In the deep night sky, dozens of orange lights flickered.
They weren't stars.
They were energy orbs—compressed and condensed inside the wood dragons' mouths.
With sharp, whistling cries, the dragons released them all at once, pouring them out like a meteor-fire rain.
"Not good—!"
Roger's heart jolted. His Observation Haki caught it instantly: this was a group attack in appearance only—in reality, it was locked onto him alone!
He wanted to dodge.
But after being suppressed twice by Romu's Conqueror's pressure, his body felt unbearably heavy. His brain reacted—but his flesh lagged behind, as if his will and his body were desynced.
"Captain!"
"Roger!!"
Rayleigh, Garp, and Bullet—closest to Roger—were the first to notice something was wrong. They roared and pivoted, rushing to cover him.
"DODGE!!"
They were one unit. If any core combat power fell, the whole formation would collapse into disaster.
The shout snapped Roger's stiff body.
He regained a sliver of mobility—
but it was too late.
More than a dozen energy orbs slammed into him.
In that instant, Roger could only force Armament and Conqueror's Haki outward, forming a black defensive veil around his body, and take it head-on.
This was a direct clash: Roger's dual Haki versus the wood dragon's power.
Even if Roger's Haki belonged to the absolute top tier, it was thrown up in a rush—and worse, it was already being suppressed by Romu's pressure.
Meanwhile, the wood dragon's power—at this distance—was at its most lethal, peak-output state.
Roger couldn't hold.
BOOM—!!
The impact was like the sky collapsing.
The energy orbs smashed into his black veil, detonating with a dark-red glare. Space itself shuddered and fractured into a spiderweb of cracks.
It was like another thunder-burst detonated at point-blank range—everyone's eardrums screamed.
CRACK—!
A crisp sound.
Roger's defensive veil split with a thin seam—
and then—
ROAR—!
A thick orange beam speared straight across the battlefield.
The air was punched through into a gash like a bottomless abyss.
Roger's body was blown away in an instant.
Kong cursed under his breath and lunged.
He had to catch Roger before he smashed into the rock while his energy was scattered—if Roger hit the ground in that state, it would be death or near-death.
But before Kong could even get halfway—
a chill exploded across his back.
"Six Powers Secret Art—Steel Bone Jade!"
His body, already like a black iron tower, tensed to the extreme—
and an energy orb detonated on his back.
Kong's blood churned violently.
But he didn't stop.
Face dark, mountain-shaped mustache trembling, he spat out a mouthful of saliva, and used the blast's recoil to accelerate even faster—like an arrow tearing through the sky.
Rock layers shattered again, dust billowing.
Roger clawed his way out of the rock, struggling upright. He cast a grateful look toward Kong behind him.
Kong didn't answer.
His thick "山"-shaped mustache quivered.
His voice was heavy.
"Too strong…"
"How the hell do we beat him?"
Garp, Zephyr, and the others—barely catching and deflecting what they could—flashed over and regrouped near them.
"We have to think of something," Rayleigh said, eyes locked on the dragon swarm above.
"Otherwise…"
Sengoku was already airborne again, shifting back into his golden Buddha form.
"Great Buddha Impact!"
With a roar, golden flames ignited along his massive body. He charged one wood dragon head-on and blew half its body into powder.
But immediately—
three nearby Wood Clones lifted their brows.
Their dragons surged forward in a triangular "pinch," slamming toward Sengoku.
"Come!"
Sengoku dropped his arms low, golden flames flaring even harder.
"Great Buddha Impact!!"
He burst again—meeting the three dragons head-on.
"Sengoku!"
"You're going too far!"
Zephyr's voice snapped.
Armament wrapped his entire body as he knocked the regenerated giant dragon back—
and shot toward Sengoku in support.
"Even if your Buddha form heals fast, fighting like this will drain you dry!"
BOOM—!
Sengoku didn't listen.
His massive golden body collided with three wood dragons—
yet a giant tail swung in from the side.
No time to react.
He was whipped away like a ragdoll, smashing toward Kong's position.
"Sengoku!!"
Zephyr shouted.
But in the same distracted instant—
a wood dragon's claw shot out and seized Zephyr in a crushing grip.
No time to struggle.
Zephyr was instantly boxed in—
fourteen wood dragons surrounded him.
Then—
BOOM—!!
A Conqueror's pressure wave detonated so violently it felt like the world split open.
Zephyr's face changed.
On the dragons' heads, fourteen Wood Clones' black pupils sharpened, multiplying—
and within a blink, dozens of black lightning arcs crackled and danced inside Zephyr's vision.
"Damn…!"
Zephyr's awareness dimmed. His eyelids grew heavy against his will.
"…I… can't believe…"
"…I'd be stunned by mere Conqueror's…"
His head tilted—
and Zephyr lost consciousness completely.
At the same moment—
fourteen dragons opened abyssal jaws.
Orange light condensed.
Fourteen annihilation-grade beams fired at once—
all targeting the unconscious Zephyr at the center.
But suddenly—
BOOM—!
The dragon claw holding Zephyr exploded apart.
A massive rocky hand appeared, grabbed Zephyr, and flashed aside at the last heartbeat—barely dodging the beams.
Bullet.
Using his Fruit ability, he formed a giant stone arm and saved Zephyr from a clean execution.
Zephyr's body was still that of a top-tier admiral—within seconds, he clawed his way out of the Conqueror's stun, eyes snapping open.
He turned, looked at Bullet—
and ground out through his teeth:
"…I'm a burden."
Then he stood.
A low roar.
Zephyr clenched both fists. Wild power surged into him, Armament swelling like dark waves rolling outward.
BOOM—!
The rock beneath him shattered into dust.
Beside him, Gaban ripped both axes free, Armament flooding across the blades until they gleamed with cold light.
"DIE!!"
Zephyr burst forward.
Gaban hurled both axes.
Three streaks tore across the air, carving cracked lines through space.
But Romu's expression stayed calm.
His right hand extended.
Two nearby Wood Clones blurred—
condensing into two ancient-looking wooden swords.
Their dragons whistled, diving straight into the blades—
and in the moment they collided—
emerald light flashed.
The dragons vanished.
The wooden swords now bore dragon-carved inscriptions, alive and snarling along the edges.
"It's time to end this."
Romu murmured.
As time passed, the strange pressure in his chest—the sense of looming danger—only grew heavier.
He flicked his wrist and calmly tossed the two dragon-swords.
SHIIING—!
They streaked like meteors, emerald-tailed, crossing Zephyr in an instant—
then vanished into the rock layers without a trace.
At the same time—
several wood dragons converged and whipped their tails together, smashing Zephyr and the two axes away.
Three fresh craters bloomed in the rock—one large, two small.
Dust choked Zephyr so hard he sneezed twice—
but before the second sneeze even finished—
a scorching splash of bright-red liquid sprayed from somewhere deep inside him.
His body froze.
A memory flashed: for a split second… something terrifying had passed him.
He looked down.
Where his right arm had been—
there was nothing.
BOOM—
No pain yet.
Just a blank, empty mind.
Then Roger's scream tore across the battlefield:
"GABAN!!!"
Zephyr's stunned head turned mechanically.
Roger, Rayleigh, and Bullet were clustered around Gaban, faces warped with horror, shaking him violently.
"Gaban!"
"How is this possible?!"
But no matter how they shouted, how they shook him—
Gaban's eyes stayed shut.
He stood rigid, unmoving.
On his chest—
a tiny, almost unnoticeable cut.
So smooth it looked like a line drawn by a razor.
And from that line, hot blood seeped out continuously.
"Gaban is dead."
That thought flashed through Zephyr's crashed brain.
Kong, Garp, and Sengoku rushed over at full speed, arriving beside Zephyr.
Zephyr's face twisted into a bleak smile.
He lifted the half-stump where his right arm ended, blood still pouring.
"Our estimate…"
"…was off."
He tore a strip of cloth off with his teeth, tied it tight around the upper arm stump, and kept murmuring as if in a daze:
"We can't win."
"In that moment… I felt it."
"The gap between us and Romu…"
"It was like heaven and earth."
"Romu's power isn't something we can shake."
"Marine HQ admirals… Roger's crew…"
"All of it…"
"…a joke."
Two casual thrown swords—
one instant-killed Gaban,
and one severed his arm.
Zephyr's fighting spirit collapsed completely.
His pale face was carved with despair.
"IMPOSSIBLE!!"
Garp spun, veins bulging, teeth bared, glaring up at Romu in the sky.
"Damn it!"
"If you have strength like this—then…"
His mind replayed the battle.
Romu trading injuries.
Romu using clones to avoid Sengoku's bombardment…
Garp's voice cracked into a roar:
"WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL US FROM THE START?!"
It sounded absurd—
but it was the question all of them had, in the same terrifying moment:
They'd seen a path to victory.
Why hadn't he ended them already?
The wind swept through.
The red flower petals trembled.
Romu's long black hair scattered in the gust.
Romu's voice was cold.
"I should thank you."
"You helped me get used to my power."
Lightning blasted through their minds.
So…
They were just warm-up partners.
Practice dummies.
Toys.
Romu continued, expression indifferent:
"Thanks are done."
"So—"
"Take your payment."
He spread both arms.
Ignoring their terror—
the remaining sixty-two wood dragons and sixty-two Wood Clones all flared with emerald light—
and began to transform.
Meanwhile, in the Holy Land Mary Geoise—
Inside a massive, gold-drenched ceremonial hall, hundreds of square meters wide—
a huge chandelier poured yellow light over everything.
At the center stood a towering shrine pillar—their altar.
Carved into the pillar were two wooden giant snakes coiling upward.
One snake was swallowing a man—his upper body still hanging outside its maw.
The other snake opened a blood basin mouth.
The scene was chilling.
Beside the pillar—
ten living sacrifices were bound and chained, mouths stuffed, unable to scream.
What was shocking—
they were all dressed in luxury.
All wearing bubble helmets.
All Celestial Dragons.
Each was shaking with terror.
They knew their lives were about to end.
Their heads and blood would be offered to an unseen god—
as a "living sacrifice" to awaken the sleeping "miracle" hidden in God Valley.
Suddenly—
DONG—
A deep, long bronze drumbeat echoed through the silent hall.
The Five Elders' faces turned solemn.
The grotesque ritual had begun.
The kimono-clad elder slowly drew Shodai Kitetsu.
The purple-black blade looked like a demon's fang.
Ignoring the sacrifices' frantic struggling—
SHH—!
A flash of steel.
Ten bodies jerked.
Ten heads flew—
straight into the mouth of the snake carved on the pillar.
In the next instant—
as the ten heads were offered—
the two carved snakes seemed to come alive.
Their eyes lit up—
orange-yellow ripple eyes, identical to Imu's.
The kimono-clad elder lowered his head in reverence.
The other four stepped forward in sync.
"It's our turn."
They marched to the pillar and lined up, pressing their right hands onto the serpent's fangs.
The kimono-clad elder stepped in, aligned with them, and swung the purple-black blade—
fresh blood poured out.
A few breaths later—
the serpent's eyes stopped glowing.
Black liquid dripped from its fangs—
landing precisely on the top of the wooden pillar.
In that instant—
green leaves sprouted from the wood.
And at the same moment—
on the Celestial Dragon circular altar in God Valley—
the tiny tree-shaped emblem lit up.
BOOOOM—!!!
A field—so powerful it was beyond imagination—blanketed all of God Valley at once.
In the sky—
Romu stood atop the red flower and narrowed his eyes.
"…So the crisis is here."
Behind him, the sixty-two dragon-swords vanished—drawn back into his body.
He had a feeling.
This time, he might have to use the final trump card—
True Thousand Hands.
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