The News Birds under the command of Morgans were like white messengers of death. They carried the "Extra" edition of the newspaper, delivering the news of Mary Geoise's fall and the end of the World Government to every corner of the planet at an incredible speed. In an instant, the Four Seas were in an uproar. The Grand Line shook as countless islands, kingdoms, and powers were left dizzy and shocked by this bombshell.
A Twisted Celebration in the North Blue
In the North Blue, on an island shrouded in shadows, sat the stronghold of the Donquixote Family. Donquixote Doflamingo sat with his legs crossed, listening to a report on his underground businesses. He wore his usual cynical, wicked smile until a News Bird dropped the fresh "Extra" edition onto his desk.
"Fuffuffuffu... What boring news is it this time?" he muttered. He picked up the paper, his gaze sweeping carelessly over the bold headline.
Suddenly, his smile froze. Behind his sinister sunglasses, his pupils contracted to the size of pinpricks.
[The Old Gods Have Fallen! The Madman of the New Era—Takuro, leads the Allied Forces to crush Holy Land Mary Geoise! Eight Hundred Years of World Government Rule Declared Over!]
"Wh—What?!" Doflamingo sprang from his seat. He snatched the paper, reading every detail greedily. Pangaea Castle was destroyed. The Gorosei had fallen. Imu was defeated and the Celestial Dragons were captured. After the initial shock, a manic joy erupted from his heart like a volcano.
"Fu... Fuffuffuffu... Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!"
He laughed so hard he bent over double, tears streaming down his face. This wasn't his usual calculated laugh; it was a sound of pure, twisted exhilaration. "He did it! He actually did it!! You damned, hypocritical trash who refused my return!! You finally got what was coming to you today!! How does it feel to be dragged down from the divine throne and stepped on like cockroaches?! Fuffuffuffuffu!!!"
He remembered the humiliation he suffered in Mary Geoise as a child and how the Celestial Dragons looked at him like garbage. He had always dreamed of dragging them down to Hell. Now, Takuro—the man who once made him feel repressed—had achieved his dream in a way far more brutal than he ever imagined.
"Takuro... I really want to 'thank' you now! Fuffuffu!" Doflamingo wiped his eyes, a dangerous gleam in his gaze. "This world is going completely berserk! Chaos is a ladder! Fuffuffuffu, my chance has finally arrived!!"
Disbelief at Sabaody
At Shakky's Rip-Off Bar in the Sabaody Archipelago, Silvers Rayleigh was leisurely drinking sake. When he flipped to the "Extra" edition, he immediately spat out his drink. His jaw nearly hit the table, and his wise eyes widened like copper bells.
"Pffft—Cough, cough, cough!! Is... is this thing for real?!" he gasped. He read the paper repeatedly, staring at the photos of the massive crater in Mary Geoise and the miserable Celestial Dragons.
"What is it, Rayleigh?" Shakky asked, a cigarette in her mouth.
"Mary Geoise was breached... The Gorosei are dead... and Imu was defeated?!" Rayleigh muttered, his face full of absurdity. As the former Vice Captain of the Roger Pirates, he knew how deep the roots of the World Government went. Not even Gold Roger had truly managed to shake the hidden powers like the God's Knights or Imu.
Yet Takuro, the young man he had met once on Sabaody, had done it. He had used a brutal, direct method to rip the roof off the Old World. Rayleigh leaned back and sighed.
"Roger..." he whispered, looking toward the sky. "If only you were still alive to see this... I wish you could see the incredible 'Monster' the Great Pirate Era you started finally gave birth to. The commotion this kid caused is far greater than anything we did back then..."
The Red-Haired Pirates React
In the East Blue, the officers of the Red Hair Pirates gathered around the newspaper on the deck of the Red Force. The atmosphere was unusually quiet.
"Hey, hey... You've gotta be kidding," Lucky Roux said, chewing meat with a look of disbelief. "Mary Geoise was taken out by that Takuro kid?"
"I knew he wasn't ordinary when I first saw him!" Yasopp added while polishing his rifle. "But this is too much! He just wiped out the World Government headquarters?!"
"Hahahaha!" Benn Beckman laughed, blowing a smoke ring. "I said he was the eye of a storm. Now it looks like he didn't just shake the world; he poked a hole right through the sky!"
Shanks held the newspaper, wearing his trademark smile. He didn't seem as shocked as the others, as if he had expected something like this. "Just as I thought..." he said, taking a swig of sake. "Wherever Takuro goes, things won't be peaceful. Achieving this level of destruction feels exactly like his style."
He looked into the distance with anticipation. "It won't be long until we meet him again. I just wonder how Uta is doing with him, and if she's causing him any trouble."
Suddenly, a lookout slid down from the mast. "Boss! There's a World Government ship ahead! It looks like a transport vessel moving supplies or personnel! What do we do?"
Shanks flashed a bright, predatory smile. He pushed his straw hat up and stood tall. "What should we do? Is that even a question? We are pirates!"
"Since we've found them—let's take them!"
"OH!!!" the crew cheered in unison, their excitement reignited. The Red Force adjusted its sails and charged toward the government ship like a shark that had smelled blood.
The tide of the New Era had risen. Whether through joy, shock, or worry, everyone now had to find their place on the new chessboard created by Takuro. The gears of the world were spinning madly, and no one could stand aside.
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