Boom.
In the quiet of Seven Water City, a sudden thunderous explosion echoed across the coastline.
People jerked awake, startled from their sleep.
"What was that noise?"
Confused residents rushed out of their homes, gathering in the streets as they looked toward the distant sea, where a fiery glow lit the horizon.
"The sea… is that fire?"
Flames rose into the night sky far off the shore. One man gasped loudly.
"Wow! That's huge! Are pirates fighting out there?"
"Will they come for our Water 7 City?"
Worry crept into a few voices, though others remained boldly unfazed.
"If pirates want to test their luck, let them come. Our city doesn't fear them. We have master shipwrights from the shipyard protecting us."
After all, even the Marines' greatest battleships were built right here.
Although the people of Seven Water City held mixed feelings about the Marines and the World Government, they still carried a quiet pride in their craftsmanship.
A woman hugged herself suddenly, shivering.
"Why is the sea breeze so cold tonight…? Is Aqua Laguna coming early? We should head inside before someone catches a cold."
With murmurs of agreement, the citizens lost interest and began returning to their homes.
"You're right. Pirates fighting each other has nothing to do with us."
"In fact, the harder they fight, the better. If they blow up each other's ships, they'll have to order new ones from us."
"Hahaha! You're terrible!"
None of them realized that moments earlier, they had unknowingly been a breath away from annihilation.
If Shirogai Yamikuro had not appeared when he did, Admiral Akainu would have unleashed a devastating bombardment upon Seven Water City without hesitation.
He would have drowned the city in a storm of cannon fire fiercer than a Buster Call, reducing it to dust and erasing it from the map.
Then, through twisted journalism, the World Government would have pinned the destruction on the supposed instigator—
Vice Captain Shirogai of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Just as Nico Robin had been labeled a criminal at eight years old for the fabricated charge of "destroying six Marine battleships," they would have crafted the perfect narrative.
Shirogai would be branded a menace, hunted by every kingdom, and crushed beneath the weight of the World Government's propaganda.
This was their most effective tool:
A method of shaping heroes and villains with absolute authority.
Unless someone offered the World Government benefits they desired, no one was permitted to be recognized as a hero.
Those who refused to submit were branded "monsters," "world destroyers," and "demons," shunned by every nation under the Government's influence.
This was the frightening, oppressive weapon known as the hegemonic justice of the World Government.
…
"Whoosh la la… whoosh la la…"
Magma spread across the ocean surface, glowing violently.
Several Marine warships had already been shattered into fragments, burning in the molten tide while black smoke poured into the sky.
Standing atop the molten waves, a massive figure wreathed in magma raised his fist.
"Great Eruption!"
A colossal molten fist blasted outward, expanding like a volcanic explosion and shooting toward the Ice Dragon soaring high above.
Boom!
The impact shook the sea.
The clash between magma and ice produced a roar of vapor and crackling energy that spread across the dark waters.
Thankfully, the remaining Marine ships had already retreated on Akainu's orders.
Had they stayed, the shockwave alone might have destroyed them.
"Red Dog's Land!"
A tidal surge crashed down toward the magma-coated sea. Akainu glared coldly and stomped his foot into the molten surface.
From deep beneath the waves, magma surged upward in thick streams, smashing into the descending waves and instantly vaporizing them into thick, scorching steam.
Sizzle… hiss…
Above the battlefield, the frozen titan in the shape of a dragon—its body made of blue-white crystalline ice—finally succumbed to the intense heat.
The Ice Dragon, after destroying multiple ships, melted rapidly under Akainu's assault.
Volcanic bombs pierced through it like a rain of molten bullets.
"Awoo…"
With a dying roar, the Ice Dragon burst into white steam and vanished.
Akainu snorted.
"Hmph. Pirate brat, what kind of tricks are you playing now?"
Before the admiral could taunt Shirogai, he clenched his fist and hurled another attack.
Magma bubbled around his arm as he launched another blazing strike toward the figure floating above the ocean.
"Great Eruption!"
The massive magma fist tore through the air once more.
High above, Shirogai watched it approach, a calm and almost amused smile playing on his lips.
"As expected of you, Akainu. Brutal as always. But…"
His eyes glinted.
"You're underestimating me. You spread the attack too wide. Its temperature dropped."
Shirogai extended his left hand, cold mist swirling around his fingertips.
"Ice Age."
In an instant, extreme cold surged from his palm.
The giant magma fist froze rapidly, crackling into a massive structure of dark, brittle lava covered in frost.
Click… click… click…
In less than a second, most of the magma fist turned solid, icy crystals spreading through its core.
"Damn it…"
Akainu glared down at his numb right arm, grinding his teeth.
He didn't know whether to curse Shirogai…
or Aokiji for handing him such an infuriating power.
"It's not over yet."
Shirogai looked down at him with a confident, almost playful smirk.
"Let me show you a glimpse of something else."
His right hand, already charged with energy, formed a black, vibrating spherical shell, warping the air around it.
He aimed it at the magma sea beneath him and twisted.
A destructive spatial vibration rippled out across the entire ocean.
"Quake—Shockwave."
"Shirogai, you—!"
Akainu's eyes widened in disbelief.
"That's Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit! When did you—"
He never finished the sentence.
Creak… crack… CRACK…
The sea erupted in chaos.
The magma field beneath Akainu convulsed violently as if an invisible hand was ripping it apart from within.
Waves of distortion shredded the molten surface, tearing magma and sea apart like paper.
The shockwave hit Akainu squarely.
His magma body shattered into several molten fragments, scattering across the boiling surface.
Pieces of the admiral floated on the molten sea, hissing and writhing in the heat.