Mars's Observation Haki showed him a terrifying future—his own death. Dread flooded his heart.
He wrapped his fists in Haoshoku and Armament Haki and swung wildly behind him at Marco, bellowing, "Let go of me, you lowly ant!"
The blow was as fast as lightning and slammed hard into Marco. Pain shot through Marco's body, but he endured it, lips curling in disdain as he laughed madly. "Die! Super Spiral Burning Cannon!"
Boom boom boom—
Before he even finished, a violent torrent of Black Flame erupted from Marco's arm, surging straight into Mars's body.
A spiral-shaped Black Flame shockwave detonated inside Saint Mars's chest, then burst out through his back, hurling him down toward Egghead Island's surface.
In an instant, with Marco at the center, the ground began to spiderweb and split. Black flame spewed from the widening fissures like something from the end of the world, a sight so terrifying it seemed to swallow the island.
In the distance, Nusjuro saw it all. His expression changed drastically, and he rushed toward Marco without a second thought, completely ignoring Big Mom.
"Stop! Your opponent is me!" Big Mom yelled when she noticed Nusjuro heading straight for Marco.
Even so, a secret sense of relief rose in her heart. Faced with such a monster who had just shattered her defenses with ease, she truly had no desire to clash with him again.
So she only moved at an unhurried pace, trailing behind Nusjuro.
"Cough… cough…" Mars's chest had been blown through, and the agony, coupled with the looming shadow of death, doubled his terror.
In that life-or-death moment, he almost forgot he could use telepathy to call for help. Or perhaps the pain was simply too intense for him to focus enough to cast it. All he could do was scream instinctively and desperately, "Stop! Let me go! I can make you a World Noble; I can even give you the position of Gorosei, cough cough cough..."
Hearing Mars's plea, the contempt in Marco's eyes only deepened. He replied lazily, "Hey, hey, hey, this is way too pathetic, don't you think, Saint Mars…"
"Saint Mars…!" The Marine soldiers, witnessing the scene, panicked and tried to rush forward, but the Phoenix Pirates held the line and blocked them completely.
Farther away, Warcury's face went dark as ink. He understood he couldn't bypass Kaido to save Mars.
Kaido watched, the corners of his mouth tugging upward in approval. "Worororo, nicely done, Marco…" At the same time, a wild urge surged within him—he wanted to kill a Gorosei too.
Especially Warcury standing before him. Without question, Warcury was the strongest opponent Kaido had faced since awakening his Devil Fruit.
Kaido glared at him and sneered, "Now I've more or less figured out how to break your so-called immortality. Don't you dare bore me."
"Hmph. So what if you've figured out how to break my immortality? Insects are still insects…" A chilling killing intent flashed through Warcury's eyes.
He realized he had become Kaido's whetstone. At first, Kaido's Conqueror's Haki infusion couldn't harm him at all, but as the fight dragged on, Kaido's haoshoku grew sharper—and more accurately, he had mastered the technique to actually injure him.
A trace of fear stirred in Warcury's heart. Fortunately, his defense was monstrous. After using God's Blood, all his attributes had been greatly enhanced. Even if Kaido shattered his immortality, defeating him outright would be nearly impossible.
And at any time, he could return to the Holy Land via the teleportation array.
With that thought, the brief panic that had arisen vanished completely.
Yes… the Gorosei had lived too long, sitting too high above for too long. Even though his raw strength slightly surpassed Kaido's, he had long since lost the drive to fight these "insects" to the bitter end.
At that moment, Marco's Haoshoku overflowed, suppressing Mars completely and leaving him no chance to activate the teleportation array. Marco's voice turned cold. "As one of the lofty Gorosei—the highest authority in the world—and you even call yourselves 'gods,' then don't disgrace yourself like this. Even in death, at least try to show some dignity."
"Stop!" A furious roar thundered from afar as Nusjuro charged forward.
Marco's gaze sharpened. He ignored Nusjuro entirely. Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his fist again and drove it straight down toward Saint Mars's head.
"Stop! "Nusjuro's eyes went bloodshot, his voice cracking with rage and helplessness as he watched Marco's fist descend.
With a deafening bang, Saint Mars's head burst like a smashed watermelon. Red blood and white brain matter splattered everywhere, an appalling scene that froze everyone in place.
No one could find their voice. Nusjuro's pupils shrank to pinpoints. Through his Observation Haki, he clearly felt Saint Mars's life force plummet and then vanish completely.
Saint Marcus Mars—his colleague of several hundred years, one of the supposedly immortal Gorosei—had died just like that.
Marco slowly stood up. His gaze was hard as steel as he looked down at the headless corpse and said coldly, "Now he shouldn't be able to resurrect anymore." But to be safe, let's cremate the body too."
Before the words fully left his mouth, the Black Flames around him surged, engulfing Saint Mars's corpse and devouring it in a violent blaze.
At that moment, the system's mechanical voice echoed in his mind:
"Defeated one of the Gorosei, Saint Marcus Mars. Reward: 10,000 attribute points."
"Killed one of the Gorosei, Saint Marcus Mars. Reward: 10,000 attribute points."
The two notifications stacked; 20,000 attribute points were added. He now held a total of 23,000.
Staring at the 23,000 points, Marco hesitated, debating whether to allocate them immediately.
As long as he distributed them, even if he couldn't break through to the strong king level, his strength would still skyrocket.
Besides, every Gorosei he killed would net him another 20,000 points. Once he repelled the Marines and all the Gorosei, that would be another 10,000, and then he could further upgrade his Haki.
With that in mind, Marco opened his status panel to see where his six attributes needed boosting.
Name: Marco
Age: 43
Attribute Points: 23,000
Devil Fruit: Zoan-type – Phoenix Form (Awakened)
Devil Fruit Awakening Ability: Flames of Destruction
Haki: Armament Haki (Top), Observation Haki (Top), Haoshoku (Legendary)
Rokushiki Techniques:
Soru (Top), Rankyaku (Advanced), Geppo/Moonwalk (Advanced), Tekkai (Top), Shigan (Advanced), Kami-e (Advanced)
Strength: 42,054
Speed: 24,900
Defense: 13,800
Recovery: 60,000
Stamina: 25,100
Spirit: 18,300
System Combat Power Evaluation: King Level.
Examining my six attributes, I found defense at the bottom, with mental power just above it. I really needed to raise those two—especially mental power.
In the earlier clash with Mars, Marco had been constantly unleashing high-intensity Haoshoku Haki to suppress Mars's immortality, and he could feel his Conqueror's Haki draining at an alarming rate.
"Ant… how dare you…" Nusjuro's bloodshot eyes trembled with rage. Saint Mars had been his companion for hundreds of years. They, the Gorosei, were beings second only to Imu-sama in this world—the only ones granted immortality and eternal life. Like Imu-sama, they believed themselves the true gods of this world.
Marco looked at Nusjuro and sneered. "What's with that face? When it comes to Celestial Dragons, I've already killed quite a few. You're just a little stronger than those Celestial Dragons."
Feeling deeply insulted, Saint Nusjuro snapped, "How dare you compare us to those wastes!"
Marco raised an eyebrow, a little surprised, then mocked, "So even among Celestial Dragons, there's a hierarchy of who looks down on who."
He added, voice flat, "Still, even Celestial Dragons with immortality bleed red and die the same. No different from the other Celestial Dragons—or any ordinary person."
"Arrogant…" Nusjuro roared. Being compared to ordinary Celestial Dragons had already driven him into a fury. After all, Celestial Dragons had their own ranks, and they, the Gorosei, stood beneath one person and above billions.
In their eyes, ordinary celestial dragons were barely better than insects.
Nusjuro's face grew grim. Right now, he didn't dare act rashly. Marco's strength was on a completely different level from Big Mom's; the gap between them was vast.
Big Mom hadn't even been able to wound him, much less kill him. But Marco was different. Even after Mars had used God's blood to force his power beyond its limits, he had still been killed by Marco.
"H-How is this possible? Saint Mars actually…" Watching Mars's corpse burn, the Marines' morale crashed yet again.
Saint Nusjuro had already activated their internal telepathic link. "Everyone, bad news. Saint Mars has fallen. He was killed by Phoenix."
At his words, not only Warcury but also Saint Peter and Saint Saturn in the laboratory were shaken. "How could that be possible…"
"Marco's strength has exceeded our expectations." Nusjuro stared solemnly at Marco across from him. He truly didn't dare make a careless move now.
"Though I hate to admit it, Marco's strength is terrifying. He's reached the level Rocks once had—no, he's already surpassed Rocks. Even in our current state, in a one-on-one, we probably can't beat him."
Then he asked bluntly, "Peter, Saturn, have you still not dealt with Vegapunk?"
Saturn replied with a trace of helplessness, "We were blocked by the Seraphim and three commanders. We've already taken down two Seraphim. Give us a bit more time and we can finish all of them."
Not wanting to face Marco alone, Saint Nusjuro said heavily, "The situation is very unfavorable for us. Marco has killed Saint Mars, and the balance of power on our side is now skewed. We may need to report this to Imu-sama."
"Agreed…" The other three Gorosei immediately gave their consent.
At that moment, Big Mom arrived as well. Seeing Mars dead at Marco's hands, she let out a ferocious laugh. "Mama mama mama mama! You're really something, Marco! To take down a Gorosei so fast, you truly are my son-in-law!"
Marco rolled his eyes at her trying to snatch some credit but didn't bother replying. Instead, he fixed Saint Nusjuro with a cold stare and sneered, "Now it's just you. After I finish you, I'll go after the rest of the Gorosei one by one."
"Mama, mama, mama, mama, you're up against the two of us now, you know." With Marco taking point, Big Mom's courage swelled, and she laughed viciously. "Since you cut me just now, I'll definitely take all your lifespan. I really wonder how much lifespan you Gorosei have! They say from the moment the World Government was founded eight hundred years ago, you five have always been the same—your appearances never changing at all. That's why the world believes the Celestial Dragons are gods."
"Let me see just how much lifespan you really have!"
"Hmph. Mere insect, daring to be arrogant before me…" He truly didn't take Big Mom seriously, but Marco was a different story. Marco was troublesome. He immediately sent out another telepathic message: "Peter, hurry and support me. I'm facing both Marco and Big Mom right now. It's difficult to handle alone."
In the laboratory, Saint Peter and Saint Saturn exchanged glances. Then, a magic circle lit up beneath Saint Peter's feet.
Seeing this, Vista and the others were alarmed. The Gorosei's powers were strange and unpredictable. But a heartbeat later, Saint Peter vanished from sight.
"He disappeared," Jozu gasped.
"Hmph. Insects. Dealing with you, I alone am more than enough." Saint Saturn's gaze was indifferent. These people didn't even have Haoshoku Haki and couldn't truly injure him, so he naturally didn't take them seriously.
A teleportation magic circle then appeared beside Nusjuro, and Peter stepped out of it.
"What?" Big Mom's face darkened at the sudden appearance of another Gorosei. How had another one arrived so fast?
Nusjuro said coldly, "Peter, hold Marco for a while. After I kill Big Mom, we'll deal with Marco together."
At his words, Peter gave a slight nod. Big Mom, however, wasn't having it. She immediately bolted to Marco's side to avoid a frontal strike from Nusjuro, shouting, "Marco, you deal with this bald guy! His ability really counters me too much!"
Marco was a little speechless. He understood it wasn't really about "countering"—it was a pure difference in strength. Nusjuro had king-level strength, while Big Mom was only at Weak Yonko level: an entire major tier below.
Back at Marineford, Marco—then at Strong Yonko Commander level—had been badly beaten by Akainu, who stood at the Strong Admiral level, completely outmatched. Big Mom facing Saint Nusjuro now was just like Marco facing Akainu back then.
Even if the Gorosei's power had been artificially boosted by that so-called God's blood and felt somewhat illusory, it was still not something an ordinary Yonko like Big Mom could contend with.
But there was no helping it. Weaker or not, she was still part of the Three Emperors Alliance, ranked No. 3. Aside from her, no one else here could even try to hold a Gorosei back.
Marco nodded. "Alright. But the other Gorosei are all very strong too, so be careful."
Big Mom only bared her teeth in a vicious grin. In her view, this sandworm, Gorosei, should be the weakest anyway. Back on Whole Cake Island, even her son Katakuri could boast. "Mama mama mama mama! Who do you think I am?"
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