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Start what? That was, of course, a question that needed no answer.
Time seemed to pause for just a moment before the Marines on the ship, all of them at least of commissioned rank, began to run.
The atmosphere suddenly grew tense. Kizaru's expression was grim, his eyes flickering intensely. Aokiji stared at the Red Line ahead, exhaling a puff of white mist.
Whitebeard tightened his grip on his bisento.
Even though there were no enemies ahead, only the red continent, the tension in everyone's hearts was clearly written on their faces.
The sound of dense footsteps echoed, and the cannon barrels extending from Pluton's hull began to turn with low, grating sounds.
"Lock on to Mary Geoise's position!"
"Cannon 8, adjust right 200 units, target locked."
"Cannon 9, adjust left 300 units, locked."
"Cannon 45, correct 300 meters to the right, correction complete, ready to fire."
"Cannon 1, twelve o'clock position, area-of-effect strike. Main cannon locked, main cannon steady, target position confirmed."
"All Pluton artillery units, begin charging!"
The series of commands, carried on the sea breeze, made the atmosphere even more tense.
"Wind force: Level 3. No effect on firing trajectory. Ready to fire at will," a grim-faced Marine officer reported quickly after a series of careful tests, taking a deep breath and saluting the back of the Fleet Admiral before him.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Arashi grinned.
"War never picks a convenient time." He slowly raised his head, gazing at the red continent ahead and the azure sky above.
"The wind is calm, the sun is bright. This is the best time we could ask for."
Hearing this, the Marine officer shuddered. Awe filled his heart, but he couldn't suppress a surge of excitement.
In that moment, he felt as though he was in a trance, hardly knowing how he stood before all the black cannons, or how to swing his arm down.
Then, he roared out the two words.
"Fire!"
The sound was as deafening as thunder, tearing through the sky. Immediately after, the sea in a thousand-meter radius around the Pluton shuddered and seemed to collapse inwards rapidly.
A massive amount of seawater was drawn in by the intake system on Pluton's underside, then rapidly converted, its minuscule particles and elements separated.
Passing through the converter and into the power furnace, intensely fluctuating sparks of electricity burst forth, condensing onto the blue sphere within.
Gradually, the sphere grew larger, finally swelling to the size of a basketball with a low hum.
The entire Pluton began to tremble. From its stern, a huge amount of white spray shot out, like a whale spouting water, creating a sudden downpour.
The sunlight shone down, creating a seven-coloured rainbow that was ethereal and beautiful.
But at this moment, no one on the ship was in the mood to appreciate the scenery. They were waiting. Waiting for the coming thunder and fire.
A crackling sound was heard as fine bolts of lightning began to appear on the black cannon barrels.
They vibrated intensely, and a massive, inexplicable wave of energy pressure swept out, making the Marines standing nearby tremble.
"Such terrifying energy! If there's even the slightest accident, everyone here will probably..."
"The sea is boiling!"
"No, it's frozen still."
The pupils of the Marines on the ship contracted sharply, staring in shock at the sea ahead.
Within a three-thousand-meter radius, the water churned violently, countless bubbles rising as if it were boiling.
But beyond that radius, the sea was unnervingly calm, and even the wind had stopped. From a distance, it was as if the world itself had frozen in time.
After about ten seconds, the vibrations intensified even further. Suddenly, a shadow fell over them. A Marine looked up, trembling, and cried out in shock.
"What's happening? Where's the sun?" Someone quickly explained.
"Look at the cannons! The light blooming from their muzzles is even more dazzling than the sun."
"It's a pure white light that has blotted out the sunlight, creating a scene like nighttime." These words sent another shiver through the Marines.
Because this mysterious, dazzling light didn't hurt their eyes at all. It was as if the only light their eyes could perceive had become pure, a single kind of light.
Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl, almost stopping. No one knew how long they waited.
They only knew that at some point, the pure white world began to regain its colour. The cannons on all sides of the Pluton roared.
A boom, like countless thunderclaps, echoed in their ears, making everyone's mouths fall open as their eardrums pounded.
It was like a great beast, asleep for hundreds of years, opening its eyes and letting out its first roar.
The white world became colourful as countless crimson beams of light shot into the sky, becoming a dazzling meteor shower.
Then, the world grew dark again. A black-and-red light radiated out, covering everything, reflecting in the sea and shrouding the sky for tens of thousands of meters.
The world before everyone's eyes turned black and red.
An invisible, terrifying pressure spread out, causing all Marines below flag rank to pale and fall to the ground, unable to even lift their heads.
"Pluton! After sleeping for hundreds of years, it has finally let out its first awakened roar!" A trembling voice came from one of the flag officers standing by the cannons.
Against the black-and-red backdrop, the figures standing on the Pluton all wore different expressions.
Arashi stood with his arms crossed, watching the meteors streak across the sky as if observing a flower bloom, a faint smile on his face.
Kizaru's expression was grim, and beads of sweat reflecting the black-and-red light could be seen on his forehead.
Whitebeard's eyes were filled with shock, and he instinctively raised his bisento, pointing it forward. Aokiji's gaze was sharp, his thoughts unreadable.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of kilometres away, the warships had fallen silent. Countless Marines looked up, their mouths agape, at the sky that had been painted black and red.
"Is that Pluton?" The sky was filled with black-and-red beams of light, like a strange meteor shower covering everything.
They streaked across the vast expanse of the sky, and upon reaching the highest point of the Red Line, they all turned in unison and plunged downwards.
It was an absolutely breathtaking sight, but it was also a moment that made everyone's pupils contract and their hearts pound violently.
Because they all knew one thing very clearly, after eight hundred long years under the increasingly dark rule of the World Government, the world was finally facing the final moments before the dawn.
--The Holy Land, Mary Geoise--
This was the location of the World Government's headquarters, situated at the pinnacle of the Red Line, which spans the first and second halves of the Grand Line, the highest point in the world.
Amidst the ethereal clouds, the spires of towering castles could be vaguely seen, exuding a unique sense of nobility and charm.
Here, one could feel the true taste of power and the bitter pain of class disparity. The highest-ranking humans in the entire world were all gathered here.
Every four years, the kings and nobles of the World Government's member nations would assemble here to hold the World Conference.
The lofty Celestial Dragons were also concentrated in this place. It may have been just a simple castle, but its significance was immense.
The name Mary Geoise could also be described in one word: "World."
Yes, this place was their world.
Deep within Pangu Castle, in an unnamed palace.
"The Marines are mobilising their forces on a massive scale. Reports are continuously flooding in from the Four Seas, the Grand Line, and the New World."
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter said in a low voice, his expression grim as he looked at the thick stack of documents on the table.
The Marines' actions could only be described as a major move. "Ever since the war on Onigashima, when Arashi led the Marines to occupy the New World, there has never been a military mobilisation of this scale."
"What is he planning this time? Could he really be starting a war against the world?" Saint Topman Warcury asked with a frown.
They found it hard to believe, as the implications of war were too great.
In the short two years that had passed, although there had been several clashes between the Marines and the World Government's allied forces, they had always ended in a tacit truce.
Everyone knew that the time for war had not yet come.
The Marines were still somewhat inferior to the World Government in terms of overall power; they needed to build up more of a foundation. As for the World Government,
they were still fantasizing about extinguishing this formidable power—the only one in the world with the potential to change the era—at the lowest possible cost.
Every day, the military staffs of both sides were engaged in intense war game simulations, trying to predict the course of the coming conflict.
But no matter how many simulations they ran, the strategists of the World Government's allied forces were certain that the current time was far from the right moment for war.
"Then what is he planning with such a large-scale troop movement? This aggressive posture doesn't look like someone who wants to maintain a superficial peace and continue to develop his strength," Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro said in a low voice, his eyes sharpening.
The Marines' actions were simply too suspicious. "Preliminary estimates place the number of troops being mobilized in the New World at nearly one million."
"Not to mention the Four Seas and the Grand Line. Recruitment for the Marines has been increasing for years, even back in Sengoku's time as Fleet Admiral."
"In Arashi's era, the number of Marines has grown to a frightening, staggering level." Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro paused and took a deep breath.
"The total number of Marines today is practically incalculable. Without anyone realizing it, Arashi has built a military empire so powerful that the entire world is wary of it."
"He uses equality and justice as an excuse, as the banner of his empire, to deceive the minds of countless people and manipulate them for his own purposes."
"In his New World empire, there are even whispers of an 'Equality Party.' Look at that! Even those powerless commoners have formed a political party, treating the words 'equality' and 'justice' as a religion."
"It's absurd and unbelievable!" Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro's speech silenced the other three elders, and their expressions grew grave.
Arashi had long since become their greatest threat, and the Marines had grown into an unimaginably colossal entity.
"In nature, there is a type of bird that hides in a sparrow's nest when it is young, and when it grows up, it takes over the nest for itself."
"We have an idiom for this: the cuckoo occupying the sparrow's nest."
"What Arashi has done is no different from what this vile bird does." This one sentence made the other three elders' eyes narrow.
Saint Marcus Mars then spoke slowly. "Before his wings were fully grown, he hid within the Marines, using their resources to grow stronger."
"When he reached maturity, he leapt to the position of Fleet Admiral and then began to implement his ambitions officially."
"Speaking of which, we were the ones who approved his promotion." The four old men fell silent.
In truth, their approval at the time had been given under duress. Looking back now, they couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.
If they had known then what they knew now, they should have had a complete falling out with him, even if it meant purging the Marines with a heavy hand.
A moment of compromise, a moment of weakness, had led to the disaster they now faced. As they thought, this world had no place for saintly compassion.
"Arashi's current large-scale mobilisation is practically a worldwide effort. Such an action is absolutely not normal."
"We must issue orders immediately to assemble the world's allied forces to prepare for any contingency in response to this sudden development."
"We can no longer blindly trust the war simulations of the General Staff." Taking a deep breath, Saint Marcus Mars turned to the other three, his expression extremely grave.
"After all, we all know very well that the current Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Arashi, is a complete madman."
"We absolutely cannot use the logic of a normal person to judge his actions." The other three also looked grim.
"Prepare for all-out war, and one more thing," a shadow crossed Saint Marcus Mars's face, "this matter must be reported to Lord Imu immediately."
"The defences of Mary Geoise must be strengthened further in the near future. Move more powerful individuals here to guard against any unexpected situations."
The other three all nodded. Faced with Arashi's sudden troop movements, the Four Elders were solemn.
They held detailed discussions, even bringing out sea charts to compare. Their response was entirely correct and logical under the circumstances.
However, the calm, leisurely, and joyful morning they were experiencing was, in fact, the greatest abnormality.
Normally, it is impossible to predict on which day—at dawn, noon, dusk, or night—sudden destruction will come, just as it is now.
A swath of black and red, blooming with an endless light, enveloped the sky above Mary Geoise.
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