A few days later.
The incident at Impel Down spread like wildfire across the seas.
As expected, Big News Morgans splashed it across every front page, and within hours, the world was in uproar.
This time, Souta Kiryuu's crew had done the impossible—breaking through the so-called "iron fortress" of Impel Down and freeing countless dangerous pirates.
The headlines might not have been quite as explosive as the God-Demon Island war, but the shock they carried was no less earth-shaking.
No one could even begin to imagine how powerful the Kiryuu Pirates would become now.
At this point, their strength had already surpassed that of the Four Emperors.
Even Morgans himself hadn't expected this level of madness—Kiryuu's crew had barely finished clashing with the Five Elders at God-Demon Island when they immediately turned around and raided the World Government's underwater prison.
That speed.
That level of planning.
It was terrifying.
From this day on, other than the World Government itself, no power—neither the Emperors nor the Revolutionary Army—would dare provoke the Kiryuu Pirates.
Morgans couldn't help but laugh to himself. The Marines had raced off to deal with the chaos at God-Demon Island, only to have Impel Down, practically next door to Marineford, robbed right under their noses.
That kind of poetic irony thrilled him.
"Gya-hahaha! What 'Fifth Emperor'? That title's far too small for Souta Kiryuu! Only God-Slayer truly fits a monster like him!"
In the headquarters of the World Economic Journal, Morgans spread his wings and laughed, practically shaking the entire office.
He had originally thought to give Kiryuu a new "Emperor" title, but now even that felt beneath him.
"Keep going, Kiryuu. Keep rewriting the world's story!"
He then ordered his editors to launch a massive special feature on Souta Kiryuu before finally leaning back in his chair, utterly satisfied.
Meanwhile, on a massive Marine battleship returning from the New World, silence reigned among the top brass.
This wasn't the first time this had happened.
Back during the Enies Lobby incident, while the Marines mobilized to support the judicial island, the Kiryuu Pirates had taken advantage of their absence to slaughter Celestial Dragons in the Sabaody Archipelago, even assaulting Marineford and tearing down the World Government's flags.
And now, Kiryuu had done it again.
First, the God-Demon Island battle drew the Marine main force away.
Then, while they were gone, he struck Impel Down.
Same trick.
Same success.
Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku—the "Buddha" famed for his intellect—and Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Marine's greatest strategist, felt utterly crushed by Kiryuu's cunning.
The oppressive atmosphere on the ship was suffocating. Even the usually carefree Borsalino (Kizaru) sat upright, staring grimly at the new reports.
What disturbed him most was the revelation that the Seraphim—those hybrid beings who fought alongside Kiryuu—were products of Dr. Vegapunk's research.
The replicated Pacifista models that looked exactly like Bartholomew Kuma, the Kiryuu Seraphim that unleashed devastating power—
and some of them even fired laser beams identical to his own.
Kizaru felt sick. He had personally helped Vegapunk test and refine the Glint-Glint Fruit's light-based abilities. And now, that data was being used against them.
It was as if Vegapunk himself was taking revenge on the World Government for imprisoning him.
First, he created Souta Kiryuu—his greatest experiment.
Then, Kiryuu "kidnapped" him, freed him from Government control, and used his genius to build weapons to fight back against that same Government.
Kizaru shook his head with a bitter smile. He knew Vegapunk wasn't a vengeful man… yet it was hard to deny the irony.
For someone who had once refused to create "weapons of mass destruction," Vegapunk had certainly changed.
Beside him, Aokiji (Kuzan) sat with a deep frown.
His personal golden Den-Den Mushi—a direct line to the Celestial Dragons—had been smashed by them in fury. Ever since, he hadn't slept well.
Returning to Marineford meant facing another round of humiliation—an audience before the Five Elders and their Celestial masters.
Kuzan now fully understood what Garp had always meant when he said that true freedom required refusing promotion.
He'd once admired Garp for rejecting the rank of Admiral so many times, thinking it was bold and rebellious.
Now he saw the wisdom in it.
After three consecutive disasters—Enies Lobby, God-Demon Island, and now Impel Down—even the steadfast Fleet Admiral Sengoku was nearing his breaking point.
At seventy-seven, he could feel his age weighing down on him. The stress of balancing pressure from both Mary Geoise and the Kiryuu Pirates was becoming unbearable.
When the Marine fleet finally reached Marineford, Sengoku and the three Admirals immediately departed for Mary Geoise to face punishment.
For half a day, they endured verbal beatings from a dozen furious Celestial Dragon families before the Five Elders handed them their next order:
"Search every sky island in the world. Exterminate the Nine Snakes. Wipe the Amazon Lily nation from existence."
Sengoku was forced to comply. He assigned Akainu (Sakazuki) and Aokiji to lead the operation—five elite Vice Admirals and multiple fleets—to carry out the Buster Call on Amazon Lily.
Exhausted and grim, the Admirals set sail once again—straight into the Calm Belt.
Meanwhile, on the newly risen Nine Snakes Island, Souta Kiryuu and his crew had already arrived two days earlier.
The Seraphim designated Heavenly Path and Human Path were still new to their abilities, but after a day of constant effort using the Gravity-Gravity and Float-Float Fruits, they finally succeeded—
Amazon Lily was lifted into the sky.
As the island slowly rose through the clouds, Boa Hancock and Elder Gloriosa looked on with tears of relief.
The crushing weight that had haunted their hearts for years was finally gone.
They no longer needed to fear Marine battleships laced with Seastone entering their waters ever again.
"Lord Kiryuu!"
Hancock threw herself into Souta Kiryuu's arms, clutching the man she loved.
"Let's move it to a safer place first," he said, smiling as he kissed her cheek.
After consulting with Gloriosa and weighing all possible risks, Kiryuu decided to relocate Amazon Lily to a secure position high above the Calm Belt.
During Hancock's time as a Warlord, the World Government had likely recorded the island's eternal pose.
If they used it, they might trace its last location.
To prevent discovery, Kiryuu chose the cautious route.
He transformed into his draconic form, generating blazing flame-clouds beneath the island, and began to push it slowly across the skies.
Eventually, they settled above a part of the sea where Sea Kings roamed densely—a region so dangerous that even Seastone-reinforced warships risked destruction.
Hours after their departure, the Marine fleets arrived at the Calm Belt.
But to their shock, the navigators found that the eternal pose pointing to Amazon Lily was spinning wildly—aimed toward the sky.
Akainu and Aokiji exchanged grim looks.
They knew what it meant.
After searching the region for an entire day and finding nothing, the Marines had to accept a bitter truth—
Amazon Lily was gone.
The Sky Nation had vanished into legend.