After daybreak, reinforcements never stopped.
Marines poured in from the Grand Line. Pirate crews from the mid and outer reaches of the New World arrived in waves. Under orders from their captains and commanders, both sides kept feeding bodies into the grinder.
Casualties climbed without pause. The sea around Hawaii Island turned into a furnace of blood and smoke, packed with death, despair, and the kind of screaming silence that only comes when you have already seen too much.
On a battlefield like this, Brook's Yomi Nomi became something terrifyingly perfect.
Souls were everywhere.
Ghosts, spirits, the lingering grudges of the dead, they all flowed into him like rivers into the sea. Every fallen fighter became fuel.
The remaining Four Elders were no less monstrous. Their desire type powers drank in the emotional currents of the battlefield, fear, rage, obsession, ambition, then paired that with bottomless reserves of Haki and a fighting synergy honed over centuries. More than once, they forced Brook and the Three Yama Kings into a disadvantage.
But Brook had two things they could not match.
A divine artifact in his hand.
And an endless supply of souls at his back.
With the Seven Star Demon Sword and constant replenishment, Brook became the sharpest blade on the field, a moving executioner that no single Elder could safely face. The "eight person duel" shattered into a chaotic melee, shifting partners, changing targets, grabbing openings wherever they appeared.
At this pace, it would take ten days before anyone could even guess at a final winner.
Yet the breaking point did not come from Brook's clash with the Elders.
It came from the second generation.
When the sun climbed high, the Second Generation of Hell could not endure any longer. They disobeyed Brook's order, rushed onto the battlefield, and threw themselves into the most brutal war imaginable.
Hades, Osiris, and Kanna, the three siblings, crashed into the fight where Shakky and Stussy were already battling the God Knight Shabos.
Five against one.
The result was merciless.
In ten minutes, the God Knight fell.
Shakky drained the life from Shabos herself, then tossed the corpse toward Abefor. The soul was instantly swallowed by Brook's Hell Gate, becoming another layer of power inside him.
The moment a God Knight died, the battlefield tilted.
Several high end fighters were freed at once. Panic flickered through the remaining two God Knights. Kaido and Oden seized that hesitation, crushing forward and pinning them down completely.
If those God Knights did not run now, death was only a matter of time.
Elsewhere, Zephyr, already battered by Linlin, was taken over by Rayleigh. After a full night of nonstop fighting, Zephyr was finished. If Rayleigh had been trying to kill him, Zephyr would have died right there.
Rayleigh had no intention of doing that.
Unfortunately, the Hell Pirates' affiliated captains did.
The moment they saw a wounded admiral level opponent, greed lit their eyes like torches.
Chinjao, World, Ibadombo, Woonan, they surged in, not caring about Rayleigh's presence, not caring about his reputation, not caring about anything except the merit of taking down a legend.
Rayleigh's brow tightened.
He withdrew with Zephyr, slipping away before the pirates' bloodlust could swallow them both. Watching how desperate everyone had become, Rayleigh knew he could not stay.
He did not want the Hell Pirates destroyed.
He also did not want the Navy shattered beyond repair.
The world still needed the Marines to keep most seas from collapsing into piracy and chaos.
Rayleigh reached Roger's battlefield, where Roger and Garp were locked in a violent exchange. Rayleigh joined in, and together they quickly suppressed Garp.
Roger clicked his tongue the moment Rayleigh interfered.
"Rayleigh, get out of here. I'll beat Garp down quick."
Rayleigh cut him off, voice hard. "We're leaving. The Hell Pirates have a slight edge now, and if we stay any longer, the pirates will only get crazier."
Roger's gaze swept the battlefield.
Pirates with murder in their eyes.
Marines fighting to the death to protect what they called justice.
People dying because someone high above them issued an order.
Roger's jaw tightened.
"Ah… I hate wars like this."
Rayleigh grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, but not before throwing one last line at Garp.
"Garp, we're leaving. Go save Zephyr, or you'll lose another admiral."
Garp's attention snapped toward the chaos where Zephyr was being hunted.
Then a roar like the end of the world rolled across the sea.
A dragon's bellow shook the battlefield.
Kaido had done it.
The Beast King had killed the God Knight Minaro by himself.
But he paid for it.
A massive gash split his waist, so deep his intestines flashed in the open air. Blood poured down his body, yet his grip on the kanabo never loosened.
"Worororo!!" Kaido roared, raising his mace. "I am Kaido of the Beasts! From today on, I'm the Fifth King of the Hell Pirates!"
His Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, violent and triumphant, pushing his momentum to its peak.
Seeing the tide turning, the remaining God Knight, Sagon, who had been facing Oden, retreated at once. This war was no longer worth dying for.
"Don't run!" Oden snarled, chasing after him in fury. If Kaido killed his opponent and he did not, his rank would fall behind Kaido's forever.
Back at the main battlefield, Brook's laughter rang out, wild and sharp.
"Yohoho! Another God Knight's soul! You're finished!"
The Four Elders exchanged glances, a quick, silent conversation in their eyes.
This war was about to turn into a disaster for them.
Saturn's face hardened. "Retreat. Only Lord Imu can suppress Brook."
The order finally came.
"Retreat!"
The Elders roared it out, and Sengoku immediately followed with commands of his own. Marines began pulling back, horns sounding across the sea.
Brook wanted to chase.
Then he saw the situation clearly.
Roger's ship was already withdrawing.
Kaido was grievously injured.
Garp tore Zephyr out of the pirates' grasp by force, injuring Ibadombo and Chinjao in the process. If Chinjao had not eaten the Diamond Fruit, his skull would have caved in under that hammer like a cracked bell.
Brook also saw his own descendants and students scattered across the battlefield, fighting like lunatics to prove themselves, to survive, to adapt to this cruelty.
Then Hiruba's warning came.
And Navy Fleet Admiral Kong, pushing the last strength of Navy Headquarters, was closing in.
Brook exhaled, slow and heavy.
He could keep fighting.
But he did not need to.
His cadres were still growing. They were still learning. Time favored the Hell Pirates, not the World Government.
Brook lowered his sword.
"Retreat."
The order rolled across the fleet.
He needed time too. He had just returned from the moon, and there were too many plans, too many ideas, too many sharpened blades he had not yet forged.
Both sides sounded their horns and began to withdraw from Hawaii Island, leaving behind wreckage, smoke, and a sea that would remember this night forever.
Saturn's eyes burned as he stared at Brook from afar.
"Brook! Next time, Lord Imu will deal with you personally!"
Brook sneered, contempt cold and steady.
"I'll be waiting."
He turned away from the battlefield, laughter threatening to rise again, not from joy, but from the certainty that this war had only paused.
Not ended.
---------------
The first "cosmic island" where Inu kun, the space pirate dog, was based sat near the sea above the ruins of the destroyed Giant Kingdom. That meant it was not far from the Final Island, buried within the extreme weather zone in the latter half of the New World.
Among the ancient legends Inu kun's people preserved, one line kept repeating like a stubborn curse.
"The long headed ruler, leader of the Twenty Kings, offended both heaven and man. Mother Nature cursed him, and he dared not approach the Final Island."
There were also unofficial records that said it was the many gods of that vast kingdom who laid the curse, and that the leader of the Twenty Kings then erased every legend about those gods from history.
Because as long as no one remembered those gods, their Devil Fruits and powers would vanish from this world entirely.
Brook did not know how much of it was true, but the shape of the truth was obvious enough.
Imu seemed unable to get close to the Final Island.
Otherwise, the New World would have been unified long ago.
Even Uranus could not casually endure the extreme weather surrounding that sea. Worse, Imu's consciousness was linked to Uranus. The closer one drew to the Final Island, the weaker that connection became, to the point where control could slip at any moment.
That was why, even when it was Uranus, Imu did not dare send it deep into the latter New World.
Even the earlier assaults, the destruction of Doragenzo Island and Beehive Island, had carried risks and costs. And those islands were not truly deep in the New World, they still leaned toward the middle. They were still far from the Final Island.
Now Brook understood. If Imu stepped into the latter New World, he would be shackled by a curse and his strength would drop. That meant Brook could develop in peace.
And now that Uranus had been destroyed, he no longer needed to fear a sudden annihilation strike on Dorangonzo's waters. He also did not have to worry about Imu charging into the deep New World alone to attempt a decapitation raid.
Brook finally understood why Elbaf and Wano, both sitting in the latter half of the New World, had not been erased by the World Government.
Existence had its reasons.
That ancient immortal was not all knowing, all powerful, and invincible. If Imu truly were, he would have wiped every threat off the board long ago.
Even if Imu's Devil Fruit held the authority of some god, it was still bound by restrictions.
…
As the Five Elders and the Marines pulled back, Brook turned his attention to protecting his long standing descendants and students. He would not allow the Elders to copy his methods and pick off the weak during the retreat.
In the end, Sheila's death really was unfair.
A man with the Teleport Fruit should have been one of the hardest ability users in the world to kill. Yet Brook ended him with a single throw.
But Sheila had done it to himself.
He had teleported too many Marines. He was visibly drained, then still forced himself to move heavyweights, even dragging another Elder across the world. He collapsed from exhaustion, and once he lost the strength to resist or teleport, he became nothing more than a target lying on a deck.
Oden guarded Kaido during the withdrawal, refusing to let the Navy land a cheap strike. Kaido was already one of the most feared monsters alive, and once he recovered, he would become even worse.
After killing the God Knight Minaro, Kaido's Haki had broken through another barrier. He was now noticeably stronger than Oden. Next time, Kaido would step into the first echelon and become a true main force.
Both sides retreated under constant vigilance. Some forces remained behind to retrieve floating bodies, but most corpses had already sunk, swallowed by sea beasts and Sea Kings.
For the middle and lower ranks, there was no "victory" in war.
They were chips. Pawns.
They died, and the game continued without them.
Plenty of pirate groups in the New World were merely waiting, watching, doing nothing. If the Hell Pirates had fallen, those vultures would not have minded climbing over their corpses to become the next overlords.
But the moment they learned Brook had returned, they understood a simple truth.
The New World would sit beneath the Hell Pirates' shadow for a long, long time.
They could submit to Brook's absolute rule, or they could run back to the Grand Line and the Four Seas and live a quieter life.
The Hell Pirates' Pluton fleet returned toward Doragonzo Island.
They had won.
For eight years, while Brook was gone, they had been suppressed by the World Government, pressed down again and again. Now they could finally raise their heads.
The World Government's losses were brutal. The God Knights were almost completely wiped out. Of the old generation, only Sagon remained. Nine out of ten were dead.
Even the newly added God Knights were nearly gone. Zebai of the Boundary Fruit was dead. Sheila of the Teleport Fruit was dead. The Sealing Fruit user, the man with the extra face tattoo, was dead.
The God Knights still had a name, but little else.
Even if the Celestial Dragons pulled more bodies from CP0, that "strongest order" would not return so easily.
After this war, the kings of the World Government's New World member states began fleeing once again. They could not remain here.
The power they relied on had stopped fighting and retreated.
Under the World Government's command, the Marines withdrew step by step and, without saying it aloud, yielded the New World to the Hell Pirates. They kept only the waters near the Red Line.
Back at the New World base, Brook moved fast.
He introduced Inu kun and his companions to Dr. Vegapunk, then handed over the books and the small robots brought back from the moon. After that, he told the crew everything he had endured over the past eight years.
That night, a banquet lit up the base like a festival after a funeral.
Shiki returned to the inner circle.
Crocus treated Kaido, and Brook formally brought him into the core leadership as well. Kaido became the Fifth King of the Hell Pirates and was granted the status of an Emperor.
Brook had been alone for eight years.
Naturally, he chose not to sleep alone.
The next day, Brook gave Shiki a task. Find a way to reach the island where Inu kun had been, and bring it back into their grasp. He also ordered his people to locate Roger immediately.
Brook wanted to know what the Final Island recorded.
He could not wait any longer. He wanted the full truth of eight hundred years ago. He wanted Imu's ability, Imu's weakness, and Imu's true trump card.
If Imu was nothing but a decorated paper tiger, Brook would not mind starting another war.
But that was unlikely.
Then the bad news arrived.
"What? Imu recovered all the fragments of Uranus?"
Brook's eyes narrowed.
Imu had personally taken action to retrieve the pieces. If nothing else, it proved how deeply Imu valued Uranus.
It meant only one thing.
Imu was repairing it.
The thought left a cold pressure in Brook's chest, but Vegapunk was already gathering materials and pushing forward. A more powerful Pluton battleship was being built.
It took Brook several days to fully grasp the Hell Pirates' current state, to take the wheel again, and to check the progress of every plan and project.
A few days of chaos, a few days of love, a few days of finally being a husband and a father again.
Then Brook stood up from the table, wiped the warmth from his face, and returned to being the New World's overlord.
The next round of planning began.
The next round of resource hunting began.
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