The air was thick with pressure.
Powerful Conqueror's Haki wrapped around a blade, distorting space itself, as thunder crackled and roared.
With a single downward slash, the light was swallowed up; all that remained was a lightning-charged blade descending from above.
"What?" Sengoku turned sharply, his eyes wide with horror as the blade approached.
"Watch out!" Gion shouted nearby, unleashing all her Haki in a desperate bid to defend him.
"Phoenix Extinguish!" Gion sprang into action, transforming into her phoenix form. She wielded her blade in both hands, unleashing a scorching slash that tore through the ground, coordinating her strike with Kuke's from the other side.
"Divine Punishment!" Stussy activated her ultimate technique. A massive pillar of lightning, a hundred meters wide, split the clouds and descended in an instant, gathering into a thin line of two hundred million volts of concentrated power.
"Twin Fists—Double Annihilation!" Shakky, now in her vampire form, unleashed twin shockwaves with both fists, merging them with Gion's fiery phoenix slash.
"Move!" Belo Betty, who had long activated her ROOM, swiftly teleported Doflamingo, taking advantage of his momentary shock, to prevent him from taking the blow for Sengoku.
"Perfume Femur!" Hancock launched herself at Edward Weevil, landing a powerful gravity-enhanced kick that sent him flying.
"If you don't want to die, get out!" Hancock warned the remaining Warlords, determined to prevent anyone from intervening in Sengoku's defense.
"Is that… Kuke?" Bartholomew Kuma stared, speechless and shaken as he watched Kuke's strike aimed at Sengoku. Startled by Hancock's voice, he quickly activated his powers and vanished.
Jinbe also hurriedly retreated.
"We'll be killed here," Crocodile muttered, transforming into sand to escape as fast as possible. He knew any one of these powerful attacks could end his life, so staying was out of the question.
Even Gecko Moria fled in terror.
"He's… alive?" Mihawk's face showed disbelief as he looked at Kuke. Though confident he could survive, he saw no reason to stay and withdrew from the battlefield.
At the conference table, most of the Warlords had either escaped or been knocked away.
Only Sengoku and his team remained.
"This is impossible!" Sengoku's face twisted in disbelief as he glared at Kuke.
"Sengoku, get out of there!" Chief Strategist Tsuru shouted in a panic.
Reacting quickly, Sengoku attempted to release his full Buddha form, but before he could complete the transformation, Stussy's lightning struck, paralyzing him in place. Although Stussy's ambush wouldn't have been enough to kill Sengoku, the paralysis prevented him from breaking free instantly.
With Kuke's perfectly timed sneak attack, escape was out of reach.
Under the stunned eyes of everyone watching, multiple attacks converged on Sengoku's position from all directions.
A thunderous explosion shattered the sky, shaking the earth as a colossal mushroom cloud rose, swallowing up Island No. 1 entirely.
Waves a hundred meters high tore apart the surrounding ice fields, and the whole archipelago of the Sabaody Archipelago's seventy islands trembled violently from the impact.
The mushroom cloud darkened the skies as it expanded.
At the explosion's epicenter, the space itself warped and cracked.
Everyone was in shock.
Whether present at Sabaody or not, all wore the same dumbfounded expression.
"Was that… was that Kuke just now?"
"Could it really be him?"
"It seems so… doesn't it?"
In a single moment, Kuke had appeared, slashed down, and the next thing everyone saw was a massive explosion filling their screens.
"What… what…?" Shanks mumbled, his mouth agape, wine dribbling from his lips as he pointed at the screen, his hand shaking as much as his mouth.
Instinctively, he looked at Ben Beckman—the sharpest and most composed mind on the ship. But Beckman, usually calm and collected, was equally stunned. His cigarette had dropped onto his foot, and even the burn on his skin failed to snap him out of his daze.
"Who the hell is that?" Kaido growled, feeling the urge to leap through the screen to find out for himself.
There was no way it could be Kuke. If he were alive, the Navy would be even more foolish than pigs.
Elsewhere in the New World…
Akainu and Kizaru, who had been leisurely enjoying a meal while watching the Sabaody broadcast, both stared blankly as Gion and the others made their entrance.
Neither had felt worried, with Akainu even laughing aloud.
But now…
Both were frozen in place.
Akainu slowly turned his stiff neck, looking dumbfounded at Kizaru, only to find Kizaru doing the same. Their dazed gazes met.
"It… couldn't be Kuke, could it?"
Akainu slowly shook his head, saying, "It can't be. We saw him die right before our eyes; we did it ourselves."
"Then who is it?"
Akainu fell silent.
Yeah… then who the hell was it?
At Marineford, Zephyr had gathered this year's recruits in a classroom to watch the broadcast.
Among the young recruits were Ain and others who had joined after Kuke's departure from the Marines. For them, anything Sengoku or Zephyr said about Kuke was treated as gospel.
But now… things had taken a sudden turn.
"It can't be Kuke. So, who is it? This is dangerous; Sengoku is in trouble," Zephyr muttered, refusing to believe that Kuke could still be alive. Though the fleeting figure looked exactly like Kuke, it could just be a resemblance… or a disguise.
"Alert Kuzan and Garp immediately. They need to head to Sabaody."
But Kuzan and Garp, who were stationed at Marineford…
Weren't watching.
Having little interest, they had wandered over to the relaxing beach area behind Marineford, reclining on lounge chairs with eye masks on, basking in the sun.
Both lay silently, unperturbed by whatever was happening at Sabaody, and completely oblivious to the situation.
"Is it just me, or is the ground vibrating a little?" Kuzan remarked, puzzled.
"Could be an earthquake," he mused.
"Feels like it's coming from Sabaody," Garp observed, confirming the source.
The impact from Sabaody had reached all the way to Marineford.
"Must be something going on, but Sengoku's there, so no worries," Garp shrugged, shifting into a more comfortable sunbathing position.
Kuzan didn't bother getting up either.
Both continued lounging, enjoying the sun.
Meanwhile, the Marines stationed at Marineford were in a frenzy, rushing to the men's quarters to find both Garp and Kuzan absent.
Calling them was useless; they had left their Den Den Mushi in the office.
The Marines were at a complete loss.
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 144+ at patreon.com/Emik01.
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