York's absolute, chilling words completely crushed the last remaining fragments of Whitey Bay's hope. She desperately tried to struggle against his grip a few more times, but against an Emperor's physical strength, it was utterly in vain.
Her body was incredibly soft and weak from the backlash of York's ability and the unnamed, overwhelming heat inside her body and heart grew exponentially more intense by the second.
Finally, devoid of all strength and resistance, she could only watch helplessly as York's handsome face got closer and closer...
"Mmm..."
With a soft, defeated moan, the Ice Witch yielded to the Flame Emperor, and the scene within the high-end hot spring inn gradually faded into an indescribable, heated haze.
Outside, time slowly ticked by.
After the initial, brutal elimination rounds of the Pirate Triathlon at the water park, large, bloody groups of surviving pirates began to officially dive and swim toward the primary river channel. New, vicious battles spread like wildfire from the starting line down the entire length of the waterway.
Emporio Ivankov was mixed among the chaotic horde of pirates, actively trying to lower his massive presence. But at the same time, if any foolish pirate actively attacked him in the water, he would retaliate fiercely with devastating martial arts.
Because Ivankov's raw physical strength and Haki weren't weak—especially after years of brutal training under York—and because he didn't actively provoke as much blind hatred as the other bloodthirsty pirates, the water around him gradually became an unapproachable dead zone.
Coincidentally, another young man wearing a yellow shirt and a knit beanie was achieving the exact same result.
Ivankov and Borsalino exchanged a brief, calculating glance and silently swam closer to each other.
Just when everyone treading water thought the two powerhouses were about to clash, they reached an eerie, unspoken understanding without a single word of dialogue. Instead of attacking each other, they mutually defended each other's flanks, effortlessly parrying any stragglers who got too close.
After the most brutal, warmongering pirates had fought each other to a bloody standstill in the channel, Ivankov and Borsalino suddenly erupted into motion. Taking full advantage of everyone's exhaustion and inattention, they effortlessly passed through the scattered battlefields, swimming rapidly to the absolute front of the entire pack.
"Oh no! Someone's sneaking ahead to the lead!"
The battered pirates screamed loudly, gradually stopping their infighting and starting to frantically chase the two cunning individuals down the river at full speed.
The open-air gladiatorial arena, Western Shores.
An uninvited guest also arrived here at the very last minute.
A young, intense man wearing a low-pulled baseball cap and a red shirt signed up just as the brackets were closing and stalked into the backstage lounge. The young quartet of prodigies—who were originally fiercely wary of each other—immediately focused all their attention on this newcomer. Sakazuki's aura of suppressed, absolute hostility was impossible to ignore.
Seeing their intense glares, the young man in the baseball cap grinned darkly.
'There are definitely targets worth hunting in here,' Sakazuki thought, crossing his arms.
Afterward, the massive Fighting Tournament officially began.
Perhaps the Underworld competition organizers also acutely realized that these five specific individuals were fundamentally the strongest, most monstrous contestants in the entire arena. So, they deliberately manipulated and staggered their battle times, ensuring they wouldn't directly face each other in the opening rounds, saving the bloodbath for the finale.
Time slowly passed like this, and before anyone knew it, the sky turned the color of bruised orange. It was evening.
High above in the central castle, Buena Festa—the mastermind and host of the entire World Expo—glanced at his pocket watch and showed a manic, psychotic smile of sheer excitement.
"It's finally time!" Festa whispered, his eyes wide. "Let the ultimate war... begin!"
BOOM!!!
The apocalyptic roar of a massive explosion first appeared from the westernmost part of the entire island.
A massive section of the open-air gladiatorial arena's outer wall was violently blown open by a titanic blast. A large number of cheering pirate spectators were instantly vaporized or crushed by the collapsing stone, dying tragically in the blink of an eye.
"What happened?!"
"Was that a powder keg?!"
The surviving pirate spectators watching the competition, and the pirates actively fighting in the sandy arena below, all paused, having absolutely no idea what had just occurred.
It wasn't until a pirate with a bird Zoan ability ascended into the smoky air and observed the coast with a telescope that he discovered the terrifying clue.
"It's coming from the sea!! Someone is actively shelling the island from the coast!"
"What did you say?! Is it a Marine Buster Call?! Who leaked the news?!"
"No! It's not the Marines! That flag... it's the World Pirates!!"
"NANI?!"
The pirates' panicked exclamations had just fallen when a second, impossibly huge cannonball was fired from a massive dreadnought out at sea.
A veteran pirate captain in the stands, who fancied himself incredibly strong, stepped forward with his sword drawn, trying to intercept the projectile to show off his Haki in front of the thousands of spectators present.
However, the dense, suffocating Armament Haki permanently entwined around the cannonball was simply not something he could ever hope to break through.
The man was instantly obliterated. The colossal cannonball—magnified immensely in size and speed by the Moa Moa no Mi (More-More Fruit)—fell directly into the center of the gladiatorial arena through the blown-open gap, causing an even more terrifying, cataclysmic explosion.
By combining powerful Haki with an absolute, destructive Devil Fruit ability, a single cannonball directly created the devastating effect of a tactical nuclear bomb.
The roaring fireball generated by the explosion almost covered the entire span of the gladiatorial arena, and the resulting shockwave sent countless pirates flying into the sky like ragdolls. Hundreds of pirates died tragically in this single explosion, and those with shattered bones and torn muscles were innumerable.
"Damn it! It's that absolute madman, Byrnndi World!!" someone familiar with the World Pirates cursed angrily through the smoke.
Marco, King, Bullet, Katakuri, and Sakazuki were deep inside the reinforced stone backstage, so they weren't immediately incinerated by the blast wave. However, because they were sealed inside, they learned of the attackers a precious few seconds later than everyone else.
They only barely found out after the ceiling groaned and the entire gladiatorial arena was almost flattened by the huge explosion above them.
"Oh no!!" Marco suddenly let out a frantic cry of alarm. "Our ship!!"
The Moby Dick was currently docked directly at the western port. If that madman Byrnndi World was truly as rumored—indiscriminately destroying absolutely everything in his line of sight—then Whitebeard's flagship might be in critical danger!
Immediately, Marco no longer cared about any fighting competition. He turned into a blur, moving to leave the crumbling gladiatorial arena and running frantically towards the coast.
King and Bullet gazed at Marco's receding back, having absolutely no intention of helping a rival crew. Instead, they simultaneously turned their attention to the structural layout of the arena—specifically, where the Grand Prix prizes were previously securely stored.
The two Crimson Empire vanguards exchanged a ruthless glance and hurried through the collapsing rubble towards the direction of the treasure vault.
Charlotte Katakuri stood alone in the hallway, looking left and right.
He had truly come strictly for the martial competition, but now more than half of his worthy opponents had vanished, and the arena was a crater. What to do next? He was truly a bit hesitant, his advanced Observation Haki trying to predict the safest path through the chaos.
Sakazuki, however, was entirely calm and composed.
After leaving the crumbling backstage, he found a comfortable, intact high platform among the ruins to sit down. He casually picked up a cracked monocular telescope that had survived the explosion and observed the direction of the sea, watching the dreadnought fire again.
"Pirate dogs brutally biting other pirate dogs," Sakazuki muttered, pulling his cap down as a dark, absolute smirk formed on his face. "Tear each other apart more brutally, you scum. Hahahaha..."
At the exact same time.
Due to the sudden, apocalyptic attack by Byrnndi World, the true monsters located in various parts of the island also became acutely aware of the shifting board.
First, on York's side in the high-end hot spring town in the southern part of the island.
Whitey Bay had completely lost all of her fighting strength and was lying aside on the tatami mats, breathing softly, thoroughly defeated.
Now it was his and Gunko's turn.
The two stopped, looking towards the west of the island. A faint, bloody red light—representing the absolute pinnacle of Observation Haki—flickered in both of their eyes as they pierced the distance.
"A rabid mad dog has arrived on the shores," York noted casually. "Are you the war initiator invited by Buena Festa? You're certainly quite suitable for the role, Byrnndi."
However, despite identifying the threat, York made absolutely no move to dress himself or intercept the attacker.
"Leave him to King and Bullet," York said dismissively, turning his attention back to the room. "A monster of the old era is quite suitable as a live training target to test their Haki."
With that, he unapologetically continued to engage in his private 'battle' with Gunko.
Seeing that the Flame Emperor didn't move an inch to secure the island, Gunko herself naturally had zero geopolitical interest in saving a bunch of rival pirates. So, she also re-engaged in the battle, silently enjoying the intoxicating distraction.
In the eastern part of the island, Gol D. Roger and Edward Newgate, who were currently neck-and-neck in their horrific drinking contest, were the second group to notice the massive Haki signatures erupting in the west.
The two legendary captains frowned slightly, simultaneously showing expressions of profound annoyance and disgust.
Whitebeard slammed his massive wooden mug down on the table, instantly standing up. He looked at Roger.
"My ship and my sons are docked over there," Whitebeard rumbled, his grip tightening on Murakumogiri. "I won't continue this childish competition. The fifty tons of rum are yours; you win."
Roger pouted unhappily, wiping toxic booze from his chin.
"What's the point of a hollow victory like that?! It's a draw, Newgate! We'll settle it properly next time!"
"Whatever you say, Roger."
Whitebeard didn't look back. He turned his massive body and quickly headed west across the island, his footsteps cracking the pavement.
It wasn't until Whitebeard had already crossed the water park in the center of the island that Charlotte Linlin—who had been deeply, gluttonously immersed in a mountain of stolen desserts—belatedly came to her senses.
She finally noticed the massive explosions and the uninvited guest bombarding the west coast.
Her beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she let out a deeply annoyed, terrifying snort from her nose.
"That rabid dog, Byrnndi World! He ruined a perfectly good, delicious celebration!!" Big Mom growled.
She paused, her eyes widening slightly. "No... wait. Katakuri is also over there in that arena! I need to go and see if my sweet son is safe!"
With that, she reluctantly, angrily put down the massive cake in her hand and also stood up, grabbing Napoleon as she gave chase after Whitebeard's path of destruction.
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Give me powerstones.
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