Holy Land Mary Geoise.
The world's number one holy land was still as picturesque as ever—flowers in full bloom, spotless and fragrant, thriving everywhere you looked.
But at this very moment, inside the World Government's headquarters, the atmosphere was murderous and oppressive—so heavy it was hard to breathe.
The news of the front's defeat and rout had already made its way back here, plunging all staff and high officials into an indescribable panic.
Anyone who understood the coalition's combat power knew exactly what this collapse meant.
This unprecedented campaign had mobilized seventy to eighty percent of the World Government's total strength, and even dispatched two top figures from CP0!
Yet the report that returned was brutal:
One of CP0's two giants was dead, the other was on the verge of death.
Of the Blood Shadow Five Blades, four had been lost.
Marine Admiral Sakazuki was dead!
And the Marines' elite fleet had been reduced by three-fifths!
But the enemy's high-end combat power… hadn't taken any losses at all!
With one side rising and the other falling, this meant that for a long time to come, the World Government would be unable to suppress Creed's alliance. They might not even be able to hold the Marines' New World headquarters—one day they could be forced to withdraw, slapping themselves in the face.
"I really didn't expect it… that he would grow to this extent," the First Elder said, brows knitted in worry.
Aegis, Shi, and Admiral Sakazuki had all been top-tier powerhouses on the same level as them.
Yet with the elders' side joining forces—plus the Blood Shadow Twin Blades—they still couldn't defeat Creed.
Creed was simply too monstrous… too invincible.
That kind of invincible bearing, in their entire lives, they'd only seen once before.
Imu.
"First Elder, are you regretting it?" the Second Elder asked, seeing his expression.
He remembered the day the order was given—decisive to the extreme, almost without hesitation.
Of course, the other four had also agreed unanimously: seize the Op-Op Fruit from Creed.
But now things had developed to this point—now it even endangered the World Government's rule.
They couldn't avoid re-examining that decision.
Yes.
In all their hearts, a thread of regret had begun to grow.
But so what?
That decision was like water already poured out—there was no taking it back. They could only keep walking down the path into darkness.
After all, Creed had even refused Imu-sama's offer of "World President," and refused without the slightest hesitation!
"At this point, the five of us old bones may have to move our bodies," the Third Elder said, rolling up his sleeves and shaking his fists—looking almost excited.
"Don't be impatient. First, watch what his next move is," the Fourth Elder said, telling them to calm down.
"The most important thing right now is to pacify the world's civilians. Losing the people's hearts is far more terrifying than Creed's rise."
The Fifth Elder, holding Shodai Kitetsu, stared forward with a sword-like gaze, flames seemingly leaping in his eyes.
"Once the people's hearts lose faith and start boiling, it won't be something you can soothe with a few words—or a bit of 'sweetness,'" the Second Elder shook his head, clearly feeling a headache coming on.
After the coalition's defeat, more than a dozen sizable disturbances had already erupted across the world.
Two small nations had even had their regimes overturned by the Revolutionary Army, and had now declared they were breaking away from the World Government.
As time went on, if the World Government couldn't respond appropriately, things might only spiral further.
Because now, everyone knew:
The World Government could no longer suppress the New World's number one Emperor!
"I have a proposal," the Third Elder said, slapping a secret report onto the table.
On the very first page was a large photograph of Ace.
"This is…?"
Since the report had been delivered first to the Third Elder—who specifically handled these matters—the other four hadn't seen it yet.
After they read through it, some of them actually sucked in a cold breath.
"So that's how it is… unbelievable…"
"In that case, Garp should be thrown into Impel Down! This is betrayal of the World Government!"
"The Garp family—there isn't a single good one among them!"
"No wonder he retired and went back to the East Blue to 'live out his old age,' yet still rushed here to meddle in this mess! That old undead bastard… he had schemes!"
"Yes! This great decisive battle—maybe he was already colluding with the enemy! He doesn't deserve the great title of Marine Hero!"
The Five Elders grew agitated, one after another.
The coalition's failure, the world's shaking regimes, and the emergence of an unprecedentedly powerful enemy had thrown even them into disarray—panic rising.
"What do you mean?" the First Elder stood up, pressing his hands downward to make the other four calm down, then looked at the Third Elder.
"Public execution at the New Marine Headquarters," the Third Elder spat out nine words.
The First Elder and the others fell silent again.
It was obvious.
The Third Elder refused to accept Creed's dominance—he still wanted to clash head-on.
"Fine. You set the time. This time, there can be no mistakes!" the First Elder said at last. After rubbing his forehead, he made the decision.
Then his voice turned icy.
"Before Imu-sama returns, it's best to extinguish that glaring lamp! Otherwise, the five of us… will have no good ending!"
"Yes!"
The other four answered in unison.
—
Whole Cake Island, Creed's residence.
Creed was alone in the house.
Ever since the great decisive battle ended, he'd shut himself inside.
Having extracted quite a few SSSS- grade sword intents, he decided to take advantage of this opportunity and fuse them into an SSSS-grade sword intent.
If possible…
He even wanted to fuse an SSSS+ grade sword intent.
Now that he had Killing Intent—an extremely powerful auxiliary that could amplify sword intent—raising the sword intent's grade was undeniably the smartest choice.
With an SSSS+ sword intent, plus the amplification from Killing Intent and Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki), Creed believed that even if Kaido's defense was absurdly strong, he could still cut him down with a single slash.
Of course, before that, he needed to open the purple treasure chests he'd obtained.
He had killed two Blood Shadows and gained two purple chests.
Falkor had defeated one.
Trafalgar Law and the others had teamed up to defeat one.
As for the two unlucky bastards who were captured, Creed had immediately knocked them out with his Rinnegan, taking the purple treasure chests from their bodies.
So now, there were four purple treasure chests in total.
Though what Creed truly wanted were purple-gold treasure chests, the contents of purple chests were still extremely valuable to him right now.
So when it came to opening them…
He was still feeling a bit of anticipation—just a bit of excitement.
(End of Chapter)
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