For some reason, Kozuki Hiyori felt a shiver of terror toward that absurd thought.
At that moment, Zoro suddenly halted in midair and raised his eyes toward a certain direction.
"They're here."
"What?"
"My captain. He's here to open Wano's borders for you."
"???"
Kozuki Hiyori looked in that direction in stunned confusion, but she saw nothing.
No.
Something was spreading at the edge of the sky?
Her beautiful eyes widened. Very quickly, she realized that it was thunderclouds, spreading rapidly at an abnormal speed.
"Nami's Weather Cloud?"
Zoro muttered, then activated the Lightning-Avoiding Doll on his body.
Even without Nami controlling it, the range that thing could cover would not be less than a hundred kilometers.
In Ren's hands... perhaps it would only be a tiny bit weaker?
Though he did not know the exact scale or power, Zoro still followed his instincts and lowered his altitude.
The main reason was that he had no idea what kind of grand spectacle Ren was preparing.
Reality once again proved that Combat Dispatch was an incredibly useful ability, especially when energy was not lacking and there was a coordinate.
Crossing thousands upon thousands of kilometers and transferring to another place was simply far too convenient.
At this very moment, Ren had arrived in the sky above Wano at an angle. The Angel of Glory that had served as his coordinate quickly departed.
Immediately afterward, his modified Den Den Mushi wristwatch rang. Robin called and swiftly reported the situation.
After getting a rough understanding, the Weather Cloud also finished expanding and covering the area.
Perhaps it was not in its complete state, but for Ren, it was already enough.
Heavenly Might Blade transformed into a gaseous state and connected with the Weather Cloud. With multiple traits, it gathered the lightning within the clouds into one whole.
Ren, who was already in Meteor Burst state, once again obtained a vast amount of energy.
But... this was only the beginning.
More-More Fruit—Tenfold Amplification!
The gathered energy instantly surged tenfold, but that still was not the end.
In theory, a newly obtained ability needed a process of familiarization, understanding, and then development.
However, Devil Fruits that had passed through Blackbeard's hands were different. In the original work's Marineford War, Blackbeard had just obtained the power of the Gura-Gura no Mi and already dared to clash waves with Sengoku.
And its performance was extremely impressive.
That was because Devil Fruit abilities transferred by the Yami Yami no Mi would leave behind a portion of the original owner's developed "legacy."
Ren had likewise obtained Byrnndi World's "legacy," even though it had been under circumstances where the original owner was unwilling.
After becoming slightly familiar with the newly acquired ability, he began operating it.
In the next instant—
More-More Fruit—Twentyfold Amplification!
The vast energy surged again. The pure energy body that exceeded his range of control overflowed into the outside world, forming a spherical energy mass.
But it still was not over.
Thirtyfold!
Fortyfold!
Only after it accumulated to the hundredfold amplification limit did Ren barely stop strengthening it.
And at this moment, what remained in place was only a sphere of light a hundred times larger than before.
Heavenly Might Blade, state change—plasma!
On the sea, Queen, who had stopped after Dragon disappeared, had been staring in surprise at the light sphere in the sky just a second ago.
Before he could even figure out what it was, in the next second, the sphere in his eyes changed states, transforming into something even more terrifying than a laser.
The light, which had originally seemed somewhat gentle because of the distance, instantly became dazzling radiance, as if a second sun had been lit in the sky!
Just looking at it made one's eyes sting.
"Hey, hey! What the hell is that thing?!"
Queen immediately sensed something was wrong. His scientific literacy and instruments both detected the abnormality.
Meanwhile, Dragon, hidden within the clouds, quietly increased the distance between them.
He could sense that the power within the thunderclouds was still continuously gathering toward the position of that blazing sun.
'...Awe-inspiring and terrifying.'
Dragon watched that blazing sun with a complicated expression.
At this moment, he truly felt the terror of the man named Ren.
It was not merely his schemes. It was not merely his troublesome Devil Fruit abilities. It was not even merely his ability to see the future.
It was this completely incomprehensible thing, something that could only be met with awe—
His speed of growth!
In the Udon region,
the Angels of Glory that nearly filled the sky looked toward the place where that blazing sun hung. Fanatical longing rose within their eyes.
And as their leader, Kuma showed the same expression.
Yes.
It was this power. It was this growth speed.
Ren, only you, and you alone, can bring hope of rebirth to this world!
At this moment, Kuma, who had once been saved, believed this with absolute conviction.
Even though his captain had never once considered himself a god.
At the edge of the Flower Capital,
Kozuki Hiyori stared blankly in the original direction. Just a moment ago, her instinctive warning had become true reality.
She had simply never imagined... that she would see a second sun in broad daylight!
"What... is that...?"
Her voice trembled slightly as she asked.
"My captain—"
Zoro's always indifferent tone carried a hint of rising pride, as though he was proud of this fact.
"—the sun in your eyes.
"Watch closely. You'll understand what forced opening of the country means, Kozuki Hiyori.
"I hope you remember everything you see today."
"..."
Kozuki Hiyori said nothing. She only stared blankly.
That blazing sun suddenly began to contract!
The vast energy collapsed inward, condensed, and replicated the scene from Raijin Island back then.
Yet there were differences in the details. In the past, it had only felt as if his chest were about to split open.
But now—
It truly split open!
Ren stood in the sky, overlooking Wano. The hilt of Heavenly Might shattered his chest, and his entire chest cavity split open, forming an abyss-like fissure.
But what flowed within it was not darkness.
It was boundless light!
At this moment, the slanted sky above Wano suddenly lit up with a gigantic cross-shaped star that everyone could see!
"Super Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon!"
The dazzling cross-shaped star suddenly erupted with brilliant light. In that instant, it even overwhelmed the radiance of the sun.
Immediately after, a torrent of plasma erupted.
As if a vicious stroke had been drawn across a canvas, the dazzling pillar of light split sea and sky apart, whipping up a storm-like frenzy.
The sharp wind pressure forcibly pressed down the sea on that side of Wano, even bending it inward into an enormous arc. Massive amounts of seawater were squeezed together, about to form a tsunami.
But before that—
The pillar of light plunged into the sea!
The plasma torrent released high heat and high energy, blasting open a kilometer-level hole in the ocean while also piercing through the wall built around ancient Wano.
As the cross-shaped star changed direction, that wall was brutally sliced apart in an instant, cut from left to right and then forcibly severed!
The wall that had once supported Wano's natural barrier, the high wall that ensured the outer sea could never cross it, was at this moment destroyed as easily as a castle made of blocks.
Immediately afterward, the out-of-control energy fluid released immense power, and a terrifyingly massive explosion suddenly erupted beneath the sea.
The kilometer-tall wall, stretching for an unknown number of li, vanished in the first instant within the great explosion.
Uncountable seawater evaporated. With the explosion's center as its core, the sea raised a raging billow!
Like the wrath of a sea god, a tsunami surged through Wano's inland sea.
The Habu Port of Hakumai bore the brunt of it.
The members of the Beasts Pirates stationed there stared dumbfounded at the ocean surface continuously rising, forming a "dreamlike scene" of a nearly thousand-meter peak wave crashing viciously toward the land.
At this moment, everyone who witnessed it hoped it was a dream.
Yet the merciless wave fell in the next instant.
When the seawater vanished, Habu Port vanished with it.
Suffering the same impact was Onigashima, which was out on the sea.
Even though Onigashima itself had towering terrain, it could not escape unscathed from a tsunami of such massive scale.
More than half of the entire headquarters was scoured by seawater. No one knew how many Beasts Pirates members were swept into the sea and disappeared without a trace!
Then came the great earthquake raised by the tremendous kinetic energy.
Whether Udon, the Flower Capital, Hakumai, Kuri, Kibi, or Ringo, all felt an extremely powerful earthquake at that moment!
The residents inside the Flower Capital cried and ran in panic. Houses collapsed amid violent shaking.
Scenes like this played out across every region, forming a true earthquake disaster!
"What is this...?"
Kozuki Hiyori, who was being carried through the sky, spoke with a trembling voice.
Although she could not see the whole picture, just a glimpse of a fragment was enough to terrify her beyond measure.
An earthquake. A tsunami.
Were they caused by that beam of light?
"It's not over yet. Watch closely."
Zoro continued flying. The tsunami raised along the coast poured backward into Wano from the river boundary between Udon and Hakumai.
The result it brought was this flood-disaster-like scene before them.
Even from the edge of the Flower Capital, they could glimpse the peak of the tsunami, showing just how terrifying the scale of this tsunami was.
However, what happened afterward was even more important.
Gravity took effect. Although large amounts of seawater remained in localized areas, overall, the towering seawater that had poured backward into Wano was dropping.
And it was not merely the coastal water level that was dropping.
It was the height of Wano's entire inland sea.
The reason was simple.
One side of the wall had been broken, equivalent to a basin full of water losing one of its sides.
Whether the people inside the basin were willing or not, they could not stop the water inside from wildly surging out of the basin and merging with the outer sea.
The sea level of Wano's inland sea rapidly fell.
Queen, who was on the sea, immediately fell into a catastrophic situation.
As time passed, the sea surface tilted on a massive scale. The ships they were on were like garbage being poured out.
In the sea that was far too violently surging and rolling, they were like small boats that could capsize at any moment.
And it was not only Queen's fleet that faced this.
Even Onigashima itself was "sliding" toward the outer sea along with the seawater!
"Hundredfold amplification. This scale really is too exaggerated."
Ren pursed his lips. His passive Premonition Perception took all of this into his eyes.
The scene before him was not difficult to understand.
In his normal state, the Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon fired with the energy of two Rens had been enough to make Raijin Island disappear.
With a hundredfold accumulated energy amplification, what was so strange about causing enormous changes to Wano's landforms?
However, he had to admit that this kind of power truly exceeded imagination.
Forget anything else. If Kaido were to take this blow head-on, he absolutely would not get off easily.
Even calling it a heavy injury would be giving too much credit to his strength.
'If I obtain the Mother Flame and the Gura-Gura no Mi, then borrow the power of technology or the Dimensional Roulette, gain the Lunarian race's talent, Blackbeard's physique, then complete unification, and apply hundredfold amplification... then there'll be no need to consider whatever trump card Imu might have.'
(End of Chapter)