The two-kilometer, half-dome ROOM looked like a tiny air bubble propping up a boulder when set against Fish-Man Island's titanic mass. It seemed it could burst at any moment.
But when the island—falling with world-shaking force—hit the ROOM, there was no earth-splitting boom. Only a soft pop, as if a pebble had dropped into the sea.
However—
The entire ROOM and the sea within it sank by dozens of meters. Inside, Creed grunted; his face went a shade paler.
If not for the long slugfest with Big Mom, if he hadn't burned through so much stamina, he could have expanded ROOM at least twice more and caught Fish-Man Island without breaking a sweat.
That battle had drained him. The first impact nearly knocked him out of stance; even his lifted forefinger—his "command finger"—was being pressed downward by invisible weight.
"ROOM!"
He bit down, cheeks flushing, and forced his forefinger up again.
The sea inside the ROOM answered.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Water surged, condensing into a host of roaring dragons that slammed up beneath the island, bracing it by sheer mass and momentum.
Crack.
The island's plunge jolted to a halt; countless sheets of the outer ice buffer shattered and avalanched down.
Good thing he'd sheathed the island in that Hyō no Ken (Ice Sword Intent) earlier; the buffer reduced destructive shear. Even so, half the shell fractured away under the stress.
The dull, grinding thunder continued. The island kept pressing down.
Fish-Man Island was gargantuan, layered and tiered into multiple zones. Who could even count how many tens of millions of tons it weighed? Without the Ope Ope no Mi (Op-Op Fruit), even Creed couldn't have bled off that monstrous momentum safely.
It had to be said: Shiki's Fuwa Fuwa no Mi (Float-Float Fruit) was broken beyond reason. Rumor had it he'd kept more than a dozen islands aloft for years.
"ROOM!"
Veins stood on Creed's brow. He snapped his finger upward—his ROOM instantly expanded to more than four kilometers.
Under extreme load, something in his fruit power, which had felt stuck for a while, seemed to loosen.
"Hah!"
In the next heartbeat, the whole island slid three kilometers sideways and settled over a field of hidden reefs.
"—Down."
A long moment later, Fish-Man Island came to a steady rest, anchored on the reefs.
Thanks to the ice cladding, the island's structures were largely intact.
"Whew."
Creed finally let out the breath he'd been holding. Relief unfurled in his chest.
He was spent—limbs heavy, clothes plastered with sweat, stamina all but gone.
A flash—and he shot upward as light, returning to the island's upper levels.
Click.
A news gull snapped shut its surveillance den-den mushi and winged into the sky.
It had caught everything.
In Ryugu Palace above, cheers erupted like surf. Fish-Man Island had landed on the sea without shattering.
A cold gleam traced the sky; from it, Aokiji's body re-formed and dropped down.
With Shiki's help, Katakuri had pulled out from Aokiji's grasp; the Admiral was not happy about that. On the way back he'd seen Fish-Man Island plummeting from over ten thousand meters and felt a stab of panic—he'd been too far to intervene. Seeing Creed yank the island back from disaster let him finally breathe.
"I really got careless this time… If millions on Fish-Man Island had died because of this, I'd have no right to call myself an Admiral."
The thought made him cold with aftershock.
As Creed returned, the island's cheering swelled tenfold. People pumped their fists, chanting his name like he was a triumphant war hero.
From the streets and squares, fish-folk and merfolk surged toward Ryugu Palace, their voices rolling like waves, desperate to see their savior with their own eyes.
"You holding up?"
Redfield glanced at Creed's pale face and asked in a low voice.
"Creed!"
Ain barreled into him, throwing her arms around him. That moment—watching an entire island fall—had nearly stopped her heart. Now pride warmed her chest: to her, Creed was a great hero.
"Eeeh—!"
Falkor hopped over, chirping about how amazing "Master" was. A moment later the little rascal stuck out a paw for a vanilla cake, betraying its true motive as always.
The kid was getting craftier by the day.
"This time, we owe everything to Lord Creed. Fish-Man Island lives because of you. Words can't carry this debt—please accept Neptune's bow!"
Neptune hurried in with his princes and ministers. The moment they reached Creed, they dropped to their knees in unison, foreheads lowering in heartfelt gratitude.
Without Creed, Fish-Man Island would have been pulverized; fish-folk and merfolk alike would have faced extinction.
A debt beyond price—Neptune had no idea how to repay it.
"Please, rise. I only did what I could. No need for this."
Creed hastened to lift them. Other than enemies, he never liked people kneeling to him.
Aokiji looked out beyond the palace at the ocean of residents chanting Creed's name. His heart stirred despite himself.
Maybe Creed's justice and his own… overlapped more than he'd thought.
"Vice Admiral Ain, you're Navy. How can you embrace a pirate? Are you trying to become a traitor?"
A furious voice cut in from the side.
One of the two "CP0" agents—the fat one—glared at Ain and Creed, eyes burning. They'd hesitated earlier, wary of Creed and Redfield, but once Aokiji was back, their courage returned. Navy and pirates together? Outrage!
"Vice Admiral Ain, remember who you are. Repent now—arrest Creed and the rest—and you can still atone—ugh!"
The thin one tried to pile on.
They'd spilled Poseidon's secret under Shiki's torture—that Shirahoshi was the Ancient Weapon. That alone was a death sentence. To claw back a sliver of life, they were trying to muddy the water by pinning everything on Ain.
But Neptune and his people would hear none of it. A storm of boos slammed into the pair, with more than a few "damned CP0!" shouts that made their legs wobble. They scuttled toward Aokiji for cover. "Admiral Aokiji! We're CP0—"
"Impersonating CP0 is a grave crime."
Frost blasted out from Aokiji's hand. In an instant, both were blocks of ice.
(End of Chapter)
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