One Piece: SSS-Rank Haki at Age Seventeen

The cigar clenched between Vice Admiral Onigumo's teeth slipped free soundlessly, bounced twice across the deck, and rolled into a corner.

Yet he didn't seem to notice.

He simply stared blankly into the distance—toward the floating ruins dyed crimson by both the setting sun and the smoke of war.

There, the golden radiance had already faded away.

Only the silence of collapse remained.

"…Golden Lion…"

His lips trembled. His voice came out dry and hoarse before suddenly rising into a roar that shook the entire battleship.

"Golden Lion Shiki… has been defeated by Admiral Kizaru!!!"

That shout was like a lit fuse.

A brief silence swallowed the warship whole—

Then—

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH—!!!"

Deafening cheers exploded like a tidal wave.

The Marines on deck—whether bloodied soldiers still standing at their posts or heavily wounded men being carried away—turned red-faced as they screamed, jumped, and embraced one another with all their strength.

Some still had tears streaking down their faces, now mixed with ecstatic smiles.

"We won! We actually won!!"

"Thank God… it's finally over!!"

"Admiral Kizaru!! Long live Admiral Kizaru!!!"

"The Flying Pirates… Golden Lion… the Marines did it!!!"

The overwhelming tide of joy washed over every heart stretched to its limit.

Ever since Shiki's escape from Impel Down, the monster of the old era had hung above the Marines like the Sword of Damocles.

And now—

That sword had finally shattered into dust.

They had avenged the innocent civilians who died.

Vice Admiral Onigumo swept his gaze across the deck. Looking at his nearly hysterical subordinates, he made no move to stop them.

He understood.

Better than anyone.

No one knew more clearly than the Marines themselves just how crushing the pressure had been these past months.

The constant interrogations from the World Government.

Public scrutiny sharper than blades.

The fear and expectations of the people.

And above all—

The unbearable weight of "justice" itself.

Golden Lion Shiki had been like a black mountain blocking the course of the new era.

His very existence mocked the authority of the Marines and the order of the world.

The Marines desperately needed a victory like this.

A decisive victory.

An overwhelming victory.

A victory where the Navy's greatest military power personally brought down a legend capable of shaking the entire world.

"That's enough."

A deep, solemn voice suddenly cut through the celebration aboard the warship.

A towering figure clad in purple stood atop the railing before anyone realized he had arrived.

He paid no attention to the devastated battlefield behind him, nor did he seem to care in the slightest about Kizaru's recent arrival.

"All personnel, return to your ships immediately. Conduct a headcount."

His voice wasn't loud, but the sheer weight behind it instantly suppressed the cheering.

"This island… is going to sink."

Before the final word fully fell—

He lightly raised his cane sword.

Bzzzz—

A strange, low hum spread outward as deep violet gravitational waves erupted from his body, enveloping the entire flagship in a stable cocoon.

The warship groaned under immense pressure, yet instead of breaking apart, it slowly lifted from the sea under the support of that purple radiance.

"Hold on."

After those simple words, a streak of violet light tore across the sky, carrying the still-stunned Marines rapidly into the distance.

Meanwhile, below on the surface world—

Alabasta.

The banks of the Sandora River.

The great capital city of Alubarna.

The noisy bustle of midday was abruptly strangled into silence by an invisible hand.

Farmers straightened in their fields as hoes slipped from their fingers.

Market vendors froze with mouths hanging open, unable to utter another word.

Royal guards standing atop the palace balconies gripped their spears so tightly their knuckles turned white.

Every gaze was locked onto the horrifying shadow expanding across the heavens.

"What… what is that thing?"

A vegetable seller muttered as a tomato rolled from his hand and burst apart on the ground like an omen painted in blood.

"Is it a cloud? No… clouds aren't that black…"

"Wait…"

A carpenter narrowed his eyes, his voice beginning to tremble.

"Is that island… falling?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

The blacksmith beside him forced out a laugh and slapped his shoulder, though the sound was as dry and brittle as cracking firewood.

"How could an island floating in the sky possibly fall d—"

The final word stuck in his throat.

Because the edge of the shadow blanketing the sky had begun to crumble apart.

Massive chunks of rock broke away from the floating islands, dragging long trails of smoke as they plunged toward the earth.

At first, only scattered debris fell.

But soon it became the prelude to a storm of death.

Even before the first child began to cry, silent terror had already spread through the city like a plague.

"It's… it's falling…"

"It's REALLY FALLING!!!"

"Gods above…!!"

Panic swallowed all reason.

Within moments, the expressions of Alubarna's hundreds of thousands of citizens transformed from confusion to disbelief—

And from disbelief into soul-freezing terror.

The island masses carrying mountains and ruins tore through the clouds, descending with enough weight to crush everything beneath them.

Unstoppably.

Toward their city.

Toward their homes.

Toward the land their ancestors had lived upon for generations—

"No… impossible…"

An old man collapsed in front of his home as the clay pot in his hands shattered into pieces.

"Run? Run where?"

A mother clutching her infant stared upward with hollow eyes as tears silently streamed down her face.

As far as the eye could see, the sky belonged entirely to darkness.

"Is my life… really going to end here?"

A young scholar leaned against his desk, trembling too violently to hold his quill.

A lifetime of knowledge felt utterly meaningless beneath the shadow of annihilation.

Crying.

Prayers.

Desperate screams.

They rose one after another, only to be swallowed by an even greater silence.

Faced with a catastrophe vast enough to cover the entire sky and overturn all common sense—

Even fear itself seemed pointless.

The sound of running footsteps slowed.

Then stopped altogether.

People abandoned the meaningless attempt to flee.

Parents wrapped their children tightly in their arms, using their own bodies as fragile shields.

Lovers embraced one another, sharing the final warmth of their lives.

Old friends gripped each other's trembling hands.

Those alone closed their eyes and whispered the names of departed loved ones.

Under the shadow of the apocalypse, the entire city of Alubarna waited in tragic silence for the end to arrive.

Only the cries of children still echoed through the stillness.

And above them—

The sky continued to fall.

Tap.

A soft sound carrying the scent of fresh blood echoed across the Sunny's grassy deck.

Yamato landed lightly on the lawn, a long cut across her left arm slowly leaking blood that slid down her pale wrist and dripped onto the green grass below.

She didn't seem to care.

Casually wiping the blood away, she swung her massive kanabo, Hassaikai, onto her shoulder with ease.

The sea breeze lifted her silver-white hair, strands still carrying traces of smoke and shattered ice crystals.

Shaking her head, she turned toward the bow with a bright, spirited grin.

"Captain! I'm back!"

At the front of the ship, Luffy sat cross-legged atop the lion figurehead, resting his chin in his hands like he was seated in a front-row VIP chair.

There wasn't much excitement on his face despite the victory.

Instead, he looked oddly disappointed, like someone who had missed out on a long-awaited feast.

Hearing her voice, he turned and glanced at her bleeding arm.

"Mm!"

He responded with a habitual droop of his eyebrows.

"You need bandages? Chopper's downstairs."

"Nope! This little scratch is nothing!"

Yamato waved it off cheerfully.

But as her gaze swept across the deck, her movements suddenly froze.

Zoro and Sanji had been wrapped together layer upon layer in bandages.

Only their eyes and noses remained exposed.

They looked exactly like two mummies freshly unearthed from a pyramid.

At that moment, both of them were glaring murderously in her direction.

Yamato's mouth twitched slightly.

She quietly hid her still-bleeding arm behind her back and shivered.

"Since everyone's here—"

Luffy stretched lazily before hopping up from the figurehead. The trace of gloom on his face instantly vanished, replaced by fresh excitement.

Throwing both arms into the air, he flashed his signature brilliant grin toward the open sky and sea.

"Let's goooo!! Next stop—Fish-Man Island!!"

"Wait, Luffy!!"

A sharp, trembling yell shattered the mood.

Nami burst out from the navigator's room, panic written all over her face.

"We can't just leave like this! Did you SEE that?! Those islands are falling!!"

She pointed toward the distant horizon where the enormous shadows descending over Alubarna spread like the wings of death.

"That's Alabasta down there! Vivi's country!! We have to do something!!"

Luffy turned toward his navigator and looked at the fury practically shooting from her eyes.

Then he made an extremely helpless face.

"C'mon, Nami…"

He dug at one ear before pointing toward the massive island chain stretching like mountains across the sky.

"You seriously think I can stop something like THAT?!"

"If I could punch away all those islands, I wouldn't be a pirate—I'd be a god!"

Rolling his eyes, he flopped backward and rested his head squarely against Nami's trembling shoulder.

His tone turned lazy, yet carried absolute confidence.

"Vivi and the others will be fine."

"How can you be so sure?!"

Nami tried shoving his heavy rubber head away, but it refused to budge.

"Because—"

Luffy turned his gaze toward the falling shadows, as if he could see something far beyond them.

"Stuff like this should be handled by the professionals."

"And besides, Nami…"

He spoke with the tone of someone offering hard-earned wisdom.

"If you try to handle everything yourself, you'll end up dying young from exhaustion!"

After saying that, he completely ignored the apocalyptic crisis unfolding in the distance—and Nami's puffed-up angry expression.

With a powerful kick off the deck, he leapt back atop the lion figurehead.

"Raise the sails—!!!"

he shouted, extending one arm straight toward the deep blue sea below—

Toward the abyss leading 10,000 meters beneath the ocean.

"Full speed ahead to the bottom of the sea—Fish-Man Island!!!"

The sea wind suddenly intensified, swelling the sails.

Their adventure continued—

Beneath an even deeper blue sea.

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