On the Marine warship, Diarmuid was watching the direction of the refugee ship. A moment later, he looked toward Sakazuki's warship and saw that, as he expected, the guy hadn't fired a shot at the refugee ship.
"So, something has changed after all," Diarmuid murmured softly.
No sooner had he said this than the silver Den Den Mushi that was responsible for receiving the golden Den Den Mushi signal suddenly rang.
At this, a fierce look flashed in Diarmuid's eyes. He said in a low voice, "Fire!"
It wasn't just his ship. The ten Marine warships surrounding Ohara all started firing their cannons at the same time!
As he watched Ohara, the holy land of historians, being mercilessly swallowed by cannon fire, Diarmuid felt a slight pang in his heart.
Just then, several CP agents brought Nico Robin aboard the warship. Robin was still a child, and she looked back at Ohara, which was now being engulfed in flames, terrified.
Diarmuid glanced at Robin but said nothing. He had no other motive for saving her except for a simple goodwill he had from his previous life. There was no need to hide it. As long as it didn't mess things up, saving her was fine. From the looks of it, it hadn't messed anything up at all; no one even knew she was a scholar.
But seeing Robin now gave Diarmuid another idea. Perhaps he could use Robin to threaten Olvia, and at the same time, use Olvia to threaten Robin. Combining the two... who knows what use it might have?
As Diarmuid was thinking this, his expression suddenly changed. At the same time, an intense heat instantly erupted from Sakazuki's warship nearby.
"Ryusei Kazan!!!"
Burning, hot magma erupted from his ship like a volcanic explosion, heading directly for Ohara Island. At the same time, the broken sword on Diarmuid's waist, Nagasone Kotetsu, unsheathed itself. He swung it forward fiercely.
"Tengai Shinsei!!!" Diarmuid roared.
Following his command, a giant meteor fell from the sky, also heading for Ohara Island.
Then, Sakazuki had already shot out. Diarmuid picked up a Den Den Mushi and ordered, "Attention all units! Kuzan, at the appropriate time, blockade the surrounding sea! Dalmatian, go and meet the CP9 agents evacuating Ohara! Tokikake, guard the port!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Diarmuid's feet left the deck, and he flew out as well.
Meanwhile, near the Tree of Knowledge, a wound appeared on Spandine's arm, and blood gushed out. The CP agents who were protecting him had all fallen to the ground.
Spandine covered his wound with one hand and pointed at the figure not far away with the other. "Monkey D. Dragon... you..."
That's right, the person who had suddenly appeared on Ohara Island was Dragon. He had just rescued Professor Clover from Spandine's grasp.
But Dragon didn't pay any mind to Spandine. He looked up at the giant meteor and the magma meteor, his brows furrowed. "So Sakazuki and Diarmuid are both here? How troublesome..."
It was a strange coincidence. Dragon had somehow learned about Ohara and the scholars who could decipher the Poneglyphs. So he hurried over, planning to convince a few scholars to join his revolutionary army. But just as he set foot on the island, the Marine warships surrounded all of Ohara.
Dragon had immediately laid low, wanting to see what the Marines were up to. Could it be a trap? Were they specifically here to catch him, Dragon?
But soon, he realized something was off. They weren't looking for him; they were looking for the scholars. With the Buster Call initiated, Dragon couldn't hold back any longer. He had to save at least one scholar.
So he rushed to the Tree of Knowledge and saw Spandine about to kill Professor Clover and evacuate the island. Dragon had no time to think and immediately took action.
Professor Clover had been shot by Spandine, but he wasn't dead. He was staring in shock at the meteor and the magma meteor falling from the sky.
Just then, Dragon raised his hand and swept his claw through the air. From his five fingers, a massive burst of wind pressure erupted, instantly blowing up Sakazuki's falling Ryusei Kazan, turning it into a brilliant magma firework that scattered in the air.
Spandine didn't dare say another word. He took advantage of the moment while Dragon was distracted, got up, and ran.
At the same time, just as Dragon was about to deal with the other meteor, Sakazuki's muscular figure descended from a distance.
"Meigo!" Sakazuki had no intention of catching up with Dragon. He thrust his fist out, and his arm instantly turned into burning magma, forming a roaring hound.
Dragon was helpless. He grabbed Professor Clover by the shoulder, stomped on the ground, and widened the distance between himself and Sakazuki. Sakazuki's explosive attack directly scorched and ignited the ground, turning it into a sea of lava.
Only then did Sakazuki speak. "Dragon, don't meddle!"
"Sakazuki..." Dragon's hands swirled with a breeze, and he looked at Sakazuki with a somber expression.
Just then, an extremely strong gravitational pressure instantly enveloped Dragon. The ground beneath Dragon's feet shattered, and he was forced to a crouch, looking as if he was about to be crushed.
Professor Clover was in an even worse state. Diarmuid's attack was a full-power strike, specifically aimed at a top-tier fighter like Dragon. Professor Clover couldn't possibly withstand it. He was instantly crushed to the ground with a splat, exploding into a bloody mist like a smashed mosquito, leaving nothing behind.
The sudden turn of events stunned both Dragon and Sakazuki. Before they could react, the falling meteor suddenly accelerated, smashing into Ohara Island with a tremendous force, engulfing both Dragon and Sakazuki.
The Tree of Knowledge, which had stood on Ohara for thousands of years, had no power to resist the meteor and was instantly reduced to ashes. The powerful impact even shattered the very foundation of the island of Ohara, and the entire island was immediately enveloped in a huge cloud of dust.
In the dust cloud, Diarmuid's figure slowly walked toward the meteor crater. In his hand, he was holding a person—Spandine, who had almost been killed by his own meteor.
"Cough cough... Thank you for saving me, Vice Admiral Diarmuid," Spandine choked on the dust and quickly expressed his thanks.
"Don't thank me. Get back to the warship and be safe," Diarmuid said, tossing him onto the ground.
Spandine didn't dare to waste any time. He nodded and quickly ran toward the warship.
At the same time, a figure emerged from the hot lava on the ground not far away. It was Sakazuki. The meteor was so huge that Diarmuid didn't use any Haki to enhance it, and Sakazuki's ability to turn his body into a logia element wasn't just for show. Therefore, he wasn't hurt at all.
"That was quite the loud attack you made," Sakazuki said, looking at the now unrecognizable Ohara.
"If it wasn't a bit loud, Dragon might have gotten someone out of here," Diarmuid said, using his Observation Haki to scan for Dragon's presence.
That's right, his Tengai Shinsei wasn't aimed at Dragon in the first place. Its purpose was to destroy all of Dragon's targets. He absolutely couldn't let Dragon get his hands on any of the Poneglyphs. Otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble that guy would cause?
The meteor was aimed at the scholars gathered in the area. Now, it looked like they had all been completely annihilated.
Just then, a gust of wind blew through the dust cloud, sweeping away the dust that was blocking everyone's vision, and Dragon's figure slowly emerged from the wind.
He looked at the wreckage of Ohara. There were no survivors. Then he looked at Sakazuki and Diarmuid, and finally, his gaze settled on the broken sword in Diarmuid's hand.
"Looks like your sword really is broken," Dragon said softly.
After a moment of emotion, Dragon's expression darkened, and he was about to scold Diarmuid. He had always thought of Diarmuid as a man who held a sense of justice, but today, Diarmuid had killed unarmed scholars by crushing them to death. Dragon's rage was boiling.
But before he could say anything, Diarmuid roared, "Dragon, I never thought you were such a madman!!! And here I thought you still had some sense of justice in your heart, even after leaving the Marines!!!"
Dragon?
I haven't even cursed you out, and you're already cursing me? And you're acting so righteous about it? You're the one who just killed everyone!
"You tried to hijack the scholars and the Ancient Weapons! I will never let you succeed!!!" Diarmuid roared again.
Dragon was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted, feeling a bit awkward. He understood why Diarmuid had acted so ruthlessly, killing everyone on Ohara right off the bat. So it turned out that Diarmuid thought he was here to steal the scholars and take them back to revive the Ancient Weapons?
That wasn't it at all!
He just wanted to understand the history of the Void Century, find dirt on the World Government, and then raise the flag of revolution and blow them up.
It was a misunderstanding!
My God, Professor! You died such a tragic death!
Diarmuid, of course, knew what Dragon was thinking, but even so, he couldn't let Dragon get his hands on the Poneglyphs. That would cause massive changes that would not be beneficial to his own interests. That's why he killed all the scholars on Ohara with a single move.
At the same time, to prevent his relationship with Dragon from completely breaking, he preempted the conversation, making Dragon misunderstand.
Dragon, who had been ready to fight Sakazuki and Diarmuid here and now to vent his anger, suddenly lost interest. He looked at Diarmuid with a defeated expression. "It's not what you think. I'm not here to unleash the Ancient Weapons..."
"There's no point in talking about it," Diarmuid said, wrapping a layer of Armament Haki around the half-broken Nagasone Kotetsu.
Sakazuki's arms were also dripping with hot magma, and a layer of Haki solidified on the surface of the magma.
The next second, both Sakazuki and Diarmuid moved. They attacked simultaneously, one from the left and one from the right, trapping Dragon in the middle.
"Gravity Blade: Tiger's Bite!"
"Great Eruption!"
Dragon's expression was one of extreme helplessness, but he had no intention of fighting. Without even a test strike, he turned into a wisp of air and disappeared from Sakazuki and Diarmuid's sight.
Sakazuki and Diarmuid immediately changed their attacks. The two combined their powers, a combination of magma and gravity, and launched a joint attack into the air. This was their first time fighting together, yet they moved with such a perfect synergy.
As expected, this attack forced Dragon to reveal himself.
"Dragon's Breath!" Dragon placed one hand on the gravity-magma attack launched by Sakazuki and Diarmuid. The wind pressure erupted like the breath of a giant dragon.
But it was clear that Dragon's power alone couldn't completely block the combined force of Sakazuki and Diarmuid. The powerful wind pressure only managed to hold it back for a moment and looked like it would be broken through very soon.
"Was all this really necessary?" Dragon said softly.
As soon as he finished speaking, a storm suddenly swept across the entire island of Ohara. Diarmuid and Sakazuki looked at each other and simultaneously withdrew their power.
Soon, Dragon's presence disappeared from their Observation Haki. But neither Sakazuki nor Diarmuid went to search or pursue him. After glancing at each other, Sakazuki said, "The mission is the priority."
"I never thought you'd be the one to show mercy," Diarmuid said with a chuckle.
"Hmph..." Sakazuki grunted unhappily and turned to walk toward the warship.
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