The paddle ship, with only Spandam remaining on the island as per Chelsea's instructions, set sail. Maha approached Chelsea, who stood on the deck, and asked,
"Chelsea-san... Are we going this far away?"
"Yes. A little more... This distance should be sufficient. Drop the anchor, please. Waves will rise, so... In case it's larger than expected, I will lift the ship and move it to the sky using Moon Walk, so don't worry."
"U-Understood..."
While feeling puzzled by Chelsea's words, Maha looked towards the unmanned island where Spandam was. The island was already quite far away, and Spandam's figure couldn't be seen.
At the moment when Maha thought about whether it was really necessary to be this far away, Chelsea took out the communication device and contacted Spandam.
"Captain. Everything is fine here."
"Understood."
Beside Maha, Guernika, holding a Visual Den Den Mushi connected to the Five Elders, looked towards the direction of the uninhabited island. They wouldn't miss a single moment of what was about to happen...
After finishing the communication, Maha asked Chelsea, who had come closer to them,
"... Chelsea-san, what is that...?"
"You'll understand soon enough."
As Chelsea said that and smiled, Spandam used Moon Walk to leap high from the uninhabited island. And at the moment he clenched his fist in the sky—the world changed.
"T-This is...!?"
"Haki? This is... such tremendous power..."
The overwhelming Haki emitted by Spandam made the clouds disappear, and the atmosphere withdrew in submission to the conqueror. The Haki surging from both his arms was so immense that it didn't stop at his arms alone; it spread out like jet-black wings, covering the sky in darkness.
It felt as if the world was shaking. The air trembled. It was as if the space itself was screaming in response to Spandam's overwhelmingly powerful force...
"In his right hand is the Six King Haki Pistol... in his left hand is the Six King Haki Pistol..."
Chelsea's voice echoed quietly. Her voice was beautiful, as if a devout believer was singing a hymn of praise to a god.
At the forefront of their sight, the overwhelming Haki converged on Spandam's arms, emitting a jet-black radiance that covered everything.
Eventually, the surging power reached its critical point—the Black Heaven fell.
"The two released impacts collide at the crossroads..."
As Spandam swung his arms, two sphere-shaped impacts with tremendous Haki were released. Normally, they should have arrived at an incredibly high speed, but for Guernika and Maha, who were watching it, it seemed like it was happening in slow motion.
The reason was simple. Both of them, just by seeing it, strongly felt death... At this moment, not only the two of them, but also the Five Elders watching through the visual transmission, felt an equally intense sense of death, trapped in an extended moment before death.
"And then, while intensifying that power many times over, they strongly repel each other and turn into an impact that erases everything—exploding in space."
"A-Ah..."
Whose voice was that? It sounded like a prayer, a plea. The two jet-black spheres falling from the sky looked godly, like a divine judgment delivered by gods.
The two jet-black spheres collided in the sky above the island, and the tremendous repulsion scattered black flashes of lightning all around.
"That... is... Captain's—Twelve True Strikes."
And after a moment of silence as if everything was coming to an end, the space ruptured—a jet-black sun that erased everything manifested. The annihilating light that could reduce both life and inanimate objects to nothingness spread in an instant and swallowed the uninhabited island.
A delayed roar echoed, and despite the considerable distance, the impact shook the ship significantly... After the light of destruction disappeared, there was nothing left.
There were no traces of the island; it was completely gone. Only a black hole in the sea remained, with the surrounding seawater flowing into it.
"....Ah... Aa..."
"....To think that... he could do this... by himself..."
Maha and Guernika trembled at the sight of such a tremendous blow, unable to find the right words.
The other crew members were in similar states—some trembling, some unconscious, and some praying with their hands together—reacting in various ways.
Amidst this, only Chelsea had an enraptured expression of happiness on her face.
"...As expected, Captain's Twelve True Strikes are incredibly beautiful."
For her, being able to witness a part of Spandam's great power, to whom she dedicated absolute faith, brought genuine happiness. She savored the moment with a smile.
Spandam landed in front of Chelsea.
"....It's done. Indeed, it's challenging to control the power properly. Pochi, any damage to the ship?"
"The impact caused some shaking, but I think it's fine. Moreover, it seems like you could control it much better than before."
"Well, this time, I held back. If the island were a bit larger, controlling it might have been more difficult."
After briefly confirming with Chelsea, Spandam glanced at the dumbfounded Gernika and Mah, then took the Visual Den Den Mushi receiver from Gernika's hand.
"Five Elders, the island has been taken care of. As a precaution, I'll stay and observe until the waves completely recede before returning."
"..."
"Five Elders?"
"...A-Ah, th-thank you for your hard work."
Spandam calmly reported the mission completion, but the Five Elders on the other end seemed to be flabbergasted, and their response was rather shaken.
Even so, as expected of those standing at the pinnacle of the World Government, they quickly calmed themselves and asked Spandam.
"...Spandam. You said you held back with that strike, right?"
"Yes, I did."
"How large would that attack be if you used it at full strength?"
"...About five times larger than what you just witnessed."
"G-Goodness... I-I see... In the future, when you use that strike, please try to contact us in advance and obtain our permission."
"Understood."
After confirming a few things, the communication ended, and Spandam put down the receiver.
"As you heard, once we finish the confirmation, we'll return."
"Um, Spandam-dono? Actually, your real name is Pluton."
"Doing the same thing as my subordinate... Who would believe that i'm an ancient weapon?"
"No, no! I'd rather believe that you are an ancient weapon! We can't fully accept what just happened; some of us still think it's a dream!"
Maha pleaded desperately, but Spandam didn't seem to care much. After all, it wasn't a serious strike for him. He had fired it simply because Chelsea had said, "I want to see it again," nothing more than that.
"Pochi, please get me some coffee."
"Yes!"
"Why are you acting so casually? Our lifespans were shortened, you know!"
"...That was... God's judgment... Did God really exist?"
"See, even Guernika hasn't returned yet!"
Unconcerned, Spandam drank the coffee Chelsea brewed and read the newspaper, while Maha's desperate cries echoed on the deck for a while.
***
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