World Economic Journal Headquarters.
"Rookie Lucy, your abilities are indeed impressive."
"Now, in my capacity as the Editor-in-Chief and President of the World Economic Journal, Morgans, I declare that starting today, you are an official reporter for our World Economic Journal!"
Because of Lucy's outstanding performance, she had finally caught Morgans's attention, and he personally announced in front of everyone that he was specially approving Lucy to pass her probationary period and officially join the company.
"This is great."
Upon hearing this, Lucy was so moved she was on the verge of tears.
Once she became an official reporter, she could enjoy the company's free cafeteria.
Not only that, but her daily salary also increased fivefold, from the original 1,000 Belly to 5,000 Belly.
From now on, she was a woman with a monthly salary of 150,000 Belly, which was considered a high income among the common people in the world of One Piece.
"Just you all wait!"
"I'll become the ace reporter of the World Economic Journal in no time," Lucy thought, secretly making a resolution.
"Oh, right, rookie."
"As it happens, my News Coo over in Paradise just told me that a world-shaking event is unfolding in Mock Town."
"If you don't have anything else to do, you should go and check it out."
"Remember to perform well!"
"This is your first assignment after becoming an official employee."
Just as Lucy was still basking in the joy of her promotion, little did she know that Morgans was already setting a trap for her.
In fact, at the World Economic Journal, being an official reporter was a very high-risk profession.
"Yes, sir, Mr. President!"
At this moment, Lucy, still unaware that she had fallen into the clutches of the evil albatross before her, raised her hand enthusiastically.
"Is this kid too naive?"
"Am I being a bit too cruel?"
Morgans, who had never known the meaning of the word 'conscience', looked at the vibrant and clearly simple-minded, easy-to-deceive Lucy before him. He gently scratched his feathered cheek and thought to himself.
Meanwhile, in Mock Town.
BOOM!!
The battle here had reached a fever pitch.
Aramaki, who was originally clashing elementally with Kuzan, freed up his hands after Eden and Laxus intervened...
Aside from occasionally jumping in to help the two fend off a sneak attack from Kuzan, Aramaki left almost all of the fighting to Laxus and Eden.
"These two guys."
Blood was now trickling down Kuzan's forehead. His gaze towards Laxus and Eden had become serious.
In terms of raw power, neither Laxus nor Eden could match his level!
But whether it was Laxus or Eden, both were surprisingly resilient.
"I've just about adapted."
"Brother Aramaki, leave this to me and Laxus. Go check on the others!"
While fighting Kuzan, Eden had basically adapted to his opponent's methods. As he adjusted his magic power, pushing towards the 'King-level' threshold, he spoke to Aramaki beside him.
"Hahaha..."
"In that case, I'll be leaving then."
Aramaki laughed and then withdrew from the battlefield.
"Hooo..."
After Aramaki left, Eden slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air...
With Aramaki's help, neither Mirajane's group dealing with Doflamingo, nor Natsu and Ace's joint effort against 'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach, should be a problem.
"Ara ra..."
"To think you'd let the strongest one among you leave. It seems I've really been underestimated."
As Kuzan spoke, he tossed aside the Marine coat draped over his back and gently cracked his neck, producing a series of crisp 'crack, crack' sounds. It was clear he was starting to get serious.
"You said that Aramaki guy is the strongest among us?"
"I can't just pretend I didn't hear that!"
Kuzan hadn't expected that his casual remark would infuriate both Laxus and Eden.
"Then let me show you my newly learned Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Raigo!"
As Laxus spoke, the dark clouds in the sky began to flash erratically, and a massive ball of lightning slowly took shape before everyone's eyes.
This was a Dragon Slayer version of Raigo; its power was countless times greater than Enel's!
If it were to truly fall, the entire Mock Town, along with the island itself, would be wiped off the World Government's map.
"Hey, hey, are you serious?!"
"If you let that thing fall, the entire Mock Town, along with the island beneath our feet, will be completely annihilated, right?"
Kuzan looked up at the gathering storm clouds, his eye twitching. Without any hesitation, he pushed his Ice-Ice Fruit's power to its maximum, enough to cover the entire island.
"Ice Age!"
In an instant, Kuzan quickly used his ability to freeze the gathering storm clouds, preventing Laxus's Raigo from successfully descending.
"Eden!" Laxus shouted to Eden beside him.
"Leave it to me!"
Without hesitation, Eden proceeded to devour all the ice in the sky in great gulps, even consuming the tiny water droplets and cold air. He had now truly evolved from a Sea King Dragon to an Ice King Dragon.
"Damn it..."
Seeing this, Kuzan broke out in a cold sweat. He tried to freeze Eden, shouting, "Time Capsule!"
Slurp!
Unfortunately, the ice meant to encase Eden was swallowed into his stomach before it could even fully form. He looked at Kuzan and laughed, "Are you so flustered that you'd make such a rookie mistake, Kuzan?"
Vwmm!
Just as Kuzan was about to say something, his body was frozen in place by Eden's Spatial Magic.
BOOM!
Although he was only held for a brief second...
It was enough to lock Kuzan in place.
"I originally wanted to use Spatial Magic to teleport Kuzan directly into the Raigo. Is his Haki too strong? It's interfering with the space around him."
While trying to move Kuzan, Eden encountered the same problem Law had faced when trying to move Kaido and Big Mom...
The Haki of these monsters was simply too powerful, so much so that it interfered with Devil Fruit abilities and Eden's magic.
It was unclear if it was because the space in this world was unstable or for some other reason.
Otherwise, Eden could have just thrown all these Devil Fruit users into the sea and ended the fight directly.
"But this is enough!"
During the five seconds Eden held Kuzan in place...
Laxus had finished his preparations.
"RAIGO!!"
With Eden's help, Laxus finally controlled his Raigo and slammed it down onto Kuzan...
BOOM!!
The moment the terrifying lightning descended upon Kuzan, a massive roar echoed across the entire island.
"Is the world ending?"
The pirates witnessing this scene were completely dumbfounded. They couldn't believe that humans with the individual power to destroy an island truly existed in this world.
"Abandon the island!"
"Quick, abandon the island!!"
Aside from the pirates who were scared stiff, those who had already sensed the danger didn't hesitate. They tried every possible means to escape the island...
If they could jump into the sea, they wouldn't stay on the island. If they could use a small raft to float away, they wouldn't stay in the nearby waters.
As for the pier that Kuzan had frozen, it, along with all the frozen ships, was obliterated by the terrifying lightning.
BOOM!!
In the next second, accompanied by a series of rumbles!
Nearly half of the island was turned to dust by the infinite lightning from Laxus's attack!
"My turn!"
In the distance, when Natsu saw the lightning falling from the sky, he excitedly activated his Lightning Flame Dragon Mode, rushed in front of 'Blackbeard' Teach, and shouted, "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Lightning Blade!!"
"Why isn't my Dark-Dark Fruit working?!"
As Teach was engulfed by the endless lightning and flames, he desperately tried to activate his Dark-Dark Fruit, but his ability was useless against Natsu's power.
In fact, according to Eden and Laxus's original plan, a part of the island should have remained after they unleashed their attack.
At least there should have been a place for them to stand.
But Natsu, that idiot, got a rush of blood to the head after seeing Eden and Laxus use their ultimate moves and unleashed all of his magic power...
Using the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit within him as fuel, and enhanced by the lightning from the sky, he once again unleashed an attack on par with the Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar he had used on Tenrou Island.
BOOM!!
With Natsu's contribution, the entire island began to completely disintegrate...
"I knew this would happen!"
In the sky, Mirajane held Juvia by the scruff of her neck, looking at the collapsing island in the distance with a helpless expression.
However, what Mirajane found incredible was that Doflamingo, the man she had been fighting to the death, had, at the critical moment, saved Gray from being caught in the blast of Natsu's Exploding Lightning Blade, pulling him into the sky.
Gray: "That Natsu guy did it on purpose, right? He definitely did it on purpose! His real target was me, wasn't it?!"
"Hey! Why did you help us?!" Mirajane asked Doflamingo, looking confused.
"Sister, am I helping you?"
"I'm helping myself..."
"Didn't you see? You guys collapsed the whole island!" Doflamingo remained silent, but he was screaming this internally.
Hmm, after spending so much time with these mages from the Fairy Tail guild, Doflamingo's cold and ruthless persona was about to crumble.
These people were a bunch of lunatics.
Honestly, one Aramaki was already enough to make the World Government take things seriously. The slightest misstep could trigger a major crisis that could shake the government's authority and credibility.
If Aramaki had a brain fart and joined any of the Four Emperors' crews, the balance of the seas would be shattered instantly.
And yet, the Fairy Tail guild had another one and a half (Laxus and Eden) at Aramaki's level.
This was the setup of a top-tier Emperor's crew!
Even if they couldn't take on the Whitebeard Pirates at their peak, who were practically invincible, they could at least go head-to-head with Kaido and Big Mom...
Had he, Doflamingo, lost his mind to be fighting against a force like this?!
In reality, the Fairy Tail guild had another monster of monsters who, once recovered, could walk all over this world...
And a blind old man who, thanks to a girl's kindness, was tricked into thinking he could use Jellal's ultimate attack, 'Sema' (Star-Crusher), as a basic attack.
If all of Fairy Tail's combat power were gathered here right now?
Eden: "Let's just use Edo Tensei on Roger and Rocks!"
BOOM!
Just as Doflamingo was thinking this, the destroyed island, which was gradually being submerged by the sea, began to be covered with all sorts of plants at a visible rate. These plants plunged directly into the seawater, filtering out the salt and quickly transforming the area into a vast oasis.
"Big Sis! I'm over here..."
Just then, Aramaki emerged from the oasis, waving at Mirajane and the others in the sky and shouting loudly.
"Catch!"
Seeing this, Doflamingo didn't hesitate. He tossed the naked, nauseous Gray he was holding to Aramaki below and said to Mirajane, "The score between you and me is settled. You've left me covered in wounds, too! I hope we never meet again."
With that, Doflamingo used his String-String Fruit, like Spider-Man, to swing away on the dark clouds Laxus had summoned, flying into the distance.
The seemingly suave Doflamingo was actually in a pathetic state. What he was thinking was: "I hope I never get involved with these monsters again for the rest of my life."
"However!"
"The world is truly about to be shaken by this!"
"Interesting..."
"Fufufufufu..." Doflamingo laughed maniacally in his heart.
Meanwhile, on the oasis.
"Hey, Gray, are you okay?" Aramaki asked immediately after catching Gray.
"I'm fine." Gray shook his head, his gaze fixed on the distance. He said grimly, "The only thing I need to do now is to settle the score with that Natsu guy."
"Big Sis, how are you?"
"Should I take care of that guy for you?" Aramaki looked up at the sky, his eyes locked on the rapidly fleeing Doflamingo.
"Forget it."
"Let's go check on our comrades first."
Mirajane hesitated for a moment before deciding to spare Doflamingo's life for now. No matter what, it was a fact that he had saved Gray from Natsu's attack.
"Huff, huff..."
At the same time, Laxus and Eden were lying on the vines created by Aramaki, panting heavily. Both of them had expended a great deal of energy.
"Did we get him?" Laxus asked, looking at the island they had sunk.
"How could that be possible?" Eden shook his head. If an Admiral were that easy to defeat, the Marines wouldn't be the dominant power on the seas.
"Hooo..."
As soon as Eden finished speaking, the previously calm sea surface suddenly froze over. The ice then began to pile up, forming a battered figure of a burly man whose body was branded with countless scars from the lightning strikes.
That man was Kuzan.
"This wasn't worth it at all," Kuzan said, frowning as he looked at his electrically-burned body.
"Still want to fight?"
At this, Laxus and Eden stood up from the vines, looking ready for a second round with Kuzan.
"Are you kidding me..."
"I'm tired enough as it is. There's no reason to keep fighting you."
Kuzan waved his hands dismissively. He had only come here to say hello to Robin. Did they really have to beat him up this badly?! With his current injuries, it would take him at least ten days to half a month to recover.
"Hey, hey, the damage we did to you won't leave permanent scars, will it?" Eden asked, rubbing his chin, seeming a bit guilty.
Eden's main concern was that the damage they had inflicted on Kuzan might affect the future battle between Kuzan and Sakazuki for the position of Fleet Admiral.
Although, with or without their presence, the final outcome would likely be the same.
"They're already permanent," Kuzan said with a helpless sigh.
"Well, how should I put this?"
"If one day you get your leg broken by a colleague, and you don't know where to go, come join us at Fairy Tail!"
"It would definitely be a great place for you," Eden said after a moment of thought, extending an invitation to Kuzan.
"Do you even hear the stupid things you're saying?!"
At this moment, Kuzan didn't understand what Eden meant at all. He just thought Eden was mocking him.
"Anyway, you guys won this battle..."
"It seems Robin has really found some good companions this time."
"But don't let your guard down..."
"Your bounties are going to reach an absurd number after this."
"Whether you like it or not, you will become the number one public enemy in the eyes of the Marines and the World Government," Kuzan told Laxus and Eden.
"Huh?" Laxus was still completely bewildered.
"Hey, hey, you just defeated a Marine Admiral. Try to look a little happier, you damn brats..." Kuzan said, then paid Eden and the others no more mind. He turned his back, a desolate figure walking away alone.
On the other side.
"Hooo..."
Natsu and Ace pulled the nearly completely burned body of 'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach from the sea. Having been submerged in seawater as a Devil Fruit user after the island's destruction, he had sunk to the bottom, unconscious.
And so, the great chaotic battle between a Warlord of the Sea, a Marine Admiral, the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, the entire Blackbeard crew, and the Fairy Tail guild concluded with Doflamingo fleeing in terror, Kuzan retreating in defeat, and Teach being captured.
In response, the island of Mock Town, which was completely destroyed by their combined ultimate attacks, said: "I hope someone in this world will speak up for me!"
The mountains of the Fiore Kingdom, which are periodically destroyed: "We feel your pain!"