What sent everyone into a frenzy was simple: Flowing Cloud flew up there to erase the Holy Land.
It was every pirate's ultimate dream. Becoming Pirate King was only the first step; the endgame was toppling the World Government. No one had ever stood in the world's brightest spotlight to declare it.
Until today.
He would erase the Holy Land.
"Flowing Cloud!"
"Flowing Cloud! I'm your loyal fan now!"
"A god! Does he have a crew? Are they recruiting? Let me in!"
"Get lost. With that face you think you can join a god's crew? Even Whitebeard might not qualify."
"Damn, he's not human. Erasing the Holy Land right in front of the Five Elders. He's not afraid of death?"
"Fools. If Flowing Cloud dares to challenge them, he's certain he can bring the Holy Land down."
"That power is terrifying. It's beyond any limit."
"Heh, wipe out the Government and pirates will rule the seas."
"Keep dreaming. If the world changes, it will be under a god."
"Either the old world dies or pirates are reborn. This is the turning point."
On the Sabaody Archipelago, pirates were shaking with excitement, blood running hot. What Flowing Cloud was doing was something they had never even dared imagine.
To confront the Five Elders head-on had never happened in history.
He was the first.
Marineford.
Staring at that cold, solitary figure, Kong's face was grim. The institution he existed to protect was being openly challenged.
And in front of the entire world.
Erase the Holy Land.
It was a slap to the Marines.
A slap to the World Government.
"Damn it. Who is he?" Kong's heart hammered as he glared at the blazing meteor over the Holy Land.
It was so massive that it made everyone below look like ants.
In Mary Geoise, Celestial Dragons tilted their heads back at a sky blotted out by stone that burned like a second sun. The crushing presence alone stole their breath.
From horizon to horizon, there was only rock. The sun and sky themselves were gone.
If a meteor that size struck, the World Government would cease to exist.
The weight of it broke something inside them. Despair rose like a tide.
Only now did they understand how small they were. Before a calamity, they were nothing.
Winds screamed through the Holy Land. The ground shuddered. As the meteor fell, the earth split. Jagged crevasses tore outward under the pressure.
Celestial Dragons dropped to their knees, shivering. Some lost control and wet themselves.
Boom.
The meteor shook the heavens.
Under that invisible pressure alone, the Holy Land began to crumble.
Before the eyes of the world, it shattered.
Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.
The Celestial Dragons were smashed flat by the sheer force pressing down, no room to resist. The shock rammed through their bodies like a palm strike from the sky. Blood ran from all seven orifices. Faces twisted in terror.
"Damn it. Protect the Celestial Dragons!"
One of the Five Elders, standing in the air, roared at the others.
"I will."
The bald elder spread his hands and vanished. In the next instant, every Celestial Dragon who had been scattered and panicking was gathered onto a broad plaza beneath the Holy Land.
When they saw him, they started screaming.
"Bastard! Only now you show up? We almost died!"
"You five are useless. If a Celestial Dragon dies, you're all finished!"
"If we die, you die with us!"
They were crazed. How could they not be? That sky-darkening meteor crushed breath from lungs. The pressure alone nearly killed them. If it hit, there would be nothing left.
The bald elder did not take the abuse to heart. His voice was flat. "Calm yourselves. I will not let you die. You are Celestial Dragons."
The chill in his tone made it clear he was acting out of obligation, not devotion.
"Then move. If any of us die, half the blame is on you."
"Yes. If we die, you die." Eyes bloodshot, they were out of their minds.
Saying nothing more, the bald elder lifted his hands. A terrifying wave of power surged from his palms and wrapped the Celestial Dragons. Everything outside went silent and distant, as if cut away.
"Huh? The old man has some skill. I can't feel the pressure anymore."
"Good. He knows his place. As for those other four old fools, if I live through this, they will pay." In their minds, Celestial Dragons were supreme; even the Five Elders were there to obey and ensure their safety.
Even at the edge of disaster, their only thought was that all five should have come to protect them. One was not enough.
"Horrifying."
Kong's fingers trembled. Even he felt a wash of helplessness before that vast, crushing boulder. If it landed, survival would come at a terrible price
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