While the massive Sea Kings sped toward Fish-Man Island, within the endless darkness of the deep sea, a crimson glow suddenly lit up.
Then more appeared. And more.
Dense, countless crimson lights spread across the Red Line directly beneath Mariejois and covered the surroundings of Fish-Man Island.
Looking closely, those crimson lights were scorching streams of flowing magma hidden beneath the seabed, waiting to erupt...
* * *
Ten thousand meters beneath the sea, Fish-Man Island.
Ten minutes before the crimson lights illuminated the entire underwater world red, inside the Mermaid Cafe, the owner quietly sat behind the counter reading.
She was the once-famous fortune teller of Fish-Man Island, the mermaid respectfully known as Madam Shyarly. As she grew older, because she repeatedly foresaw disasters and misfortune, she gradually gave up fortune-telling and focused entirely on running the cafe.
But just moments ago, Shyarly suddenly felt unbearable pain explode through her head. She screamed miserably and collapsed onto the floor, rolling in agony as the nearby mermaids panicked and rushed to call for a doctor.
Meanwhile, the Shyarly writhing on the ground continuously saw visions inside her mind.
Fish-Man Island.
Sea Kings thousands of meters long.
And endless magma swallowing everything...
Enduring the unbearable pain, Shyarly trembled violently as she struggled to speak. "Quick... quick... escape Fish-Man Island... hurry… AHHHH!!!!"
The overwhelming pain directly caused her to lose consciousness as her life force slowly faded away.
She had literally died from the agony...
This sudden disaster stunned the entire population of Fish-Man Island, including Issho, who had already removed his Marine uniform, and Jinbe of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
The two immediately spread out their Observation Haki and repeatedly searched the entire island, yet found nothing unusual.
Until the temperature across Fish-Man Island began rapidly rising.
Even inside the giant protective bubble, parts of the ground started cracking apart, exposing flowing magma beneath. Only then did they realize what kind of prophecy had caused Madam Shyarly to die from pain.
A terrifying sense of death enveloped Jinbe, and he no longer dared imagine what would happen next.
"How can there be so many magma fissures?!"
Beside him, Issho's expression completely darkened as he said, "Go find King Neptune and calm the residents."
The hidden magma flowing beneath the entire underwater world...
There was only one person capable of such a thing.
Issho tightly gripped the sword hidden within his cane and bent slightly as his ability activated. A purple ring of energy instantly spread across the island and wrapped around the enormous bubble surrounding Fish-Man Island.
Taking a deep breath, he roared.
"Rise!!!!"
The entire Fish-Man Island shook violently as the enormous island slowly began lifting upward.
At the same time, Issho used his power to forcefully compress the magma fissures within the island, sealing them shut one after another. Carefully controlling his power, he maintained the integrity of the enormous bubble surrounding Fish-Man Island while slowly lifting the island upward.
But what happened next caused cold sweat to pour down his face.
From the upper northwest of Fish-Man Island, several abyss-like presences suddenly entered Issho's perception.
They were not powerful humans. They were boundless monsters...
ROOOOAR!!!
One of the Sea Kings, whose mouth was unimaginably enormous, opened its jaws wide enough to swallow all of Fish-Man Island in a single bite. It caught the rising island within its mouth while several other colossal beasts protected it and swam outward.
Seeing that these giant creatures held no hostility, Issho finally let out a slight breath of relief.
Sizzle!!!
But in the very next instant, a sound like burning iron plunging into cold water echoed through the sea.
From the endless crimson fissures across the ocean floor, magma violently erupted upward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
Gigantic magma swords burst forth like a forest of blades. They pierced straight through the bodies of those massive Sea Kings, pierced through the lower jaw of the giant-mouthed creature, and pierced directly through the Fish-Man Island trapped within its mouth...
Issho slowly lowered the sword cane in his hand.
He knew everything was over.
The bubble had been pierced. Endless seawater pressure and monstrous waves instantly rushed in. At a depth of ten thousand meters beneath the sea, nobody could survive.
Especially not with those erupting magma blades about to explode...
A trace of guilt rose within him.
Perhaps Fish-Man Island had suffered this disaster because he left the Marines.
But then another thought surfaced.
The magma sword piercing through the giant-mouthed Sea King had targeted the Ryugu Palace directly.
Was there something there...?
Yet there was no longer any time to think.
Issho slowly turned his head and gazed toward the depths of the seabed. Although he could not sense Sakazuki's presence, that direction was filled entirely with magma connected to the Red Line itself.
A quiet sigh escaped his lips. "Was this truly necessary… Fleet Admiral Sakazuki..."
The moment his words fell, the endless tsunami swallowed Issho's figure and destroyed all of Fish-Man Island.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The magma swords piercing the supermassive Sea Kings exploded violently.
The magma expanded madly and devoured everything around it. Scorching lava turned the deep ocean into a boiling inferno.
Everywhere the eye could see was annihilated...
* * *
Deep beneath the planet's core, through the magma, Sakazuki sensed every presence disappear completely.
Merged within the lava itself, he controlled the magma gathered from the New World's underground veins and compressed it toward a single point.
His indifferent voice echoed through the depths.
"A futile struggle..."
Nobody knew whether he referred to Issho's attempt to lift the island, the Sea Kings desperately trying to save their king, or the powerless final resistance of the mermaid princess bearing the title of "god," who unleashed immense energy at the very end.
Because… no one could escape from Sakazuki's grasp...
* * *
Everything happening ten thousand meters beneath the sea did not affect the world's flow.
Far above the ocean depths, the raging sea continued roaring as violently as ever. Meanwhile, atop the towering Red Line that pierced the clouds, the war still raged fiercely.
At the ruins of Fish-Man Island, gigantic magma pillars extended upward from deep within the planet's core. From afar, they resembled a forest of fiery columns connected to the underside of the Red Line.
Magma continuously surged upward through these pillars before splitting apart in a fan-like spread.
The magma guided here by Sakazuki through the planet's underground veins gathered at this location.
The magma capable of destroying the entire New World was now pouring into the Red Line and climbing upward… just like what happened at God Valley back then…
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