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"Hmm!" Fujitora was slightly surprised. How had Ian so easily guessed his ability?
But then he remembered he'd used it at the Sabaody Archipelago casino. There were only a handful of gravity-based Devil Fruits, and after careful elimination, the answer was perhaps obvious.
Hummm!! Sengoku, watching the island hurtling downwards, raised a giant Buddha palm. A visible light pulsed from it as he struck upwards.
The air freezed for an instant, then a fluorescent light burst forth, centered on Sengoku's palm, and shot skyward.
Crash!!
The thousand-meter-wide island, under Sengoku's single blow, shattered into fragments.
The sea churned violently. After shattering several more falling islands and warships, Sengoku landed beside them.
He crashed heavily onto the shore. In his giant Buddha form, Sengoku stood twenty to thirty meters tall, a titan radiating a golden aura. His presence was as intimidating as Enel's thunder god form.
"Damn it, we can't just shatter them. That will cause even more damage…"
Only Sengoku, Garp, Akainu, and Ian remained on the plaza, along with other high-ranking Marine officers. They watched the growing black dots in the sky, their faces tense. There were too many.
Their combined mass was greater than the entire Marine Headquarters island. If they were simply large rocks resting on the island, they wouldn't be so scared. Many here could destroy them. But falling from the sky, carrying immense momentum, they became a catastrophic threat.
A falling island and a stationary island were two entirely different concepts.
Even if they combined their efforts to shatter these massive meteorites, they couldn't guarantee complete annihilation. Fragments would inevitably scatter, devastating Marine Headquarters and the surrounding warships in the harbor.
They weren't incapable of shattering the debris, but ensuring the safety of Marine Headquarters was the real challenge. Meanwhile, Ian continued his jovial conversation with Fujitora.
This immediately infuriated Sengoku and Garp. "Ian, you damn Kid! Marine Headquarters is about to be destroyed, and you're still chatting? You could lessen the damage! Get moving!" they roared.
"We have to intercept them. I'll use Ryusei Kazan!" Akainu declared grimly. Watching the approaching islands and warships, he gritted his teeth, his hands radiating intense heat.
Red smoke billowed, but Sengoku stopped him. Akainu's attack might rival Golden Lion Shiki's power, but what then? They would still have to deal with the aftermath, perhaps even more devastating given Akainu's contribution to the chaos.
"Can we only wait for them to fall?" Garp, a warrior god, asked as he landed beside them after depositing several warships on the ground. His physical prowess was undeniably at the peak of human potential.
They were running out of time.
"Marine Headquarters Admirals…"
"Sengoku the Buddha…"
"Garp the Hero…"
"Jihahahaha… What's the matter? Are you all too old to handle the terror of my return?"
A raspy laugh echoed through the sky. As the Marines watched in horrified fascination, Golden Lion Shiki descended from the clouds.
Ignoring Shiki's taunts, Fujitora chuckled softly. At Ian's signal, he stepped forward, drawing his shikomizue a half-inch.
Hummm! A heavy aura emanated from Fujitora. The ground trembled as gravel floated upwards. His blank white eyes widened, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
To counter the gravity of Shiki's floating islands, he needed to unleash his full power, leaving no room for restraint. A dense, black aura, not quite Conqueror's Haki but still potent, enveloped him. A purplish gravity field expanded as he drew his sword.
Ripples of gravity pulsed outwards, intensifying and expanding, until the final wave engulfed Marine Headquarters. Shiki was caught within its grasp, his control over the falling islands weakening drastically.
Hummm!! Suddenly, a strong wave of energy erupted. A strange force spread outwards, freezing the descending warships in mid-air. The dark clouds above began to swirl and contract, drawn towards a central point like rivers converging into a raging ocean. Sensing this immense power, everyone present paled.
Down below, Marines taking cover looked around, about to speak, only to find their comrades frozen in place, as if petrified.
"What's wrong with you all?!"
One Marine, turning to his companions, was met with blank, unseeing stares.
He followed their gaze towards the sky. Above, beneath the swirling clouds, a colossal meteorite, the size of a large island, had appeared.
It was more than a meteorite; it was a miniature star. The world grew dark, and then, as if their very souls had been drained, they froze, their weapons clattering to the ground.
"You're… you're kidding…"
Above, a gigantic meteorite, large enough to blot out the sun, hung in the sky. Sengoku, Garp, Akainu, and the other high-ranking officers atop Marine Headquarters froze, their eyes fixed on the monstrous object.
A massive shadow emerged from the dark clouds, larger than Marine Headquarters itself, a falling star formed from the coalescence of over a dozen smaller islands.
"What… what is that?!"
Not only the younger Marines, but even the seasoned veterans felt a cold dread creep into their hearts. How could such a massive meteorite appear in the sky? Was this the power of the blind swordsman's Devil Fruit?
They trembled, their gazes fixed on the impending doom.
"This is… too much…"
Even Ian, standing beside Fujitora, was awestruck. Witnessing this power firsthand was far different from observing it from an omniscient perspective. He knew Fujitora could manipulate gravity, having seen it before.
But in Dressrosa, he had been focused on saving the civilians and hadn't witnessed the full extent of Fujitora's abilities. He hadn't imagined the man could create meteorites.
Sengoku's shockwave was also formidable.
Sengoku and Garp's eyes widened in disbelief. Although Ian had praised Fujitora's strength, they hadn't realized it was on the level of an Admiral.
"Amazing!" Sengoku, recovering from his shock, couldn't help but express his admiration.
Fujitora responded with a gentle smile, devoid of conceit or pride, his demeanor calm and collected.
"It's nothing but a minor trick."
Those words nearly caused Sengoku and Garp to choke on their own disbelief.
A minor trick?!
This was anything but minor. They knew it was merely Fujitora's humble way of downplaying his immense power. Truly, the most deadly form of showing off was the understated kind.
"Well done, kid… You've recruited quite the powerhouse." Garp clapped Ian on the shoulder, his voice filled with pride.
Ian winced internally. Fujitora's power had caught him off guard. He was still recovering from exerting his own abilities. Fortunately, his physical strength had increased significantly after the events of Sabaody. With his 51% fusion rate, his Hierro was now comparable to Jozu's diamond defenses. Garp was also surprised by Ian's increased strength.
His growth rate was Ridiculous.
"Just luck…" Ian hadn't expected Fujitora to be so powerful. Rayleigh and Shiki had appeared after he had defeated Crocodile, Doflamingo, and Moria, and had fought Mihawk to a standstill.
The world was forcing him to grow stronger. Perhaps Kaido would arrive soon as well. He needed to transport Doflamingo to Impel Down quickly. He had been eyeing the souls of the prisoners there for quite some time.
"It's a good thing such a dangerous power is in our hands." Sengoku took a deep breath.
The Marines and the World Government preferred imprisonment over execution for most pirates, primarily to prevent their Devil Fruits from resurfacing. If a powerful Devil Fruit fell into the wrong hands, it could lead to widespread chaos and destruction.
The Zushi Zushi no Mi was undoubtedly one of these forbidden powers. If he recalled correctly, the previous user of a gravity-based fruit had been imprisoned in Impel Down decades ago, perhaps long dead, allowing the fruit to resurface.
Devil Fruits existed in a hierarchy.
Hummm! Shiki, realizing he had chosen a bad day for his return, had intended to inflict some damage on Marine Headquarters, having heard rumors of their powerful new recruits.
But he had underestimated their strength and now sought to escape before he was imprisoned in Impel Down once again.
He had lost his legs last time. Would he lose his arms this time? That would render him powerless.
And he despised Level 6. He had to escape!
Fujitora unleashed two more gravity slashes, launching the remaining meteorite fragments into outer space, ready to be recalled later. Another purplish gravity field enveloped Shiki, pulling him down from the sky.
His swords, embedded in his legs, pierced the sea's surface. His body continued to sink under the immense pressure.
Shiki's face contorted in a mixture of shock and rage. He couldn't underestimate his opponent any longer. He unleashed the full power of his Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, struggling against the crushing gravity, attempting to break free from Fujitora's control, only to be met by Akainu's magma fist.
"Akainu, you Kid! You have no honor, attacking me like this!"
Shiki narrowly dodged the attack. Molten magma dripped from Akainu's body, scorching massive craters in the plaza. Before Shiki could catch his breath, a familiar sense of danger returned.
"Shiki, you bastard! Take this!" A brilliant meteor streaked across the sky, followed by Sengoku's shockwave.
"Damn you, Garp and Sengoku! You old geezers!" Shiki roared.
"Shiki, as long as I draw breath, these fists of justice will never rest!" Garp bellowed, advancing on Shiki alongside Sengoku and Akainu.
"Do we really need to show honor to a pirate? I'm curious. What will you lose this time when you're thrown back into Impel Down?" Garp taunted.
The pirates of this era weren't true pirates. They seemed to have forgotten the true meaning of terror. Gol D. Roger had ushered in the Great Pirate Era, but in Ian's eyes, most of these so-called pirates were merely pretenders.
True pirates instilled fear, terrorized the world, leaving a trail of chaos and destruction in their wake. Roger had distorted the very concept of piracy. Now, anyone sailing under a pirate flag, chasing after the One Piece, was considered a pirate.
But men like Shiki, who plotted to destroy a quarter of the world's oceans, to turn the East Blue into a living hell, these were the true agents of chaos.
"Damn it! Are you even human?! Lion's Majesty!!"
Enraged, Shiki roared at the four Marines, his hands slashing through the air.
Crack! Crack!!
The plaza's surface shattered, and the debris began to float skyward.
The effect spread outwards, reaching the sea beyond the plaza, generating monstrous tidal waves…
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