Akainu's flagship and the Dawn slowed down almost simultaneously, the two massive ships less than a hundred meters apart on the sea. For a moment, an eerie calm fell over the battlefield.
"Hand over the key." Akainu's voice no longer sounded human, but like a strange resonance somewhere between a whisper and a roar. "Embrace the Void, and you will gain eternity."
"Sakazuki, you are no longer yourself," Vice Admiral Tsuru said sorrowfully. "Look at what you have become!"
Akainu let out a piercing laugh. "I have never been more lucid. I have seen the truth of the universe, the limits of life, and the possibility of transcendence. What you struggle so desperately to protect is nothing more than an illusion on the verge of collapse."
He abruptly raised a hand, and a sphere blending magma and purple energy condensed in his palm. "This is your last chance. Hand over the key, and I can let you retain your consciousness and become witnesses to the New World."
Dragon replied calmly, "We will not yield to the unknown, no matter how powerful it is. Humanity's fate should be decided by humanity itself."
"Foolish." Akainu smiled disdainfully. "Then find enlightenment through destruction."
The energy sphere in his palm suddenly expanded and hurtled toward the Dawn. Ace and Whitebeard immediately stepped forward to intercept it, but Lin Ye suddenly felt a powerful impulse, as though the Dawn Blade were telling him what to do.
"Let me handle it!" Lin Ye shouted, leaping into the air with the Dawn Blade aimed straight at the energy sphere's core.
The instant the blade collided with the energy sphere, a blinding light erupted, and the entire battlefield seemed frozen. A tremendous force surged into Lin Ye's body, yet strangely, the Dawn Blade was not destroyed by the