Mary Geoise.
The city known to the world as the Holy Land.
It stood atop the Red Line, a city above the clouds, gazing down at the seas below.
This city was essentially divided into two parts.
One part was the heart of the World Government, centered around Pangaea Castle, where the government's core operations were conducted.
The other part, naturally, was the city's main body—the residential district where the Celestial Dragons, the World Nobles, gathered.
And deep within that district, in a vast and luxurious estate…
Saturn was enjoying afternoon tea, attended by his servants.
Jaygarcia Saturn was a Celestial Dragon.
But not an ordinary one.
He was the highest-ranked among them, one of the Five Elders who ruled with supreme authority over the world—known as the Warrior God of Science and Defense, standing at the very peak of power.
With the great Lord Imu rarely involving themselves, he was now one of the five most powerful men in existence.
Yet, even a lofty Elder required the routines of daily life.
When not handling government affairs, Saturn usually secluded himself within his laboratory.
He was also a scientist, his skills rivaled only by Vegapunk—the greatest genius of the seas.
Between experiments, Saturn would occasionally take time to rest, as he was now, in his garden filled with rare and beautiful flowers gathered from across the world.
The past two days had been utterly exhausting.
That man, Ian, had stirred up too much chaos—so much that even the Five Elders found the situation troublesome.
Fortunately, their plans were proceeding smoothly.
Saturn took a slow sip of steaming tea, letting out a quiet breath.
Once Ian was eliminated, the next target would, without doubt, have to be the NEO Marines.
The Dyna Stone they possessed could never be allowed to spread unchecked.
Swoosh.
A sharp sound suddenly echoed from the sky.
It was as if something had fallen.
Saturn raised his head in surprise.
Above the main manor behind him, a small object was plummeting down.
It was too far to see clearly what it was.
A meteor? Saturn wondered.
It wasn't entirely rare. Meteors often crashed onto the Red Line.
Before Saturn could speak, one of the guards standing behind him leapt into the air, his right leg swinging out like a phantom.
In an instant, a powerful vacuum blade shot forth like an eagle spreading its wings, cutting straight toward the falling object.
But at that moment, Saturn finally saw what it was.
It was a glass jar filled with a thick purple liquid, and within the liquid floated a stone that swayed with the motion.
Saturn's calm expression instantly shattered. His pupils shrank to the size of a needle's tip.
"Dyna Stone!!"
How could he possibly mistake it?
"Ah?"
The guard, who had just unleashed his full-strength Rankyaku and felt proud of his display, turned back in confusion.
To be fair, his mastery of Rokushiki was indeed remarkable. The vacuum blade from his Rankyaku was fast as lightning, slicing through the glass jar in the blink of an eye.
Purple liquid splattered as the stone within was thrown free.
Almost the instant it touched the air, the stone—its surface etched with two crescent-shaped marks—suddenly began to glow.
At first, only faint specks of light appeared. But within moments, they swelled into pulsating orbs that completely enveloped the stone.
Then, all the light spheres fused together. A blinding radiance erupted outward, expanding in an instant into a massive sphere of light that devoured everything.
Though it felt like time slowed, in reality, even the guard who had turned to look at Saturn never had the chance to face forward again.
Saturn's eyes widened in shock as the searing brilliance consumed him whole.
The violent light spread outward from Saturn's manor as its center.
His estate was located deep within the Holy Land, among the clustered residences of the Celestial Dragons, and right beside the other estates of the Five Elders.
Naturally, the first to be engulfed were the manors of the other Gorosei.
The sphere of light then expanded further, swallowing the surrounding villas of the Celestial Dragons as well.
The explosion alone spanned several kilometers in diameter.
The shockwave that followed was even more terrifying—roaring outward in all directions, shattering every building nearby in an instant before continuing its rampage.
Though the Celestial Dragons mostly lived in isolated villas and expansive manors, making the area relatively sparse, the blast still reduced half of their entire residential district to rubble within moments.
Even the distant Holy City of Mariejois trembled from the impact.
By the time the sphere of light faded and the rampaging shockwaves finally settled, the once-lavish dwelling place of the Celestial Dragons had been reduced to nothing but ruins.
Even the outermost areas looked as if they had been struck by a massive earthquake, with screams echoing everywhere.
The closer one got to the center of the explosion, the worse the devastation became.
Within several kilometers of the blast center, everything had been reduced to a barren wasteland.
At the very heart of the explosion—where Saturn's estate once stood—there was now a massive crater. At its bottom, molten lava pooled together, glowing ominously.
At the edge of the magma pit, five enormous monsters stood silently.
A colossal wild boar.
A colossal spider.
A colossal bird.
A colossal skeletal horse.
A colossal Sandwom.
Even after such a terrifying explosion, even at the very center of it, not a single one of them had suffered so much as a scratch.
"What the hell is going on?"
The wild boar, Warcury, roared, his thunderous voice filled with fury. "Saturn! The explosion came from your direction! Was it your experiment?"
The spider, Saturn, responded with equal anger. "It was the Dyna Stone! That damned bastard, Zephyr!!"
He himself was immortal, but the other Celestial Dragons were not.
"Has he gone insane?"
Even the always composed giant bird, Mars, bellowed in rage. "To launch an attack at a time like this!"
"Damnable ants!"
The sandworm, Peter, hissed furiously. "We cannot let him go! He must be cut into a thousand pieces and ground into dust!"
There was no doubt in any of their minds that this attack had been orchestrated by Zephyr.
After all, aside from what the Government kept in reserve, Zephyr was the only one in the world who still possessed Dyna Stone.
Who else could it be? Who else would dare?
"But our primary target right now is Ian."
The skeletal horse, Nusjuro, said coldly, "Even if we deal with Zephyr, it must wait until after Ian is eliminated."
"So that's Zephyr's plan, isn't it?"
Mars snarled. "He thinks that since our main focus is on Ian, he can run wild as he pleases?"
"But right now, Ian must be handled first."
Warcury growled. "As much as it pains me, we'll have to put Zephyr aside for now."
Even though Mary Geoise had been attacked…
Even though countless Celestial Dragons had perished…
Even though among the dead were many of their own kin…
The Five Elders did not hesitate for a single moment.
The dignity of the Celestial Dragons was important, but the rule of the World Government was even more important.
The NEO Marines posed a great threat, but the true power capable of shaking the World Government's rule was the Beasts Pirates.
The terrorist attack that took place in Mary Geoise could never be hidden.
The mushroom cloud caused by the explosion was clearly visible even from the Sabaody Archipelago.
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