Aramaki's lips lifted slightly, forming a disdainful smile.
He lazily chewed on the blade of grass in his mouth, his eyes carrying a lofty contempt.
Then Ryokugyu casually waved his finger.
A miraculous scene unfolded once again.
An ordinary-looking pitcher plant suddenly seemed to be filled with tremendous energy, swelling rapidly in size.
Its massive body opened like a bottomless black hole and swallowed whole a swordsman who had tried to take advantage of the chaos to launch a sneak attack.
Ryokugyu Aramaki still wore that careless, mocking expression as he said lazily,
"At least last ten minutes if you want to play with me."
At the bustling, crowded registration area, noisy voices tangled with the tense atmosphere.
People lined up in long queues, some orderly and some not, each carrying their own dreams and ambitions.
Their eyes held anticipation, anxiety, and a faint fear that was almost impossible to notice.
At that seemingly ordinary moment, an incredibly lazy voice suddenly drifted above the registration area like a ghost.
"How scary~"
The voice seemed to carry an invisible power, instantly piercing through the surrounding noise and making everyone shiver despite themselves.
The people in line looked up in terror as if they had been struck by a spell.
Their gazes searched the air for the source of the voice, only to find Marine Admiral Kizaru had appeared at some point without anyone noticing.
He was leisurely sitting with one leg crossed over the other on top of the towering recruitment billboard.
His posture was relaxed and comfortable, as though this were not a serious registration site, but his personal resting spot.
Brilliant sunlight poured down without restraint, landing perfectly on his signature sunglasses.
The lenses were smooth and bright like mirrors, reflecting the intense light into dangerous, dazzling beams that made people afraid to look directly at him.
At the same time, his fingertip began to tremble slightly.
A mysterious and powerful energy quietly gathered there. Dancing photons moved around his finger like lively spirits.
Gradually, those photons condensed into the clear outline of a sword radiating a chilling aura.
The Ame no Murakumo Sword.
Kizaru's sharp gaze slowly swept across the line before casually pointing at an especially eye-catching figure in the crowd.
A giant covered in scars.
The man was broad and muscular, giving off a fierce, brutal aura. The huge axe in his hand alone was enough to make people shudder.
The corner of Kizaru's mouth lifted slightly as he said faintly,
"Even 'Great Axe' Jason came…"
Before his voice had fully faded, the sword of light in his hand lightly swept across the blade of the man's axe like a flash of lightning.
In the next instant, a shocking scene unfolded.
The sturdy axe, forged from special steel, melted into two halves as easily as butter exposed to high heat, fragments spraying everywhere.
"Last week, your bounty was still two hundred and ninety million, wasn't it?"
Kizaru's voice remained as lazy as ever.
"..."
...
Within the crowd that had originally seemed calm and orderly, a sudden commotion broke out without warning.
People's gazes were drawn over unconsciously.
At the end of the line, several suspicious figures had appeared.
Panic and unease showed in their eyes, and their steps were slowly moving backward.
Looking closely, beneath their slightly open collars, the delicate gear emblems representing the Eternal Divine Kingdom could be seen faintly in the dim light.
Just as those figures thought no one had noticed them and were about to quietly retreat into the shadows—
Suddenly, a clear, ringing shout shattered the strange silence.
"Geppo: Falling Cherry Blossoms!"
With that sharp cry, a dazzling light like pink lightning plunged down from the sky.
Looking closer, it was Momousagi Gion!
Her figure was light and agile, like a fairy dancing through the air, yet she carried a fierce and razor-sharp pressure.
Her toes touched the ground as lightly as a dragonfly skimming water, but that seemingly gentle step contained overwhelming force.
In an instant, invisible sword energy spread outward with her at the center.
Everywhere it passed, the ground within ten meters seemed to have been cut apart by countless fine blades, forming complex cracks like a spiderweb.
The famous blade Konpira still hung quietly at her waist, giving off a cold gleam, silently declaring how extraordinary it was.
Yet even without drawing it, Momousagi's powerful aura and superb swordsmanship had already sealed off every possible escape route.
"The registration area is over there~"
Momousagi's voice was sweet and pleasant, almost heavenly, yet in this tense atmosphere it made the surrounding air seem to freeze instantly.
Her slender fingers slowly brushed the hilt of her sword, and her eyes carried an unquestionable firmness.
Under her gaze, the sleeve of the first Eternal Divine Kingdom spy suddenly split cleanly from the shoulder, as if sliced by an invisible blade, revealing the surveillance Transponder Snail hidden inside.
That tiny Transponder Snail looked especially glaring under everyone's eyes, clear evidence of their crime.
"Or…"
As Momousagi spoke, Konpira slowly slid three inches out of its sheath.
In that instant, fierce sword energy surged out like a raging tide, tearing a five-meter-long trench straight through the hard ground.
Dust rose everywhere, and broken stones scattered in all directions, making people feel awe despite themselves.
"Would you gentlemen prefer to test the strength of an Admiral Candidate first?"
Momousagi's gaze was sharp as lightning as it swept across those people with bad intentions, her body radiating powerful pressure.
At the same time, on the high platform of the training ground, a figure stood proudly.
His fists were clenched tightly, bursting with such astonishing power that even the surrounding sea seemed to be reflected in a horrifying shade of blood-red.
He watched the farce below with cold eyes, his gaze filled with contempt and disdain.
The blood dripping from his fists landed on the ground and instantly burned blackened holes into it, giving off a pungent smell.
"Trash…"
He muttered to himself, his voice low and icy, like judgment rising from the depths of hell.
Meanwhile, in a more hidden observation room, Sengoku was working with full concentration.
He recorded Fujitora's astonishing gravity data and Ryokugyu's Woods-Woods diagrams in detail, one after another.
On the strategic map spread out before him, the red markers representing the Eternal Divine Kingdom had already covered nearly half of the North Blue like a spreading plague.
Every marker was like a nail driven deep into those waters, warning them of just how severe the situation had become.