Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
"Bulu bulu bulu..." Fleet Admiral Sengoku answered the telephone.
"What did you say! Someone attacked a Celestial Dragon on Sabaody? Damn it! The audacity! Mm-mm... Right, I will dispatch Kizaru immediately." Sengoku hung up the phone, collapsing into his chair with a deep sense of foreboding.
"What a recklessly audacious brat! Get Kizaru over here right now!" Sengoku roared, then immediately rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand to steady his emotions.
A tall figure strolled leisurely into the Fleet Admiral's Office. His signature glasses and sleazy vibe betrayed his identity—he was none other than Kizaru Borsalino, one of the Marine Headquarters' highest combat powers and a Logia Glint-Glint Fruit user.
"Kizaru, you've come just in time. Someone attacked a Celestial Dragon on Sabaody Island. You're the fastest, so get over to Sabaody at once and protect the Celestial Dragon!! You absolutely cannot let the Celestial Dragon die!!" Seeing Kizaru, Sengoku immediately issued his orders.
"How terrifying... To actually dare attack a Celestial Dragon, are newcomers these days all this scary?" Kizaru pouted his lips and spoke leisurely, looking shockingly... somewhat cute.
"Hurry up and go! The World Government keeps breathing down my neck, just get moving already!!" Hearing the telephone snail ringing, Sengoku felt a sudden surge of irritability and couldn't help roaring.
Seeing how things were, Kizaru flashed away in a hurry.
Sabaody Island, Grove 1.
Hearing that someone had attacked a Celestial Dragon, civilians and members of the Underworld had already evacuated in a hurry because this place was about to turn into a battlefield, and the bustling island instantly grew desolate. Yet the surrounding islands were packed with people; rubbernecking was human nature, let alone when it came to a Celestial Dragon's misfortune.
Reporters with a death wish had already staked out the auction house like bloodhound sharks catching a scent, waiting for Big News Morgans to happen.
Inside the auction house, Yake had already knocked everyone out with his Conqueror's Haki, save for the white Mink Tribe cat-girl.
"I'll take off your collar. Head over to Shakky's Rip-off Bar on Grove 13 and look for Shakky. Tell her Yake sent you, and she'll help you out. Hurry up and go, it's going to get dangerous here soon." Yake effortlessly destroyed the internal mechanism of the collar, freeing the little cat-girl named Anna.
Waiting for the cat-girl to leave, Yake dragged Charlos by the neck out of the auction house. A flurry of shutter clicks instantly erupted. Seeing the reporters, Yake didn't chase them off; otherwise, how would he spread his reputation to the entire world?
"How terrifying, little brother. Aren't you afraid of the World Government's hunt?" A blinding flash of gold swept past, and Kizaru—wearing yellow tinted sunglasses and pouting his little lips—started babbling the moment he arrived. In reality, Kizaru had been searching for an opportunity to rescue the Celestial Dragon first.
"Admiral Kizaru? It really is you. But this suits my purposes perfectly, come fight me! Otherwise, this Celestial Dragon slave is going to die!!!" Yake grinned, pulled out a slave collar, and snapped it around Charlos's neck, not forgetting to shake the controller in his hand.
To kill is to execute the soul; even the noble World Nobles had been reduced to slaves.
"So young, how terrifying... Still, today you're going to be killed by the old man." Seeing Yake toss the Celestial Dragon aside like garbage, Kizaru understood Yake's intent in his heart. It seemed things wouldn't end peacefully; once this mission was complete, he definitely had to file a report for a raise.
Yake put away his smile, releasing Conqueror's Haki to disrupt Kizaru's movements. Kizaru had no choice but to parry the pressure-laden shockwave directed straight at him.
"This world is far too filthy. Does trash like this even dare call themselves a god? Starting today, the world will remember my name—God Yake!"
Kizaru watched in astonishment as Yake rose from the ground, exerting his full strength to block the oncoming pressure. A turbulent storm surged within Kizaru's heart: He's a Devil Fruit user too? What astonishing presence! How terrifying~ This mission just got troublesome.
Yake slowly ascended into the sky, reaching the airspace above Grove 1 with an expression of utter indifference, like a deity looking down upon the world. Yake's voice wasn't loud, but through electromagnetic wave simulation, it carried clearly into everyone's ears:
"Feel pain!"
"Contemplate pain!"
"Accept pain!"
"Understand pain!"
Yake slowly extended his left hand. Azure lightning crackled around him, emanating an astonishing aura. The sky abruptly darkened, dark clouds gathering overhead as serpents of lightning slithered through them.
"Celestial Dragons, the World Government is the true source of all sin..."
"Therefore... starting today, let the world... feel pain!!"
Yake curled his palm into an empty grip, and a formidable surge of energy instantly erupted, warping the heaven and earth.
"Shinra Tensei!!"
A powerful repulsive force erupted, centered on the Celestial Dragon on the ground. Blinding lightning blocked everyone's vision, and a sphere of light instantly swept across the entire island.
The alarm bells in Kizaru's heart hammered frantically as he hurriedly used Yata Mirror to flee the battlefield. Far away in the sky above Grove 1, Kizaru witnessed a sight he would never forget in this lifetime.
The sudden flash of blinding white light caused the ground to tremble, twist, crack, churn, and expand.
In an instant, the world seemed to pause.
An unknown amount of time later, the island appeared to have plunged into a black-and-white mire. The towering Yarukiman Mangrove trees snapped in half, buildings disintegrated, and countless heaps of architectural debris formed a torrent surging into the sea. Then the world resumed playing from the pause button.
The entire Grove 1 was leveled to the ground by Yake. As the smoke and dust cleared, the Celestial Dragon Charlos at the epicenter was already gone without a trace, torn to shreds by the formidable repulsive force. A lone explosive collar rolled on the ground a few times before collapsing flat and detonating instantly.
Reporters on nearby islands stopped thinking, their eyeballs bulging outward. The scene before them had shattered their cognitive limits. Long after, a reporter finally realized the gravity of the situation and, scared out of his wits, fled head over heels while screaming at the top of his lungs: "A god! This is divine punishment... He killed a Celestial Dragon! Run away!!!"
Chaos instantly erupted across the scene. Some fled in panic, yet ambitious reporters desperate for airtime still pressed on with bloodshot eyes, panting like oxen as they snapped photo after photo.
"Kizaru, the venue's been cleared. Come fight me! Let me witness the strength of a Marine Admiral." Indifferent to the destruction he had caused, Yake provoked Kizaru high in the air, brimming with fighting spirit.
"Who are you? A powerhouse like you shouldn't remain nameless for long." Dropping his usual demeanor, Kizaru wore a deadly serious expression—not just because of the Celestial Dragon's death, but even more so due to his wariness of Yake's strength.
"Enough chatter, bring it on! Arbitrating Dragon!" Without further explanation, Yake gathered lightning in his hand, summoning a thunderous dragon of immense momentum.
Roaring, the Lightning Dragon charged at Kizaru with ever-increasing speed, closing the distance to Kizaru in the blink of an eye.
Kizaru barely dodged, reappearing to the left. However, the entire island had already been enveloped by Yake's electromagnetic field, placing everything within Yake's Observation Haki and perception. With a loud explosion, Yake vanished from the spot.
Having just narrowly escaped death, Kizaru watched with disbelieving eyes as Yake materialized out of thin air directly in front of him, hurtling toward him with a pitch-black fist wrapped in crackling lightning.
"Have you ever bathed in lightning?"
Bang!!
Kizaru was punched straight down into the ground by Yake, embedding deeply into the earth. Before he even had time to react, Yake reappeared, grabbing hold of his tangible body and leaving him unable to escape through elementalization.
Due to his unfamiliarity with Yake's abilities, Kizaru took a severe beating.
Trapped in the crater, he was relentlessly pummeled by Yake's fists. According to relevant sources, Kizaru took at least twenty-odd punches from Yake without ever getting the chance to counterattack.
A heavy, vicious kick slammed hard into Kizaru's stomach, and Kizaru—already beaten out of human shape—nearly vomited. Then he was kicked flying, plunging deep into the ocean and falling completely silent.
"Looks like no one's coming to bother me for now. Before Aokiji and Akainu rush over, let's bring this to an end." Waiting for a long time without sensing any unusual disturbances, Yake raised his head to look at the sky.
Yake raised his right hand high, electric threads pulling at the thunderclouds above. The long-brewing lightning descended upon the scarred island like a violent tempest.
"Kamui: Final Judgment!"
The heavens and earth changed color. Under the relentless bombardment of countless dazzling lightning bolts the size of water barrels, Grove 1 of the Sabaody Archipelago vanished from the map forever.
The culprit, Yake, had vanished without a trace...