The next morning.
The damp, chilly sea fog had yet to be fully dispersed by the sunlight, hanging heavily around the Banyan Tree Tower at the center of the island.
Below the tower, in the clearing before the forest.
Chief Instructor Gismonda's tower-like body cast a deep shadow. His bell-like voice echoed across the clearing, every syllable striking the young hearts of the children before him like a hammer:
"Remember, your loyalty belongs to the World Nobles of the Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
"They are the descendants of gods, the foundation of this world. The will of the World Government is the only justice in this world!"
As was customary, he indoctrinated these child agents with loyalty to the Celestial Dragons, the Celestial Dragons' absolute supremacy, and the World Government's definition of justice.
Most of the children straightened their backs, their eyes burning with near-fanatical fervor as they branded those cold, sacred shackles deep into their souls.
Beside Gismonda, a row of instructors stood like stone statues, arms folded across their chests as their empty gazes swept across this nursery of the World Government.
Suddenly, an enormous, heart-stopping shadow silently swallowed the ground beneath Gismonda's feet.
The instincts of a top-class agent made every hair on his body stand on end. A cold premonition of death seized his heart, and he abruptly looked up.
A pitch-black boulder the size of a house tore through the thin mist high above, crashing down like a falling meteor.
"Hmph!"
Two streams of white vapor burst from Gismonda's nostrils as his tree-trunk legs whipped up blurred afterimages.
Rankyaku: Chaos
Piercing tearing sounds erupted in rapid succession. Countless condensed azure blades of air, almost tangible, spread like a sudden web of death and slashed madly upward against gravity.
The boulder abruptly froze in midair, then exploded amid crisscrossing flashes of blue light, shattering into fragments and dust that scattered across the sky. White shockwaves surged wildly in every direction, sweeping up dirt and grass clippings into a chaotic curtain.
At the center of the swirling dust and violent currents, a figure emerged clearly.
He hovered in midair, his short silver-white hair standing on end in the turbulence like burning cold flames, wild and untamed.
Deep within the bushes at the edge of the clearing, an inconspicuous Den Den Mushi slightly opened its eyes and took in everything.
At the same time, inside the floating structure.
A Projection Den Den Mushi buzzed between the three captives, clearly projecting the breathtaking scene above Guanhao Island.
Cold projection light reflected off Kalifa's glasses. Looking at the silver-haired figure suspended in the air, her voice carried an almost imperceptible tremble.
"Can that guy... win?"
Kaku tilted his head, a nearly amused curve pulling at his lips.
"A change of location would be nice. Life on the island had gotten a little boring."
Lucci said nothing. His gaze remained fixed on the figure in the projection looking down upon everyone below.
Below, on Guanhao Island.
"Enemy attack?!"
"Who is that guy?!"
"H-He's flying in the sky?!"
The young agents erupted like a pond struck by a stone. Shock, fear, and disbelieving cries and murmurs surged in waves, their young faces filled with confusion and awe.
As the smoke cleared, Gismonda's face turned livid. His heavy breathing was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent clearing.
He stared up at the figure in the air, his voice low, each word squeezed through clenched teeth and carrying the pressure of an approaching storm.
"Brat! Do you know what this place is?! How dare you cause trouble here!"
Adams slowly landed, his heavy body stepping onto the cracked ground. His calm eyes met Gismonda's blazing glare, and though his voice was not loud, it clearly drowned out all the noise.
"I know. A secret base where the World Government trains its dogs."
Gismonda's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, his invisible rage nearly burning through the air.
"You knowingly committed this offense. This is a declaration of war against the World Government!"
A blade-sharp curve rose at the corner of Adams's lips.
"If you say it is, then it is. Those pigs have ruled this world long enough."
"You bastard—!!"
Gismonda's roar was like the bellow of a wounded tyrannosaur, instantly tearing through the air. Violent killing intent burst from him like a tangible shockwave.
He violently swung out an arm and pointed at Adams.
"Every instructor, tear apart this arrogant wretch who has desecrated the World Nobles!!"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!"
An order was iron law. The stone-like instructors around him instantly came alive.
More than a dozen figures vanished from where they stood, leaving behind only faint whirlwinds created by their high-speed steps.
In the next instant, they appeared like ghosts on all sides of Adams, weaving a massive, deadly net.
Rankyaku's vacuum blades tore through the air with piercing shrieks;
Flying Shigan compressed the air into invisible bullets carrying enough killing intent to pierce steel;
And fists and kicks filled with all their strength came crashing in from every tricky angle, accompanied by dull rumbles of wind and thunder, all aimed at the silver-haired youth in the center.
Adams did not even take a single step. He extended his right arm, spread his fingers toward the broken earth beneath his feet, and suddenly clenched his hand.
Earth Dragon
Rumble—!!!
It was as though an ancient beast had awakened from its slumber. The earth beneath his feet groaned under unbearable strain, then violently surged upward like a boiling black tide of fury.
Dirt, stone, and severed roots instantly twisted together. A ferocious earth-and-rock dragon burst from the ground, and with a single violent spin of its massive body, it crushed everything in its path.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The dull sounds of impact and cracking bones were instantly swallowed by the dragon's roar. The instructors who had charged forward could not even scream before they were completely buried and devoured by that pure force of natural disaster, like ants thrown into a meat grinder.
Smoke and dust soared into the sky, while shattered stones rained down. The encirclement that had been brimming with killing intent moments ago was instantly wiped away.
A deathly silence, like the cold depths of the sea, instantly engulfed the entire clearing before the forest. Even breathing sounded unbearably loud.
The young agents stood frozen in place, their faces pale as paper, as if invisible hands had seized their throats.
Before the projection, Kalifa's pupils contracted sharply behind her lenses. Kaku swallowed, while Lucci gritted his teeth so hard that blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Among the young agents, Stussy's slender fingers tightly gripped the hem of her clothes. Deep within her azure eyes, a heart-pounding light suddenly burst forth.
A bead of cold sweat silently slid down Gismonda's tense cheek and fell onto the wreckage-strewn dirt beneath his feet.
He stared at the silver-haired figure slowly withdrawing his arm from the smoke and dust, his voice trembling slightly from extreme shock and disbelief.
"This power... what is your relationship with the Flying Pirate Crew... with the Golden Lion?!"
As a high-ranking elite of Cipher Pol, he knew better than anyone what it meant to control the earth out of thin air and make all things float weightlessly.
Adams lightly brushed the dust from his shoulder. An inscrutable gleam flashed through his eyes as he murmured softly,
"In theory, we have no relationship. But if I had to say, there is still a little connection. After all, he and I share the same dream."
The moment he finished speaking, Adams felt that intangible aura within him suddenly grow much stronger.
"Madman! Even if it costs me my life, I will keep you here—for justice!"
Gismonda abruptly straightened his body. The iron-blooded presence of a top-class agent once again spread outward like a tangible hurricane. He slowly clenched both fists, and his finger bones erupted in a series of teeth-grinding cracks.
Adams let out a soft scoff, cold and harsh like metal scraping against metal.
A ring of growth-ring patterns silently appeared around his shoulder blades. His aqua-blue pupils instantly elongated and narrowed into cold vertical ovals, like an abyss gazing upon its prey.
"Then let me weigh just how much substance your justice has."
TO BE CONTINUED
(PS: The Golden Lion's dream is to rule the world, not to find the One Piece. I do not think this was ever stated, but I wanted to mention it anyway.)