BOOM!!
Gan Sui's body crashed down like a meteorite, slamming heavily into the center of the plaza right before the eyes of Rocks and the others.
The massive plaza instantly caved in more than ten meters deep.
The bluestone paving rolled and fractured like waves, sending shockwaves in all directions.
"Hey, hey, hey! This commotion is a bit too much. Newgate, Shiki! What are you two just standing there for? Do you want to see half the island destroyed?"
Rocks shielded his eyes with his hand, squinting at the sky above while grumbling.
"Troublesome brat, causing trouble the moment he arrives! And I have to be the one to clean up his mess."
Golden Lion Shiki, with a dark and displeased expression, flew in the sky and reached out toward the dust-filled plaza, clenching his hand in the air.
"Float!"
A massive, invisible force instantly radiated outward from him as the center.
Wherever the invisible force reached, the countless fragments of rock kicked up by the giant bird's wings and Gan Sui's impact immediately stopped flying outward.
They all eerily and abruptly suspended in mid-air.
Then, as Golden Lion closed his fingers...
Countless Rocks flew back, colliding at a single point in mid-air with a series of bangs.
A string of booming sounds continued for over ten seconds.
A sphere of rock over ten meters in diameter appeared in the air, floating out of thin air in front of Golden Lion.
With a casual wave of his hand, the stone sphere landed lightly on the ground.
After completing this shocking feat, Golden Lion looked displeasedly at the motionless Whitebeard.
"Hey! Newgate! Why didn't you step in just now?"
"Since you acted, wouldn't it be redundant for me to act as well? Besides, my ability isn't suited for preventing destruction."
Whitebeard remained calm and composed, ignoring his irritation.
"Bastard! Making laziness sound so noble!" Golden Lion snapped.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma, what a huge bird! What form is that? Is that the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit that navy brat stole? Dammit! I was just thinking about making that kid hand it over for Katakuri to eat."
Charlotte Linlin looked at the sky, a look of regret on her face.
She looked at Rocks in front of her, "Rocks! Do you know what fruit that is?"
Rocks paused for a moment, seemingly in thought.
Before long, he said in a deep voice, "It seems to be the Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Garuda Model."
"As expected, you are very knowledgeable. Is it strong? This fruit." Gloriosa comforted the Pink Snake wrapped around her waist, which was trembling for some reason, and asked with curiosity.
Rocks shook his head: "I'm not entirely sure, but then again, which Mythical Zoan isn't strong? After all, the news said it's worth one billion berries."
"one billion berries! And he just ate it like that? If it were sold, how much money would that be!" Wang Zhi lamented, slapping his thigh.
Listening to the discussion around him, Whitebeard twitched the corner of his mouth and looked at the large pit ahead, "By the way, aren't any of you concerned about whether Gan Sui is dead or alive?"
As he spoke...
In the sky above, the clouds churned.
A divine bird, pure gold in color, spread its wings, parting the sea of clouds ten thousand meters high as it descended, its figure gradually growing larger in everyone's eyes.
The massive shadow enveloped the entirety of Hachinosu, causing no small amount of panic.
Pirates all over the island looked up at the sky, watching the divine bird with a hundred-meter wingspan descend from the heavens to the mortal world, their hearts filled with shock and awe.
Amidst the ruins of broken houses, Maron stood with one foot on the dying Kaido, looking up in astonishment at the growing golden divine bird above.
"To be precise, what is that giant bird? Did that kid just transform into it? Did he... defeat Gan Sui?"
Kaido, with Maron's foot on his back, tried to crawl up but found it impossible.
He had already been severely injured by Carlo's attacks.
Although his Physique was naturally powerful and his recovery rate was high...
...not much time had passed from Rocky Port to here.
No matter how special his constitution was, it was impossible to recover from his injuries in such a short time.
Furthermore, he hadn't even replenished his energy with food.
Maron was very strong.
Whether it was that strange Castle Fruit or his Armament Haki, both had caused significant damage to Kaido.
Fighting until now, he truly couldn't hold on any longer.
Despite the frustration and rage in his heart, there was nothing he could do.
However, while his own failure certainly brought Kaido shame...
...the victory of his 'companion' broke his composure even more.
He twisted his head, looking at the giant bird descending from the sky, his eyes filled with intense unwillingness and a hint of longing.
Kaido knew that the giant bird was Carlo!
He hadn't expected that Carlo, who had hunted him down at Rocky Port and beaten him so miserably that he almost died, hadn't even used his full strength.
Originally, both he and Carlo had come to Hachinosu with the goal of challenging Rocks.
Now, he had fallen on the path to even seeing Rocks.
Beaten down by an obscure Senior Combatant.
Yet Carlo's side had won!
And no matter how he looked at it, that disgusting snot-explosion guy seemed to be more powerful than the mobster who defeated him.
With this comparison...
...he looked even more like a clown, even more pathetic.
"Dammit!!"
The ever-proud Kaido could not accept such intense humiliation and blow; in a fit of rage, his eyes rolled back, and he actually fainted from anger.
A thousand meters in the air.
Carlo, transformed into the divine bird Garuda, looked down upon all of Hachinosu.
Within his golden vertical pupils, the entire world was crystal clear.
As long as he wished, he could clearly see any part of the island below at will.
The vision in his Garuda beast form seemed to be several times more powerful than in his hybrid form.
Even the movements on the sea over ten kilometers away from the island could be easily seen.
This level of vision was practically like having eaten an additional Glare-Glare Fruit.
This was one of the five supernatural powers possessed by the Mythical Garuda: the Heavenly Eye.
And the laser light he shot from his eyes was also one of the Heavenly Eye's abilities.
Aside from the Heavenly Eye...
Garuda also had the Heavenly Ear: powerful hearing that could pick up whispers over ten kilometers away.
The Mind Reading: like top-tier Observation Haki, it allowed him to perceive the emotions and thoughts of others.
The Divine Foot Power: extraordinary flight speed.
The Fate Power: Carlo hadn't figured this one out yet.
In addition to these primary abilities...
Garuda also possessed the super Physique bonuses, massive size, immense strength, sharp talons, and incredible defense common to all Mythical Zoans.
In short, this was an extremely comprehensive and powerful Devil Fruit ability.
His massive body rapidly shrank, and Carlo dove down from a hundred meters in the air, smashing directly onto the ground in front of Rocks.
From within the shattered crater, the six-meter-tall Carlo, with wings on his back, stepped out.
Under the startled gazes of Rocks, Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Charlotte Linlin, and the others, he said nothing and directly swung his right fist, punching toward Rocks' face!
The Armament Haki within his body was like a floodgate opening; the moment he punched, it all surged out, gathering and compressing onto his right fist like a tide!
Under Carlo's frantic compression, that pitch-black Armament Haki actually showed signs of turning into black lightning.
Haki enveloped his entire fist, making it look several times larger, glowing with a faint black light like a black cannonball smashing toward Rocks.
"Fist Bone! Meteor!!!"
Rocks raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with interest.
"Oh? Garp's technique? Interesting."
The moment Carlo's fist crushed the air and whistled toward him...
...he leisurely stood straight, drew the guarded longsword from his waist, raised his right hand high behind him, and swung it at the charging Carlo.
On the raised blade, streaks of black-red lightning crackled and sputtered like cracks rending the void!
Rocks' movements seemed slow, but in reality, everything happened in a flash, yet Carlo could see it with perfect clarity.
It was truly bizarre to the extreme!
The longsword crossed the distance, striking first despite being drawn later, slashing into the air two or three meters in front of Carlo's fist!
The invisible void caved in with clear cracks, as if it had been struck by Whitebeard's quake punch.
Carlo's pupils shrank.
"Rocks' Haoshoku Infusion!"
Immediately after, the world before his eyes plunged into darkness!
In the eyes of Whitebeard and the others... Rocks' longsword was like a heavy hammer, shattering the void in front of Carlo and exploding into a massive black-red shockwave.
Like a tsunami, it slammed into Carlo as he threw his punch, blowing him away for hundreds of meters with unstoppable force.
He flew across the plaza like a meteorite, smashing through rows of houses.
Covered in blood, he crashed into the Hachinosu harbor, smashing a pirate ship to pieces.
Finally, he flew into the sea, exploding into a towering spray of seawater!