The inside of Uranus wasn't filled with the mechanical roar you'd expect from something that looked like a steel monster.
Instead, it was eerily quiet.
Shinju sat cross-legged before the main control console, eyes closed.
The operating system of this Ancient Weapon was massive and impossibly complex—like connecting tens of thousands of Vegapunk brains together into one giant network.
Every single command transmission required an enormous amount of mental focus to guide it through.
Luffy was plastered against the huge transparent viewing window, his face squished flat against the glass.
"So fast! Is that a bird? Is that an island? It just whooshed and vanished!"
Chopper hopped around beside him, hooves slipping.
"It's too high! Luffy, are we gonna fall?! If we fall we'll turn into meat pancakes!"
Zoro leaned in a corner, three swords in his arms as he wiped Wado Ichimonji clean. The blade reflected the sharpness in his eyes.
"Doesn't matter what kind of weapon it is. As long as it can cut."
Sanji walked over with a plate of freshly made sweets and set them down in front of Nami and Robin.
"Nami-san, Robin-chan, this is a special Cloud-Top Afternoon Tea. Please enjoy."
Nami wasn't in the mood to eat.
She stared hard at the Log Pose in her hand.
The three magnetic spheres on it were spinning wildly, completely unable to lock onto anything.
"It's useless. At this altitude and speed, the Log Pose can't catch the magnetism."
Robin closed her book and glanced at the figure with his back to everyone.
"Don't worry about navigation. Since Shinju said we're going to Elbaf, he obviously has a way."
That man had just fired a shot at the world's "gods."
And it wasn't a warning shot.
It was a slap across the face.
Right now… the whole world was probably going insane.
New World, high above a certain sea.
A massive news blimp hovered among the clouds.
"BIG NEWS! EARTH-SHATTERING NEWS!"
Morgans paced back and forth in his office, feathers flying.
He'd nearly smashed his camera shutter from how many times he'd pressed it.
What he'd just witnessed—despite the distance—was impossible to miss: the mushroom cloud reaching the heavens, the pillar of light piercing sky and sea.
You'd have to be blind not to see it.
His Den Den Mushi rang nonstop.
All of them were calls from the World Government.
"Boss! CP0 sent a warning! They're forbidding any report about Mary Geoise! Otherwise they'll—"
An editor burst in, drenched in sweat.
Morgans swept a wing across the desk, knocking the Den Den Mushi onto the floor.
"Otherwise they'll kill me? Hahahaha!"
"Tell those white-suited idiots—too late!"
"This is the kind of event that gets written into history! Nobody's shutting my beak!"
He snatched up a feather pen and slashed words across a massive blank page.
The headline was only a few characters long, yet it punched like a cannon.
The Throne Collapses: Uranus Changes Hands, the Holy Land Falls!
Below it was a blurry, but brutally impactful photo.
A gigantic mechanical shadow hung above the Red Line. Beneath it: rolling smoke, shattered walls of Pangaea Castle.
"PRINT! PRINT IT! ONE HUNDRED MILLION COPIES! No—ONE BILLION!"
"Let the News Coo fly to every corner of the world!"
"Let the Four Seas, the Grand Line, the New World—everyone see it!"
"This era… the sky is changing!"
Morgans threw his head back and laughed.
For a newsman, nothing was more thrilling than personally prying open the coffin of the old age.
Marine Headquarters, New Marineford.
The meeting room doors were shoved open roughly.
Akainu strode in, his face so dark it looked like it could drip.
The vice admirals on both sides of the table stood instantly, barely daring to breathe.
Even Kizaru sat upright.
Fujitora couldn't see, but his brow was deeply furrowed.
"Damage report."
Akainu sat down, voice low and hoarse.
A rear admiral stood shakily with a document in hand.
"R-report, Fleet Admiral…"
"Mary Geoise suffered severe damage. The front gate of Pangaea Castle and the entire forecourt have been completely destroyed. One-third of the Celestial Dragons' residential district has become rubble."
"Casualties are still being counted. Confirmed dead Celestial Dragons: twelve."
A collective inhale swept the room.
Twelve Celestial Dragons.
World Nobles—people who normally caused an admiral to move even if one died.
This wasn't just a slap in the face.
This was ripping the World Government's face off and grinding it into the dirt.
"What about the Five Elders?" Akainu asked.
"The five… are safe and unharmed."
Akainu snorted.
Of course those five old monsters wouldn't die.
"Shinju's location?"
"Based on the last sighting, Uranus is moving at extreme speed into the depths of the New World. According to the projected route, its destination is…"
The rear admiral hesitated.
"Elbaf."
Akainu's fist slammed down. Magma instantly melted a chunk of the wooden table.
"The land of giants… Shanks is there."
Kizaru adjusted his sunglasses.
"Ooh, that's troublesome. If those two monsters join forces—and they've got an Ancient Weapon…"
"Then we wipe them out together!" Akainu stood, magma sliding from his shoulders.
"Pass the order!"
"Gather all forces!"
"The Seven Warlords system has been abolished. We aren't bound by anything anymore!"
"All Seraphim units, deploy!"
"I'm going to the New World personally!"
"Justice will never bow to pirates! Never!"
His roar echoed through the room.
Everyone understood
This would be the most brutal war since the Navy was founded.
New World, Elbaf.
This was an island that belonged to giants.
Colossal trees pierced the sky. Mountain peaks stood like blades.
Elbaf preserved something ancient, wild, and terrifyingly pure: raw power.
On the coast, a massive pirate ship was anchored.
The Red Force.
The Red Hair Pirates were holding a banquet.
But despite the feast, the atmosphere was strangely tense.
Lucky Roux held a chunk of meat in hand—yet it didn't even taste good anymore.
Beckman sat on a rock, cleaning his gun, eyes locked on the sky.
Yasopp adjusted his scope, occasionally glancing toward the horizon.
Only Shanks sat cross-legged as always, holding a huge bowl of booze.
"Boss… is he really coming?" Lucky Roux asked.
Shanks took a drink and grinned.
"He'll come."
"That man keeps his word."
The moment he finished speaking
The sky darkened.
Not clouds.
Not an eclipse.
A shadow.
A massive shadow that swallowed the sun.
Winds howled. Waves surged.
The giants on the island stopped what they were doing and looked up.
The shadow descended slowly, and the pressure crushed down like a mountain on everyone's chest.
It was Uranus.
Even the Red Hair Pirates couldn't help but react.
"Hey, hey… you've gotta be kidding…" Bonk Punch muttered, his monkey scrambling onto his head.
"So that's… an Ancient Weapon," someone breathed.
Beckman stood and slid his gun back at his waist.
"Bigger than expected."
Shanks set his bowl down and rose.
He stared at the descending steel beast. No fear—only solemn weight.
"You're making a mess of things," he said quietly.
Uranus hovered five hundred meters above the ground.
The airflow alone whipped the coastal trees into chaos.
A beam of golden light shot from Uranus's belly and landed on the sand.
The light faded.
Shinju stepped out—bringing the Straw Hat crew with him.
Luffy spotted Shanks instantly.
"SHANKS!!"
He charged forward.
Shanks opened his arms and caught him—but the warm reunion lasted less than three seconds.
Shinju walked over.
The enormous chakra waves from controlling Uranus still clung to him.
The Red Hair Pirates' officers snapped into combat instinctively.
Beckman's hand drifted toward his weapon.
Zoro and Sanji immediately shifted in front of Shinju.
The air turned razor-sharp.
Shanks patted Luffy's shoulder, signaling him to step back.
Then Shanks looked at Shinju.
"You're late," Shanks said.
Shinju pointed casually up at the giant thing in the sky.
"Picked up a package on the way. Delayed me a little."
Shanks glanced at Uranus, then back at Shinju.
"You call that a package?"
"The World Government probably wants to chew you up and swallow you whole right now."
Shinju smiled.
"They already tried."
"Didn't work."
"So I returned the favor with a shot."
Shanks' eyes widened.
"You attacked Mary Geoise?"
"Just a small warning," Shinju said, stepping closer.
"I told you I'm going to overthrow that order."
"This isn't negotiation."
"This is notice."
"Right now, that seat is already shaking. One more push and an eight-hundred-year tower collapses."
Shanks went silent for a moment.
Then he turned and walked toward a huge stone monument.
It stood beneath a coastal cliff, covered in vines.
"What you want… is here."
Shanks tore the vines away.
Red stone was revealed.
The Road Poneglyph—the final one.
Robin covered her mouth. Tears shimmered in her eyes.
After so many years… so many brushes with death…
They'd finally collected them all.
Shinju looked at the red stone.
A system notification flashed.
Detected special energy source: Road Poneglyph (4/4).
Quest progress updated: Route to Laughtale unlocked.
"This is the last piece," Shinju said.
Shanks rested a hand on the monument.
"What Captain Roger couldn't do back then… it wasn't because he lacked the will."
"The timing wasn't there."
"Now Joy Boy has appeared. And the Ancient Weapon is in your hands."
"Now the time has come."
Shanks released Conqueror's Haki with no restraint.
Cracks spread through nearby rock. The sea itself surged unnaturally.
"But before that," Shanks said, turning back
"I need to confirm one thing."
"Shinju… after you get everything… will you become the next Imu?"
A lethal question.
The dragon slayer becoming the next dragon—history's cruel cycle.
Everyone stared at Shinju.
Facing a Yonko's overwhelming Conqueror's Haki, Shinju didn't flinch.
"I won't become Imu."
"I'm not interested in ruling the world."
"I'm just a passerby. When this is over, I'll leave."
"But before that…"
"I'm going to clean this world up."
Shinju extended his hand.
"Give me the Road Poneglyph. We go to Laughtale."
"Then… we welcome the final war."
Shanks held Shinju's gaze for a long time.
At last, his Conqueror's Haki slowly receded.
"Fine."
"If that's what you say…"
"Then I'll gamble once."
"On the new era."
Shanks stepped aside.
"Take it."
Robin walked forward, hands trembling as she placed them on the Poneglyph.
She began to read.
Four coordinates
Finally converging into a single point.
The legendary island where the world's truth was buried.
Laughtale.
The instant Robin finished the last character
Shinju's head snapped up toward the distant horizon.
Shanks turned at the same time.
Their Observation Haki sensed the same thing.
Black dots crowded the sea line.
Black flags.
A three-skull emblem.
Blackbeard.
"Zehahahahaha!"
That disgusting laughter carried even across the sea.
"Looks like the one who wants to steal the prize has arrived," Shinju said coldly.
"Good. Saves me the trouble of hunting him down."
Shanks drew Gryphon.
"Teach is mine. That's between me and him."
"Looks like the lesson you gave him at Marineford wasn't enough."
Shinju didn't refuse.
"Fine."
"Then I'll handle the annoying flies."
He pointed upward.
Above the clouds, Uranus's secondary cannons began to glow faintly again.
The main cannon was drained, but the sub-cannons were more than enough to sweep away fodder.
On Elbaf's coastline
Three world-shaking forces were about to collide.
Hunter.
Prey.
And the beast lurking in the dark.
Whoever lived to the end
Would be the one to sail toward Laughtale.
(End of Chapter)
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