"What is going on?!"
"Two... Joy Boys?!"
Faced with the situation inside Fish-Man Island, even the colossal Sea Kings were stunned. Their bizarre faces showed hesitation.
"But... that giant really does look like Joy Boy, and he has the same abilities."
"And that smaller one gives off the exact same feeling as Joy Boy."
"The promised day has not yet arrived. Could there be some misunderstanding here?"
At that moment, the colossal Sea Kings began to waver.
But Sadgeo was thrilled, his eyes sparkling.
"Wah!!!"
"What a huge, magnificent ship. It looks perfect for me!!!"
"It's a little old, but it should still work fine after some repairs, right?"
Noah was enormous. After all, it had once carried countless races and taken part in battles at the highest level.
Its size was comparable to the colossal Sea Kings themselves. Even someone as huge as Sadgeo, larger than an ordinary giant, would look tiny walking on Noah.
Like an ordinary person standing on a giant vessel.
"Hey!!! Sea Kings!!!"
"Give me that ship!!!"
Sadgeo looked up into the sky, his face full of eager excitement.
As someone created with the bloodline factors of a child of destiny, Sadgeo naturally possessed the Voice of All Things as well. After all, that ability seemed to have a chance of being inherited through blood, just as someone like Momonosuke had inherited Oden's Voice of All Things.
"Give it to you?"
"You are not Joy Boy?!"
"You do not even recognize Noah, and you do not know us. Did we really make a mistake?"
"Yes. He... does not seem to be as strong as Joy Boy."
"Then maybe he really isn't..."
The colossal Sea Kings began to doubt themselves, exchanging thoughts with one another.
Neptune saw this and hesitated as well.
After thinking for a moment, he shouted loudly,
"What do you intend to do with Noah?!"
"What do I intend to do?"
Sadgeo grinned.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to conquer the world!!!"
"Conquer... the world..."
Neptune froze in place. Blood vessels stood out in his eyes as a terrifying realization surged through him.
No... something is wrong!!!
Conquer the world?!
Was Joy Boy's dream not supposed to be helping all the enslaved and discriminated races, liberating them, making the world a better place?
Conquest...
What kind of nonsense was that!!!
This was absolutely not Joy Boy!!!
But if he was not Joy Boy, then who was he?
Why had he appeared?
The more one thought about it, the more terrifying the question became. But Neptune had no time, nor any courage, to pursue it further.
His eyes widened as he roared at the colossal Sea Kings,
"No!!!"
"This man is absolutely not Joy Boy!!!"
His eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to be using every ounce of his strength.
"Noah must never be handed over!!!"
His huge roar echoed across the battlefield. Everyone froze in place. Even the chaotic battlefield fell silent.
Shirahoshi clasped her hands before her chest, her beautiful eyes trembling as she looked at her father. As Poseidon, her instincts told her one thing clearly.
"Do not give Noah to him!!!"
Shirahoshi shouted to the colossal Sea Kings as well.
The will of Poseidon could not be disobeyed.
Hearing that, the colossal Sea Kings exchanged glances.
"So we truly made a mistake."
"Though he looks identical, he is not Joy Boy. The real Joy Boy has already passed away."
"And this giant is nowhere near as powerful..."
They exchanged looks and reached a conclusion. At once, they prepared to drag Noah back to its original place.
But at that very moment...
In an unknown corner, one figure slowly curled his lips into a smile. His crimson eyes opened fully.
A terrifying power stirred invisibly.
"The show has only just begun. How could it leave the stage so early?"
It was a power like a law of the world itself.
Just as the colossal Sea Kings, each one as large as an island, were preparing to haul Noah back, an overwhelming force suddenly descended upon them.
Their massive bodies stiffened. Their pupils trembled violently.
"This is..."
"What is going on? This kind of Conqueror's Haki!!!"
"The king of the World Government? No!!!"
"How could a power of this level still exist in this era?!"
"It's him!!!?"
The colossal Sea Kings remembered the Conqueror's Haki they had felt two years ago.
But under the dual pressure of Haoshoku infusion and spatial restraint, they could do nothing but writhe. They could not even speak.
After all, they were only Sea Kings whose bodies had become gigantic because of their race.
A mere five-thousand-meter species.
Before absolutely overwhelming Haki and spatial law, they could only be manipulated like puppets.
Powerless, just as they had been eight hundred years ago, when they could only watch that war end in defeat.
Outside Fish-Man Island, the agonized struggle of the colossal Sea Kings threw all the citizens into panic.
Bathed in black and crimson lightning, they wailed in pain and released the chains of Noah from their jaws.
"What is happening!!!"
Seeing the Sea Kings scream in agony, Shirahoshi was so frightened she burst into tears, biting her lip as tears streamed down her face.
"Please hold on, everyone!!!"
It was not just her. Neptune was frozen in place as well. Among the Straw Hat crew, the timid trio huddled together in terror.
Only Queen Otohime could truly sense the pain of the colossal Sea Kings.
But there was nothing she could do.
"Shishishi..."
"I don't know what's happening, but I'll be taking this ship!!!"
Sadgeo laughed loudly and rushed forward to seize Noah.
But Luffy would not allow it.
Sadgeo had triggered a fatal bug in the situation.
Shirahoshi had cried in front of Luffy.
And she was his friend.
"Hey!!! You bastard!!!"
"I don't know why the Sea Kings are like this, but it's definitely your fault!!!"
"If you make my friend cry, I'm definitely sending you flying!!!"
Sadgeo turned at the shout. The small figure before him was the same one he had met at Sabaody.
"So it's you again. You're really annoying."
"Get out of my way already!!!"
"As if I would!!!"
"Fuuu..."
"Gear Third!!!"
With a forceful breath, Luffy inflated both arms, then instantly coated them in Armament Haki.
"Gum-Gum Giant Gatling!!!"
"Ahhh!!!"
In response, Sadgeo casually unleashed his own normal Gatling.
"I absolutely won't let you hurt my friends!!!"
And faintly, somewhere deep in his heart, a ringing sound began to echo.
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The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
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