Boom!
The aftershock of the impact carried sand and dust with it as it roared along the ground into the distance.
Smoke rolled and rose along a perfectly straight path, forming a massive cone-shaped smoke column lying across the island like a scar.
Ron looked at the smoke spreading slowly in the distance with slight surprise, then lowered his head and glanced at his fist.
With Sage Mode's enhancement, his basic strength had undergone a qualitative change.
At the same time, a commotion of such scale had already alarmed the entire island.
Crowds began to surge through the streets and alleys in panic. Some knocked over stalls, some hugged their children tightly, and some looked up at that huge smoke column with undisguised fear written across their faces.
"Hey, hey, is this for real?! What happened on the island?!"
"It looks like... some terrifying guys are fighting!"
"Quick, tell the boss! Have him stop this riot!"
There was no need for them to report it. The fake Ron had naturally sensed it too.
He stood on the highest roof ridge and narrowed his eyes toward the smoke spreading across the sky.
"Has he come? Has the real Ron come..." The fake Ron's entire body began trembling uncontrollably.
He paced back and forth uneasily on the roof, his steps sometimes quick, sometimes slow, like a beast trapped in a cage.
But soon, he stopped, as if he had suddenly remembered something. The fear on his face slowly receded, replaced by an almost fanatical certainty.
"Right... right, that's it..." The fake Ron laughed under his breath, his laughter gradually rising. "I am already the most honorable Celestial Dragon in the world. And... according to my great master, I possess the world's strongest power."
He stopped walking, slowly clenched both hands, and a twisted confidence burned in his eyes. "I have the power of immortality."
After saying that, he raised his head, his smile turning wild. "Hehehehahaha! I have the power of immortality! No one in this world can kill me! As long as I kill you, Ron, I will become Ron!"
On Linlin's side.
She was sprinting furiously with a bulging sack on her back. Several older children followed behind her.
Muffled cries kept coming from the sack, like a nest of little beasts stuffed inside.
When Linlin heard the enormous roar from the distance, her steps abruptly stopped. She looked back, and far away, a cone-shaped column of smoke was slowly rising.
"Ron..." Linlin murmured softly, a faintly complicated look in her eyes.
"Mama, what's wrong?"
The older children behind her also stopped, panting, and looked along her gaze toward the sky behind them.
"Nothing."
Linlin put the sack on the ground and untied the opening. Little heads poked out one after another, their eyes still filled with the confusion and fear of being trapped in darkness for too long.
"Mama, are we safe?"
"Mama, it was so stuffy in there..."
Linlin ignored their complaints. She turned to the older children. "Perospero, Katakuri, Daifuku, Oven. Take them and leave first. Mama has something to go back and handle."
As soon as her words fell, an urgent voice came from the sky above.
"Mama!"
Zeus flew over and landed in front of her. The surface of the cloud was still trembling faintly.
"Zeus?" Linlin froze slightly. "Where's Ron? Didn't you go pick him up?"
Zeus sounded rushed and panicked. "On the island... a really creepy monster appeared! Ron... Ron seems kind of dead!"
Kind of dead?
So was he dead or not???
Zeus' words were vague, but in truth, it had not seen Ron get into trouble with its own eyes. It had only seen Ron being chased by a winged monster from far away. It panicked and turned around to fly back.
"A creepy monster?" Linlin murmured.
"Yes, Mama. Since our goal has already been achieved, let's hurry and retreat!" Zeus said urgently.
"Mama, Zeus is right. Ron is that strong. He must have a way to get away," Prometheus echoed after him.
"Mama..."
Perospero, Katakuri, and Daifuku all raised their heads and looked at her face.
No one said, "Don't go." But those gazes themselves were already a silent attempt to hold her back.
Linlin looked at the children behind her who were all lifting their faces toward her, then turned her head and glanced at the smoke still slowly rising in the distance.
Suddenly, Linlin laughed.
"Really now. Since when did I become so hesitant when making decisions...?"
Zeus breathed a sigh of relief. "Mama, hurry and get on. We'll leave here as fast as possible!"
Linlin's movements did not stop.
She picked up the sack of children and tossed all of them onto Zeus' wide cloud back. Then she turned around and sent Katakuri, Perospero, and the others up one by one.
"There..." Linlin clapped her hands and looked with satisfaction at the thundercloud piled full of children. "Set off, Zeus. Take them somewhere safe."
"But Mama!" Perospero stood at the edge of the cloud and looked down at her. "What about you?"
Linlin did not turn back. She only waved a hand behind her, her tone calm. "That brat Ron came here because I asked him for help. If I just pat my ass and leave, that wouldn't be right."
Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Pangaea Castle, the Flower Room.
In a certain area, at the center of a floor marked with a pentagram, Imu stood there.
Suddenly, Imu's shoulder trembled violently, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
His pupils slowly froze for an instant, and his gaze fell on his open palm. "It was not Conqueror's Haki... Ron used some special power to suppress Mu's ability."
After a while, he slowly straightened. His gaze passed through the bright arched window of the Flower Room and looked toward the skyline plated with sunlight. Then he made a decision.
At the same time, inside a grand hall in Pangaea Castle, five figures had long been waiting.
The Five Elders stood in their respective positions. They had been waiting all along, waiting for one command.
Then, in that instant, a voice seemed to fall from the void and resound beside their ears.
"Begin."
The five highest authorities lowered their heads at the same time. Their overlapping voices answered in unison.
"Understood."