"Ehhahaha!! So that's how it is! Turns out I was overthinking it—your children are nothing more than tools to you!"
Souta Kiryuu's sharp eyes saw through Big Mom instantly. Using her children as leverage to obtain her bloodline was never going to work.
"In that case… let's see how you handle a fight to the death."
With a twisted grin, Souta didn't crush Perospero with his own claws. Instead, he hurled him with all his might straight at Aokiji, Kuzan.
"Aokiji! A gift for you. Don't tell me an admiral of the Navy doesn't have the guts to capture a pirate worth seven hundred million berries! Remember—execute him publicly. I'll be watching the broadcast."
Souta roared with laughter as his massive dragon wings tore through the air, and he flew off. Let the navy deal with this steel-bodied balloon of rage—that was far more entertaining.
"..."
Kuzan caught Perospero's battered form with a scowl darkening his face. He had just been preparing to escort Saint Pains and the blueprints of Pluton away from the battlefield while Big Mom and Souta tore each other apart. Now, thanks to Souta's sudden move, Big Mom had been thrown right back into his lap.
"Sou—ta!!"
Big Mom's furious bellow split the sky as she lunged after her son. She had no choice but to divert her wrath toward saving Perospero from Kuzan's grip.
Faced with her raging advance, Kuzan didn't dare finish off Perospero. One wrong move could send Big Mom into a complete frenzy. He could only grit his teeth and brace for the storm.
On another front, Golden Lion Shiki exploded with desperate ferocity. With Big Mom and Aokiji distracted, now was the chance to snatch Pluton's blueprints from Saint Pains.
But he had miscalculated. Against Pains, Tea Dolphin, and a CP0 operative, Shiki was hopelessly outmatched. His body was a ruin of what it once had been—barely propped up by the power of the Float-Float Fruit and a sword arm dulled by age.
Weakened, breathing ragged, he could only clutch the scraps of blueprints he had seized and retreat bitterly toward his Lionhead Island fleet. The dream of conquest slipped further from his grasp.
Watching Shiki flee, Crocodile, the Desert King, clenched his jaw in frustration. He had hoped to strike at the last moment and claim the blueprints for himself. But against the God Knights, the elite enforcers of the Celestial Dragons, even he dared not act. Grim-faced, he gathered the fragments he had obtained and vanished within a spiraling sandstorm.
High above, Kaido's furious dragon roar echoed. His azure scales were marred with burns and deep sword wounds, but with one last unwilling cry, the dragon tore into the sky, retreating from the shattered island.
Perhaps sensing the tide had turned, Big Mom too pulled back. Locked in a brutal clash with Kuzan, she forced him away with raw force and seized her bleeding son. Her crew scattered from the battlefield, diving into Brûlée's Mirror World and mounting Zeus, the thundercloud, to escape.
Kuzan did not chase. He simply stood there in silence, watching as the Big Mom Pirates fled, carrying their share of Pluton's blueprints.
In truth, he wasn't disappointed. Deep down, Kuzan did not wish to see the Celestial Dragons obtain such a monstrous weapon. This outcome—Dragons taking some blueprints, Big Mom snatching others—ensured no one faction could piece together the whole. Perhaps… this was the best result possible.
But the cost was steep. The slaughter of the Sorbet Kingdom echoed in his mind, rekindling the doubts that had haunted him since Ohara twenty years ago.
Is this really justice?
The corpses of the island's residents—slain by the Celestial Dragons—littered the ruined streets. The devastation gnawed at his conscience.
Kuzan wasn't alone in his doubt. Gion, the "Peach Rabbit," had never witnessed carnage on this scale.
"So this is what Vice Admiral Tsuru meant… when she said that to rise to admiral-candidate, I'd have to face something like this."
She sheathed her blade, Kinpira, her face pale, her voice devoid of expression.
She had believed the requirement was simply unwavering loyalty—protect the Celestial Dragons at all costs. But she hadn't realized it also meant turning a blind eye while they massacred civilians of non-member nations.
She remembered what she'd been told: Kuzan and Akainu had been promoted after "handling" Ohara. Now she understood what that really meant.
Her strength, her sponsorship from Sengoku and Tsuru, had already secured her the rank of admiral-candidate. She had even been granted the title "Peach Rabbit." But could her sense of justice truly endure this?
No wonder Garp-senpai chose freedom over rank. Sometimes… ignorance looks enviable.
She exhaled heavily, her heart in turmoil.
At last, Saint Galin arrived, bringing Akainu and the God Knights to the northern battlefield. The war had ended.
The Knights wanted nothing less than the total annihilation of Sorbet. But because of the terms agreed upon earlier with Shanks, Galin was forced to hold them back, swallowing his fury at his own estranged son's interference.
One Knight, Saint Prazes, still bleeding and enraged, clamored to wipe out the Red-Haired Pirates for daring to meddle. The strength of the God Knights could have done it. But their venomous words and treachery only further soured Kuzan and Gion.
Saint Galin silenced them, taking the burden upon himself. The Knights cursed, but ultimately retreated.
At least Saint Pains had salvaged a portion of the Pluton blueprints. Without that, they would have faced Im-sama with nothing but excuses. Even so, the battle had been a humiliation—a dead Knight, no trace of Souta Kiryuu or Bartholomew Kuma, Vegapunk still missing. An utter disaster.
Under the wary gaze of Shanks, the God Knights finally departed. Akainu and Kuzan led what remained of the navy away as well, leaving the island in ruin.
The Sorbet Kingdom had been ravaged by three Emperors, two admirals, a legendary pirate, Souta's crew, the God Knights, and the Revolutionary Army. That it hadn't sunk into the sea entirely was a miracle.
But its glory was gone. The northern cities lay in rubble, the southern slums flattened—eighty percent of the nation reduced to ash. The nobles and landlords who remained wept over the ruin of their kingdom.
Before departing, Shanks left behind a single red flag—proof that the Red-Haired Pirates had stood as witnesses. Then he too turned his fleet toward the New World, leaving the South Seas behind.