Inside Panggu Castle, the Five Elders exchanged uneasy glances.
The shape and power of that energy beam felt vaguely familiar. And it had come from those ruins...
An unbelievable possibility crossed their minds, leaving them hesitant to act.
An eerie silence settled over all of Mary Geoise, until a thunderous rumble rose from the hole.
The mysterious intruder was rapidly approaching the surface.
Rubble trembled across the ground. A massive black shape leaped from the hole and slammed down, collapsing nearby buildings like blocks and kicking up clouds of dust.
The Five Elders, the Celestial Dragons, the CP Organization... Everyone in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise stared at the audacious intruder.
The dust cleared, revealing Godzilla's mountain-like form!
The creature before them was Godzilla, fresh from absorbing ample Nuclear Energy underground—at full strength!
"My heavens! How did that lizard get so big?"
"What lizard? That's obviously an ancient dinosaur!"
In a secluded shelter far away, the gathered Celestial Dragons gazed at the suddenly appearing Giant Beast in wonder.
"Look! It has gills, so it must be a Sea King. Only Sea Kings grow that large!"
A sharp-eyed Celestial Dragon said it with a smug grin.
Another Celestial Dragon stared at Leon with a look of obsession and murmured, "Having a slave like that would be magnificent..."
The Five Elders watched the motionless Giant Beast and communicated telepathically.
"I've never seen a creature shaped like that."
"Perhaps a member of the Giant Tribe who ate an Ancient Zoan fruit? But what about that beam? Ancient technology...?"
The Five Elders exchanged guarded looks. Too much was at stake. For now, they would watch and wait for that person's orders.
Godzilla had drawn every eye in Mary Geoise, but Leon, at the center of it all, was struggling.
He stood motionless partly out of wariness toward the Five Elders and Imu. The main reason, though, was simple: he was exhausted.
It didn't show on the outside, but wave after wave of fatigue battered his mind.
Godzilla might have been amphibious, but he couldn't fly.
Back when Godzilla was still in his Youth Version, Leon could barely manage the climb from underground to the surface. But Godzilla had grown too quickly, and Leon's mind hadn't kept pace.
It was like handing someone who had only just learned to steer a remote-control car the controls of a giant robot...
"Phew..."
Leon let out a long breath. The journey had been rough, but he had finally seen daylight again.
He looked down on the world through Godzilla's eyes.
Whoa... This is high up...
Things weren't going as Leon had expected. He had thought he would be attacked the instant he broke through the surface.
Strangely, though, the scene was silent.
He had no idea why, but with a body this enormous, slipping away wouldn't be easy...
If they don't move, I won't move.
Since no one had attacked, Leon stayed where he was and used the time to get accustomed to Godzilla's body.
Far off in the sky stood a middle-aged man in a yellow suit and a Coat of Justice.
Marine Vice Admiral Borsalino, codename Kizaru, had used the advantage of his Glint-Glint Fruit to reach Mary Geoise as soon as he received his orders, arriving before Leon burst through the ground.
But Kizaru made no move to attack. Instead, he concealed himself and quietly studied the distant Giant Beast.
Light flashed across his yellow-tinted glasses as Kizaru stroked his chin, his intentions unreadable.
"Ooh, how scary~"
He was committed to slacking off—no, to ambiguous justice.
It would be rash to attack such a powerful enemy without a plan. And with the enemy in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, he had to keep the Celestial Dragons safe. All the more reason not to act recklessly.
Besides, Kizaru wasn't the only one who had received orders...
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
"Hound of Hell!"
Two sudden attacks shot straight toward Leon.
The first to break the standoff and attack were Marine Vice Admiral Kuzan, codename Aokiji, and Marine Vice Admiral Sakazuki, codename Akainu!
Leon didn't dodge. He couldn't have dodged in time. He stood his ground and took both attacks head-on.
The bird of icy air shattered against Leon's body, ice spreading across him. From the other side, Akainu's magma-covered arm struck Leon squarely in the head, a devastating blow that seemed capable of shattering the Giant Beast's skull.
Aokiji and Akainu landed slowly, their expressions grave.
Their probing attacks had hit, but against the Giant Beast's enormous body, they seemed almost insignificant.
And with the battlefield in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, they couldn't use wide-area attacks.
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