For a moment, the blood of everyone on deck burned.
Every pair of eyes became blazing and sharp once more.
The assurance Lucian wanted—
He had it.
So he gave a slight nod.
Beneath the mask, he smiled silently, a trace of amusement lingering.
He said nothing more.
In a tone that simply stated a fact, crisp and decisive, he spoke three words.
"Alright then."
His voice wasn't loud.
Everyone froze.
That… was it?
He agreed just like that?
It happened so fast that no one could react in time.
And Lucian gave them no chance to.
The instant the words left his lips, his feet lifted lightly from the deck.
He rose straight upward into the sky.
Just as everyone thought he would turn and leave immediately, Lucian stopped directly above the warship.
He slowly raised his right hand, palm facing downward.
The next second—
A miracle descended.
Hummm—!!!
A semi-transparent barrier expanded from his palm.
Pure golden energy formed it, clearer than glass yet radiating the heat of a miniature sun.
Like an upside-down bowl, it formed instantly.
The shield extended downward at an unimaginable speed.
In the blink of an eye—
It fell into place.
The entire massive warship—and dozens of meters of surrounding sea—were perfectly enclosed.
Not a gap.
Not a flaw.
Everyone on deck, including Rocks' parents, stared upward with mouths agape.
Their minds blank.
Then Lucian's voice drifted down from the sky.
Soft—but perfectly clear to every ear.
"Although I trust your strength… just in case…"
"This barrier will last until you reach the Lulusia Kingdom."
"Ordinary people… Admirals and the like definitely won't break it."
His tone remained calm.
What did he mean by "ordinary people"?
On these seas, Marine Admirals were considered ordinary?
No one dared ask.
But everyone heard absolute dominance in those words.
To him, the world's strongest meant nothing.
This flawless arrangement—nothing short of divine—removed their final worry.
They gazed up at the golden figure suspended in the sky, eyes filled with awe and gratitude.
Only now did they understand.
The man Rocks had brought back…
Wasn't just a powerful brother.
He was a god walking among mortals.
Having finished everything, Lucian did not linger.
He turned sharply in midair, facing the direction of God Valley—the land consumed by war and killing intent.
In that instant, his aura changed completely.
The earlier indifference, amusement, and calm vanished.
In their place surged a cold killing intent capable of freezing time itself—
And supreme divine authority.
BOOM—!!!
Golden light erupted from his body, brighter than the sun a million times over.
The next second—
At the core of that light, Lucian transformed into a streak of golden radiance.
So fast the eyes could not follow.
He tore open a vacuum tunnel through the atmosphere, stretching thousands of meters ahead.
Where the streak passed, space itself screamed and warped.
A long golden trail cut across the heavens, splitting sky and sea apart.
The blazing streak shot opposite the warship's course—
Straight back toward the hellish battlefield known as God Valley.
Everyone aboard the ship stared blankly at the golden meteor streaking against the horizon.
Like divine judgment descending upon the world.
The sky-tearing roar still echoed in their ears.
The afterimage of endless light still burned in their vision.
Time seemed to stretch infinitely.
Even after the golden miracle disappeared beyond the horizon, silence lingered on deck.
After a long while—
Gulp.
Rocks' father swallowed heavily, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Rocks… my son…"
"What kind of 'brother'… have you befriended…?"
…
Meanwhile—
God Valley.
The battlefield's core.
The battle had entered its fiercest stage.
History had taken a different turn here.
The Rocks Pirates, who should have been steadily crushed under the siege, had stabilized their footing through Rocks' early return and his reckless, death-defying combat style.
"Zehahahahaha! Is this all the Navy can do?!"
Covered in blood, Rocks roared with laughter.
His blade swung wide and fierce; every strike carried devastating Conqueror's Haki, forcing the two legendary figures opposing him to retreat and avoid his edge.
Elsewhere—
A young Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, wielded his naginata.
Each tremor from his weapon shattered the earth itself.
He alone held back multiple Vice Admirals and World Government elites.
Golden Lion Shiki.
Kaido.
Charlotte Linlin.
Across different battlefields, the future Emperors of the sea rampaged in their youth like unleashed beasts, pouring out their power across the island.
Pirates and Marines fell in heaps.
War cries, cannon fire, and Devil Fruit clashes formed a symphony of apocalypse.
Just as the battle reached its most critical moment, with everyone fighting like mad—
Suddenly.
Rocks, still laughing wildly, sensed something terrifying.
Garp.
Roger.
And every fighter possessing Observation Haki…
All stopped moving at the same instant.
A chill crawled up everyone's spine.
Without thinking, they all looked toward the island's center.
Something…
Was coming.
The moment that presence appeared, every person on the island felt their minds seized by an invisible hand.
Breathing itself became difficult.
"What is that?!"
Golden Lion Shiki shouted, his arrogance replaced by fear for the first time.
"S-so terrifying… that aura…"