Everything about Imu, everything about Poseidon, had originated from this very planet.
That was the source of their overwhelming power and also the fatal flaw neither of them could ever escape. The moment the Mountain Ancestor completely broke free of its restraints, Imu understood the truth at last.
He had walked straight into a trap.
It was an annihilation gambit.
To seize control of the world, he had never hesitated to create Devil Fruits, even at the cost of damaging his own foundation. But if the Mountain Ancestor destroyed the planet itself, then not only would all of Imu's efforts collapse into nothing, but everything he had gambled would be lost as well.
It would be Total ruin.
"No… stop it. Stop it right now!!"
That was the last thing Imu wanted to see.
After tearing off Rowen's head, he gathered a mass of blinding white light around himself and vanished, reappearing in an instant at the former entrance of the Room of Flowers.
Former, because it no longer existed.
With the Mountain Ancestor's awakening, the place where the Room of Flowers once stood had been occupied by a single, enormous eye.
The Mountain Ancestor resembled a grotesque regent crab stitched together by nightmare. Its abdominal legs were absurdly long compared to its body, each one capable of dwarfing mountains. Its shell was riddled with countless bony tumors and jagged spikes, their tips faintly glowing like distant embers.
Yet the body itself was unnaturally flat, evoking the image of massive plates, overturned dishes, or wide-brimmed hats pressed against the world.
Pitch-black from end to end, its shell reflected no light at all. Against that absolute darkness, the faint glimmers on its spikes looked like stars scattered across a void.
If not for its sheer, suffocating size, one might even have called it mesmerizing.
Unfortunately…
What it did next had nothing to do with beauty.
Boom!!
One colossal abdominal leg came crashing down, pulverizing the Red Line's solid bedrock as if it were brittle clay. Noticing the presence before it, the Mountain Ancestor paused, only for two seconds.
Then a claw larger than a mountain peak swept sideways.
It recognized what stood before it and it intended to tear it apart.
The ocean exploded outward in a fan-shaped surge. The mere air pressure generated by that swing was enough to erase everything in its path.
For those caught beneath it, there was only terror. But for those standing aboard the Ark aircraft drifting in outer space, what filled their eyes was shock, and a dread that refused to fade.
Watching the unyielding red earth crushed beneath the Mountain Ancestor's steps, every movement triggering continent-scale tsunamis, volcanic red light staining the sky… it was nothing short of the end of the world.
If Rowen had not secretly ordered the construction of the Arks long in advance, the ordinary people living along both sides of the Red Line would never have survived.
More than a dozen Arks had already evacuated hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers from the Holy Land's surroundings. Even then, vast sections of their holds remained empty, stocked with supplies for the long future ahead.
"V–Vice Admiral Smoker… another Ark has just emerged over there." A soldier staggered forward on trembling legs to report.
"Mm. That's Fujitora Issho's Ark. Ignore it." Smoker glanced once and turned away.
You couldn't put all your eggs in one basket. Aside from the G-11 base under his command, Century City had also been racing to construct multiple Arks.
Combined with aircraft stationed across Marine branches worldwide, they could evacuate nearly one-fifth of the planet's population.
Cruel, but realistic.
Imu would never concern himself with the lives of "mortals." His only interest was the world itself. If Rowen failed, then these people would become the last embers of civilization.
The plan was insane and merciless.
But compared to the future that awaited them should Imu win… at least some would live.
"Vice Admiral… my master… he lost, didn't he?" Koby stood frozen, clutching a handful of ash.
It was all that remained of Rowen's Vivre Card.
He held it carefully, as though afraid it might shatter, yet even so, fragments continued to fade between his fingers.
He couldn't believe it.
His master. The Thunder God. The monster spoken of with awe.
Had he really fallen?
"No. Not yet." Smoker snorted, glancing at the equally stunned Bald Zero beside him.
"Don't forget, Imu will never allow the Mountain Ancestor to destroy this world freely. Everything happening right now is still within his calculations."
"This isn't a two-sided battle, Koby."
"It's a four-way struggle."
Seeing the confusion in Koby's eyes, Aokiji, seated nearby, finally spoke, his voice calm, steady, and cold as ice.
"The god represented by Poseidon possesses a power capable of suppressing the Mountain Ancestor," Aokiji said calmly. "But she has already split into two halves. Imu is the strongest individual force, yet he's locked in direct opposition with the Mountain Ancestor. And the Mountain Ancestor, though it appears slow and dull, holds the power to overturn everything."
He paused, then continued, his voice steady.
"What your master must do is find a point of balance within this four-sided deadlock… and seize victory from it."
"Our evacuation is only meant to reduce losses. He's planned too much, sacrificed too much, to abandon this world so easily."
"But…!" Koby suddenly opened his palm, staring at the ash resting there. "But my master is already dead!!"
When a person dies, the light goes out.
Even if the Mountain Ancestor and Imu both suffered catastrophic losses, perhaps even perished together, and Fleet Admiral Akainu succeeded in dealing with the Sea King, the most important piece was already gone.
Rowen.
After everything he had given, for it to end like this…
Koby wanted to scream at them.
'Are your hearts really made of iron?'
"Do you think we want this?!" A fist crashed into Koby's face.
He was sent flying into the wall with a dull thud.
Everyone stiffened. After recognizing who it was, they collectively looked away, pretending nothing had happened.
Only Smoker frowned. "Careful, Zephyr-sensei. There are only two layers of shielding between us and the civilians."
If a real fight broke out in here, tearing the Ark apart would take seconds.
"Mind your own business!"
Zephyr snapped back. Smoker's expression twisted awkwardly, his face flushing before turning pale. Beside him, Tashigi covered her mouth, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
Huā lā lā…
Koby slid down the wall and slowly stood up, facing the old man before him.
"This was Rowen's own choice," Zephyr growled. "Don't you dare underestimate his resolve, Koby!"
"I…"
The old man and the young Marine locked eyes, both bloodshot. After a long moment, Koby clenched his fists so tightly the deck beneath him creaked.
"I understand, Zephyr San."
"And besides…" Aokiji suddenly spoke, lazily tugging his eye mask down as he reclined with his hands behind his head. "It's not like Rowen hasn't died before."
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A sharp knock echoed through the command room.
Ain stepped inside in full uniform and reported crisply, "Message from Admiral Kizaru. He's located Rowen and is requesting a rendezvous in the skies above East Blue!"
Koby froze.
Zephyr crouched down in front of him, gripping his shoulder. In his tiger-like eyes were both tears and a hard-earned smile.
"Just like that brat Smoker said," he muttered, voice hoarse. "Everything was within your master's calculations."
Whether it was outright victory or the birth of catastrophe, every path had been accounted for.
Rowen had planned for this day far too long to leave room for coincidence.
As for having his head torn off…
That wasn't an accident.
That was a risk.
…
The underground world.
Absolute void.
Rowen's eyes snapped open. A faint layer of white mist surrounded him, barely illuminating the space within arm's reach.
"My Devil Fruit ability… gone."
"My physical combat power… gone too."
The first thing he did was assess himself, and the result made his brow crease. It felt as though he had returned to the fragile body he'd possessed before ever arriving in this world.
"Last time I got blown apart in Dressrosa, I didn't end up somewhere like this." He stood slowly, glancing at the suit and cloak he somehow wore, then scanned the darkness.
"So… where am I?"
"The deepest layer of your consciousness," A familiar voice answered. "And also, my world."
Footsteps echoed crisply through the void. A figure of similar height approached, emerging from the darkness.
Rowen instinctively reached into his pocket for a cigar, then paused.
"Your world?" he said dryly. "Then mind giving me a light?"
"Of course."
White mist, symbolizing light, rose around Rowen.
At the same time, thick black mist coiled around the other figure, like living shadows, the Black Mist Pirates, embodiment of darkness.
Then…
A torrent of flame the size of a locomotive erupted from the darkness, roaring straight toward Rowen.
BOOM!!!
The explosion hurled a figure backward.
Rowen braced himself with one hand, flipped, and landed cleanly on his feet.
"Phew…"
He exhaled a long stream of smoke, brushed sparks from his coat, and raised an eyebrow.
"Bit enthusiastic, aren't you? This is getting pretty melodramatic."
"Heh. It only gets worse from here."
The newcomer laughed coldly.
He had the same face.
The same eyes.
The same clothes.
If not for the black mist coiling around his limbs,
He was unmistakably another Rowen.
(End of Chapter)
This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395