Gojo continued speaking. As he spoke, the smile on his face widened more and more, looking almost unhinged with excitement.
"And look at me. Today, I am feeling so good... so liberated."
His voice carried a strange sense of satisfaction.
"Today, not only did I kill my parents' murderer, but I also awakened my Conqueror's Haki. I awakened my Devil Fruit powers."
A faint crimson glow flickered around him as the air distorted slightly.
"Thanks to you, Admiral Kizaru."
Gojo lightly stretched his neck while looking directly at Kizaru.
"After taking so much beating from you, I was finally able to awaken my Devil Fruit."
A grin appeared on his face again.
"Although I am not able to use its full power as of yet, it should still be enough for all of you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the widened laugh on his face slowly returned to a normal smile.
Then Gojo raised his hand.
He made a cross sign using his index and middle fingers.
And calmly said,
"Domain Expansion."
The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere changed completely.
Kizaru and all five CP0 agents had already become extremely attentive the moment Gojo mentioned awakening his Devil Fruit powers. With their mastery over Observation Haki, they had clearly sensed that Gojo was preparing something dangerous.
But the instant they heard the words Domain Expansion—
That became the last normal thing they heard.
Suddenly, an overwhelming flood of information exploded into their minds.
Everything around them became motion.
Everything became information.
The temperature of the surrounding air.
The movement of the clouds above the Sabaody Archipelago.
Whether rain would fall or not.
How much rain would fall.
The flow of the wind.
The structure of the ground beneath them.
The body structure of living beings nearby.
Their temperature.
Their blood flow.
Even atomic-level information was continuously transmitted into their brains without pause.
An endless torrent.
Their minds were unable to process it all.
The sheer amount of information assaulted their consciousness mercilessly, far beyond what normal humans could endure. Even these elite CP0 agents immediately lost all ability to think properly as their senses became overwhelmed.
Some of their bodies trembled violently.
Others froze completely.
Their brains simply could not resist it.
But Kizaru was an Admiral.
One of the strongest fighters in the world.
Even in that chaotic state, he instinctively released his Haki to resist the mental assault. His face slightly distorted as veins bulged around his forehead while he forced himself to remain conscious.
Still—
Even for him, it took several seconds before he finally regained clarity.
The moment Kizaru came back to his senses, he immediately turned toward his right.
And what he saw made even him pause for a brief moment.
The five CP0 members were still standing in the same positions.
But all of their bodies were headless.
Blood sprayed out from their severed necks before slowly dripping onto the destroyed ground beneath them.
And standing behind those corpses—
Was Gojo.
He was casually holding all five severed heads by their hair in one hand.
Blood dripped continuously from them while Gojo stood there panting.
The scene looked purely gruesome.
Gojo was panting heavily as he threw the severed heads onto the ground. Blood splattered across the ruined battlefield while his chest rose and fell rapidly. It was clear that despite the overwhelming display of power he had shown just now, his condition was far from good.
The bruises covering his body had not disappeared.
Blood still dripped from the corner of his mouth.
Even the hand he had used to maintain the Domain Expansion trembled slightly.
Gojo slowly lifted his head and turned toward Kizaru, directly looking him in the eyes.
Then he spoke,
"Admiral, this time I am leaving because if I fight more with you, then I know for a fact that I won't be able to win against you."
His voice remained calm, but there was seriousness within it.
The playful mocking tone from before had disappeared.
"So, we will fight again."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"But next time, when we fight again, I promise you this..."
The wind lightly moved his white hair as his glowing blue eyes narrowed slightly.
"I will not lose."
The moment Gojo finished speaking—
He disappeared from right in front of Kizaru.
No sound.
No movement.
One instant he was standing there, and the next instant, there was nothing.
Kizaru's eyes immediately narrowed.
He instantly started looking around the battlefield, trying to locate Gojo, but he could not even see a shadow of him. The destroyed battlefield remained silent except for the sounds of burning debris and collapsing buildings.
Without hesitation, Kizaru extended his Observation Haki to its maximum range.
The invisible wave of perception spread rapidly across the Sabaody Archipelago.
And finally—
He found Gojo.
Gojo had appeared on his ship.
The moment Kizaru sensed that, he immediately turned into light.
Golden particles erupted from his body as he instantly used Yata no Kagami to move at terrifying speed. Beams of light reflected through the surroundings as his body traveled forward almost instantly.
And while moving, Kizaru thought to himself,
I can't let Gojo escape.
If he escapes from here, then it will be very bad.
In only a few moments, Kizaru landed directly on the shore near the sea.
But the moment he arrived there—
He stopped.
The sea in front of him was empty.
Gojo was nowhere to be seen.
Even the ship had disappeared completely.
The waves moved calmly against the shore as if nothing had happened at all.
Kizaru immediately spread his Observation Haki once again to its full range, trying to find even the slightest trace of Gojo's presence.
But there was nothing.
No presence.
No trace.
It was as though Gojo had vanished from the world itself.
For a brief moment, Kizaru silently stood there while the wind blew past him.
Then slowly, he clenched his fist.
The pressure around him slightly intensified.
But after a few seconds, he loosened it again.
The serious look on his face gradually disappeared, and he returned to his usual lazy demeanor. Scratching the back of his head lightly, Kizaru started walking back through the destroyed shore.
"Ooooohhh... now I'm going to have to hear it from those Five Elders... and the Fleet Admiral..."
He let out a long sigh.
"What a haaaassle..."
…
Alabasta, in the city of Yuba.
Vivi and Toto stood quietly, looking at the buildings that were being repaired around them. The once-abandoned city was slowly coming back to life. Workers moved everywhere through the sandy streets, carrying wood, stone, and supplies while repairing broken houses buried under layers of sand for years.
The sounds of hammers striking wood echoed continuously through the city.
People had finally started returning to Yuba now that water had been restored in Alabasta. Families who had once left their homes because of the drought were gradually coming back, rebuilding their lives little by little. Children could even be seen running through the streets again while merchants reopened small shops near the roadside.
The Yuba City, which had once looked like a dead land covered entirely in sand with houses half-submerged beneath dunes, was finally beginning to regain the outline of a proper city once again.
And from the looks of it, it would not be very long before all the people who once lived here completely returned.
Seeing this sight, a soft smile appeared on Vivi's face.
The warm desert wind lightly moved her blue hair as she looked around at the recovering city. There was visible relief in her eyes.
Finally...
Alabasta was slowly healing.
But just at that moment—
The sound of hurried footsteps and a loudly running camel approached from nearby.
Vivi turned her head and saw Igaram riding a camel rushing toward her at full speed. Sand rose behind him as he quickly stopped near Vivi before immediately jumping down and running toward her while panting heavily.
His face was completely flustered.
Sweat covered his forehead, and from the way he had arrived in such a hurry, it was obvious that something serious had happened.
The smile on Vivi's face instantly disappeared.
Her expression immediately turned serious because if Igaram was acting like this, then something extremely important must have definitely occurred.
She quickly asked,
"What happened?"
Igaram bent slightly while trying to catch his breath.
"Princess Vivi! Ma-ma-maaaa... In the castle—in the castle, a giant ship has appeared!"
His voice was filled with panic and disbelief.
"And—and it is Gojo Satoru's ship! He is also on it, but... but it seems he is severely injured!"
The moment Vivi heard those words, her eyes widened in shock.
Her calm composure instantly broke.
Without even realizing it, she grabbed Igaram by the shoulders and hurriedly asked,
"How is he?! Is he all right?"
Igaram quickly said, "The doctors are checking on him. I don't know anything more. I came here immediately to inform you about it."
The moment Vivi heard that, she did not wait even for a second.
"Karoo!"
As soon as she shouted, her pet Karoo immediately came running toward her at full speed, kicking up sand behind him. The large duck stopped beside Vivi with an alert cry, understanding from her expression that something serious had happened.
Without hesitation, Vivi quickly climbed onto Karoo's back.
"To the palace! Quickly!"
Karoo instantly dashed forward, racing out of Yuba at high speed.
The desert wind blew strongly against Vivi's face as they traveled across Alabasta. Her hands tightly gripped Karoo while worry continuously filled her mind.
Please be safe...
Thankfully, after the recent rains, much of Alabasta had started recovering. Rivers that had once dried up now carried flowing water once again, and many damaged roads had already been repaired. The journey back to Alubarna, the capital of the Alabasta Kingdom, was far smoother than before.
Even then, Vivi continuously urged Karoo to go faster.
Soon, the outline of Alubarna finally appeared in the distance.
Not long after, Vivi arrived back at the royal palace.
The moment she entered through the palace gates, her eyes immediately widened slightly.
Inside the large open area of the palace grounds, where guards normally gathered and trained—
A giant ship was standing there.
The enormous vessel towered over the surroundings, its presence alone making it look completely out of place inside the palace. Several guards and palace workers stood around it.
The sail of the ship fluttered lightly in the wind.
And upon that sail were drawn two sky-blue eyes.
The moment Vivi saw them, she immediately understood whose ship this was.
Those eyes were extremely similar to Gojo's.
For a brief moment, Vivi stared silently at the giant ship before worry once again filled her expression.
Then, without wasting any more time, she immediately ran deeper into the palace.
----
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