Suddenly, Luffy shot backward like a cannonball, soaring rapidly in the direction he had come from!
After devouring several enormous specially made meat skewers, Luffy's previously depleted Haki and stamina had recovered considerably.
Just as he was about to land, the Drums of Liberation echoed once again.
"Gear Five!"
By the time Luffy descended, he had already entered his complete Nika form.
Twisting his body in midair, he adjusted his shape and landed steadily.
Thump~
Thump~
The ground instantly became incredibly elastic.
Luffy crouched deeply, causing the earth beneath him to sink several meters.
Bang!
Then he spun like a top and launched himself toward the execution platform at astonishing speed.
Seeing this, Saleh could only let out a helpless sigh.
"Ah..."
Without using his full strength, it would be difficult for him to contend with Nika. Even if he fought at full power, victory was far from guaranteed.
If that happened, he would be severely drained when the time came to deal with the World Government.
"This is truly troublesome."
While he was thinking, Luffy had already closed to within ten meters.
Saleh transformed his entire right arm into a gigantic mud fist.
At the same time, he coated it with Haki and charged directly toward Luffy.
...
Kuro looked at the old man with the upward-curving mustache standing before him and pushed up his glasses with the heel of his right palm.
Combined with his neatly slicked-back hair and perfectly pressed dark green suit, he appeared every bit the refined gentleman.
"A Gorosei? Impressive aura. I hope you can awaken my desire to fight seriously."
As the strategist of the world's strongest pirate crew, the Ion Pirates, and a mastermind renowned throughout the One Piece world on the same level as Benn Beckman, Kuro had spent years gathering and analyzing information on the World Government after learning that the crew's ultimate goal was to confront it.
Among the entire Ion Pirates, his understanding of the World Government rivaled that of Robin from the Peach Garden Intelligence Department.
In fact, after years of analysis and integration of countless intelligence reports, his knowledge had surpassed even Robin's.
He knew very well that the so-called Gorosei had once been ordinary Celestial Dragons.
Among the Celestial Dragons, those with the greatest potential and ability would be selected by Imu, the ruler of the world, to become members of the Gorosei.
Afterward, Imu would use accumulated power to fuse them with terrifying infernal creatures, transforming their bodies into immortal monsters.
And the figure before him, Saint Warcury, was the Hell Boar Beast.
Saint Warcury scoffed.
"Heh heh. Mere insects dare compare themselves to gods. You truly do not know your place."
Although he spoke confidently, he remained extremely vigilant.
Among the Gorosei, he was the most cautious, rarely acting without certainty.
That caution had saved the World Government from countless crises.
As he stared at the suited man before him, he could clearly sense the overwhelming aura hidden beneath the calm exterior.
It felt as though he were facing a dormant sea king sleeping in the depths of the ocean.
This was the most dangerous opponent he had encountered in nearly twenty years.
Yet despite his caution, he had stood at the pinnacle of the world for centuries, worshipped by countless people and feared across the seas.
If he allowed himself to be intimidated by a pirate, Lord Imu would surely punish him.
Moreover, ten days earlier, Lord Imu had once again increased the strength of the Gorosei.
Remembering this, Saint Warcury stopped hesitating.
He raised his hand and tore off the right side of his mustache, infusing it with Conqueror's Haki.
Instantly, the pale white mustache transformed into a pitch-black blade crackling with red and black lightning.
With a sudden flash, he appeared directly before Kuro.
The hardened mustache blade, empowered by overwhelming Haki, sliced through the air and cut Kuro's body cleanly in half.
The surrounding Marines and Cipher Pol agents immediately erupted in excitement.
"What about God Kuro? Even if he's the second-in-command of the Ion Pirates, Lord Gorosei still defeated him!"
"Lord Gorosei is supreme!"
"Saint Warcury is incredible!"
"As expected of the highest authority in the world. Such overwhelming strength!"
However, Saint Warcury himself showed no joy.
Instead, his brows furrowed.
"Not even your real body. How much do you look down on me?"
At that moment, Kuro's figure slowly materialized ten meters behind him.
The people who had just been cheering instantly fell silent.
Many stared in disbelief.
"How is that possible?!"
"What?!"
"Was that just an afterimage? If so, God Kuro's speed is terrifying!"
"Is this the world's fastest man? That's unbelievable!"
"Hey! We're agents of the World Government. Stop praising the enemy!"
"That's right! What Kuro? What Ion Pirates? They're not even worthy of carrying the World Government's shoes!"
Kuro paid no attention to the surrounding noise.
His expression tightened slightly.
His usually flawless Future Sight was being heavily suppressed by the old man before him.
Under normal circumstances, he could foresee fifteen seconds into the future.
Now he could barely see three seconds ahead.
It seemed he had underestimated the Gorosei.
This was clearly someone capable of interfering with Observation Haki on an extraordinary level.
Even so, he had vanished a full second before the attack landed.
Saint Warcury sensed Kuro's presence behind him and immediately turned around.
"You dodged once. Can you dodge a second time?"
Without transforming into his full beast form, he tore off the other side of his mustache and gripped both pieces.
Once again, he condensed immense Haki into them, turning them into terrifying black blades.
Seeing this, Kuro finally abandoned his casual attitude and transformed into his human-beast form.
...
Meanwhile, on the battlefield between Saint Peter and Whitebeard.
The ground had become a landscape of devastation.
Massive craters covered the area.
The entire battlefield was riddled with holes.
It was a horrifying sight.
"Gurararara! So this is one of the highest authorities of the World Government? Decent strength. Just decent. Not nearly as powerful as old man Rolan predicted."
Whitebeard had just exchanged another clash with the giant sandworm before him, and neither side had gained a significant advantage.
To Whitebeard, that result was far from impressive.
He had not even begun fighting seriously and was already matching the monster.
If he truly unleashed his full power, the outcome would be completely different.
Still, throughout the battle, he had confirmed one piece of intelligence provided by Rolan.
The Gorosei possessed almost limitless stamina.
Their Haki consumption was similarly insignificant.
Even if their bodies were shredded into pieces, they could recover within moments.
The colossal sandworm towered over the square.
It slowly spoke.
"Edward Newgate, are you determined to aid evil and become an enemy of the World Government?"
Whitebeard burst into laughter.
"Gurarararara! Then what do you think I've been doing all this time? Playing with you?"
Clang!
He planted Murakumogiri into the ground.
"Wake up. You've treated humanity as slaves and insects for far too long. This world has belonged to you long enough. It's time to give it back."
Saint Peter's enormous body trembled slightly with anger.
"Give it back? This world was founded by the World Government. What is there to return?"
As he spoke, a terrifying aura erupted from his body.
"You insects dare dream of ruling the world?"
"Our power is beyond anything creatures like you can comprehend!"
"What about Joy Boy nine hundred years ago? He became dust in history!"
"What about Rocks forty years ago?"
"Frogs trapped in a well!"
As the final words left his mouth, an even more powerful aura exploded outward.
Whitebeard's eyes lit up immediately.
"Now this is interesting. Gurarararara!"
His own overwhelming aura surged forth in response.
The very space surrounding them began to crack apart.
At this moment, the entire Brown Square had been divided into multiple battlefields.
Every confrontation was fierce and intense.
None of the combatants could determine a victor in a short period of time.
However, nobody noticed that nearly all of the battlefields were slowly converging toward the Gorosei's positions.
From above, the Gorosei's battlefields formed the center of Brown Square.
The battlefields of the three high-ranking Cipher Pol agents surrounded them.
Beyond that lay the battlefields of the Marine Admirals, Sengoku, Garp, and the other top combatants.
Standing atop the execution platform, Kuzan silently observed the overall situation.
Then he raised his gaze toward the sky.
His hand moved toward the miniature Den Den Mushi attached to his wrist.
Just as he was about to speak, several figures radiating powerful auras slowly emerged from Kulusimiya Island.
Kuzan turned toward them, his brows furrowing deeply.
"As expected..."
He muttered quietly.
===
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