In his hands rested a book, held carefully against his massive frame.
Across its cover, a single word stood out clearly:
BIBLE
There could be no mistaking him.
This was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—the man feared throughout the world as the Tyrant, Bartholomew Kuma.
Normally, Kuma gave off an almost unnervingly empty impression. Behind his round glasses, his eyes always seemed devoid of emotion, as though there were no longer anything human left inside him.
But now, that emptiness was gone.
His gaze was calm, intelligent, and completely lucid.
There was a quiet clarity in his eyes that made it obvious he understood exactly what he was doing.
The flames raging across the Dawn flickered wildly around them, casting long, shifting shadows across the deck.
"Bartholomew Kuma!"
The knight at the front stared at him in disbelief, fury quickly twisting his expression.
His voice thundered over the burning ship.
"You… You dare betray the World Government?!"
Every word was forced through clenched teeth.
Kuma remained motionless.
He slowly closed the worn Bible in his hands, completely unhurried despite the murderous hostility surrounding him.
Then he raised his head and calmly looked across the God's Knights.
They stood before him in magnificent armor with weapons drawn, their overwhelming presences bearing down upon the deck.
Yet Kuma showed no fear.
His deep voice carried clearly through the crackling flames.
"I never swore loyalty to you."
His expression did not change.
"So how can this be called betrayal?"
The answer was simple, but absolute.
After a short pause, Kuma continued.
"My mission has never changed."
His gaze hardened.
"To protect the flame of revolution."
For years, Kuma had hidden himself deep within the World Government's sphere of influence.
He had endured suspicion, surveillance, and countless tests while maintaining the appearance of obedience.
To the outside world, he had gradually become little more than a human weapon under the World Government's complete control.
But that had never been the whole truth.
Bartholomew Kuma had always remained one of the Revolutionary Army's most important pieces hidden deep inside enemy territory—
a loyal undercover operative.
From the shadows, he had quietly gathered intelligence and contributed to the revolutionary cause while waiting for the moment when his position would matter most.
And now that Dragon's life was hanging by a thread and the future of the revolution itself was at stake, there was no longer any reason to maintain the disguise.
Kuma cast it aside completely.
All the obedience he had displayed to fool his enemies, every mask he had worn to conceal his true loyalties—
none of it mattered anymore.
He stood tall before the God's Knights, finally revealing exactly where he had always stood.
Kuma slowly raised his enormous palms.
Those hands were the manifestation of the terrifying power granted by the Paw-Paw Fruit, capable of repelling nearly anything they touched.
His palms turned toward Dragon and the containers holding the Revolutionary Army's most critical intelligence.
"Dragon."
Kuma's low voice carried unwavering resolve.
"You go first."
Pop!
Pop! Pop!
The distinctive sounds rang across the battlefield in rapid succession.
Kuma swung his palms.
Before Dragon or the others could react further, the irresistible force of the Paw-Paw Fruit took hold.
Dragon, along with the heavy containers carrying the Revolutionary Army's most important secrets and materials, was violently launched away.
Their bodies transformed into streaks of light as they shot across the sky, following the same distant path Dragon had been sent toward.
Within moments, they vanished beyond the horizon.
After completing the rescue, Kuma remained alone.
His enormous body stood like an immovable mountain on the burning deck.
Before him were the furious God's Knights, their killing intent almost tangible.
Behind him, the Dawn continued burning fiercely, flames and black smoke pouring into the sky.
Yet Kuma did not retreat.
With his own strength, he had forcibly overturned what should have been a hopeless situation.
His towering figure had become the Revolutionary Army's final shield.
More importantly, he had preserved its most precious spark.
As long as Dragon and those core resources survived, the revolution still had a future.
The God's Knights had believed everything was already under their control.
Dragon and the Revolutionary Army's central leadership had been cornered.
Victory had seemed inevitable.
No one had expected Kuma to suddenly reveal his true allegiance at the most critical moment.
His intervention was nothing less than a vicious slap across the face of the arrogant God's Knights.
Until moments ago, everyone's attention had been focused on their most important target—
Monkey D. Dragon and the key Revolutionary Army personnel surrounding him.
They should have been prisoners already.
Instead, right before the God's Knights' eyes, the bizarre power of the Paw-Paw Fruit had seized them.
A strange distortion rippled through the air.
Then, one after another, they were sent flying away at impossible speed before vanishing completely from sight.
At the front of the formation stood the Captain of the God's Knights—
Saint Garling.
Behind his ornate mask, his face twisted violently with rage.
The calm authority he had carried only moments earlier disappeared.
His muscles tightened.
Veins bulged across his forehead.
And the fury burning in his eyes looked intense enough to incinerate everything before him.
...
The fury Saint Garling had been suppressing finally erupted like a volcano on the verge of blowing apart.
"BARTHOLOMEW KUMA!!!"
His roar crashed across the sea like rolling thunder, carrying such overwhelming anger and authority that even the surrounding waters seemed to tremble beneath it. Burning fragments of the ruined ship shook loose and fell away under the force of his voice.
"You filthy traitor! You dare make fools of the gods?!"
Every word was forced through clenched teeth, dripping with hatred and contempt.
A terrifying killing intent mingled with an almost sacred pressure and surged toward Kuma like a tidal wave.
Even Kuma, normally unshakable, frowned slightly beneath the weight of it.
At the same time, the remaining God's Knights moved.
They spread out with practiced precision, immediately surrounding Kuma and sealing off every possible route of escape.
The sacred flames burning across their weapons blazed brighter, their brilliant light carrying a chilling murderous intent.
They were no longer holding anything back.
Kuma's betrayal had enraged them completely, and every knight present intended to erase him here and now.
Yet even faced with an encirclement powerful enough to make the strongest fighters on the seas wary, Kuma remained remarkably calm.
He stood on the wreckage like an immovable mountain, his towering figure steady despite the pressure surrounding him.
Then he slowly raised one hand.
Kuma removed the round glasses that had always reflected a cold white gleam across his face.
Without hesitation, he tossed them into the turbulent sea.
The glasses disappeared beneath the waves.
For the first time, the eyes that had always been hidden behind those lenses were completely exposed.
They were deep and unwavering, filled with conviction and quiet hope for the future.
Kuma lifted his head and looked toward the distant horizon where Dragon had vanished.
For a fleeting moment, relief passed through his gaze.
It was almost as though he were saying farewell to something he had carried for many years.
Then the moment passed.
Kuma turned back toward Saint Garling.
His enormous palms slowly rose into a fighting stance, thick muscles tightening beneath his skin as power gathered through his body.
"For... the dawn of a new world."
His deep voice carried across the sea like the tolling of an ancient bell.
It sounded less like a declaration of battle than a final oath.
Every word carried absolute conviction.
Saint Garling's expression twisted even further.
"Desecrating divine authority is punishable by death!"
He raised his sacred sword high.
"In Lord Imu's name, I grant you complete annihilation!"
Then he attacked.
The sacred blade erupted with unprecedented brilliance, becoming almost impossible to look at directly.
Garling brought it down in a violent slash.
The sword tore through the air with a shriek, as though even space itself were being cut apart by the strike.
At exactly the same moment, the other four God's Knights moved.
Their coordination was flawless.
Each unleashed their strongest technique.
Five attacks infused with strange sacred, rule-like power surged toward Kuma from every direction like enormous dragons converging upon their prey.
There was nowhere to dodge.
No opening to escape through.
The attacks overlapped into a seamless net of destruction.
Kuma threw back his head and roared.
Then he pushed the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit to its absolute limit.
Every muscle in his enormous body tightened as both palms moved in rapid succession.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Countless gigantic paw-shaped shock waves formed before him.
They surged outward like solid walls of compressed force, crashing head-on into the overwhelming attacks rushing toward him.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!!
A chain of enormous explosions shook the sea.
The resulting energy storm expanded in every direction, forcing the surrounding water outward and creating a vast depression across the ocean surface.
Towering sprays erupted into the air as the sea churned violently beneath the collision.
For a moment, the entire area seemed swallowed by chaos.
Kuma's power was unquestionably formidable.
But he was facing five enraged members of the God's Knights attacking at full strength.
The difference was still obvious.
Kuma's paw-shaped shock waves resisted fiercely, but they could not hold forever.
Sacred-flame sword slashes tore forward like blazing serpents.
Brilliant pillars of divine light followed behind them like enormous spears.
The attacks layered over one another with perfect coordination, ripping apart Kuma's defenses little by little.
One shock wave shattered.
Then another.
And another.
The enormous paw-shaped barriers that had surged forward with such overwhelming force were gradually torn apart and erased.
Then—
one sacred-flame slash finally broke through.
Squelch!
The attack struck Kuma directly across his left shoulder.
Blood burst into the air.
The slash carved so deeply into his massive body that it nearly severed the entire arm from his shoulder.