This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
Within its range lies Justice, and cannonfire itself is Peace!
The greatest change Rowen brought to this world was not the shifting balance of power among factions. No matter how strong, battles between men would still have happened, with or without him; someone else might have risen to take his place.
What truly reshaped the art of war was the various new types of equipment that came along with the Goro Goro no Mi (Thunder-Thunder Fruit).
From the once-commonplace battleship dogfights, boarding actions with flashing blades, combat had now evolved into overwhelming firepower and encirclement tactics. Marine soldiers had long since grown used to this new mode of warfare, making them nearly unstoppable. Few pirates could stand against them.
And now, the pinnacle of this warfighting model, the ancient weapon Pluton, working in concert with disciplined, battle-hardened soldiers, was putting on a display unlike anything seen before.
"Until now, I always wondered… how could a single warship possibly be worthy of being mentioned alongside the Posiedon that rule the oceans? Now I understand…" Kizaru muttered softly. Then, without another word, he flashed to Akainu's side and helped him soar skyward.
"Pull back immediately! The bombardment is coming!" Masked Zero shouted in warning. But to his exasperation, he found the other two were already well out of range. His mouth twitched violently as he glared ruthlessly at Akainu.
"I think the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) will want an explanation for this, Fleet Admiral Akainu!!!"
"Hmph! I'll deal with them when the time comes…"
Akainu responded with a cold snort, unafraid. Since he had already agreed to the proposal of using Pluton, he was prepared to face off with the World Government if necessary.
Then, rolling his eyes slightly, Akainu added:
"But you're not CP0 anymore. Reporting this isn't really your job… Besides, Rowen left a message: if you ever uncovered this secret, he'd personally come to give you an 'explanation.'"
Masked Zero: "..."
'Explanation?'
'That's called silencing witnesses, isn't it?!'
Who would've thought that even you, Akainu, with your stern face and "righteous" reputation, would resort to hiding behind Rowen's name?!
In truth, his relationship with Rowen wasn't so much "overstepping" as it was "bordering on treason." The Gorōsei had always been kept in the dark, and he wasn't stupid enough to admit it out loud. But now… even if he wanted to wash himself clean, it was far too late!
"Damn bastard!"
He cursed inwardly with his lips twitching madly, then turned and charged back toward the battlefield.
"Old man, don't you die on me!"
Unless he wanted to clash head-on with Rowen, a battle to the death, there could only be one informant. And that was CP0's current Chief, the bald-headed "Zero."
The reason for everyone's intense reaction was none other than the dazzling "starry sky" that had just sparkled beneath the rising sun.
On closer look, those weren't stars at all. They were volleys of specially forged cannonballs!
The world still remembered Rowen's legendary 'Zenith Tempest – Prison of Bright Heavenly Thunder', the attack that annihilated half of Big Mom's "Anger Legion" in one stroke. The suffocating thunderstorm that poured endlessly from the skies left nowhere safe upon the boundless sea.
And now, this was its cannonball version!
"Protect me!!"
The "Sea Princess" Shirahoshi cared nothing for the scheming between humans. Seeing the sky glittering with death, she cried out, then leapt swiftly toward the palace built upon the back of a massive hermit-crab Sea King.
The Sea Kings obeyed, though fear flickered in their eyes. Bound by bloodline command, they had no choice but to follow her orders. One after another, they surged forward, forming a wall of living flesh to shield her.
Barely a second after the living bulwark was completed, the vanguard cannonball struck.
BOOM!!!
A terrifying explosion sent a mushroom cloud soaring skyward, hurling Kizaru and Akainu head over heels. The destructive force of Pluton, the legendary Ancient Weapon said to be capable of leveling entire islands with a single shot, was no exaggeration.
As the two barely regained their balance, Kizaru swallowed hard, sweat dripping down his brow.
"Fleet Admiral… you really entrusted something this dangerous to Vice Admiral Momousagi? Have you considered the consequences? She's a lunatic!"
"Hmph! Better her than you!" Akainu snapped back, glaring. Kizaru's eyelids twitched violently at the jab, but he took a deep breath.
"It's coming again, fall back!"
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!!
Deafening explosions rang one after another. The mountain-sized Sea Kings were swallowed whole by the storm of cannonfire, erased without a trace. Only chunks of flesh, roasted like steaks, rained down from a thousand meters up, proof of their fate.
Under such merciless bombardment, even Sea Kings, creatures capable of wielding Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), couldn't withstand it!
ROOOAAARRR!!!
A mournful cry echoed across the sea. The massive, unidentified ultra-large Sea King serving as Shirahoshi's throne bellowed in agony, its body twisting and thrashing. The motion alone triggered a monstrous tsunami.
"Not good, the tsunami is rushing straight toward Pluton!" Kizaru exclaimed in shock: "If the legends of Zunesha are true… then both Pluton and the Posiedon must have been created for that confrontation! Against each other, they lack proper defenses…"
Akainu, however, remained calm and confident.
"Hmph, do you really think Pluton was found by someone else?"
Kizaru froze, struck speechless, his expression turning strange.
"Don't tell me… it was Rowen again?!"
"Of course it was! That brat isn't the type to just follow instructions by the book."
Almost as if to confirm Akainu's words, aboard the battleship, Momousagi stood tall and unmoving as the monstrous tsunami roared toward her. Raising her palm, she declared:
"A mere wave… and you dare rage before my ship?!"
"Activate the shield!"
"Yes, activate the shield!"
The order was relayed loudly. In the control chamber, the operators pulled down the heavy levers without hesitation, triggering the shield.
ROAR!!!
Suddenly, a clear and majestic dragon's cry echoed across the skies. Blue currents of electricity burst forth, crawling across Pluton's colossal 17,000-meter hull like a glowing film, wrapping the entire warship.
And then, BOOM!!!
A massive oval-shaped aura flared outward. It looked fragile, like a soap bubble, but Kizaru's sharp eyes noticed that even the raging winds couldn't breach a single inch of Pluton's deck.
"This is…" Kizaru inhaled sharply. "Rowen's Thunder Cloud Dragon Seal?!"
The Thunder Cloud Dragon Seal wasn't a secret to those in high positions. It was the foundation of Rowen's second great rise in power, a mystical rune that refined electrical energy, amplifying the might of his lightning to terrifying levels.
Rowen's signature weapon, the Lightning Dragon Crescent Halberd, was also forged with this Seal as its core, a weapon that belonged solely to him.
Others couldn't even approach it; even coming too close risked being burned into ash by the searing current.
To put it simply, Rowen's raw strength was never that overwhelming. In pure martial arts, he couldn't beat Garp. In sheer destructive lightning power, he hadn't bested Whitebeard. By what right was he called "Thunder God," the new "Strongest in the World"?
It was precisely because of the two absurd creations he developed: the [Thunder God Seal] and the [Thunder Cloud Dragon Seal] he discovered from the "Forged Dragon Sword · Thunder Cloud."
The first gave him exquisite, almost supernatural control over lightning.
The second purified the energy of that lightning to its peak.
Together, they maximized the advantages of the Goro Goro no Mi (Thunder-Thunder Fruit).
Add to that his unrestrained aerial combat style and a calculating, mercilessly cunning mind, his title of "Thunder God" had long since become fully deserved.
Even his old Violent Ape of Hell form wasn't discarded. After Awakening, he refined and fused it, creating his current strongest transformation: Thunderous Titan Mode!
Both the Thunder God Seal and Thunder Cloud Dragon Seal were integral to its creation.
One of the Seal's most defining features was simple: the stronger the current, the stronger the barrier.
And when you considered the energy output required to drive a warship as massive as Pluton… the level of lightning involved was beyond imagination. Even if Rowen himself unleashed his full power, the result wouldn't be much stronger.
BOOM… CRASH!!!
The thousand-meter-high tsunami came crashing down, swallowing the blue sphere whole. The sound was low and muffled, yet in the very next instant, violent currents burst outward, scattering the waves to nothing.
On Pluton's deck, Momousagi stood unmoving, a faintly mocking smile tugging at her lips as she calmly issued her command.
"Retract the shield. Continue firing!"
Countless star-like cannonballs rained down upon the Sea Kings' defensive line. The titanic beasts, each one strong enough to take immense effort to defeat, were blown apart into chunks with ease.
Hovering in the air with Geppo, Akainu clicked his tongue.
"A pity. If it could fire while keeping the shield up… then it would truly be perfect."
Kizaru: "..."
(End of Chapter)