-Broadcast-
There were far too many hundred-meter Colossal Titans advancing on their position. The Marines' weaponry was roughly equivalent to World War I-era technology—no strategic bombers, no guided missiles. No matter how many high-explosive shells their battleships carried, it wouldn't be enough to stem this colossal tide.
When conventional Marine forces proved inadequate, it was time for an Admiral to intervene. Admiral Gin, that walking natural disaster, stepped forward to face the impossible.
"There are more giants than I anticipated," the Admiral observed calmly, "but that presents no problem for me." The fact that no living civilians remained on Dressrosa was perfect for his purposes—Admiral Gin could unleash his full power without psychological burden against these mindless monsters that felt no pain.
The sky above Dressrosa suddenly darkened. Storm clouds gathered at an unnatural speed, defying all meteorological logic. When the weather system positioned itself above the advancing Colossal Titans, highly corrosive precipitation began falling from the heavens. A wide-area acid rain attack—a catastrophic natural disaster—blanketed the entire island.
"Look! Admiral Gin's ability is working!" shouted one Marine.
"Cease bombardment! The Admiral will eliminate the enemy for us!"
"Thank God that devil's rain isn't falling on humans!"
The Colossal Titans were, ultimately, just flesh and blood without armor plating. These carbon-based creatures, exposed to the highly corrosive acid rain, began dissolving rapidly. Their skin and muscle tissue peeled away in mere moments, and even their white bones started corroding. Every raindrop that struck a titan left its acidic mark.
Though the white steam emanating from the giants possessed regenerative properties, the healing process couldn't keep pace with the acid's devastating effects. Their flesh sloughed off like melting plastic.
Neither steel nor stone could withstand this acid rain, let alone titan bone. The giants were rapidly dissolved by the torrential downpour, automatically collapsing into piles of organic sludge under gravity's influence.
Admiral Gin's mastery of the Ame Ame no Mi (Rain-Rain Fruit) drew gasps of amazement from viewers across the world watching through the Sky Screen. This terrifying Devil Fruit ability seemed specifically designed for island-wide destruction.
Every living creature on the island would suffer agonizing dissolution from the acid rain, and the land itself would become severely acidified after this chemical irrigation. Nothing would grow here for decades, and the coastal waters would become a death trap for marine life. This was ecological annihilation on an unprecedented scale.
Captain Gabi and the other Marine officers who had retreated to their warship watched their Admiral systematically slaughter the titan army. They could only marvel that such a monster fought on the side of justice.
"Is this the end?" someone whispered hopefully.
As the Marines celebrated Admiral Gin's apparent victory, golden lightning suddenly struck from the sky above one of their prison ships, shattering their premature relief.
Admiral Smoker spotted the brilliant electrical discharge in the distance, realizing immediately what had happened. "Damn it," he cursed. "I should have expected this."
A massive white titan erupted from the exploding prison vessel. The twenty-meter giant's emergence destroyed the ship completely, killing every sailor aboard in the blast. Clutched in the titan's enormous hand was a familiar figure—the evil scientist Caesar Clown.
The giant's identity was unmistakable. Smoker's greatest failure had just revealed itself.
"Vergo," Smoker snarled, his body transforming into smoke as he accelerated toward the white titan. "You traitorous bastard. I should have left you to rot on Punk Hazard."
Vergo, now controlling his titan form through the power of the Warhammer Titan, raised his free hand and unleashed a devastating counterattack. Countless white spikes erupted from his palm—each nearly a meter in length—creating a deadly rain of hardened projectiles.
The Marine warships had no way to evade this level of concentrated fire. The meter-long needles easily pierced through the older wooden vessels, while even the steel-armored battleships could only withstand a dozen impacts before becoming vulnerable. Within moments, every ship in the coastal fleet was perforated like a honeycomb.
Most Marines died instantly, impaled where they stood. These flesh-and-blood bodies became crimson pincushions against the hardening ability, each death grotesquely brutal.
Two CP0 agents launched themselves skyward using Geppo (Moon Walk), desperately trying to intercept the spikes targeting the Celestial Dragons. The government operatives managed to destroy dozens of projectiles with their Armament Haki, but the sheer volume overwhelmed their defenses. Both agents were eventually shot down, their bodies bristling with white spikes.
Even enhanced Busoshoku Haki had its limits. These two Celestial Dragon shields fulfilled their lifelong duty, serving their masters as loyal dogs until their final breath.
"It hurts... Father, I don't want to die yet," Saint Charlos whimpered as a spike punched through his abdomen, pinning his entire body to the deck. Despite his notorious resilience to physical punishment, he couldn't survive this level of penetrating trauma.
He was relatively fortunate, however. When the agonized Saint Charlos looked around at his family members, he saw that Saint Shalria had been struck directly in the head by a needle, leaving her a headless corpse kneeling in place.
Father Rozward had become entangled with a dying sailor. The spike through his heart had killed him instantly—he hadn't even managed a final scream. Both family members had departed this world without ceremony.
The so-called gods had died right before his eyes, no different from common Marines. Despair consumed Saint Charlos's heart. In the face of raw violence, Celestial Dragon privilege meant nothing.
Saint Charlos couldn't die quickly enough to escape his suffering. He could only watch his internal organs spill across the deck, too terrified to bite his tongue for a merciful suicide. He endured excruciating torture before finally expiring, his twisted face frozen in a final grimace of agony.
"You... why didn't you die?" Saint Charlos gasped with his last breath, staring at the Celestial Dragon he least wanted to see surviving.
Saint Donquixote Mjosgard crawled out from beneath a pile of Marine corpses. When the white titan had launched its attack, these soldiers had abandoned all self-preservation. More than a dozen men had tackled him to the ground, using their own bodies as shields to protect this World Noble, even as their comrades died around them.
As Fleet Admiral Artoria's political ally and sister to one of the Marine Admiral, these Marine officers had willingly sacrificed their lives for him. Saint Mjosgard gazed down at their young faces with profound sadness. "Thank you... thank you all so very much."
This unique Celestial Dragon who refused to wear the traditional breathing apparatus fell to his knees before the Sky Screen's global audience. In this moment, he didn't know how else to honor these fallen heroes. Saint Mjosgard could only think to prostrate himself and kowtow in gratitude.
"Save me... please save me," Saint Charlos had begged with his final words, hoping even his enemies might show mercy.
Saint Mjosgard approached the corpse, seeing that Saint Charlos had died with his eyes wide open in terror. As a fellow Celestial Dragon, he felt compelled to show respect, gently closing the dead man's eyelids.
He looked up at Smoker and Vergo's ongoing battle. The Admiral's Moku Moku no Mi (Smoke-Smoke Fruit) was proving ineffective against the traitorous Warhammer Titan, their conflict temporarily halting the spike bombardment.
Saint Mjosgard could only place his hopes on the other Admiral. Turning his gaze toward Admiral Gin's position, he witnessed a sight that would haunt him forever.
"How is this possible? Black giants...?"
The Colossal Titans, originally just flesh and blood, were now coated in layers of black Armament Haki. Admiral Gin's acid rain attack had become completely ineffective—the highly corrosive liquid now fell harmlessly off their hardened skin like ordinary water.
Each titan was now enhanced with Busoshoku Haki, their defensive capabilities and destructive power maximized. The Rumbling resumed its inexorable advance as the Sky Screen broadcast this terrifying evolution to the world.
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