The energy sphere of destruction was effortlessly neutralized by Allen in an almost miraculous manner, plunging the entire battlefield into a deathly silence. Whether it was the Straw Hat Pirates on the ground, the royal officials watching the battle through the screen in the distance, or even King Wapol hovering in mid-air with his armor still surging with energy, everyone was momentarily speechless.
That power was beyond their understanding of "powerful." It wasn't brute force, nor was it a clash of energies; it was as if... it was rewriting the rules of reality!
"No... impossible!" King Wapol was the first to recover from his shock, his voice beneath his armor trembling with a barely perceptible tremor and hysteria. "That's the ' Light of Purification,' which gathers the nation's energy network! How could you... what kind of monster are you?!"
Allen didn't answer his question. Instead, his gaze calmly swept across the street below covered in robot wreckage, and further away, across the city trembling in oppression. His senses, like the most sophisticated scanner, pierced through the king's magnificent yet menacing armor, reaching its energy core and even the key nodes connecting it to the entire island's energy network.
"I see," Allen's voice remained calm, yet it seemed to possess an all-knowing penetrating power. "The so-called ' Efficiency Code,' the so-called 'Absolute Order,' are not rooted in governing principles, but rather in... fear."
The king's body stiffened abruptly.
"You fear chaos, you fear loss of control, you fear losing power. So, with cold gears and harsh laws, you've molded the entire nation into what you consider a 'perfect' machine, with each citizen merely a replaceable cog to ensure its smooth operation. You even went so far as to extract energy from the island's ley lines and fuse it with this accidentally acquired extraterrestrial metal (pointing to the armor) to gain power, thereby suppressing all 'discordant' voices and maintaining the 'peace' under your fragile rule."
Every word Allen uttered was like a sharp sword, piercing through the carefully constructed shell of King Wapol and revealing his deepest fears and obsessions.
"You're talking nonsense!" the king roared, his armor's energy surging once more, flashing a dark purple light intensely. Clearly, he'd been hit where it hurt. "Order is power! Chaos only brings destruction! I am Wapol's savior! I brought stability and prosperity (in his view)!"
"Prosperity?" Allen shook his head slightly, pointing downwards. "Your so-called prosperity is about letting people live in silent fear, where even a bowl of heartfelt ramen is a luxury? It's about filling this land with noise and pollution, yet never hearing the joyful laughter of children? You're not saving it; you're just slowly strangling the soul of this country in another way."
"Shut up!" King Wapol went completely mad. He pushed the armor's energy output to its limit, even recklessly over-draining the earth's ley line energy, causing the entire palace to tremble slightly. "I will purify you! Purify you viruses that bring chaos! Ultimate Purification Program —initiate!"
He spread his arms, and all the energy patterns on his armor shone brightly. A dark purple energy ball, ten times larger than before, began to condense in front of his chest, radiating a destructive aura that even triggered celestial phenomena, with lightning snakes dancing wildly in the sky!
However, this time, Allen did not give him another chance.
Just as the destructive energy sphere was about to take shape, Allen raised his finger and gently pointed it in the direction of the king.
There was no brilliance, no imposing presence.
But time seemed to stand still around King Wapol.
His movement of gathering energy froze, the surging energy flow was forcibly frozen, and even his ferocious expression and crazed eyes were frozen in that moment. Only his mind was still working, and he could clearly feel that omnipresent and irresistible force of Spacetime Imprisonment!
This was a power that filled him with even more despair than the previous " Absolute Darkness "! He couldn't even struggle; he felt like an insect trapped in amber.
"An order that strips people of humanity and freedom is meaningless." Allen's voice was like a final judgment. "It's time to let Wapol breathe again."
His fingers twitched slightly.
"Click--"
A crisp cracking sound came from the core of the king's armor. The exoskeleton armor, which was inextricably linked to his life and power, along with the extraterrestrial metal within it, seemed to be disintegrated from the inside by an invisible force, instantly becoming covered with cracks, and then... turning into the finest metallic powder, falling down in a flurry!
Without the support of his armor and the drain on his energy, the overexerted King Wapol plummeted from the sky like a puppet with its strings cut, crashing heavily onto the square in front of the palace and losing consciousness. His magnificent royal robes now looked utterly ridiculous and pathetic.
With the king's defeat and the destruction of the energy core, the oppressive force field that had enveloped the entire island vanished instantly. The red light in the eyes of the ubiquitous Surveillance Den Den Mushi went out, and the looping propaganda slogans abruptly stopped.
The city fell into an eerie silence.
But soon, the silence was broken by another sound—a tentative, then increasingly loud cheer from afar!
Humanity, suppressed for too long, began to surge forth like a flood bursting its banks. People cautiously stepped out of their homes, looking at the collapsed robot wreckage, at the dissipating purple energy in the direction of the palace, and at the unconscious king in the square. At first, they were in disbelief, then they erupted into deafening cheers and cries!
The cold, rigid order of steel and gears crumbled at that moment.
The Straw Hat Pirates stood amidst the ruins, surveying their surroundings. Luffy grinned. "That's much better!"
Nami breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally over, but I didn't make much money this time..."
Robin smiled and said, "They gained something more precious than money—freedom."
Sanji lit a cigarette. "Next, it's time to find some real ingredients and cook a proper meal."
Allen slowly descended from the air. Ace walked over and patted him hard on the shoulder. "Well done, cousin."
Allen nodded slightly, sensing the chaotic yet vibrant human radiance that was revitalizing the island.
The adventure on Wapol Island came to a close with the collapse of the old order and the emergence of new hope.