March 22, 1510 ( Sea Circle Calendar )
Hot Spring Island, Hot Spring Waters in the New World.
The navy suddenly took control of the island and then expelled everyone on it.
Sakazuki calmly observed the weeping civilians. Once the last transport ship had left the port, he immediately ordered, "Everyone, retreat to a distance of 10 kilometers."
"Yes, Admiral Excellency!"
The naval fleet quickly departed from Hot Spring Island.
Once the naval fleet was more than 10 kilometers away from Hot Spring Island, Sakazuki quickly jumped into the air, spewing lava from his feet as he flew towards Hot Spring Island.
A few minutes later.
Sakazuki arrived at the edge of the crater in the center of Hot Spring Island.
He looked down at the half-dead magma below the crater, then released a stream of magma, injecting it directly into the magma within the crater.
"Wake up!"
Boom boom boom...
It felt as if a giant beast was rolling and roaring underground.
The ground and sea surface began to tremble slightly.
A dozen minutes later, under Sakazuki's influence, the Hot Spring Island volcano reached the critical point of a major eruption.
Finally, the underground rock layers could no longer withstand the pressure of the erupting magma.
Boom! A terrifying plume of magma shot into the sky, reaching the stratosphere.
The dark red pillar of magma, carrying a massive amount of volcanic ash, created an effect that blotted out the sky.
When Sakazuki reappeared on the deck of the warship.
The entire Hot Spring Island was destroyed in the massive volcanic eruption.
Head to Hell Valley Island immediately.
"Yes."
at the same time.
Another node island was also successfully destroyed by the navy after being detonated by a large number of Dyna Stone.
With the destruction of the two leyline nodes, the frequency and intensity of earthquakes in the New World surged dramatically.
The changes that followed were more frequent occurrences of strange weather and more chaotic magnetic fields on many islands.
The various factions in the New World hadn't yet realized what was happening, assuming that Whitebeard was at war with other forces. Coupled with the frequent severe weather in the New World, this greatly delayed the other factions from discovering the truth.
However, this matter obviously could not be kept secret from the Distillery and Morgans.
The Distillery knew the Navy was secretly carrying out a highly classified plan because they could eavesdrop on phone communications, but Distillery hadn't deciphered the core details.
Morgans, on the other hand, directly discovered the destruction of two node islands, and he knew the importance of the three node islands in the New World.
If the third node island is also destroyed, the entire New World will be destroyed.
Morgans, greatly alarmed, immediately informed the Sky Empire and Noah of the matter.
The headquarters of the Sky Empire.
Sky Dome Island Royal Palace
After receiving the information relayed by Morgans, Robin was not in a hurry. She discerned the Navy's intentions from their actions.
If the World Government truly wanted to destroy the New World, it could have destroyed all three node islands at the same time, instead of destroying only two node islands and leaving Hell Valley Island as the node.
Kuro, who has recently been helping the Sky Empire, has also discerned some of the World Government's intentions:
"Either they're fishing, using Hell Valley Island as a trap to lure us there; or they're intimidating the Sky Empire, the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Big Mom Pirates."
"Perhaps both." Robin gently twirled the ballpoint pen in his hand. "What are your thoughts?"
Kuro adjusted his glasses. "To deter the Sky Empire, the Sky Empire must be permanently located in the New World. Otherwise, this plan will be useless and will only cause the World Government to lose the entire New World."
"You mean?"
"Let the Navy and the World Government be smug for a while. We'll control the expansion speed in the North Blue and create the impression that we fear the Navy's potential destruction of the New World."
"Simultaneously accelerate the construction of Baku Province in the North Blue, expand the scale of Sky Province, and if necessary, relocate some New World islands to the North Blue, then begin expansion in the North Blue."
Kuro sneered, "I'd like to see if the World Government dares to destroy that node island."
Robin pondered for a moment, then nodded, indicating her agreement with Kuro's arrangement.
Doing this looks like gambling.
In fact, all it takes is for the Sky Empire to move some of the New World islands to the North Blue and rapidly expand the Sky Province.
The World Government would then realize that destroying Node Island would not shake the foundation of the Sky Empire; instead, it would completely destroy the more than twenty Affiliated Nation of the New World, as well as those bases.
If it's a case of injuring the enemy by 800 while losing 1000 of your own, then the Five Elders wouldn't care too much.
But if it's a matter of injuring the enemy by a hundred while losing a thousand of your own, even if the Five Elders were in their senility, they wouldn't do that.
After all, the World Government simply cannot afford such a terrifying exchange ratio.
For the next period of time.
Sakazuki then led his naval fleet to Hell Valley Island and established Marine Base there.
Through Morgans ' intelligence, the various factions in the New World also learned that the Navy had destroyed two node islands and taken control of the last one.
For a time, all the forces in the New World fell silent, a stark contrast to New World increasingly chaotic weather.
The Sky Empire, which was also playing along, has become more low-key.
Big Mom Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates, on the other hand, were taken aback by the World Government's ruthlessness. The two Yonko-level pirate crews were worried about the future. If the World Government went mad one day, their territory and most of their subordinates would be lost in the New World.
Therefore, the Big Mom Pirates intensified their search for the Mirror-Mirror Fruit. Charlotte Linlin is clearly not without brains; she at least knows the importance of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit. As long as they possess this fruit, the Big Mom Pirates can leave the New World and enter the Four Seas at any time.
Meanwhile, the Whitebeard Pirates...
Whitebeard, however, looked worried. He could threaten the World Government with threats like destroying Paradise, but that was certainly not a sure thing.
Whitebeard knew Shiki's madness all too well; even with Shiki's drastically changed personality, he believed that Shiki wouldn't take the World Government's threat seriously.
If Shiki intervenes, and the World Government acts impulsively, the New World will truly be doomed.
After all, the New World is Whitebeard's homeland, and he naturally doesn't want the New World to be destroyed.
Aside from the fear and unease among the pirate forces, the Affiliated Nation in the New World were in an uproar, all calling Mary Geoise to inquire about the situation.
Although the Five Elders didn't care about the lives of these Affiliated Nation, they still had to maintain appearances. They stated that this was only to suppress the expansion of pirate forces, and even if they wanted to destroy the New World, they would notify the kings in advance so that they could come to Paradise for refuge.
Upon hearing the Five Elders ' explanation, the kings of the Affiliated Nation felt a chill run down their spines and began packing their bags and treasures, preparing to "travel" to the Paradise for a while before making any further decisions.
The situation in the New World has been temporarily suppressed.
However, Noah didn't want the World Government and the Navy to focus on consolidating resources, so he and Ray began to frequently appear in the South Blue.
In less than half a month, they emptied eight inhabited islands, four of which were Affiliated Nation of the World Government.
This has now created chaos in the South Blue.
It's like trying to hold down a gourd only to have it float up again; the constant changes keep World Government and navies running around in circles.
All forces around the world have witnessed the World Government's predicament and powerlessness, which has fueled the ambitions of some factions.