"That broadcast came from Holy Land Mary Geoise, right?" someone asked, incredulous.
"Why would they be using Mary Geoise's public channel?" another replied.
"Also, what is this 'Uranus'? I've never heard of it. What exactly do they mean by that?" a third voice chimed in. Though some of their words were unclear, the overall message was unmistakable: something monumental had just unfolded — and no place in the World could remain calm now.
Not far off, Eustass Kid and his crew — recently docked in the territory of Red-Haired Shanks — exchanged looks of shock.
"Kid, you're hearing this too? They're saying Uranus has a weakness," whispered Killer, his face pale. Kid's eyes narrowed, disbelief evident. He had always thought Uranus — that legendary war-machine — was unbeatable. To think it might hold a weakness... The notion struck him like a blow.
"How could something so invincible have a weakness? And why would they know this secret — and broadcast it?" Kid's thoughts raced. A slew of questions pressed at the back of his mind.
Nearby, Scratchmen Apoo sauntered closer, his expression unsettled. "Even so," he said, voice low, "I hope the winner ends up being Ashveil. I'm tired of this old world."
Basil Hawkins approached then, face drawn. "I can't tell who'll win," he admitted. "But there's something… something worse may yet come."
The surrounding pirates stiffened. Worse than this? They had just witnessed what could have been the world's final war. How could anything be worse?
"Come on, Hawkins, don't speak nonsense," spat Apoo, clenching his fists. "You can't even predict the outcome now — and you want to scare us with some greater doom?"
Killer, more level-headed, gave Hawkins a sharp look. "Then tell us. What is this horror you see on the horizon?"
Hawkins drew a trembling breath, eyes distant. "From what I divined... many powerful figures are converging. Some possibly surpass Imu. They all gather, aiming for control. This war might not end with just one victor."
Silence fell. The idea was terrible — worse than any battle they had imagined.
Far out on the sea, Red-Haired Shanks frowned, unease creeping into his heart. At the same moment, the broadcast from Mary Geoise reached him. Beckman dropped his cigarette, Killer's eyes widened in shock.
"Do you think… the Revolutionary Army sneaked into Mary Geoise? Maybe they defeated the Elders there," Shanks murmured. If so, the entire balance of power could shift.
"Is the secret of Uranus exposed to everyone now?" Beckman whispered, disbelief heavy in his voice.
The magnitude of such revelations overwhelmed them. So much had changed in mere days.
"If Uranus's secret is out… maybe Ashveil will win in the end," Killer said, voice rising.
Across the world, pirates of the Whitebeard Pirates cheered. From the sky, Marco smiled faintly, glancing over at Edward Newgate beside him.
"Old man, did you catch that? Mary Geoise's broadcast revealed Uranus's weakness lies in the cockpit," Marco said eagerly. Newgate chuckled, relieved.
"Wonderful! Who would have thought that at a moment like this, the Revolutionary Army's intel would matter so much?" he boomed.
He teased Monkey D. Garp then, "Garp, your son's info probably saved our skins. If we'd faced Imu unprepared, things could've turned ugly."
Garp managed a bitter smile. The irony was not lost on him — the man he'd always fought against, labeled a criminal, may have saved him and countless others.
Kaido gripped his Club tightly, realization dawning. Big Mom's eyes widened, disbelief etched on her face.
"If that radio message is true, then Ashveil will claim the final victory," Kaido muttered with relief. Big Mom nodded, voice trembling. "Yes… If Ashveil wins, maybe our lives are spared."
On the battlefield, the broadcast echoed inside Uranus. Imu's face twisted with rage and disbelief. So the Revolutionary Army had used her absence to strike. The Elders — all top Celestial Dragons — had fallen under Ashveil's assault. Worse, they exposed the secret of Uranus to the world and to her greatest enemy.
Imu's eyes wild, she muttered to herself, voice laced with venom: "That damned Revolutionary Army… they dared to reveal my secret. And to Ashveil's people."
But from the depths of the battlefield, Ashveil did not show shock or excitement. Instead, a slight, cold smile curled at his lips.
"Uranus's weakness..." he mused, quietly. "It doesn't matter now."
His conviction unshaken, he commanded Uranus forward.
A deafening roar split the air. Uranus, wielding the Invincible Sword forged by Ashveil's Conqueror's Haki, unleashed a devastating slash toward Imu.
Inside the cockpit, Imu gasped. Even if he bypassed the cockpit, this spatial slash — fused with Conqueror's Haki — would obliterate Uranus's body. She had no escape.
Frantic, she plunged all her remaining Conqueror's Haki into Uranus, overdrawing her power. Blood seeped from her mouth, her features contorted with age and exhaustion.
"Damn you!" she spat, fury trembling in her voice. "Even if I die, I won't let you destroy what I've built!"
But all was in vain. The clash between armored flesh and Haki-infused void triggered a cataclysmic explosion. Lightning, tremors, ice, magma — raw elements burst outward. A raging hurricane swollen to a twenty-level gale uprooted trees, stripped the topsoil within a ten-kilometer radius, and corroded hillsides. The sky dimmed as though night had fallen prematurely. The roar shook the seas even a hundred kilometers away.
Members of the Whitebeard Pirates felt the collision through the air itself. Up in the sky Marco breathed hard. Nearby, another Marine veteran, Sengoku, his glasses glinting faintly, spoke gravely: "Such a terrifying battle..."
Below, some seas even receded. Monkey D. Garp clenched his fist, sweat beading on his forehead.
"This… this is more terrifying than my fight with Rocks back then," he muttered.
Mihawk's eyes flashed with regret. "What I wouldn't give to witness a battle of this caliber…" he said, voice low.
As Donquixote Doflamingo approached him, Mihawk gave him a wary side-glance. Doflamingo smirked. "You say you'd watch if you could handle it. But if you did, you'd just end up getting in the way. Only Ashveil could think to protect you, and even that would weigh him down."
Mihawk's grin faltered. Doflamingo was right. Facing raw might of that level — no sword, no skill could guarantee survival.
At that moment, Boa Hancock appeared nearby, her usual regal arrogance softened only for Ashveil. She glanced toward the battlefield with a curious admiration, though her posture remained queenly. "Even you, Mihawk, would struggle against someone like Ashveil," she said with imperious grace.
Mihawk bowed his head slightly, bitter humility in his tone. "I spoke foolishly before. With my current power… I have no right to demand to watch such a battle live."