At this moment, Sengoku looked at Dragon with complex emotions in his eyes.
"Your Dragon Claw Fist... is truly formidable, already comparable to the Navy Six Styles."
"The times are changing." Dragon stood up, Armament Haki covering his claws once again: "Mr. Sengoku, you should change too."
"You're right, the times are changing."
Sengoku took a deep breath, the golden light of the Great Buddha surging even more brilliantly than before.
"That's exactly why I must capture you and bring you back!"
He pressed his palms together, golden light converging throughout his body before violently thrusting them forward!
"Great Light Palm——!"
An unprecedented terrifying shockwave erupted from his palms!
A grave expression flashed in Dragon's eyes.
He knew he couldn't withstand this attack.
But he didn't need to withstand it.
He closed his eyes and spread his arms wide, as if embracing the sky.
"Awaken——"
Dragon's body began to transform.
His figure expanded, gradually shifting from human form to the outline of a giant dragon, crimson scales covering his entire body.
Torch Dragon, the ancient divine beast commanding wind, rain, clouds, and mist.
Dragon opened his draconic mouth, his voice resonating like an ancient bell between heaven and earth:
"Farewell, Mr. Sengoku."
After speaking, he took a deep breath.
Then exhaled.
Wind come!
A fierce gale surged from his mouth, instantly sweeping through all of Loguetown.
This was no ordinary wind—it was a storm infused with the Torch Dragon Divine Power!
So fast and powerful was the wind that everything in its path was blown away!
Sengoku, in his Great Buddha Form, resisted the gale with his palms blocking in front, yet he was still forced back continuously.
His feet plowed two deep trenches in the ground, unable to stop.
"Dragon——!!!"
His shout was swallowed by the raging wind.
Within the storm, Dragon took another deep breath.
Mist come!
A thick, impenetrable fog poured from his mouth, rapidly spreading everywhere.
This mist, imbued with the Torch Dragon Divine Power, could obscure even Observation Haki perception.
All of Loguetown was plunged into a white, chaotic haze.
Sengoku stood in place, the golden Buddha form dissipating as he returned to human shape.
He looked around, but Dragon was nowhere to be seen.
Only dense fog, endless dense fog.
Sengoku gritted his teeth: "Garp, look what your son has done."
Years later, he would say another line: Garp, look what your grandson has done.
But now, Loguetown was descending into unprecedented chaos.
The hurricane blew away numerous Marines, while the heavy fog left them disoriented.
Beside the ruins, Crocodile struggled to stand despite his severe injuries.
"Just when I needed an escape route."
He glanced at the surrounding fog, sneered, and transformed into sand, scattering with the wind.
Not far away, Gecko Moria stumbled through the mist.
Clutching the wound on his abdomen from Akainu's earlier attack, his shadow writhed at his feet, wrapping around him as he swiftly fled.
"Damn it... I'll settle this score slowly later."
Hawkeye, after forcing Aokiji back with a single sword strike, quickly turned and disappeared into the thick fog.
"Fufufufu... how interesting."
Doflamingo and Diamante also took advantage of the fog obscuring vision to escape from Staff Officer Tsuru.
Countless pirates escaped the naval blockade and encirclement due to this sudden dense fog.
And the one who unleashed this fog—
Dragon stood atop the highest clock tower in Loguetown, overlooking the chaotic town below.
He had resumed his human form, his cloak flapping sharply in the wind.
He watched the figures of pirates fleeing in the chaos, their backs disappearing into the mist.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Go."
"Go and overturn this world."
He turned, his figure vanishing into the thick fog.
Behind him, the dense fog over Loguetown still hadn't dissipated.
It was an elegy for the end of the old era, and also the prelude to the beginning of a new one.
...
Sea Calendar 1499.
This was the first year after Roger's death, the beginning of the Great Pirate Era.
The words Roger spoke before his death on the execution platform shook the entire world.
Countless people surged toward the sea.
The seas descended into complete chaos.
Within a year, numerous rookie pirates emerged, making names for themselves in these turbulent waters.
Among them, the most renowned were the following—
Hawkeye Mihawk, with a bounty of 600 million Belly.
This taciturn man swept through countless opponents with his Black Blade Night.
Doflamingo, the Demon of Heaven, with a bounty of 340 million Belly.
Gecko Moria, with a bounty of 320 million Belly.
Crocodile, with a bounty of 310 million Belly.
These four were called "the first Supernovas of the Great Pirate Era" by the world.
Their names spread across all four seas.
However, when they surged into the New World with ambition and dreams, they were met by three insurmountable mountains.
The Fengtian Empire, the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Big Mom Pirates.
These three powers were known as the "Three Emperors" by the world.
The Three Emperors proved with their strength—the New World remained their domain.
Meanwhile, the Flying Pirates of Golden Lion Shiki, once one of the Four Emperors, had been completely destroyed.
A year earlier, Shiki had stormed Marine Headquarters alone, only to be defeated by the combined efforts of Garp and Sengoku, then imprisoned in Impel Down.
Leaderless, the Flying Pirates were quickly crushed by the arriving Big Mom Pirates and Beasts Pirates.
Their territory was divided, their crew scattered.
The Flying Pirates were thus removed from the ranks of the Four Emperors.
As for Kaido, captain of the Beasts Pirates, though immensely powerful,
he had not yet successfully seized Wano Country, and his influence hadn't reached the standard of a Sea Emperor, so he was temporarily not listed among the Four Emperors.
...
Fengtian Empire, Imperial Capital.
Inside the Sky Palace, renowned as the "World's Most Luxurious Palace," within a massive hot spring pool.
At this moment, an intense game of water football was underway.
In the water, a group of stunningly beautiful women with exquisite figures were playing and chasing each other.
The object of their competition was actually a football.
After Raiver's cells underwent hundredfold enhancement, they gained a miraculous ability.
Transplanting just one of his cells into a living organism would cause it to rapidly divide and assimilate all other cells in the host.
The result was immortality, eternal youth, and physical capabilities increasing dozens of times over.
All the maids in the Sky Palace had undergone genetic enhancement.
Every one of them swimming in the water now possessed strength, speed, and endurance far surpassing ordinary humans.
"Pass the ball! Pass the ball!"
"Over here! I'm over here!"
"Stop her! Quick, stop her!"
Laughter and splashing water filled the air.
By the shore, Raiver leaned against the pool's edge, a smile playing on his lips as he enjoyed the delightful scene.
To his left, Xingmian knelt gracefully, holding a fruit platter laden with various exquisite fruits. Her jade-like fingers delicately picked up a grape and brought it to Raiver's lips.
To his right, Xingwan knelt with a wine tray, upon which sat a crystal glass filled with Coral Wine, a specialty of Fish-Man Island. The pale pink liquid emitted a faint, refreshing fragrance. Seeing Raiver swallow the grape, she brought the wine glass to his lips.
Raiver took a sip, his gaze still fixed on the maids performing intricate maneuvers in the water, and couldn't help but marvel.
He never expected that his hundredfold-enhanced cells would have such remarkable effects and uses.
If Raiver were compared to a zombie king, then all the maids in the Sky Palace were like zombies infected by him.
Anyone "infected" by Raiver would obey his every command unconditionally.
This was an instinct engraved in their genes—because every cell in their bodies had been assimilated into Raiver's.
Thus, Raiver held absolute control over them.
This gave him an inspiration—
to create an immortal and indestructible combat legion.
By transplanting his cells into a powerful creature and then mass-cloning that being, much like the Pacifista robots.
This way, he could possess an army that was absolutely loyal, immensely powerful, and utterly undying.
However, achieving this required two conditions—cloning technology and a high level of scientific advancement.
Thinking of this, Raiver murmured to himself:
"Vegapunk, huh... It seems I'll have to find time to snatch him away from the Marines."
Vegapunk, the world's foremost scientist.
It was said that the technology he possessed was five hundred years ahead of the current era.
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