High above the clouds.
The storm had yet to disperse.
Thunderclouds churned, residual lightning slithering between the clouds like snakes.
A News Coo desperately flapped its wings against the gale, the Camera Den Den Mushi hanging from its chest swaying constantly, its lens fixed firmly on that figure.
The next second—
"Bzzz—"
An invisible pressure suddenly descended!
The air seemed to have been paused, and the News Coo shuddered violently!
It frantically flapped its wings, only to discover that it... could not move at all!
"Flap... flap..."
It struggled, yet was gradually "pressed" downward until it finally landed slowly before Rock.
The Camera Den Den Mushi lens on its chest was pointed directly at his eyes.
—On the other end.
World Economy News Paper headquarters.
Morgans was so frightened that he pressed himself against his chair, his feathers standing on end and his pupils widening as cold sweat ran down his back.
He suddenly had an illusion.
It was not that he was "watching" the footage, but that the person in the footage was "watching" him.
The next second.
Rock's pupils narrowed slightly, and a flash of red light flickered through them.
He spoke softly, yet his voice seemed to cross space and fall directly beside the other man's ear.
"Morgans."
"You know—"
"What to do, right?"
"—!!!"
As soon as the words fell, Morgans's body jolted, and his feathers completely fluffed up!
He nodded frantically at the screen!
"Understood!!!"
"I absolutely understand—!!!"
His voice trembled with fear and fanaticism. The next second—
"Bzzz—"
The signal was cut off instantly. Silence returned to the high skies, as though nothing had happened.
—The port ruins.
The warship had already docked, yet the Marines on deck still had not recovered their senses.
Their gazes remained fixed on the island's ruins until—
A