Deprived of the support of all shadows, Moriah was reverted to his original, obese form, collapsing unconscious on the ground.
The master of Thriller Bark was defeated!
All the stolen shadows were finally liberated!
When the shadows appeared at the feet of the survivors, the entire battlefield first fell silent, then erupted into deafening shouts of joyous celebration!
"Shadows! My shadows are back!"
"This is great! Finally free!"
"Thank you! Straw Hat! Thank you so much!"
The survivors were moved to tears, expressing their most sincere gratitude to Luffy and the others.
Even the air seemed to lighten.
However,
amidst this celebratory atmosphere, Bartholomew Kuma, hidden in the shadows, cast one last glance at the unconscious Moriah, who had reverted to his original form, a cold flicker of disappointment in his eyes.
He closed the book in his hand and said in a low voice, audible only to himself:
"Such pathetic strength... He no longer even has the qualifications to hold the title of a Warlord. I will truthfully report everything that happened here to the World Government."
The next moment,
his tall, silent figure emerged from the shadows like a phantom, step by step, his heavy footsteps instantly overshadowing the cheers and attracting everyone's attention.
The celebrations abruptly ceased, and everyone looked with confusion at this powerful, uninvited guest who had suddenly appeared.
Kuma stopped, his calm gaze, carrying an invisible pressure, swept over the Straw Hat and the recently rescued survivors. He announced in his characteristic, unperturbed, deep voice:
"Straw Hat, and all those who assisted you. You have severely wounded an ally of the World Government, Gekko Moriah, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. This act is a grave provocation to the authority of the World Government."
Kuma slowly removed the glove from his right hand.
"According to the rules, the battle is not yet over. Next, I—'Tyrant' Bartholomew Kuma—will take over as your opponent."
"What?!!!"
"Warlord... another Warlord?!"
"What a joke! Moriah brought this upon himself!"
Upon hearing this, everyone burst into an uproar, their faces filled with shock and incomprehension. Luffy, Zoro, and the others immediately looked at Kuma with vigilance, as they did not recognize this seemingly powerful man.
"Who are you?" Luffy asked, frowning and adopting a fighting stance.
Kuma slowly stated his name: "Bartholomew Kuma. One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea." His gaze sharpened, "Moriah's defeat is a disgrace to the World Government. This disgrace, I will personally cleanse."
"Bastard! Does your World Government have no sense of reason?!"
"How dare you attack our benefactors!"
"Go! Take this guy down and save our benefactors!"
A survivor who had just recovered his shadow and was hot-blooded with rage roared, picking up a weapon from the ground and charging towards Kuma!
Several others, indignant, followed suit and rushed forward!
"Seeking death." Kuma merely commented indifferently, not even looking at them directly. He simply raised his palm casually, aiming it at the charging crowd—
Buzz!
A highly compressed, visibly transparent shockwave instantly erupted!
"Puh ah—!"
The first few people in the charge were hit head-on as if by an invisible giant hammer, their chests suddenly caving in, spewing blood as they flew backward, crashing heavily to the ground, instantly losing consciousness!
With just one strike, all the survivors who attempted to resist were knocked down!
"You, you even kill these people!"
"Bastard!"
"Then let's fight!"
The battle erupted completely in a thousandth of a second!
Before Zoro's roar had even faded, his three long swords had transformed into three intersecting silver lightning bolts.
"Three Sword Style: Leopard, Harp, Ball!"
He spun at high speed, as if transforming into a roaring beast, man and sword becoming one, carrying an absolute, tearing momentum that stirred up dust and broken grass from the ground, forming a violent tornado that lunged directly at Bartholomew Kuma!
The sharpness of the slash was so intense that even the air emitted a mournful cry as it was cut.
Almost at the same instant, at the tip of Nami's Clima-Tact, complex weather balls instantly condensed into violent lightning.
"Thundercloud: Divine Punishment!"
She let out a delicate shout, and a dazzling blue-white arrow of lightning, striking later but arriving first, shot precisely towards Kuma's chest with a speed beyond visual capture, leaving a pungent smell of ozone in its wake.
"Sure-kill! Firework Star!"
Usopp's roar carried a hint of strained tension, but his action of pulling the slingshot trigger showed no hesitation.
The burning gunpowder projectile traced a scorching trajectory, aimed directly at Kuma's face. The perfect timing created a three-dimensional, inescapable combined attack with Zoro's slash and Nami's lightning!
The all-out assault from his comrades, seamlessly coordinated, had enough power to instantly destroy a Marine warship. Anyone caught in the center of this storm of attacks seemed destined only to be pulverized.
However, facing this suffocating combined offensive, Kuma—this giant Revolutionary Army "Tyrant"—did not even stir the hem of his robe.
His eyes, hidden in shadow, were unperturbed. He simply calmly, almost slowly, raised his other bandaged hand again.
Without charging, without warning, in front of his palm, the air suddenly became thick and solid!
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Three crisp, heart-stopping clicks, as if merely popping three air bubbles.
Zoro's fierce slash, capable of cutting steel, when still half a meter from Kuma's palm, seemed to hit an absolutely invisible, absolutely solid wall of sighs.
The silver sword-light whirlwind was directly bounced away, cutting into a nearby ruined wall and severing it, while Kuma remained completely unharmed.
"This... how is this possible! The slash was repelled!"
Zoro stared intently at Kuma; there was something wrong with that guy's palm. Could he really defeat an opponent by taking a nap?
At this moment,
Robin's abilities also caused arms to sprout around Kuma. With a constricting squeeze, Kuma's body didn't move. Instead, Kuma tore off the arms and immediately launched a cannonball attack!
"Watch out! Robin, get away quickly!"
At the critical moment, Robin quickly dispersed her arms, narrowly dodging the attack.
"Damn it, watch my Sure-Kill Star!"
Usopp's scorching Firework Star exploded futilely in the same spot. The explosion was violent, but caused no damage; all the damage was repelled, like a small spark easily snuffed out, instantly dimming and vanishing.
All the furious attacks, before that seemingly ordinary raised hand, were effortlessly and completely repelled by an incomprehensible, irresistible force.
....
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