Curtain Fall

"Death is the only fate awaiting those who betray justice!"

Not far away, Sakazuki slowly withdrew his arm from its magma state.

Saul's massive body staggered backward. A fatal wound had been blasted through the center of his chest. Great Eruption had pierced his body, and magma poured inside, rapidly burning away his internal organs.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood before finally falling backward. His mountain-like body made the earth tremble violently.

It was not that he was too weak. As one of the Giant Tribe's finest and one of the five vice admirals selected to initiate the Buster Call, Saul was at least as strong as an ordinary admiral. But against Sakazuki, the gap in strength was simply too great.

If Ye Qiong had not possessed the ability to teleport, he would have died by Sakazuki's hand long ago.

Sakazuki looked coldly toward a certain spot. Ye Qiong, covered in blood, stood there. Though riddled with wounds, he still held his back straight, his slightly childish face filled with unwavering resolve.

"Where are Olvia and that girl?" Sakazuki demanded as if interrogating a prisoner.

Ye Qiong said nothing. His eyes shot toward Sakazuki with a cold, unrestrained glint.

"Sakazuki! You actually attacked the people most important to me just now. Do you know that? I almost lost her!"

"So what? Before justice, it is best for demons who betray the world to die!" Sakazuki replied without hesitation.

"Yes! I cannot blame anyone else. I only hate myself for being too weak, for being unable to protect those I want to protect."

Ye Qiong threw back his head and laughed, laughing like a madman, recklessly and wildly. His laughter echoed endlessly through the flaming ruins around them.

At last, he stopped laughing and let out a hoarse growl. "If I survive..."

"I will make it so the earth can no longer block my sight! So this world can no longer stand in the way of my heart! I will make every strong person yield before me!!!"

"And as for you—not for any power, not for any position, but for what happened today—I will definitely take your head!!!"

Ye Qiong's eyes shone with startling brightness. Though his body was covered in devastation, an overwhelming aura surged from him. His spirit, energy, and will fused as one, and his confident, soaring presence swept invisibly in every direction.

Sakazuki's expression, calm as an ancient well until now, suddenly changed. That young boy had actually revealed the bearing of a peerless powerhouse.

Those low, hoarse words exploded beside his ears like thunder, yet they also seemed like whispers and cries from hell. An inexplicable flicker of fear rose in his heart!

"This child... absolutely cannot be allowed to live!"

An icy gleam appeared in Sakazuki's eyes. At around eleven years old, Ye Qiong possessed a mysterious and powerful Devil Fruit ability, a formidable physique, and a conviction ordinary people could never possess.

He was practically the Demon Child!

"You will not survive! Don't even think about it! I will erase you here and now!" Sakazuki's killing intent soared.

His left hand transformed into crimson magma as he rushed forward at extreme speed using Soru.

"Come on..."

Ye Qiong watched the magma fist rushing toward him. He remained where he was, with no intention of dodging—or perhaps, with the little strength he had left, teleporting was already an impossible dream.

"You demon, die together with this island!"

Sakazuki threw his fist. The magma surged forward and struck into Ye Qiong's body, instantly piercing through his **. His magma left hand emerged from Ye Qiong's back.

Splat!!!

Ye Qiong felt the magma wreaking havoc inside his body. He coughed out blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. His body swayed as he fell backward, but he grabbed Sakazuki's coat sleeve with all his strength and steadied himself.

Maybe he really was going to die here.

But...

A faint smile secretly appeared at the corner of Ye Qiong's lips.

"Sakazuki... come with me... leave this world together..."

Sakazuki's expression changed at those words. He tried to retreat, only to discover that he could not move, as though trapped in a cage.

A circular space that had long since condensed slowly appeared. Sakazuki was enveloped within it, firmly imprisoned.

"What is this?" Sakazuki frowned. The pressure constantly rising from all around suppressed him, preventing him from breaking free for the moment.

"I was just waiting for you to take the bait... Let me show you the strongest ability I currently possess!" Ye Qiong kept coughing blood as both hands pressed against the surface of the circular space.

The power extracted by overdrawing his life force wildly drove his spatial ability. He recklessly exhausted everything his body possessed to build up enough energy to unleash that ability. The circular space emitted a faint black radiance as before and continued to condense.

Sakazuki raised his head, his expression solemn. His body began turning into scorching crimson magma, which surged frantically in every direction, trying to melt the black space enclosing him.

"Too late..."

Ye Qiong smiled. The circular space had already reached its final, ink-black stage.

"Turn to dust—R Annihilation!!!"

With a light push from him, the ink-black space shattered through the void. After shooting more than ten meters away, it rapidly contracted into a ball before suddenly exploding.

There was no sound, no blaze of fire. Just as its name implied—"annihilation."

Sunlight, rocks, soil, flames...

Everything was swallowed by the spinning black hole of nothingness. Dark spatial turbulence raged, while black lightning tore through the void.

It was a scene straight out of the apocalypse.

At last, everything quietly settled down. Yet everything was gone forever, leaving behind an eerie stillness.

"What... was that?"

Kuzan frowned as he stared at the black hole torn through the distant void. Once everything had settled, he rushed over at top speed.

When he drew near, even he could not help revealing a look of shock. An entire stretch of land before him had vanished outright. Only an enormous circular crater remained, and everything inside seemed to have evaporated without leaving even the slightest fragment behind.

Kuzan swept his gaze to the side and discovered a body lying at the edge of the crater. Covered in wounds and mangled flesh, the figure looked like a blood-soaked corpse, yet still had faint breaths.

After examining the remaining facial features, Kuzan was astonished to discover that the bloodied figure on the ground was the boy who had escaped from him.

Splat!

A stream of magma suddenly shot up from the circular crater. Sakazuki burst out from within. His clothes were tattered beyond recognition, exposing the tattoo on his bare upper body as he panted heavily.

His body was covered in blood. He was badly injured!

"Vice Admiral Sakazuki, you..." Kuzan stared at him in shock. Sakazuki, known within the Marines as a "monster," had actually been reduced to such a miserable state!

Sakazuki ignored Kuzan. When he saw Ye Qiong lying on the ground, his eyes instantly turned crimson. He had truly come within a hair's breadth of death just now. If he had not turned his entire body into magma in time and used Armament Haki, he might really have died here! Died at the hands of a mere child!

Though his own carelessness had contributed to it, a boy with such a horrifying and bizarre ability absolutely could not be allowed to remain alive!

A cold gleam flashed in his eyes. He kicked off the ground and rushed forward, magma flowing over his arm as he prepared to kill Ye Qiong.

"Wait!" Kuzan hurriedly extended a hand, and freezing air surged forth to block Sakazuki's attack.

Hiss!

The collision between ice and magma instantly produced a sky full of vapor.

"Are you trying to stop me from punishing a demon?!" Sakazuki said coldly, his gaze incomparably frigid.

"He is connected to the disappearance of those CP9 members. Besides, even if he is guilty, he should be brought back for those above to decide!" Kuzan frowned. He had never gotten along with Sakazuki.

Justice should not mean absolute obedience and cold-blooded ruthlessness.

"Hmph! Do as you please! With injuries like these, he will not survive anyway. Taking him back will only mean death!" Sakazuki snorted coldly. As he turned away, his body shook violently and blood spilled from his mouth.

"Vice Admiral Sakazuki, who injured you? Could there be another powerhouse here?" Kuzan asked, utterly puzzled.

"You!" Sakazuki gave him a cold glance. His gaze briefly paused on Ye Qiong before he withdrew it and headed straight for the warships.

"Could it have been that boy who heavily injured him?" Kuzan lowered his head to look at Ye Qiong, his heart filled with shock.

After thinking for a moment, he picked Ye Qiong up and returned toward the warships.

The cannon fire continued, destroying everything on the island. The Tree of Omniscience burned fiercely, nearly setting the sky ablaze.

Under the Buster Call, nothing could be spared.

Boom!

Cannons roared among the Marine warship fleet, but it was an evacuation ship being destroyed at sea. Countless residents instantly perished in the barrage.

"Who fired on the evacuation ship?" Kuzan asked with a frown.

"It was Vice Admiral Sakazuki's warship!" a Marine beside him replied.

Did he really have to go that far?

Kuzan fell silent. He glanced at the unconscious Ye Qiong beside him and let out a sigh.

Three days later.

Marineford.

This island was located in the middle of the Grand Line, adjacent to the Sabaody Archipelago, the Red Line, and the Holy Land Mary Geoise.

This was Marine Headquarters, an organization directly under the World Government. In the name of absolute justice, it maintained order across the seas of the world and was regarded as a symbol of peace in the Great Pirate Era!

Inside the Marine Headquarters office.

"That is what happened... The threat of Ohara Island has been completely eliminated."

Kuzan sat in a chair and spread his hands as he looked at Sengoku, who had fallen into thought before him.

"What happened on Ohara Island was all within expectations, but that child named Ye Qiong..." Sengoku hesitated, somewhat unable to believe it. "Are you certain he really killed two CP9 members, once escaped from you with others in tow, and even wounded Sakazuki?!"

"It is still unclear whether he killed the two CP9 members, but he did escape from me, and in the end, he injured Sakazuki." Kuzan sounded somewhat helpless as well.

"Hahahaha..."

Garp, sitting beside Sengoku, clutched his stomach and laughed without the slightest concern for his image, laughing so hard that tears nearly came out.

Several thick black veins appeared on Sengoku's forehead. He slammed the desk and roared, "Garp! What are you laughing at?!"

"Hahaha." Garp barely suppressed his laughter. "Sengoku, when you were in your teens, weren't you still running around with no pants on, playing in mud?"

After thinking about it, he burst into laughter again.

Sengoku could do nothing about him and could only pretend not to hear him as he continued, "How is Sakazuki?"

"Three broken ribs, countless external injuries. It is quite serious. He is recovering now," Kuzan said.

At those words, Sengoku fell silent. Garp stopped laughing as well.

They had initially thought Sakazuki had merely been injured through carelessness, but it turned out he had been seriously wounded!

After thinking for a moment, Sengoku asked again, "How is that child now?"

"He is still unconscious. The right side of his abdomen was pierced through by Sakazuki's fist. Though he avoided vital organs and is not in danger of dying, he is practically half-crippled. How to deal with him depends on your decision."

Sengoku pondered for a moment, light glinting across his glasses. "Then send him to Impel Down. Level Five..."

"No, put him in Level Six."

He suddenly changed his mind.

"Sengoku, he is just a kid. Do you really want to put him in Level Six?" Garp asked doubtfully.

Sengoku shook his head solemnly and said meaningfully, "Precisely because he is only a kid, he must be put in Level Six!"

Garp froze, then understood. Sengoku was actually wary of him.

At eleven or twelve, he had already been able to severely injure Sakazuki. Just what kind of monstrous talent was that child?