Standing on the execution platform, Sengoku's sharp, hawk-like eyes caught the fleeting moment of opportunity.
Whitebeard was gravely wounded. The pirates' morale had collapsed. Now was the perfect moment to end it all , to execute the "Son of the Pirate King" before the world and declare the Marines' absolute victory!
Without hesitation, Sengoku seized the Den-Den Mushi amplifier. His cold, commanding voice echoed across all of Marineford:
"The Whitebeard Pirates have been defeated! Execute Fire Fist Ace immediately!"
The order struck like thunder, shaking everyone to their core.
On the platform, the two executioners gripped their long blades tightly. Suppressing both their fear and faint pity, they raised the gleaming blades high into the air.
"ACE!!!"
Below, Luffy, having just seen Whitebeard fall and now hearing the execution order, let out a heart-wrenching scream.
Rage, despair, and his overwhelming will to protect his brother erupted inside him like a volcano.
Something inside him broke through its limit-
BOOM!
A massive, invisible force exploded outward from his body!
The clouds above twisted violently, and the air itself wailed under the pressure.
Marines and pirates alike fell unconscious like harvested wheat, eyes rolling back as they collapsed.
Even some of the weaker Marine officers staggered, dizzy, barely managing to stay upright.
Conqueror's Haki!
The rare power born in one among millions, had awakened completely within Straw Hat Luffy!
The overwhelming surge of kingly will swept across the battlefield, crashing toward the execution platform, toward the two executioners about to strike.
Sengoku's glasses flashed white. For the first time, his expression betrayed utter shock.
Garp clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned pale. His eyes were a storm of shock, worry, and something else, an emotion too deep to name.
They both knew exactly what this meant.
But before the executioners could faint as expected,
At the very moment the tidal wave of Conqueror's Haki was about to strike the platform,
Another, entirely different force quietly emerged.
Slothful Aura.
It wasn't an oppressive wave of domination, nor a killing intent. It was… something thick, heavy, and profoundly drowsy, a stillness that reached into the soul itself.
A gray mist, like the haze of sleep, began to seep from beneath the platform's support pillar.
It moved slowly, yet in a blink, it enveloped the entire execution stand.
The mist wasn't dense, but it carried an uncanny rule-like power.
The moment Luffy's newly awakened Conqueror's Haki touched it, the mighty energy began to melt, like snow beneath the blazing sun.
It wasn't shattered or blocked. It was… assimilated.
The wild surge of willpower entered that lazy, stagnant domain, and was swallowed whole.
Like punching into a bottomless cushion, every ounce of force, every trace of momentum, was absorbed and dissolved into nothingness.
The two executioners, who had been trembling and dazed under Luffy's Haki, suddenly blinked.
They yawned.
Their eyes cleared up. Though their movements remained sluggish, they still held their blades high, steady and unmoving, as if the kingly aura that had just shaken the world had merely been a passing breeze.
"W–What…?"
Luffy stood frozen, still in his Haki-releasing stance, disbelief etched on his face.
He could feel it, his overwhelming, newly awakened power had simply… vanished.
Or rather, it had become too "lazy".
Sengoku and Garp's shock deepened even further.
Sengoku snapped his head toward the source of the gray mist, toward the man still leaning against the pillar behind the execution platform, wrapped in his coat, who hadn't moved a muscle from start to finish:
Rear Admiral Renzo.
Garp's jaw dropped.
He had seen countless forms of Haki, even Roger's own, but never anything like this!
It wasn't a clash of strength. It was as if the very activity of Haki itself… had been nullified.
"A domain made of Lazy Aura…" Sengoku muttered, his face dark and solemn.
He had already read several reports describing this mysterious power, one that even gave Akainu trouble.
But this was the first time he'd seen it so clearly.
It didn't destroy. It simply made all "action" and "impact" meaningless, even the overwhelming might of Conqueror's Haki!
In the Warlord's ranks, Doflamingo's eyes behind his sunglasses gleamed with a mix of fascination and dread.
"Fufufufu… even Conqueror's Haki can be 'put to sleep'? Now this is getting interesting…"
His fingers trembled slightly, unsure if from fear or excitement.
Down below, among the three Admirals:
Akainu snorted, unimpressed by Conqueror's Haki in the first place, but even he was surprised by the eerie countermeasure.
Aokiji frowned slightly, sensing the air itself had grown… heavy.
Kizaru patted his chest in mock relief
"Scary stuff, Even Conqueror's Haki's too lazy to work now~ Rear Admiral Renzo's ability is like… the ultimate form of slacking off."
His tone was joking, but his eyes glinted with thought.
Renzo yawned lazily, as if he'd just done something trivial.
He rubbed his eyes, glanced down at the stunned Luffy, then at the executioners now resuming their duty, and grumbled:
"One after another… yelling so loud, even letting off steam's noisy… can't a man get some peace?"
He patted the ground beside him and muttered to the executioners: "You two, stop spacing out. Hurry it up so we can clock out early. Don't your legs get tired standing there?"
His tone didn't sound like an order to kill, but like a coworker urging his colleagues to finish their shift.
But just as that eerie calm of "sloth" filled the air,
In that split second when everyone's attention, even Sengoku's and Garp's, was drawn to the bizarre scene,
A figure shot through the air like a cannonball, seizing the final chance bought by Little Oars Jr.'s sacrifice and Hancock's covert help!
It was Luffy!
The nullification of his Haki hadn't broken his spirit.
His determination to save Ace only burned brighter!
He soared toward the platform, eyes blazing red, arm outstretched to his brother.
"ACE!!! I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU!!!"
On the execution stand, Ace looked down at his brother, at Whitebeard's fallen body, the Admirals closing in, and the chaos around them, his eyes filled with despair and resolve.
"Luffy… don't come!!"
Renzo lifted his eyelids slightly, sighed softly as the straw-hatted figure came into view.
"Another one who doesn't know how to take it easy… looks like that nap really isn't happening today."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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