Ian was playing with children on top of the Skull Building.

The pink-haired baby was held in his arms, giggling, while reaching out to grab his face.

"Oh, you seem to have gotten a lot stronger."

Ian stood by the railing, looking down at the domineering figure on the distant shore.

"Such a powerful Conqueror's Haki."

Standing behind Ian, Bear said with some concern, "Douglas Bullet, the Devil's Heir, is a truly formidable man!"

"Ian!!"

Beside him, Yamato patted his chest and shouted with great enthusiasm, "I'll go take care of him!"

"You can't handle him anymore."

Ian's lips curled into a smile.

The intensity of this Conqueror's Haki is significantly stronger than it was during our last encounter.

Yamato were to fight him, he would definitely get a brutal beating.

"Hey!"

Yamato pouted, somewhat unwilling.

Ian handed her the little Bonney he was holding, then gently patted the girl's head. "Almost there, just a little bit more."

Yamato and Hancock are very close to reaching the level of being fully tamed by Conqueror's Haki.

Once you master Conqueror's Haki Infusion, you'll be very close to Devil Fruit Awakening.

It's impossible for Combine-Combine Fruit to be like one's own ability, where even after mastering Three Types of Haki, it still can't Awakening, right?

However, now is not the time.

"Let's go see what this guy has learned."

Ian's lips curled into a smile. "This is the first time."

Two more tries needed.

It will be soon.

Two chapters short! I can't write anymore!! I'm totally breaking down... Three chapters tomorrow...