East Blue, Loguetown.
A World Government official ship had just docked at the harbor, but its master hadn't come ashore. Only a few servants came down to buy supplies.
Whether it was merchant ships or pirate ships, none of them dared get close to the large white vessel.
Although the World Economy News' reports had stirred growing anger and resentment toward the World Government in many countries and among many people at sea…
Those who actually dared to resist were still just a very, very small group.
Even among the regular people at the bottom, even if they knew about the World Government's cruelty, their minds were still full of confusion.
Inside a fancy room on a government ship—
Lindgas sat comfortably in a fine wicker chair, with a woman on each side. Two serious-looking CP0 agents in sunglasses stood nearby, guarding him closely.
"Lord Lindgas~"
"Why are we going to East Blue again? Haven't you already been there so many times?" a World Government official in a suit asked, clearly confused.
"Of course, it's because I love peace. Just look at how calm the seas are in East Blue—no wars, no streets full of orphans. The world's biggest welfare center is even located there," Lindgas said calmly.
"P-Peace?" the bootlicker looked confused.
"Obviously, it's all for love and peace!" Lindgas said, getting a little annoyed.
He couldn't exactly say it was because of the Dream Survey Group reaching out to him, pushing him to quickly leave Mary Geoise, right?
"Uh... (⊙o⊙)…"
"Oh, right! I remember now! Lord Lindgas is the most loving Celestial Dragon in the world. Queens and noblewomen from every country often praise him for that!" the man in the suit quickly said with a serious face.
"Hehehe~~~"
"You're not wrong. I do love them very much. Just thinking about it makes me excited to see all those adorable little cuti—uh, I mean, those lovely ladies."
"Hey!"
"What's taking so long? How hard can it be to restock some supplies?" Lindgas was clearly losing his patience.
"Just a few more minutes, Lord Lindgas. The supplies are already loaded. We'll be leaving Loguetown very soon," a servant in a suit quickly ran in and reported after hearing Lindgas shout.
"Hmm~"
"Hurry up," Lindgas said calmly.
"Yes, Lord Lindgas." The servant wiped the sweat off his forehead and rushed back out to speed things up.
.....
Meanwhile, back at Mary Geoise, it felt like an invisible hand was pressing down on the whole place, making the air thick and hard to breathe.
When all the Celestial Dragons, flustered like ants on a hot pan, stormed outside to figure out what was going on, they were stunned to see the plaza already packed with people.
Everyone looked up toward where the heat was coming from—only to see a blazing fireball, like the sun itself, hanging high in the sky!
Inside the Room of Authority in Pangaea Castle—
The five old men had been quietly sitting there, each lost in thought, working through their own plans.
But the sudden chaos outside, and the sight in the sky, hit them like a bolt of lightning—snapping them out of their silence instantly.
A flash of surprise crossed all of their eyes at the same time. Then, without a sound, their Observation Haki spread out toward the fireball in the sky like invisible tendrils.
The moment their Haki touched that blazing fireball, their faces all changed dramatically.
"It's alive!" Saint Marcus Mars said in disbelief.
In the very next second—
The five elders vanished like ghosts.
They moved so fast it felt like they'd torn through space itself, leaving only faint afterimages floating in the air.
When they reappeared, they were already standing firmly at the top of the Room of Authority.
From here, they had a full view of all of Pangaea Castle. But none of them had the mind to admire the view—they were all focused completely on the fiery phoenix form in the sky.
"That shape... it's a mythical-type Phoenix. That's Ryuen, the leader of the Dream Survey Group!" Saint Jaygarcia Saturn exclaimed.
"What is he trying to do? Is this because we launched a Buster Call on the Magiatsuka Kingdom, and now he's here to make a move on Mary Geoise?" Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro said with a heavy tone.
The other four had serious looks on their faces.
Just then, the Supreme Commander of the World Government's military forces arrived—and with him was the head of the Holy Knights, Saint Figarland Garling!
Garling didn't waste any time.
He asked directly, "Gentlemen, Lord Im has awakened. He's very upset right now. He wants to know what's going on."
The moment those words—"Lord Im"—were spoken,
The Five Elders immediately turned their eyes away from the sky. Saint Topman Warcury was the first to speak:
"That's Ryuen, the leader of the Dream Team, up in the sky."
"He must've come here to protest our plan to launch a Buster Call on the Kingdom of Magiatsuka..."
But before Saint Topman Warcury could finish his sentence, Saint Garling suddenly looked up and shouted, "Saint Warcury, this is what you meant by protest!?"
In just a second.
The expressions on the faces of the Five Elders, Kong, and the Seven Saints changed like a chameleon.
Because in the few seconds they exchanged words, the temperature across all of Mary Geoise shot up like a barrel of gunpowder being lit. Everyone looked up at the sky in shock.
That giant fire phoenix from earlier—no one knew when, but now a massive fireball, blazing like a sun, had formed in front of it.
In Mary Geoise.
The sudden rise in temperature threw the whole place into chaos. The Celestial Dragons, unaware of the danger coming their way, were still yelling and cursing at the sky.
~~~~~~
"Ryuen!"
"What are you trying to do? Don't you know what kind of disaster this could cause!?" Kong shouted furiously at the sky.
Ryuen answered from above:
"What am I trying to do?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"I'm here to launch a Buster Call on Mary Geoise—let you self-righteous Celestial Dragons feel what it's like to be bombed!"
"Buster Call?"
"No!" Saint Marcus Mars shouted out in panic.
In the blink of an eye, his body started to change—then suddenly, a strange bird appeared before everyone.
It was Yatagarasu!
This was Saint Marcus Mars's full beast form!
The other four Elders immediately followed suit, transforming into their own full beast forms—monsters of all shapes and terrifying appearances began to emerge like phantoms.
A horrifying skeletal horse, a massive sandworm beast, a tusked boar demon, and a multi-legged Gyuki...
In an instant, all the Five Elders revealed the true forms of their Devil Fruits!
"Hahahaha!"
"Now that's more like it. Let's see if you can take this move of mine…"
"Flame God: End of the World!!"
As Ryuen's roar thundered across the sky, a gigantic fireball came crashing down from above, heading straight for Mary Geoise like a meteor.
---
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