Silence.
An eternal, all-encompassing silence.
No words were spoken, yet everyone instinctively understood what this will represented.
The moment that will spread outward, a scene that left everyone utterly stunned unfolded.
As the will expanded, heaven and earth lost all color. Within its reach, everything was drained of hue. There was no black, no white, no other shades at all.
It was as if the entire world had been stripped of color, like a vibrant oil painting suddenly transformed into a stark ink wash.
"What… what is this?"
"The world has lost its colors!"
"So the legends are true. Dragon King Rosinante's Devil Fruit awakening really can make heaven and earth lose their color!"
The nobles and dignitaries from various nations stared in disbelief. Many of them stood up on the spot, eyes wide, faces frozen in shock.
"Rosinante's awakening domain has grown even larger," Tsuru said gravely.
This time, the area affected by the loss of color had expanded to nearly a thousand meters in every direction, a full doubling compared to before.
"I just hope it's only the range that increased, and not the power as well," Sengoku said with equal seriousness. "Otherwise, this will be far more troublesome."
Those outside the domain could never truly feel the pressure inside it.
Wave after wave of crushing force bore down on the three Admirals. Even with physiques that had reached the level of high-tier Admirals, they felt as though a layer of heavy armor had been forcibly draped over them. Every movement became sluggish and burdensome.
Yet the most terrifying thing was not the pressure from heaven and earth itself, but the will of Eternal Silence.
Under the influence of that will, even space itself was affected. Needless to say, those trapped within the domain felt it far more keenly.
Sakazuki and the others felt their minds grow dull, as if their cells had fallen asleep. Their bodies felt weak, unable to exert their full strength.
Even their Devil Fruit powers were drastically suppressed. Had their mastery not far exceeded that of ordinary users, the situation would have been far worse.
Just from the influence of that Eternal Silence alone, Sakazuki and the others found that at best they could only bring out around seventy percent of their full strength.
"Be careful," Sakazuki said in a low voice. "Attack techniques and raw power will be suppressed even further. Especially long-range energy attacks. If possible, don't use them."
Having personally experienced the power of the Heaven-and-Earth Losing Color ability before, Sakazuki knew all too well that the influence of Eternal Silence did not stop there.
Within this domain, all attacks were weakened once more, and energy-based attacks were hit the hardest.
Judging from the current effects, even maintaining sixty percent of their peak combat power would already be considered fortunate.
What an absurdly troublesome ability.
Borsalino raised a finger. Light began to gather at its tip, only to immediately disperse again.
Seeing this, he did not give up, instead repeatedly testing it. The light gathered, collapsed, gathered again, then scattered once more.
"Well?" Kuzan asked, glancing over. "Can you still fight?"
"I can, barely," Borsalino replied with a helpless look. "But using the Glint Glint Fruit in here will take a lot of effort. I'll need time to adjust. And even then, the combat power I can exert won't exceed thirty percent of my peak."
Though he had long known how severely this domain countered his abilities, truly experiencing it firsthand filled Borsalino with nothing but resignation.
Pure resignation.
Without even doing anything, most of his strength was simply sealed away. There was nothing left to curse, only a deep, suffocating sense of helplessness.
"…Looks like after today, we'll be busy for quite some time, Kuzan," Borsalino said lightly. "We'll have to work hard to restore the prestige of the Marines' highest combat power."
"Let's talk about that after today," Sakazuki said coldly. "As long as our strength is sufficient, prestige can always be rebuilt. And if we can eliminate the Grey Kingdom, nothing else really matters."
Sakazuki's expression was equally grim.
Today was supposed to be the day of their glorious promotion. Guests from all walks of life had gathered. This should have been the most brilliant moment for the three new Admirals.
Yet if all three Admirals joined forces and still failed to defeat Rosinante, the prestige of the Marines' highest combat power would suffer a devastating blow.
And under this Heaven-and-Earth Losing Color domain, defeating Rosinante was practically impossible.
Moreover, today's goal was merely to probe Rosinante's strength, not to fight to the death. Many of their trump cards could not be revealed yet. Otherwise, they might expose all their own abilities without fully uncovering Rosinante's true limits.
As a result, the Admirals' prestige was doomed to take a hit today.
But if they did not choose today to test Rosinante, there would be no other opportunity.
If they could not determine Rosinante's approximate strength before the plan was put into motion, once the operation began, the Marines might suffer catastrophic losses. Worse still, that uncertainty could cause the entire plan to fail.
Sakazuki did not care about casualties. What he feared was that uncertainty ruining everything. That was why today, no matter what, they had to determine how far Rosinante had grown over the past three years, and what trump cards he held.
"You all look rather relaxed," a voice suddenly said. "Is my hospitality lacking?"
At some point, Rosinante had appeared soundlessly right in front of Kuzan.
Not good!
Kuzan's heart lurched.
In that instant of shock, Rosinante's blade flashed.
With a single slash, Kuzan's body was cut cleanly in half at the waist.