Wano Country was essentially finished.
Although the volcanic eruption had stopped, the land was completely fragmented, and everything had been submerged by the sea.
Worse still, the earthquake had been so intense that one side of the cliff collapsed.
The inland sea now had an outlet for its water, which rushed toward the breach in a desperate torrent.
Inevitably, everything that was flooded by the seawater would eventually be lost to the ocean.
"Does this count as opening Wano Country's borders?"
Roa looked down at the completely ruined country, remarking with some emotion, "Kozuki Oden, now you can rest in peace, right?"
Everyone treated you like a clown, but I'm the one who fulfilled your dream after all these years.
I really am benevolent!
"Kozuki Oden?"
Kaido furrowed his brow suspiciously, only finding the name vaguely familiar.
The others were even more clueless, as they had never heard the name before.
After all, Kozuki Oden in this world had died before he could even achieve his goal, having been killed by Roa before ever leaving Wano.
As far as this matter was concerned, he was just an insignificant figure; no one cared.
"Alright, let's go check out Pluton."
Roa said with a smile.
Ahead, suspended in mid-air, the colossal black battleship was being gripped by an invisible hand of wind, forcibly kept afloat.
Crimson magma was still constantly rolling down the battleship's dark hull.
In terms of scale, it was much smaller than the City of Calamity and Uranus, but even so, it was giant compared to ordinary ships on the sea, roughly the same size as Roa's own Sky-Faring Warships.
Its overall shape was also similar to the Sky-Faring Warships, lacking masts or sails, just a bare, more enclosed hull.
It looked as if it had been cast in one piece from some kind of black metal. From a distance, one could barely see any seams.
The last Ancient Weapon, Pluton, was here!
"Strangely, I don't feel excited at all."
Donquixote Doflamingo adjusted his sunglasses perched on his nose, his tone somewhat ambiguous.
"After all, it's not the first Ancient Weapon we've gotten."
Beside him, Bege looked deeply empathetic.
Of course, they were ecstatic when they obtained the first Ancient Weapon.
They were also very excited when they got the second.
And happy about the third.
But now, counting the City of Calamity, Pluton was the fourth Ancient Weapon they had acquired.
Well, it's just another one.
One could say they were accustomed to it.
However, Robin and Hancock were deeply affected.
Roa's power had grown even greater.
No one in this world could stop him with force.
So, it seemed it could only be them.
Then, Roa led everyone onto Pluton, which had been buried underground for over eight hundred years.
It truly deserved its reputation as the ultimate battleship, forged by the peak technology of the Birkan people and the exquisite craftsmanship of the Giant Warrior Pirates.
Even after being soaked in magma for so many years, it had suffered virtually no damage.
It made sense; compared to Uranus, while Pluton lacked the ability to fly, its defensive capabilities far surpassed those of Uranus.
However, its defense was the only source of surprise.
The City of Calamity was originally constructed based on Pluton's blueprints.
Although Judge and Caesar had added many things when building that ship, none of the original features in the blueprint were missing.
Everything on Pluton was also on the City of Calamity. For the members of the Pirate Alliance, this legendary Ancient Weapon really had nothing special about it.
In fact, just like the City of Calamity, the ship's energy source had long since been depleted, and it could not be immediately put into use.
But regardless, obtaining a new Ancient Weapon was never a bad thing.
While Roa was obtaining Pluton, the scattered Sky-Faring Warships had already crossed the Red Line and smoothly arrived at the other half of the world on the opposite side of the Red Line.
The campaign to conquer the world had officially begun.
And this time, no one could stop it.
In the East Blue, Loguetown.
This island had been almost entirely destroyed during the earth-shattering Battle of Loguetown more than twenty years ago.
However, since this place was the strategic gateway guarding the entrance to the Grand Line from the East Blue, the World Government had renovated the island during the two decades the Calamity Company was inactive, giving the town a new lease on life.
By today, the people living on the island had mostly forgotten the disaster of that year, and the city had even become a relatively famous tourist destination in the East Blue.
After all, this was where the Pirate King was born and died. Just the visitors coming to see the Pirate King's execution platform brought considerable tourism revenue to the city—even though Roger had not actually died on that platform, and the platform itself had long since been reduced to ashes.
However, Loguetown's peaceful days had long been over.
When Roa returned to the sea and the Pirate Alliance seized half the world, Loguetown had become a frontline in a certain sense.
The Red Line was not far from this island, and once over the Red Line was the end of the New World. The Pirate Alliance could attack at any time.
However, precisely because the Pirate Alliance could attack at any moment, not too many military forces were stationed on the island.
The reason was simple: it was useless.
The power of the Pirate Alliance was too overwhelming. To truly stop their advance would require at least one Admiral to be permanently stationed here.
But the Navy did not have that many Admirals.
So, they had only installed some detection equipment on the island to monitor the possible movements of the Pirate Alliance.
But even this equipment had been useless during the previous attacks by the Sea Kings.
This island, too, was almost completely sunk by the Sea Kings.
And now, people who were still terrified by the news of the Pirate Alliance crushing the World Government, which they had read in the newspapers, saw a ship—a massive ship flying over the skies of Loguetown.
"They're here!! It's one of Roa's flying ships!"
"They've come to conquer the East Blue!"
The already shaken people were now plunged into near despair.
Who could stop them?
The World Government had been utterly defeated by the Pirate Alliance, and the high-ranking officials of the Navy, who bore the mantle of justice and were supposed to protect the people, had already knelt before Roa. Who could still protect this sea?
Swoosh!
The massive ship zipped across the sky without stopping, but at that moment, a colossal black shadow plummeted from the ship.
Boom!
The giant black shadow slammed into the center of Loguetown like a meteor.
The ground instantly shattered, and the surrounding buildings collapsed in swathes. The rising dust spread out like a thick fog.
"Hahahaha!"
A sharp trajectory suddenly tore through the dense fog of dust, as a swinging battle-axe brought forth a gust of wind.
A wild, booming laugh spread like thunder in all directions. "Lord Roa said we must conquer every island in the world!"
"Now is the time for you to make your decision! Submission or destruction! What is your answer!"
The ash-covered people surrounding the ruins were paralyzed in despair.
They just stared blankly up at the monster, who was as enormous as a small mountain.
It took several seconds before a heart-wrenching scream finally broke the silence.
"A Giant!!"
Standing atop the ruins was a Giant.
And not an ordinary Giant; he had a head of pure white hair and a long, equally white beard.
This was a very, very old Giant.
Due to his age, his physique was much larger than that of an average Giant, his height exceeding fifty meters.
But the most crucial part was his eyes.
His eyes were black and white reversed.
This Giant was one of the Devil Giants of Elbaf whom Roa had turned into a familiar (Chongui) back then.
Imu had already lifted the Devil Giants' Giant transformation, but Roa's familiar transformation could not be undone.
Although these old Giants looked completely normal now, a puppet was still a puppet.
Of course, these old men were also receiving benefits from Roa's evolution. They, too, had been greatly strengthened.
"Hahahaha!"
Accompanied by a brazen laugh, the elderly Giant slammed his battle-axe down heavily.
Boom!
As if splitting heaven and earth, a colossal vacuum blade roared straight through Loguetown, severing everything in its path and rushing out into the sea.
In an instant, all sound in Loguetown ceased.
How could they possibly fight against a monster like this?
Furthermore, a monster like this was merely an insignificant character within the Pirate Alliance.
Despair had completely enveloped the entire city.
No matter how desperate the residents of Loguetown were, it did not affect the relentless advance of the Sky-Faring Warships.
In Cocoyasi Village.
Nami stared blankly upwards, looking up at the massive ship speeding across the sky.
It's here. It came so quickly.
What will happen to this island next?
In any case, escape was impossible.
Sea Kings now saturated every sea region in the East Blue. Even she, a genius navigator, could never lead people to sail out.
In the South Blue.
This was the Sorbet Kingdom.
Boom!
A black shadow suddenly descended from the sky, crashing heavily onto the coast of the country.
Kuma slowly raised his head, looking at the country where he was born and had lived for a long time.
"Alas."
He slowly sighed.
Even he could change nothing.
This country would ultimately meet its fate.
All he could do was try to look after the country as best he could.
In another sea region of the South Blue.
"Oh! Is that the Calamity Company's Sky-Faring Warship?"
On the deck of a pirate ship, a red-haired man looked up in surprise at the massive ship flying overhead.
"So fast?"
Beside him, his masked first mate said, "In that case, the South Blue is about to descend into chaos!"
"Hey, Killer!"
Eustass Kid, the captain of the Kid Pirates, suddenly curled his lip into a strange smile. "What do you say we try to steal that ship!"
"Hey, Kid!"
Killer instantly cried out in shock, "Don't be reckless!!"
"Hahahaha! Don't talk nonsense, Killer! If you're afraid, why even sail the seas! Do whatever you want, that's the freedom a pirate should have!!"
The red-haired man leaped up, his hands suddenly raised, and an invisible magnetic force spread out from them.
Although the distance was great, he could still barely exert a slight influence.
The large ship in the sky visibly hesitated for a moment.
"Hahahaha! Get down here, old man!!"
Kid exerted his full power to activate his ability, trying to yank the ship down from the sky.
Then, something actually dropped!
A black shadow, like lightning, ran across the air and plummeted straight down toward the pirate ship.
"What?"
Kid's eyes narrowed.
Was that a person?
How could he run in the sky?
But Kid couldn't think too much now.
Too fast!
In just a few breaths, the black shadow had already approached the ship.
"Hah!!"
Kid roared, and the magnetic force caused all the metal on the ship below to tremble.
Then, the next moment, the metal converged into a storm, overwhelmingly smashing towards the rapidly approaching figure.
"Hahahaha! Be turned into meat paste by me!"
But the bolt of lightning tore straight through the metal storm.
The moment all the metal struck the figure, it was instantly repelled.
"What?"
Kid's expression abruptly changed.
What was going on with this guy's body? Was he made of steel?
How could attacks have no effect on him at all??
"Kid! Look out! It's a Calamity Company Disaster Knight!!"
Killer had recognized the very common-looking face and couldn't help but scream.
"Disaster Knight—"
At that instant, Kid only felt a blur before his eyes.
Immediately afterward, a right hand that seemed cast from steel clamped around his neck.
The Disaster Knight, having descended from the sky, grabbed Kid and slammed him heavily onto the pirate ship's deck.
"Ugh!"
Kid immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling like every bone in his body was broken.
Having not even entered the Grand Line yet, let alone awakened his Devil Fruit ability, and not even knowing what Haki was, he naturally had no power to fight back against the Disaster Knight.
What's more, this Disaster Knight's eyes were also black and white reversed!
Yes, these synthetic humans had also been turned into familiars.
"Devil Fruit user."
The Disaster Knight held Kid up by the neck. "Surrender, or die. What is your decision?"
"Kid!!"
Killer had already rushed over.
Then, the next moment, he was kicked away by the Disaster Knight.
The difference in skill was too great.
Kid's pupils constricted violently.
Was this just a low-level cadre under that monster Roa?
How could the gap be so huge??
In the first half of the Grand Line, the sea area known as Paradise.
This was Alabasta.
Outside the Royal Palace.
King Cobra looked at the expressionless synthetic human before him and sighed powerlessly.
"I understand,"
He said dejectedly, "We submit."
Although he had mobilized his troops, they were only meant to deal with future pirate attacks.
Facing the Calamity Company, there was no possibility of resistance from the moment the World Government was defeated.
In another World Government affiliated nation not too far from Alabasta, a place called Drum Kingdom.
"Waaaah!! Surrender! Of course we surrender!!"
The hippo-like king knelt down, crying hysterically, "Please don't kill me!!"
And so, the whole world knew that the Pirate Alliance had formally begun its conquest of the world.
This world was about to be unified as never before.
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