"What… what is that!?"
Inside the royal palace, King Cobra of Arabasta stared blankly at the sky, at the raging sandstorm and the dark shroud blotting out the sun.
There was no light left in his eyes.
Before such overwhelming power, authority and status meant nothing.
At that moment, nothing mattered more than survival itself.
Helplessly, Cobra sank to his knees, whispering in despair,
"Could it be… that Arabasta will perish today…"
No one would answer his question.
Because now, throughout all of Alubarna, hardly anyone believed they could escape from this calamity, one that was not a natural disaster, yet far worse than one.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the hall.
"Your Majesty! You must flee to the shelter at once!
This is not a power we can possibly resist!"
It was Pell and Chaka, the two guards of Arabasta, rushing in.
When disaster struck, their first thought had been the safety of their king.
Cobra looked up at his two loyal retainers, then at the city swallowed by sand. Powerless tears streamed from his eyes as he whispered,
"But… my people…"
"We can't worry about that now! Run, Your Majesty!!"
Chaka shouted, grabbing the king's arm. Together with Pell, they lifted him to his feet.
Within the royal palace of Arabasta, a hidden passage slowly opened, a secret escape route known only to the royal family.
It led all the way to a deserted coast far beyond Alubarna, where supplies and ships had long been prepared for emergencies.
"Captain Smoker!!!"
Down below, amidst the chaos, Tashigi shouted desperately as despair closed in around her.
If even Smoker couldn't save them now, then they truly had no hope left.
"I'm here!"
Smoker's voice was still firm, as resolute as ever when he stood for justice.
"Captain Smoker!! What… what should we do!?"
Looking up at the looming disaster, Tashigi's voice broke. Around her, terrified civilians and soldiers trembled. Tears welled in her eyes as she screamed,
"Sir!! Please tell us what to do!!"
Huff…
A wisp of thick smoke drifted upward from Smoker's cold, grim face.
His cigar was nearly burnt out, yet he didn't bother to light another.
His trembling eyes were locked on the man high above, Crocodile.
After a long silence, as if making a decision, Smoker shouted back,
"Bring everyone to me!!!"
Then, slamming both hands onto the ground, he released a surge of smoke from his body.
"Smoke Screen!!!"
With a roar, a massive dome of dense smoke formed around him.
Above, Crocodile continued gathering the power of the desert, preparing to unleash a devastating blow upon the city.
Below, the smoke screen began to expand rapidly.
A small opening appeared at its edge, and Tashigi immediately started directing the evacuation.
Civilians and soldiers poured into the smoky barrier.
Cold sweat dripped down Smoker's face.
He knew, deep down, he had no real confidence that he could save them.
But still…
He had no choice.
He had to try.
Because he was a Marine, and an officer.
The duty of a Marine was to protect the people.
The duty of an officer was to protect his soldiers.
He admitted it, he had been overconfident. He had underestimated the world's true strength.
He once believed the Starry Sky Pirates were merely an exception among the Warlords of the Sea.
But today, he realized how wrong he was.
So very wrong.
Smoker, who once thought himself strong, finally understood his own weakness, and the price of that realization might be the lives of everyone in this city.
Even if he could survive the sandstorm, escaping from Crocodile's grasp was another matter entirely.
Despair pressed down upon his heart like a mountain.
Yet before his men, he dared not show a hint of surrender.
What… what should I do…
Just as Smoker had done everything within his power and resigned himself to fate,
A familiar voice suddenly rang out from within the smoke.
"Usopp!"
Smoker instinctively opened a hole in the smoke, and through it, he saw a face he would never forget.
Luffy.
The young pirate captain glanced at Smoker for only a moment before turning away, indifferent to the Marine officer standing before him.
"Usopp, it's too dark. We can't even walk around the streets."
"Got it, Captain!"
With a nod, Usopp reached into his pouch and pulled out a strange, rune-marked sphere.
He gripped his custom slingshot tightly.
A strange blue glow flared in his eyes, so sharp and unnatural that even Smoker, watching from afar, felt an instinctive chill of fear. That power… it's not something I can fight.
In Usopp's vision, the swirling sandstorm above revealed itself in a network of eerie glowing lines, death lines crisscrossing the darkness, converging into lethal death points.
The strange orb was set upon the slingshot.
The bizarre combination, along with Usopp's deadly serious expression, looked frighteningly natural.
"Ultimate move!"
Usopp shouted:
"Radiant Thunder Prison!"
Whoosh!
He released the band, and the sphere shot upward with blinding speed.
It rose into the sky, then abruptly stopped, as if it had struck an invisible wall.
Crack… crack… crack…
The outer shell of the sphere split apart, and from within, a brilliant light burst forth.
RUMBLE…!
Thunder roared across the heavens.
The suspended sphere began to tremble violently.
BOOM, CRASH!
Lightning! Thunder! Roars of power and raw energy!
This was Usopp's invention, and his strength!
CRACK!!!!!!!!!!
A jagged flash tore through the sky, splitting the heavens as if they were fragile glass.
A deafening hum followed.
"Ahh! What is that!?"
Tashigi and countless others clutched their ears in pain, unable to endure the sound.
But Usopp's attack had only just begun…
The sphere burst apart completely, unleashing a flood of energy.
In that instant,
The sky shattered.
Waves of thunder and lightning surged in all directions, releasing catastrophic might.
For the people of Alubarna, that day marked the true end of the world.
First, the sky had turned from daylight to utter darkness, and now endless thunder rolled without cease.
Panic consumed the city.
People wept, trembled, and clung to one another beneath the storm.
CRACK!!!!!!!!
Another bolt of lightning, like a dragon of light, tore across the heavens,
And this time, it truly split the sky apart.
Lightning carved precisely through every death point, every death line.
The darkness began to dissolve.
And sunlight returned to Alubarna once more.
Luffy raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness, then smiled like a child on an afternoon stroll.
"The sky's clear again."
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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