On Onigashima, Wano Country.
Roseng stared intently at the image on his den-den mushi. When King and the others went to Dressrosa, he'd instructed them to stream battle footage back to him in real time.
Seeing Jack actually bathing in magma and trading blows with Akainu made Roseng mutter in astonishment at Jack's defense. Jack had somehow become even better at taking hits.
Seeing the Three Disasters cooperating to hold down Akainu, Roseng couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. The Dragon-class Monster Cell's amplification varies by user depending on physique and potential. Dragon-class Monster Beasts themselves are wildly different — an explosive mountain beast can't be compared to a serpent-king. By Roseng's estimate, among the Three Disasters it was King (Jin) whose power had increased the most — he was now skirting the threshold of "Emperor-level." Queen and Jack's increases were slightly less, at near-Yonkō-admiral level. Importantly, Dragon-class cells also raised their upper limits: through training their strength could continue to rise.
"If only we could get more people on Dragon-class cells," Roseng mused idly. With a few more, the Beast Pirates wouldn't need long before sweeping aside the World Government. Sadly, very few can tolerate the side effects. Right now, besides Kaido, Roseng, and Yamato, only the Three Disasters could handle Dragon-class cells. Most other comparably powerful individuals were already aligned with other forces — Whitebeard's Marco, Big Mom's Katakuri, etc. Recruiting them would be nearly impossible.
Roseng suddenly thought of one person who wasn't aligned and could likely handle a Dragon cell: Eneru of Skypiea, the Thunder God. "But Eneru's pride and self-proclaimed godhood means persuading him to obey won't be easy. After this fight I'll make a trip to Sky Island and see if I can recruit him," Roseng decided.
On the den-den mushi image Akainu's aura flared; the sky had turned red. Roseng's face hardened and a cold murderous glint flashed in his eyes. That bastard Akainu — was he going to destroy Roseng's Dressrosa?!
…
In the Dressrosa palace, Viola and Rebecca had long since felt the ferocious impacts on the shore. Viola had been using her Giro Giro no Mi power to surveil the battlefield and suddenly turned pale.
"Gugu — what's wrong?" Rebecca asked worriedly.
Viola's face whitened. "That Admiral — Akainu — he turned the terrain to magma. If he continues like this the whole Dressrosa will be destroyed and all the civilians will die."
"What?!" Rebecca's pretty eyes widened and she clenched her fist in anger. "The Navy and the World Government are scum!"
After Roseng taught them, Pegivan had been organizing nonstop propaganda and the people of Dressrosa now truly believed the Beast Pirates were their saviors and that the Navy and World Government had been the real tyrants behind Doflamingo's reign. Seeing Akainu's disregard for civilian lives only confirmed what they believed. The townspeople looked up at the sky in terror and began to curse the Navy.
"Rebecca, go to Wano and find that bastard! Leave now!" Viola urged.
Rebecca shook her head firmly. "I won't go. My brother sent his men — they'll protect Dressrosa."
Rebecca was right. King and the others would not allow Akainu to reduce Dressrosa to slag. Not to mention the SMILE factory there — that must not be destroyed.
King shouted, "Queen, Jack — fuse and stop Akainu!"
"Fuse?" Akainu and the sweating Moumouse and the Vice Admirals were stunned. Queen and Jack were Zoan users, not fusion-fruit types — how could they fuse?
But the next instant erased all doubt. Queen and Jack each put an earring on. They slowly drew together. A blinding light flashed and what the Navy saw dropped their jaws: the two towering ten-odd-meter warriors fused into a single being — a colossal giant about fifty meters tall.
"Holy—!" Fozu-Fu swore out loud.
The combined form of Queen and Jack was terrifying: taller than giants, larger than mountains, exuding an ancient, savage aura like a primeval beast. Ordinary marines broke out in cold sweat. The five Navy Vice Admirals went pale; even Akainu gaped and could not regain his bearings for a moment.
"Die, Navy!" the super-giant bellowed, and its mountain-sized fist came down.
Marines were flattened like pancakes; the force of the blow rocked Dressrosa. Scores of marines were crushed to death. Akainu himself erupted in magma, splattering in all directions. Two of the Navy ships were destroyed.
The Three Disasters, powered by Monster Cells, had shot beyond what anyone expected. Not only were they on par with Admirals — they could fuse. Who could have imagined? The crowd shouted, "It's the earrings, it's the earrings!"
An old pirate trembled and pointed at the device in awe. "Those earrings must be Roseng's invention — the fusion earrings that let two people fuse!"
On the shore, the scattered magma slowly coalesced and Akainu's badly ripped form reassembled. Vice Admiral Moumouse, sweating blood, ran to Akainu and begged, "Admiral, retreat! The Beast Pirates not only have Monster Cells — that Beast son-in-law Roseng invented fusion earrings! We can't win here!"
Moumouse was right. The fused Queen–Jack's aura had reached Yonkō-admiral level; with King (Jin) at Emperor-threshold they were effectively two Yonkō-admiral-class fighters. Even Akainu could not win against that. Akainu clenched his fists and flames of bitter unwillingness burned in his eyes — this was the first failure of his entire career and would be a monstrous disgrace.
But the loss owed not to Akainu's own shortcomings but to Roseng's inventions appearing unexpectedly. "Damn it!" Akainu roared, then made a decision. "Moumouse — order the marines to withdraw!"
Akainu still had his wits. Moumouse rejoiced and obeyed. King sneered from above: "You came — now you can't leave."
"Thunderfire Dragon!" King unleashed a gigantic lightning-wreathed fire-dragon that charged toward the Navy. Moumouse drew his sword to block, but Akainu stepped forward and said without looking back, "You all retreat. I will cover you!"
Moumouse's face showed complexity. Akainu is aggressive and disregards civilians, but he is a soldier — Moumouse obeyed and quickly evacuated marines to the ship that hadn't dropped anchor, the very contingency he had insisted on earlier.
But King, Queen–Jack fused, Fozu-Fu, Runmi, Pegivan and the rest wouldn't let the Navy escape. They pursued. Akainu, though powerful, now faced the equivalent of four arms against two fists, two ships were sunk and the Navy took heavy casualties. Three Vice Admirals were killed by King and the fused giant; Akainu himself was grievously wounded.
The Navy's attack on Dressrosa ended in a crushing defeat. The Beast Pirates won outright.
When the news reached Marineford, Fleet Admiral Sengoku overturned his desk in fury. The Five Elders' roars could be heard across Mary Geoise. Even the mysterious Imu-sama, who usually remained hidden, could not sit idle and summoned the Five Elders to explain. The sheer power of the Beast Pirates stunned the world.
A rumor spread and rapidly became accepted: the Beast Pirates had become the undisputed strongest Yonkō crew — even Whitebeard's fleet ranked below them. And the most terrifying figure in the Beast Pirates wasn't Kaido or the newly amped Three Disasters — it was the Beast son-in-law, the Five-Emperor Roseng.
Roseng, however, sat calmly on Onigashima watching the den-den mushi feed. He'd seen Jack bathing in magma and the Three Disasters joint-force Akainu; he'd already estimated that King (Jin) had neared Emperor-level growth, while Queen and Jack reached quasi-Yonkō-admiral levels and their ceilings had been raised. If only more people could take Dragon-class cells… but only a very few could survive the side effects.
Roseng smiled faintly and thought to himself: after this, he'd pay a visit to Skypiea to try to recruit Eneru. Then he returned his attention to the battlefield — Akainu had been gravely wounded, and the Beast Pirates had just achieved a resounding, world-shaking victory.
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