High above Edd War, a cold drop of water landed on Kizaru's nose.
Fine strands of rain drifted down from the heavens, soon joining into a hazy curtain.
"It's raining~" Kizaru drawled, water quickly streaking his sunglasses.
He turned toward Gern beside him. The black-haired young man had tilted his face upward and closed his eyes, letting the rain wash over him, a smile on his lips.
"Hey, hey, you caused that huge tsunami, and now you're making a face like that..." Kizaru waved a hand in front of Gern's eyes. "Don't tell me you're praying?"
Meanwhile, down on the sea, beneath the increasingly dense curtain of rain, Edd War lay in ruins after the tsunami.
The Flying Pirates' fleet, which had once blotted out the sky, was now shattered. Dozens of warships had capsized or broken apart, their wreckage bobbing on the waves.
Broken planks, scattered weapons, and pirates struggling in the water.
They desperately clung to floating debris, looking around in terror, as though they had yet to recover from the sudden catastrophe.
But even more alarming was one thing.
Golden Lion was gone!
"Oh dear..." Kizaru narrowed his eyes, his tone curious. "Don't tell me Shiki..."
"Was swept into the sea, maybe?" Gern finally spoke, his voice low and calm. "Who knows, anyway?"
Kizaru glanced sideways at him. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly smiled. "Gern, don't tell me you knew this rain was coming?"
Gern gave no direct answer, merely exhaling softly. "The storm was always going to come. It was only a matter of time."
Kizaru stared at him for a few seconds, then finally shrugged and stopped asking, turning his gaze into the distance instead.
By then, Roger's Oro Jackson had successfully broken through amid the chaos of the tsunami and was