The Show's Over. Time to Make an Entrance!

Rumble!

A series of massive explosions rocked the area, sending dust billowing everywhere. The once lush, thriving landscape had been reduced to ruins.

Faced with such a dense and powerful barrage, an ordinary person would have died long ago.

But Jax was still fighting back.

He just wasn't doing very well.

A ten-meter-long polearm shot toward him. Jax dodged to the side, grabbed it, and swung it back. The terrifying sonic boom knocked several Golden Longswords flying, but the polearm kept going, straight for the Goddess of the Heavens' chest.

Seizing the opportunity, Jax launched himself forward and appeared at the Goddess of the Heavens' abdomen. He drew both hands back, gathering immense power.

"Double Savage Dragon Charge!"

The earth-shaking explosion tore straight through the Goddess of the Heavens' abdomen, leaving a gaping hole through which the scenery behind her could be seen. The huge mass of gold plunged diagonally to the ground like a meteor, burying itself in the earth and leaving behind a spoon-shaped crater. Quite a few pirates eyed it greedily.

Bang!

The Goddess of the Heavens didn't dodge Jax's attack. Her right palm slammed down once more, trading injury for injury.

The crust shifted for a thousand meters in every direction, and hills rose up all around. When a huge crater opened at the very center, Jax lay in it, his face covered in blood. He immediately rolled away and dashed from side to side.

One weapon after another buried itself in the ground behind him, each leaving a deep, bottomless hole.

"Damn it!"

Jax grabbed the ground with both hands and slid sideways, his tail slapping the earth as he panted heavily.

The hole in his opponent's abdomen had already healed. The damage he'd dealt had been completely useless.

This was only a puppet.

"Jingle!"

The Chains of Heaven lashed out like pythons. Jax knew he couldn't let them bind him, or it would be difficult to break free.

"Jax might lose!"

By now, any pirate with a keen eye could tell how the battle would end.

The golden woman before them was only a puppet. For Jax to win, he had to find the one really controlling her.

Otherwise, even if Jax tore the golden woman to pieces, it would be pointless. Her leg and abdomen had already shown that.

Who was controlling her?

To think someone could suppress a Great Pirate with a bounty of 330 million just by controlling a puppet—no one had ever heard of such a person on the sea.

And most importantly, this person had so much gold.

Many pirates, including the Vice Admirals, searched in every direction. Anyone controlling something that large couldn't be too far away.

Meanwhile, the culprit everyone was searching for was elegantly sipping coffee.

"Not good!"

As the battle went on, Jax accidentally got caught by one of the Chains of Heaven. Before he could force his way out, more chains shot toward him, their barbs spinning and squeezing tighter.

It was over.

Jax looked panicked. Even with Armament Haki covering his entire body, he couldn't break free no matter how hard he struggled.

More and more gold melted together, eventually forming a golden sphere as large as a house. Jax was trapped inside. His nostrils, mouth, and ears were all sealed in gold, and the metal began crushing his internal organs from within.

Even if that didn't kill him, he would suffocate.

The moment the Chains of Heaven caught him, his fate had been sealed.

Even awakening his Devil Fruit wouldn't help. Air was the deadliest killer of all.

"Captain!"

"Get the captain out!"

Jax's men panicked. They quickly opened fire or charged forward, trying to rescue him.

The Goddess of the Heavens turned her head, fixing them with her lifeless golden eyes. Half of her waist-length golden hair split away and became a dense mass of golden needles. They blotted out the sky, buzzing like a swarm of bees as they shot toward the pirates rushing at her.

"Ah!"

"Damn it!"

Screams of terror rang out. The pirates fell like stalks of wheat, completely unable to resist. Their bodies were riddled with holes, and in moments, blood stained the shattered ground.

There was no way to dodge such a dense barrage unless your Armament Haki was strong enough.

Even Jax, with his 330-million-Belly bounty, had lost. These men stood no chance.

"We're members of the Flying Pirates! If you kill us, our captain will avenge us!"

A few pirates with bounties over a hundred million were still barely holding on, their eyes filled with terror.

Everyone feared death!

"No!"

"Spare us!"

The Goddess of the Heavens' merciless slaughter terrified the other pirates.

This was the Flying Pirates. They'd even invoked their backer.

She was showing Golden Lion no respect at all.

Who?

Who was behind this?

Pirates nearby looked all around.

Were they afraid to show themselves?

Were they scared of making an enemy of the Flying Pirates?

At that moment, the Goddess of the Heavens raised a hand. The golden sphere containing Jax flowed back and reformed behind her into a huge golden halo. Jax, covered in blood, lay on the ground. He was well and truly dead.

Just like when she had first appeared, the Goddess of the Heavens seemed sacred and untouchable. Her three thousand golden strands and the ribbons of her palace dress danced in the breeze, her beauty beyond compare.

But in the next moment, the Goddess of the Heavens descended to the ground, dropped to one knee, and bowed toward someone.

That pose said it all.

Everyone immediately followed her gaze. Beyond the ruins and streets, a man sat on the rooftop terrace of a building, radiating an extraordinary presence.

He sat in a chair with one leg crossed over the other. His upright hair blazed like flames, and a stray lock fluttered across his forehead. He wore an open-necked white shirt and red-and-yellow checkered shorts. Tiny dagger-shaped earrings swayed from his ears, and his dark eyes brimmed with playful amusement. He was a handsome, aloof, rebellious young man.

One look from afar told you how arrogant he was, as if he held the whole world in contempt!

There were plenty of people in that direction, but everyone immediately picked him out.

Chaos gently set down his coffee cup. Gold rings of different designs adorned his fingers. He stood up and vanished from where he sat.

Everyone's vision blurred. They heard several sharp booms, and then a figure appeared on the Goddess of the Heavens' outstretched palm.

The show's over. Time to make an entrance!

"Who is that?"

"Is he the one who was controlling her?"

Quite a few pirates with bounties over a hundred million immediately turned to look at the Goddess of the Heavens' palm.

Quite a few people present could just barely keep up with Chaos's speed, including the Vice Admirals and some pirates with bounties of two or three hundred million.

Sabaody Archipelago was nothing like Demon Valley Town. There were plenty of Great Pirates here with bounties of a hundred, two hundred, or three hundred million. After all, every pirate from the Four Blues and the first half of the Grand Line had to pass through Sabaody Archipelago to reach Fish-Man Island. Pirates with bounties over three hundred million were hardly unheard of.

Chaos's appearance made many people frown.

They realized they didn't know who he was.

Someone capable of killing Dragon Horn Jax couldn't possibly be unknown on the sea.

Everyone searched their memories.

"He's the Golden Emperor, Gaia Chaos, with a bounty of 123 million!"

The Marines were the first to remember him.

After all, pirates with bounties over a hundred million were a major focus for the Navy, and learning about them was required training for every Marine.

"The Golden Emperor?"

"I remember now. I saw his wanted poster seven months ago."

"I think his first bounty was 123 million."

"What? His first bounty was 123 million?"

More and more pirates remembered him, and then came the shock and disbelief.

Getting a bounty of over a hundred million on your first try wasn't something just any pirate could manage.

"This is a huge mess. He's only got a bounty of 123 million, yet he dared to provoke the Flying Pirates. Still, if he could kill Dragon Horn Jax, who had a bounty of 330 million Belly, he must have some ability!"

"How does this guy have so much gold—and control it, too? Is he a Devil Fruit user?"

"He won't live long. The Flying Pirates will definitely come after him..."