The battlefield was a vision of carnage, a wasteland where the desert had met the blood-soaked earth. The sand was stained crimson, littered with the broken bodies of soldiers, Vice Admirals, and once-proud warlords. The wind carried the stench of death, and the sky seemed unwilling to clear of the smoke that rose from the wreckage of what had once been Crocodile's proud stronghold.The Black Flame Pirates stood in the silence of their victory. Their expressions varied, but there was no sense of triumph in the air, only a kind of quiet reflection. Each of them, in their own way, had left their mark on the warlord's fall. But the true weight of the moment didn't quite sink in, not yet.
Laffitte, ever the one for theatrics, kicked a piece of rubble aside, his cane tapping rhythmically against the ground as if it were a walking stick on a pleasant stroll. "Well, that was underwhelming," he said, his lips twisting into a grin that didn't quite match the seriousness of the battlefield.
"I expected more from a warlord who claimed to be the Desert King. Was that all he had?"Guzen, with his typical smirk, wiped his blade clean of blood. "Didn't even know how to use Haki, pathetic. I thought a warlord would at least have the basics." His eyes flickered toward Crocodile's broken form, still half-buried in the sand.
"What was he thinking, facing us without those powers?"Nixon, ever poised and unflappable, stood silently with his tea, a blank expression tugging at his lips as he observed the destruction. His black-gloved hand carefully set the teacup back down on a nearby crate. "The world will definitely feel this," he said calmly, his voice betraying nothing but the cold inevitability of the truth.
"The loss of someone like Crocodile will shake the balance, and the Navy won't be pleased about it."His eyes flicked to the horizon, where the sails of the Corrupted Serpent had been hoisted, and the air was thick with tension, like the world itself was holding its breath. Nixon's voice, when he spoke again, was as composed as ever. "If there's one thing the Navy can't ignore, it's the loss of major manpower this time."
"Who cares," it was killed or be killed," Guzen replied. " At the very least, I stretched my muscles a little bit. He added as he cricked his neck."You're not getting cold feet are you now Nixon." For you now what comes next after this, right." Guzen eyes squinted with gleam his expression was distorted with excitement, longing but a silent and dealy chill was reflected in the depth of his eyes as he asked Nixon.
Laffitte also looked on Nixon with a smiling face as if he could not hurt a single fly just from his "kind" expression. If Nixon shows any sign of betrayal they will immediately attack him with the intent to kill and regarding the part to explain it to Joshua. Oh well, the captain will be able to pick up what had happened. Nixon remained silent for a few minutes but he could feel the air around him getting heavier by the second.
However, with his own and carefree time he took from his sleeve wipe his hands then said, " why would I be now." I'm with u guy untill the end, my dear crew members.""Hahaaa... that's lovely...thats really really good to hear, honestly."
It seems like I was mistaken for a bit there." Guzen said with a bright and forthcoming expression.
"Indeed....indeed it is." Laffitte said with a gentle smile."Hey, what are you 3 mortals still babbling on about, this god don't have time waste and watch you're mortal disputes," Enel who was hovering in the air crossed yelled with total annoyance in his tone.
"Well lets go to where the captain is now," Laffitte spoke as he patted his clothes whilst ignoring Enel.
"Yea, you're right lets go." Guzen said as he disappeared,
"Find by me," Nixon added as he melted into blocks of ice
...
Motoa, coughing harshly as he leaned on his cane, nodded slowly. "The warlord, five Vice Admirals, ten thousand elites—gone. It's a significant dent in the balance of power. The Four Seasons are going to feel this… the Grand Line will tremble but the Navy will feel it the most." His voice was hoarse, but there was a finality to it that seemed to echo in the silence.
"Hmm.. maybe, but it dosen't matter either way for this is only the beginning" Joshua replied as he reflected on his yet another lose in chess.
"Right, Motoa weak voice answered the without looking he said, "You guys caused quiet the damage here you now." "How can this oldman catch any peace and quiet.
"Old man, you're talking like you did not contribute as well and as if you're not apart of us," Guzen who sitting beside him looked on him with blank expression.
"Oh...." as if Motoa suddenly realized" Ahh yes,I am apoart of the Black pirates, I most be going senile because of my old age." "Hahahaha....cough...cough."
"Well, its expected, afterall we did cause quite a mess." Laffitte said wiped off his cane on the corpse of a Rear admiral that laid nearby.
Joshua, who had been standing apart from the others, took a long, slow breath, his gaze not fixed on the battlefield but on the distant horizon. He turned back toward his crew with a faint but determined smile. "I guess we don't have anything left to do here," he said, his tone thoughtful. "We've left our mark, and the rest of the world will soon know it."
As the crew began to gather, the aftermath of the battle loomed large over them. Enel, standing apart from the others, could not hide the gleam in his eyes—the sense of divine superiority that always followed him. He raised his head slightly, his voice laced with the pride of a god. "So much destruction, yet none of it was worthy of my true power," he said, his gaze sweeping the battlefield. "It was beneath me, all of it. The world cannot comprehend the magnitude of my strength."
Guzen, who had been wiping his sword clean, smirked, rolling his eyes at Enel's theatrics. "Right, you're a god," he muttered, his tone flat. "Just don't break your back while you're at it."Enel didn't seem bothered, though. He simply raised his hand, sending a small bolt of lightning crackling between his fingers. "They should be thankful. I allowed them to face the wrath of the heavens. For the weak, that is more than they deserve.
"Laffitte, his cane swishing as he examined a nearby wreckage, couldn't help but chuckle. "God, huh? Sure, as long as you don't start calling us your 'chosen ones,' we're all good." He flicked the blood off his cane with a casual flick, his grin ever-present. Enel's eyes narrowed, but he held back, his smile remaining unshaken. "It is only a matter of time before the entire world knows my name. The Navy, the pirates...they will bow to me." He turned his back on the battlefield, a gesture of finality. "I've seen the future already, and it is me who will rule it."
Joshua's voice broke the tension as he approached, a calmness to his steps. "The future? You think the world will just bow to you because you control lightning? This battle might have made a mark, but it's just one piece of the puzzle.
"Nixon, standing to the side, adjusted his coat with a quiet chuckle. "Well, the Navy won't be happy about this one, that's for sure." His tone was cool, but there was an unmistakable edge to his words. "But we don't care about them, do we?"Joshua nodded, his gaze steady. "
This victory has shaken things up. The Navy will feel it. But we have bigger things ahead. For now, we move on. Let the world figure out what happened here. Motoa chuckled softly, his frail voice crackling.
"Well, it seems like these old bones of mine will be moving again. What's next for us, Captain?"Joshua looked back at the ship, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. "We move on. This place is done. The next island awaits, and I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunity for us there. No need to linger in the past."
"Next island, eh?" Guzen grinned, twirling his blade.
"I'm ready for a new challenge, always."Nixon, with a brief, knowing glance, looked at Joshua, his usual aloof demeanor briefly giving way to something more personal. "The Navy won't forget this," he said with a small, cold chuckle. "But it won't matter to us. They're too busy trying to cover up the truth."
The crew shared a quiet moment of understanding, the magnitude of their victory and what it would mean for the future beginning to sink in. But just as quickly as it had come, the weight was shrugged off, replaced with the constant hum of anticipation. The world would know them now, and with Crocodile's fall, their next steps would shape the coming storm.The Black Flame Pirates made their way back to the Corrupt Serpent, but the sight behind them was one that would haunt the island for a long time. The once-proud bastion of Crocodile's rule was now a field of utter devastation.
Shattered stone, crushed pillars, and the scattered remnants of a once-mighty "soldiers of justice" lay scattered in the wake of the battle. The wind howled, carrying the sound of distant cries—faint echoes of soldiers who had perished without a name. Corpses, of Navy, littered the ground. Horrified expressions frozen on the faces of the fallen, their wide eyes staring blankly at the empty sky, while the earth beneath them was soaked in a sea of blood. The sand had absorbed what it could, but it would never wash clean. The corpses of the five Vice Admirals, their once-proud uniforms stained with the marks of battle, now lay in a twisted pile. THe corpse of Crocodile lay flat on the ground with many ice needles punctured in his battle, blood and flessh continue to fall from his body along the sand like glass from every terrible slashed wounds and from the horrible holes which are everywhere on his body especially the one which pierce his head then through his brain and marrow and his throat completely pierced.
There were soldiers whose limbs had been severed, their bodies broken and scattered across the battlefield like discarded toys. Blood pools gathered around the broken forms of the ten thousand elite soldiers, their once-elite uniforms torn apart, their weapons shattered or lying beside them like forgotten relics. But perhaps the most haunting sight was the pools of blood from every single corpse scattered around in the blazing fire. Every ounce of blood from all the corpses move from seperate locations through the ever blazing island which has trees, the wreckage falling from time to time into the cracks of the earth as well as onto the island.
Setting not only the earth rage more intense fire, but burning the bodies of the soldiers, from the melting of there skin, to the roasting of there flesh down to their skeletons which becomed charred the broken. There are cases where the flesh like the lungs intestine, eyes melt off there corpses and turn to flying ash which adjoins to the thick smoke of despair that could kill the normal human just coming near the island tells of the horror down on the land below.
But amidst the eternal screams, , uncontrollable sea of flmaes which will last here, the blood which flowed from all the corpses created thick streams not only throughout the island but also fall into the cracks of the island drip by drip or bundle by bundle.The air felt thick with an unshakable heaviness. This was no ordinary battlefield. This was the graveyard of an entire army—an empire reduced to nothing but ash and memory.
Image here...
As the crew boarded their ship, the Corrupted Serpent, the deck creaked under their footsteps, and the sound of the sails being hoisted filled the air. The Black Flame Pirates were ready to leave, to sail to new horizons. They cast one last look at the island, a smoldering ruin behind them, as their ship cut through the waters.There were no cheers, no loud celebrations. The silence was broken only by the rustling of the sea breeze, the creaking of the ship, and the distant echoes of the world they had left behind.
The Corrupted Serpent sailed on, leaving the island in its wake—a ghost ship passing through the remnants of a shattered past. The island, like its ruler, was now just a memory.As the crew settled into their roles aboard the ship, Joshua stood at the helm, his gaze fixed on the horizon. His mind was already on the next island, the next battle, the next challenge. There was no time for rest. Not yet. The world was always changing, always shifting, and they would be there to meet it head-on.
Laffitte, now seated lazily on one of the deck chairs, smirked at the others. "Next island, eh? I'm guessing it'll be another treasure hunt or a fight with some big name. I'm sure it'll be a pleasant distraction."Guzen, grinning widely, leaned against the mast, arms crossed. "I don't care if it's treasure or a fight. I'm in. Let's keep the momentum going.
"Nixon, with his usual calm, walked up to Joshua. "The Navy will be hunting us next," he said softly, as though simply acknowledging an inevitability. " The Four Seasons are in turmoil. We'll be seeing their response soon enough but not now at the very least. "So don't care about them for now" Joshua retorted with his eyes still locked on the ever-expanding horizon.
"Let them come. We'll be ready."And so, the Corrupted Serpent continued to sail forward, disappearing into the vast expanse of the Grand Line, as the world continued to spin on, oblivious to the ripples the Black Flame Pirates had left in their wake. There was no doubt in their minds that the world would change because of them. They had done something big, something that would echo throughout the seas for sometime to come. And with that, they moved forward—unaware of the storm that would soon follow.