News of the war spread across the entire world in an instant.
Countless people were left in disbelief after receiving the newspapers.
"The Marines lost?!"
"What will the world become from now on?"
"One of the Five Elders died!"
Anxiety began spreading throughout the world.
Of course, only peaceful countries reacted that way.
For nations already engulfed in war, plagued by pirates, or oppressed by the World Government, the fact that the New World was now dominated by Monkey D. Luffy did not matter much.
As for the death of one of the Five Elders?
Many people were celebrating and cheering!
Even among countries affiliated with the World Government, some kings secretly smiled in their hearts.
The Celestial Dragons had ruled firmly for eight hundred years. Now, at last, there existed a pirate capable of killing them.
Even if he was a dangerous bastard, that was still better than nothing.
Besides, Straw Hat Luffy was far from being a cruel person.
The World Economic Journal constantly followed the Straw Hat Pirates. If there had been any atrocities, they would have been reported long ago.
From the very first time Monkey D. Luffy's name appeared in the newspapers until now, that man had never committed outrageous acts.
Looting civilians, plundering merchant ships, indiscriminate murder, or wanton destruction had never happened.
On the contrary, wherever they went, they ended up delivering justice.
In certain places, they looked more like Marines than the Marines themselves.
"Excellent! As expected of Luffy! He easily accomplished what the Revolutionary Army couldn't… he killed one of the Five Elders!!"
In Dressrosa, Koala was also reading the newspaper with a smile.
"Sabo, what do you think the World Government will do now? This time, it's not just massive losses… this is humiliation."
The World Government's full name was an alliance of nations.
It was itself also a gigantic country, possessing countless special territories spread across the world.
For example, the execution platform in Loguetown did not belong to the town itself, but directly to the World Government.
And an organization of that size feared nothing more than losing its authority.
"…Winning is a good thing, but we can't lower our guard."
Sabo nodded while seriously analyzing the situation.
"From what I know about the World Government, they will definitely retaliate."
For the first time in hundreds of years, one of the Five Elders had died.
One of the most powerful figures in the world had been killed.
If there was no immediate response, who would still respect the World Government?
So you were just paper tigers?
Once hegemony begins to weaken, everything else collapses one after another.
Sabo had a bad feeling.
"They can't target Luffy for now… but to intimidate the rest of the world, someone will definitely be used as an example."
And in his opinion, the Revolutionary Army would most likely become the primary target.
"No… I need to warn Dragon immediately!"
Thinking that, he immediately picked up a Den Den Mushi.
Also in Dressrosa, inside a makeshift meeting facility.
The rescued children were happily playing in the yard.
Johnny and Yosaku were taking care of them while reading the newspaper together.
"As expected of Brother Luffy!"
"Moria died…"
"A lot of people died. This is war. Even the victors have to pay a price."
"Don't think too much about it! Let's just complete our mission properly. Don't forget Brother Luffy's request. We need to record everything happening in this country!"
Hearing that, Yosaku nodded and folded up the newspaper.
"Other than the small chaos during the first few days, everything became very stable afterward. King Riku has completely earned the people's support. In practice, he's already king again."
Even without the official title, Riku Doldo III spent every day busy handling administrative affairs.
According to him, that was his form of redemption.
"Do whatever you want. It was the people's choice. For them… maybe having a king no longer even matters. We just need to continue recording everything."
The two deeply felt the weight of human nature.
People's inertia was frightening.
Luffy returned power to the people, but sooner or later, the citizens themselves would gradually hand that power away once again.
New World, Hachinosu.
"You've got to be kidding me?! Kaido died?!"
Bang!
Eustass Kid slammed the table violently while glaring at the alliance members in front of him.
"We formed this alliance to kill Kaido! Now Straw Hat killed him before us! Then what was the point of all this?!"
"Indeed."
Hawkins continued flipping his tarot cards expressionlessly.
"What are you doing?" Apoo asked in confusion.
"Fortune-telling."
"I'm asking about what!"
"Fate."
"Whose?"
"Straw Hat's."
Hawkins answered calmly:
"I've done the reading countless times. No matter how many times I try, the result for Straw Hat is never death. It's as if he's someone favored by fate itself."
"Hah?" Kid made an irritated expression. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Hawkins then looked toward Buggy and Crocodile.
"And you two? What do you intend to do now? Only three Yonko remain… and frankly, the three of them have now formed an alliance."
That was the truly important information in the news.
No one there cared much about the death of the Five Elders.
Crocodile maintained a serious expression.
Kaido had been killed by Straw Hat.
Which meant… Pluton was probably now in Luffy's hands.
The information about Pluton in Wano had been revealed by Straw Hat himself. There was no reason to doubt it.
"Don't worry. This still isn't over. The real show is only just beginning."
Crocodile slowly exhaled smoke from his cigar.
"Just wait a little longer…"
If Pluton truly was in Monkey D. Luffy's possession…
Then that weapon would certainly be used against the true ruler of the world.
Throughout the entire world, countless forces closely observed the news and waited for the next clash between the Straw Hat Pirates and the World Government.
Whole Cake Island.
The wedding had turned into a funeral.
In a single day, celebration and mourning coexisted.
The Charlotte Family buried their dead.
At the same time, the Straw Hat Pirates also took care of their fallen comrades.
On the shore.
Upon a small boat made of simple wooden planks, the bodies of Jozu and Moria lay side by side.
Luffy stood silently on the coast holding a torch.
He quietly observed the two corpses before slowly speaking:
"A pirate's home is the sea. Farewell, Moria… Jozu."
The torch was thrown onto the boat.
Flames slowly began consuming the vessel and the bodies.
A sea burial.
"Master Moria!"
Perona cried desperately.
To her, Moria was more than just a captain.
He was like an adoptive father.
He had taken her in when she was still very young and gave her a place to belong.
Now, that man had died in battle.
Perona cried so intensely that she could barely stop trembling.
On the shore, Nami and Vivi gently tried to comfort her.
Ace clenched his fists as the boat carrying Jozu's body slowly drifted away from the coast.
Marco patted his shoulder and said:
"Don't be too sad."
"Fujitora…"
Ace gritted his teeth as he mentioned the blind Admiral.
"Don't be impulsive, Ace," Vista said in a deep voice. "I'm also saddened by Jozu's death, but don't let it consume you."
"I know… This is war. It's not strange for people to die in a battle this chaotic."
Ace took a deep breath and gradually calmed himself.
Everyone remained silent, watching the flames slowly devour the bodies.
Luffy patted Ace's shoulder, then turned and gently rubbed Perona's head.
Without saying anything else, he flew up and departed toward the seas of Totto Land, heading for Thriller Bark.
With a movement of his finger, he tore open space in front of him.
Twenty-two empty fruits floated out from the spatial crack.
Of those twenty-two, seventeen had transformed into Devil Fruits.
Those seventeen Devil Fruits represented the deaths of seventeen ability users.
Of course, far more ability users had died than that.
The Blackbeard Pirates attacked Whole Cake Island and killed many members of the Charlotte Family, including numerous Devil Fruit users.
Since they died before Luffy arrived, their fruits had already reincarnated elsewhere.
"In war… it's so easy to die."
While murmuring that, Luffy took another fruit from his pocket.
It was Kurozumi Orochi's Devil Fruit.
Now he possessed eighteen Devil Fruits in his hands!
These fruits would not be distributed so easily.
But there was one in particular…
Luffy stretched out his hand and grabbed the Momo Fruit.
The Momo Fruit was an extremely direct and simple Paramecia.
It allowed the user to amplify speed, strength, volume, weight, and various other attributes of touched objects by up to one hundred times.
In different people's hands, the power of this fruit varied enormously.
If an ordinary person ate it, it would not be that impressive.
But in the hands of someone powerful…
The result would be terrifying.
Luffy stared at the fruit in his hand and devoured it without hesitation.
In the next instant, he obtained his sixth Devil Fruit ability!
The first was the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika.
The second, the Goro Goro no Mi.
The third, the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi.
The fourth, the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu.
The fifth, the Mori Mori no Mi.
And now, the sixth…
The Momo Momo no Mi!
Six abilities.
Including Mythical Zoan, Logia, and Paramecia.
At that moment, Luffy felt absurdly powerful.
He slowly clenched his right fist.
"If I fight Kaido again… I could probably kill him with a single punch."
Luffy had absolute confidence in that.
At that moment, he had already completely surpassed the so-called power level of an Emperor.
"One hundred times faster."
In the next instant, his body shot forward.
Boom!!
The sudden acceleration violently shattered the sound barrier.
At that moment, using the hundredfold enhancement, his speed reached something close to Mach 100.
Just the impact of breaking through the air opened a gigantic fissure in the ocean below.
The scenery before Luffy's eyes disappeared far too quickly to follow.
Too fast!
He could not even see clearly!
A few seconds later, Luffy abruptly slowed down.
A thread of cold sweat slid down his forehead.
"This ability is way too ridiculous… Even I can barely control it properly."
Flying at one hundred times the speed of sound, he did not even need to attack.
The kinetic energy of his body alone would probably be enough to pierce through the Red Line.
"And the consumption is absurd… Anyone else would quickly die using this. And that's considering it's me."
Luffy let out a sigh while looking upward.
Onigashima was already right before him.
In just an instant, he had crossed the distance between Whole Cake and Onigashima.
Mach 100 was simply absurd.
At that moment, cleanup work was still continuing on Onigashima.
Many people had died.
Corpses were piled up like mountains.
The surviving pirates worked mechanically with numb expressions.
Even as experienced pirates and former subordinates of Kaido, this was the first time they had seen such an absurd number of dead.
Luffy remained in the air, observing everything below.
The Heartless Legion members, led by Bao Huang, buried the bodies of Jack and the two Tobiroppo.
They were being buried behind the mountain, beside Kaido's grave.
King still remained unconscious.
Queen was severely injured.
Ulti and Page One were also wounded.
The only one practically unharmed was Black Maria.
"The Marines are probably holding their own funerals too by now. Ryokugyu and Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro's bodies must have already been taken back."
Luffy thought about that while shaking his head.
The Marine fleet was probably still sailing the seas and would need several more days to return to headquarters.
When they returned…
Perhaps the next battle would happen directly at Mariejois or New Marineford.
"Zoro."
Luffy descended toward the eastern shore.
More precisely, a gigantic cliff by the sea.
Zoro sat cross-legged on the edge of the precipice, covered in wounds.
"Where's Mihawk?"
"He left."
Zoro slightly turned his face.
There was a deep slash over his left eye. Half his face was covered in blood.
"You lost?"
"No."
"You won?"
"Not that either…"
Zoro smiled.
"It's extremely difficult to defeat him. Honestly, I don't even think I could beat him after another ten years of training."
Luffy laughed.
"Giving up?"
"Of course not. This time, I finally managed to see his true strength. Next time… I'll win."
Zoro raised a broken sword.
The Sandai Kitetsu had been destroyed during the battle.
Yubashiri had also shattered in the fierce clash.
The only swords left intact were Shusui and Wado Ichimonji.
After thinking for a moment, Luffy raised his hand.
Immediately, from the ruins of the skeletal castle, the Shodai Kitetsu — formerly belonging to Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro — flew toward him.
"A new sword for you."
Luffy tossed the Shodai Kitetsu to Zoro before raising his chin.
"Come on. It's time to get the last Road Poneglyph."
(End of Chapter)