Lightning serpents slithered through the thunderclouds above—dense, intertwining flashes of silver. That previous strike… had merely been a taste of true power.
Hidden within the clouds, invisible to all below, the silver serpents converged, devouring and merging with one another—brewing an even greater, more terrifying force.
Beneath the storm-filled heavens—
As the thunderlight faded, the Marines draped in justice could no longer hold their ground. Even the ultimate technique, Life Return, could not mend their broken bodies.
And yet—Through sheer willpower alone, Vice Admiral Onigumo twisted his twin blades once more, shredding his opponent's insides before wrenching the swords free.
A spray of blood painted the dirt crimson. He staggered back, the grim determination on his face slowly giving way to elation.
His sharp, pride-filled eyes locked onto the dying enemy before him.
"Don't underestimate the Navy… you brat!"
Coughing up blood mixed with bits of organs, Onigumo believed he had won.
But the reply that came was calm—so calm it froze the world.
"I have never underestimated any opponent… just as I was fully aware of your strength."
Ren ignored his wounds entirely. A golden light shone in his palm as he brushed it across his abdomen.
A golden sigil appeared—forming the shape of a radiant clock.It flickered—
And the fatal wound vanished without a trace, just like the sword that had once pierced through his chest.
"You… you're not the real body, are you?"
Onigumo's face darkened instantly, his gaze falling to Ren's wrist. The Seastone handcuffs that had once bound him were gone.
That meant this one… wasn't the real body either.
Too terrifying. Not even a month ago, intelligence reports hadn't mentioned anything about this man using clones.
What kind of Devil Fruit power could produce such intricate ability development? Even the battle-hardened Onigumo found himself momentarily at a loss.
Especially since… he no longer had the strength left for a final attack. The fact that he was still standing was his last act of defiance.
"You're mistaken."
Ren shook his head slightly, as if about to continue—when suddenly, the earth trembled.
A violent quake, as if the very dragon beneath the land had turned in its sleep, tore across the entire Jaya Island.
From above, one could see the cause: the terrain itself was rising and reshaping. Jaya's earth—like a lump of clay—was being molded by invisible hands.
The lands near the shore shrank as rock encased them, while those near Mock Town swelled rapidly upward.
First, a bulge. Then—an enormous uplift.
Trees, mountains, even houses were carried up in a surge of rock and soil.
A hundred meters. Two hundred. Four hundred. Six hundred!
In the blink of an eye, a mountain towered beside Mock Town.
Boom—!
Massive stones tumbled down its slopes as the mountain continued to quake, shaking all of Jaya with it.
Then—The mountain moved.
In the next instant, it transformed into a towering Stone Giant.
Only its upper body emerged, yet even so, it loomed like a god above the town. Its rough-hewn features formed the visage of a stern-faced man wearing a cross-marked helmet.
"That's… Doflamingo's subordinate?!"
Vice Admiral Onigumo turned toward the sunlight-blocking colossus, his expression twisting in realization.
He'd been used.
No wonder that red-haired fool had been so "helpful."
Almost simultaneously,screams erupted across Mock Town.
"What is that thing?!"
"Run! It has to be a Devil Fruit user!"
"Damn it! Why are they fighting near our homes?!"
"My mortgage was just paid off!"
"Mommy—!"
The terrified crowd scattered like ants, panic surging through the streets.
They'd seen pirate fights before—They knew Devil Fruit users existed.
The ones near the tavern had run at the first sign of battle.
But none had ever witnessed this kind of power.
A six-hundred-meter-tall half-bodied giant…To it, humans were mere ants—fragile and insignificant.
One sweep of its arm, and Mock Town would vanish from the map.
At that moment—the Saruyama Alliance appeared, swiftly guiding the townsfolk to safety.
They didn't bother with the pirates.
That brief window of time existed—for Pica's power took a few moments to fully awaken.
Just as in the original timeline, when Luffy and the others had still managed to run for a while.
Of course, Ren had no intention of fleeing.
Pica, huh? Looks like Monet was telling the truth. But it's not Doflamingo himself? Then again, I did tell them to leak the information in a way that wouldn't look too deliberate. It's only natural for that dim-witted "Young Master" to see through such bait. The Navy's intel likely came from him too. Still… things are unfolding exactly as planned. Aside from one major variable—there've even been some unexpected gains.
Ren stood tall, blade in hand, coldly watching the moving giant.
Vice Admiral Onigumo was only a short distance away, yet Ren didn't strike. The sudden change of events had frozen even him in place.
All intentional.
"Fufufufu—!"
A shrill, grating laugh echoed above Mock Town.
The stone giant looked down at the minuscule Marines and prey beneath him with scorn.
"You Navy fools think too highly of yourselves! In the end, it's always me who cleans up the mess. No matter—today, you all die here!
Weaklings… feel the difference between yourselves and the world!"
There was no negotiation—Only the cold declaration of death.
The giant raised its colossal fist—and brought it down upon them.
The fist was the size of a seven-story building, over twenty meters wide.Its descent cast a vast shadow over the town.
Air compressed before it, forming a visible shockwave—a mushroom-like cloud around the stone fist.
A literal fist of air.
The atmosphere quivered. The sheer pressure battered the ground even before impact.
In one second, the buildings cracked under the weight. In two, the colossal fist would strike. In two and a half—an earthquake.
The immense kinetic force would erupt outward as a shockwave, obliterating Mock Town and shaking half of Jaya Island.
A strike of natural disaster—devastation measured in kilometers.
Pica's pride—absolute power!
"Die!"
"Pica!!"
Onigumo's eyes bulged, fury and despair intermingling. His wounds were too severe—he couldn't move in time.
He turned instinctively toward Ren, desperate to see how this strange enemy would respond.
But—
Ren didn't dodge.
He simply stood there, gazing calmly at the descending fist.
Had he gone mad?
No.That man wasn't weak. A coward could never have pushed him this far.
A trick, then? Another clone?
Pica… you poor fool.
Onigumo's grimace softened into a bitter smile. Losing to a man like this… wasn't so shameful after all.
He only hoped someone could clean up the aftermath—and stop this monster's growth.
Boom—!
A deafening roar ripped through Mock Town.
Dust surged skyward as the shockwave blasted outward for a kilometer, flattening everything in its path.
In mere moments, Mock Town was gone.
Buildings, furniture, even the landscape itself were erased. Those few who had fled to the outskirts were still hurled dozens of meters by the sheer force.
"It's over."
Pica, encased within the stone giant, lifted his massive fist again.
Beneath it lay a massive crater—its edges rising in waves of shattered earth.The tavern was nothing but dust.Only drifting snowflakes swirled in the air above.
Surveying his handiwork, Pica's sharp eyes caught sight of two figures buried in the pit—The Vice Admiral, motionless. And the target—barely struggling to move.
So he thought he could endure it… only to realize how hopelessly outmatched he was.
There were always fools like that, Pica mused coldly.
Whoosh—!
Snow gathered into the shape of a woman—Monet.
Pica frowned slightly.
Monet didn't flee? No matter. Without Armament Haki, this attack wouldn't have hurt her anyway. Still, what's she doing? Why didn't she report when the target appeared? Did they make contact somewhere nearby? Tch. Playing word games again—how pointless. Hopefully that brat survives long enough for us to get intel about Red-Hair.
Canceling his power, the Stone Giant froze mid-motion. Pica's figure emerged from its head—sliding through rock as if through water.
The man himself was enormous—nearly five meters tall, his body built like a fortress. Even his golden helmet matched the stone giant's design—because the giant was modeled after him.
"Let's finish this. The Young Master overestimated him."
With that comically shrill voice, Pica leapt down from above.
But as the wind howled past his ears—his entire body stiffened.
Observation Haki screamed of imminent death.
From the thunderclouds above, countless silver serpents lit up the sky—a sea of lightning converging under divine command.
Ren floated high above, his left hand outstretched toward the stunned Pica.
Magic: Electrocution!
And with his right—he grasped the tail of a lightning bolt descending from the heavens.
Following the blazing tail upward, one could glimpse the searing light hidden within the storm—a force far greater than any mere thunderstorm.
Born of arcane magic and compounded energy traits, it had been condensing all this time—until now, when it became a blinding spear of lightning.
Smaller than the one used in Alabasta—but infinitely deadlier.
A weapon of annihilation.
The Spear of Divine Judgment.
It obeyed the will of its master—the hand of God himself.
"To the world—receive destruction!"
Ren's crimson eyes flared as he hurled the weapon.
Heaven's Wrath: Divine Judgment!
The sky ignited.
For an instant, the darkness turned white. The wind itself bent in reverence as lightning descended.
"You—"
Pica's screech caught in his throat. He only managed a single syllable before the blinding light consumed his vision.
A radiant pillar pierced the heavens—a divine sword of pure judgment.
BOOM—!
A monstrous thunderclap erupted as a lance of violet-white lightning tore through Pica's blackened form.
First second— the world was light.
Second— the roar followed, heralding ruin.
Two and a half— concentric shockwaves exploded outward along the strike's path, the sheer heat igniting the air into writhing fire dragons.
Third— the raging shockwave swept across Mock Town once again, flattening the ruins and tearing open the earth.
This time, nothing remained.
Three and a half—the aftermath surged skyward, ripping apart the storm clouds. Through the rift, sunlight poured down.
Ren looked through that light.
Compared to Alabasta's widespread devastation, this Divine Judgment had a smaller area—but it didn't need one. Against a single target, concentrated power was far more effective.
Especially when the enemy wielded Haki.
Lightning alone couldn't easily kill such opponents anymore—but Pica's mastery of Haki was far below Onigumo's. The sudden attack had left him defenseless.
Now, his eyes rolled white as his massive body plummeted, crashing into the ground and leaving a man-shaped crater.
Ren gazed at his fallen prey, a contemplative glint in his eyes.
"Space-Time: The Creator"—this card is far more useful than I imagined. The clone from "Space-Time: Twelve Hours" perfectly misled both Onigumo and Pica.Two crucial openings—both from misjudgment.
The difference between defending with Haki and without it… is vast.
The ability to shift injuries between selves lets me fight at full strength even after taking lethal hits.
The Twelve Hours clone can't survive death-level damage—but for me, actual death is nearly impossible.
The clone is a projection from my future timeline, naturally possessing all my abilities—including Breathing Regeneration.
That trait raises my injury tolerance exponentially. Most "fatal" wounds heal given enough time.
Essentially, my endurance has skyrocketed. Invisibility combined with the Arcane Ring… a fine synergy.
Then the only real issue left… is my own raw power.
Reflecting on the fight, Ren clearly saw his flaw—his physical might was lacking.
Against a Vice Admiral in pure melee, even one-on-one, he could still be fatally wounded.
"Time to move on to the next phase."
He exhaled a slow breath, watching the mist fade into the cooling air.
"But you really are terrifying… Kuzan."
(End of Chapter)