That brilliant light gradually spread, pouring generously over Germa 66's magnificent airborne fortress and gilding it with a dreamlike yet faintly murderous edge of blood-red gold.
That unique color looked like a painting drawn by the hand of fate itself, foretelling the arrival of a tremendous change.
At that moment, the eyes of the entire world were focused here.
Countless gazes watched everything unfold through the miraculous lenses of Transponder Snails.
Beneath the pure-white royal flag embroidered with the striking 66 emblem, the atmosphere was so heavy it seemed to have solidified.
Slowly, the flag that carried countless glories and centuries of history began to descend.
Its movement was slow and solemn, like a final farewell to the years that had passed.
The creak of the flagpole and pulleys, amplified through advanced loudspeaker Transponder Snails, spread clearly to every corner of the Four Blues.
That sound was like the last mournful cry of an old era, filled with endless age and helplessness, lingering in people's ears for a long time.
On the broad, cold deck, the clone army that had once terrified the world stood in perfect formation.
Their backs were straight, like rows of lifeless statues.
Yet these war machines, originally designed to possess no emotion, now displayed an abnormal silence.
Within their electronic eyes, which flashed with cold light, newly installed loyalty programs were running continuously.
The Eternal Divine Kingdom's red-and-gold emblem refreshed again and again inside their complex visual systems, like a living flame, silently announcing the birth of a new order.
Vinsmoke Judge, dressed in his most formal and magnificent royal attire, stepped forward with a steady, firm pace.
Every step was heavy and powerful, striking against the metal deck with dull echoes, like the beating of fate's drum.
The crimson cloak behind him fluttered wildly in the morning breeze, looking like flowing blood and creating a powerful visual impact.
When he stood at the center of everyone's attention and slowly removed the sash symbolizing his royal status under the countless watching eyes of the world, a gilded button slipped from his fingertips.
It bounced across the hard deck with a crisp, pleasant yet faintly sorrowful sound.
Every tiny noise was magnified infinitely, clear enough for all to hear.
"Father…"
Behind him, Ichiji felt an indescribable emotion surge in his chest and subconsciously took half a step forward.
His eyes were filled with worry, reluctance, and confusion.
Yet before he could do anything, Reiju stopped him with a deep, firm look.
That subtle detail did not escape anyone's notice.
The sharp-eyed News Coo quickly captured the moment, and it would become a close-up image in the next day's newspaper, stirring countless guesses and discussions.
Judge slowly raised both hands.
His mechanical prosthetic hand and his remaining flesh-and-blood left hand reached out together, carefully lifting the precious parchment state letter inlaid with the crest of Germa.
This letter was not merely a piece of paper.
It condensed the rise and fall, honor and disgrace of the Germa Kingdom across hundreds of years.
It carried the dreams and blood of countless ancestors.
When he slowly bent down and respectfully presented that heavy state letter to the envoy of the Eternal Divine Kingdom, the faint click from his spine and joints made every North Blue king present at the ceremony tremble.
They realized that one era was about to end.
And a new one was quietly beginning.
"From this day forward—"
Judge's voice was loud and firm.
Through Germa's most advanced sound amplification system, it spread across every corner of the North Blue like rolling spring thunder.
Even on the most remote islands, people hiding inside dim taverns could hear every word clearly.
At the same time, dozens of snail warships hovering in the air activated their translation systems in perfect synchronization, rendering his words into twenty different languages to ensure that every syllable reached every ear without error.
"The Germa Kingdom voluntarily submits and becomes a subordinate region of the Eternal Divine Kingdom in the North Blue."
Those resounding words were like lightning tearing through the darkness, splitting open the once-calm sea and sending up a thousand waves.
The entire world shook.
People everywhere began discussing this historic moment, uncertain what kind of future awaited them.
At the harbor, sharp-eyed observers watched everything with full attention.
They clearly saw that the moment Judge spoke the word "voluntarily," the veins at his temple suddenly bulged like dragons jolting awake, revealing emotions suppressed to the very limit.
Yet in the blink of an eye, those bulging veins were forcibly smoothed away as if by an invisible hand, quickly returning to normal.
At the same time, his fingers unconsciously dug into the edge of the state letter.
Because he used too much force, five clear dents of varying depth were pressed into the parchment, as though he were pouring all his inner struggle and unwillingness into that thin sheet of paper.
At that exact moment, precise down to the tick of a second, every Germa soldier in uniform raised their right arm automatically and in perfect unison, as if driven by some mysterious force.
As their arms extended, the previously hidden underside was revealed.
There, carefully embroidered long ago, was the emblem of the Eternal Divine Kingdom.
Every stitch was exquisite and deliberate, clearly the result of long preparation and careful design.
This clever yet deeply unsettling mechanism silently hinted at a chilling truth.
This seemingly sudden act of submission had in fact been planned and prepared in secret for a very long time.
Everything was proceeding exactly according to a predetermined plan.
"Salute!"
The envoy's loud, firm voice broke the brief silence, ringing across the entire Germa fortress like a war horn.
In an instant, the fortress's main cannon arrays began rotating in perfect order.
The enormous barrels gleamed with cold metallic light beneath the sun.
Yet to everyone's surprise, what burst from the muzzles this time was not ammunition that brought death and destruction, but brilliant streamers of red-star ribbons in gold and blue.
The ribbons danced and drifted through the air like lively spirits, decorating the entire scene with both splendor and solemnity.
Amid the falling ribbons, Judge's back looked especially lonely and desolate.
He walked toward the cabin with heavy steps, one step at a time.
Each step seemed to fall upon the ruins of some invisible kingdom.