How Could I Possibly Let You Get Past Here

Atop the Throne of Heaven.

Maud leaned sideways, resting his elbow on the throne's armrest and supporting his cheek with the back of his hand. When he lowered his head slightly, he looked down upon the tens of thousands of pirates surging upward like a tide.

The members of the Maud Pirates, led by Aokiji and Lafitte, stood on either side of the pitch-black steps below.

They, too, looked toward the numerous enemies pressing in their direction, led by the Whitebeard Pirates.

Although tens of thousands of elite New World pirates stood before them, the barely dozen members of the Maud Pirates showed no fear.

The tens of thousands of pirates led by the Whitebeard Pirates stopped one after another on the open ground a hundred meters away.

Compared with the famous top experts below the black steps—Aokiji, Lafitte, Shiryu, and the others—the more eye-catching figure was Maud, seated upon the Throne of Heaven.

The countless dark heads all tilted upward, without exception looking toward Maud on the black Throne of Heaven.

Charlotte Linlin, the Four Emperor known as the natural-born destroyer; Douglas Bullet, the Successor of the Demon who had once turned the world upside down; and Dracule Mihawk, who occupied the throne of the world's greatest swordsman...

These top-tier powerhouses of the world had all fallen beneath Maud's blade in less than a few hours.

As a result, the title of world's strongest, forged through Maud's strength, had gained tremendous weight from their defeats.

Now—

The figure seated upon the Throne of Heaven, watched by tens of thousands of elite pirates on the scene.

His bearing as a supreme powerhouse was on full display.

Still, Maud's lofty posture as he looked down upon them naturally made some of the usually unruly pirates feel displeased from the bottom of