After a brief pause, Ash spoke again.
"I've said everything I wanted to say about the end of the Great Pirate Era. Any fools who still refuse to believe me and insist on setting sail are welcome to throw their lives away."
"Now, let's talk about the World Government and the Celestial Dragons."
The world had barely recovered from the shock of Ash personally announcing the end of the Great Pirate Era and displaying the rows of severed heads.
His next words plunged everyone into disbelief once again.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who was returning to Marineford, and Vice Admiral Tsuru, Garp, Zephyr, and the others in the New World all felt their hearts sink.
Akainu and Kizaru had already informed them that the Five Elders had dispatched the God's Knights to attack Ash.
They knew what was coming.
High above the Sabaody Archipelago, nearly ten thousand meters in the sky, Ash continued in an even tone.
"Not long ago, while my Dawn Hunter Pirates were eliminating Wang Zhi and Charlotte Linlin on Beehive Island in the New World, the World Government's greatest military force, the God's Knights, launched a surprise attack against us."
"And after they failed, the highest authority of the World Government brazenly used the Ancient Weapon Uranus to attack my territory."
"So now, I have two questions."
"The first is this."
"The World Government cooperated with pirates to ambush me, a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea who was actively eradicating pirates."
"What exactly is your position?"
"I'm only asking the question. You don't need to answer it, because I already know the answer."
His expression grew colder.
"The second question is for the Five Elders, who claim to govern the world from the Empty Throne."
"And for Imu, the one hiding behind them, daring to usurp the throne that belongs to no one."
"When you chose to bombard my home, did you ever consider that I would retaliate?"
By the time he shouted the last word, the island cloud beneath him had continued rising until it merged with an even larger cloud island.
The image captured by the Video Den Den Mushi expanded.
Ash stood at the front.
Beside him were Sali and Wyper.
Behind them stood hundreds of young men from the three villages, each having been urgently armed with Devil Fruit powers.
Ash looked over the crowd before turning back to the camera.
"You don't need to answer this question either."
"Whenever the world seeks the truth from you, your answer is always violence."
"But today, I want to tell you this."
"If you dare to strike, then be prepared to be struck back."
"When the truth cannot be obtained, then people must seize it with their own hands."
"Today..."
"I'll show you the truth that rests in mine."
He slowly raised his arm and pointed forward.
"Everyone."
"Target the Holy Land, Mary Geoise."
"Maximum saturation bombardment."
"No one stops until they can no longer fight."
"Open fire!"
The camera shifted.
Only then did the world realize that as the island cloud had continued ascending, Ash and his forces had unknowingly moved directly above the Red Line.
In the distance, the Holy Land Mary Geoise was clearly visible.
At that moment, Big News Morgans finally understood why Ash had specifically requested that all the broadcasting equipment be delivered to the Sabaody Archipelago.
He had planned this all along.
After the Revolutionary Army attacked the Holy Land, Ash intended to launch a second assault.
Without realizing it...
Morgans had become an accomplice.
His mind went completely blank.
But no one had the spare attention to care about his feelings.
Because what happened next surpassed everyone's imagination.
Only now did the world truly understand what Ash meant by saturation bombardment.
Nearly five hundred Mythical Zoan users, each possessing elemental abilities, raised both hands and unleashed their attacks toward the distant Holy Land.
Countless beams of energy streaked across the sky, forming a magnificent rainbow.
But where that rainbow ended, beauty gave way to destruction.
The endless torrent of attacks crashed into Mary Geoise, unleashing explosions of fire, lightning, ice, wind, and countless other elements.
The spectacle was ten, perhaps even a hundred times more terrifying than a Marine Buster Call.
And that was only the beginning.
Led by Sali and Wyper, the lightning users soared directly above Mary Geoise itself.
From afar, they looked like a group of people walking across a rainbow.
Had one ignored the Holy Land below, which was rapidly disappearing beneath endless explosions, it might have looked like something out of a fairy tale.
But those walking across the rainbow were carrying out an act of unimaginable destruction.
They all raised their hands toward the heavens and shouted in unison.
"Raijin!"
The world had already learned through the World Economic Journal that the technique Thunder Demon Weber had used to erase Amazon Lily was called Raijin.
Now, dozens of Raijin attacks of varying sizes hung over Mary Geoise.
Could the Holy Land survive such an assault?
The answer was obvious.
It could not.
The moment Imu chose to use Uranus against Cathay Village, Ash abandoned any intention of playing games.
Fortunately, he had made a last minute decision to station defensive forces at his territory.
Otherwise, his home would have been erased.
As the old saying went, truth exists only within the range of cannon fire, and dignity rests upon the edge of a blade.
Imu had chosen to test whether Ash's sword was sharp enough.
Ash answered with overwhelming force.
A proportional response.
An endless barrage that would sweep everything away.
Of course, Ash's definition of proportional had always been far larger than anyone else's.
...
The Video Den Den Mushi faithfully broadcast the Dawn Hunter Pirates' relentless assault on the Holy Land.
Sengoku had only just returned near Red Port.
There was no way for him to reach Mary Geoise now.
Without passing through Red Port, his ship could not even be coated.
Unable to advance or retreat, the old Fleet Admiral could only stand there and stare at the dazzling display high above the sky.
Vice Admiral Tsuru, Garp, Zephyr, and the three Marine Admirals in the New World were equally speechless.
After this...
Would the Marines effectively become independent?
Whether the World Government itself would even survive this day had become an open question.
Meanwhile, Dragon, Kuma, Ivankov, and the rest of the Revolutionary Army had just returned to Kamabakka Kingdom.
They could only stare at the broadcast in utter disbelief.
What kind of war was this?
Even if they had wanted to fight like this, they simply did not possess such terrifying firepower.
Dozens of Raijin attacks crashed down upon Mary Geoise.
Then came another wave of heavenly lightning that scoured the land.
By this point, the entire world had gone numb.
Yet as Ash looked down at the shattered remains of the Holy Land, he was not satisfied.
Mary Geoise had been built atop the Red Line, ten thousand meters above the sea.
Destroying it was easy.
Completely erasing it would require several more days of bombardment.
Although Ash had ordered everyone to continue until they exhausted themselves, a real battle could not proceed forever.
The Mythical Zoan users possessed extraordinary stamina.
The Video Den Den Mushi did not.
Nor could the audience spend days watching endless bombardment.
With that in mind, Ash raised his hand.
The relentless barrage ceased.
Then he slowly lifted a finger and pointed toward the heavens.
Across the world, everyone instinctively followed his gesture and looked up.
The next moment, another astonishing sight shook every witness to their core.
High above the sky, there were now two suns.
One large.
One small.
===
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