But just then, a massive cyan bird came flying swiftly from afar.
Shrieking as it approached, the bird soared forward surrounded by cyan flames, positioning itself right in the path of the golden star and blocking every single light bullet heading its way.
"Kizaru!!"
Marco the Phoenix roared. Spreading his wings wide, he pressed close against Kizaru, taking the full brunt of the attack directly onto his own body.
Each light bullet exploded upon impact, tearing through his form — yet instantly, the cyan flames of regeneration swirled and healed every wound completely.
For a moment, both sides were locked in a deadlock.
"Marco..." Kizaru frowned, his tone turning sharp and hostile.
Suddenly, his radiant light dimmed and paused.
In that exact split second, a figure appeared instantly right beside Marco. His right fist reared back, then smashed violently straight into Marco's face.
"Get out of my way!"
With a sharp shout, the blow landed hard.
BAM!
Caught completely off guard, Marco was sent flying, blood spraying from his mouth like a meteor shooting down toward the ground.
Only then did everyone clearly see the attacker: a man with a mohawk hairstyle, sideburns shaped like an 'M', and draped in the Marine coat of justice.
"The former Fleet Admiral... Kong!"
Whitebeard's gaze sharpened. "I never expected even the Commander-in-Chief of all Forces to show up."
"With such a massive commotion, I am far from the only one to come," Kong replied.
He stood suspended in mid-air, then pushed off the void and dove downward with tremendous force.
His eyes locked firmly onto Redfield as he spoke gravely: "It has been a long time, Part!"
"Hahaha! I am delighted to see your foolish face again!" Redfield laughed loudly.
As he laughed, his body dissolved into countless streams of flowing blood.
These dozens of blood streams swirled rapidly, slipping free from the restraints of the Chains of Heaven, then surged straight toward Kong.
"You were nothing but a defeated subordinate back then — what makes you think you stand a chance now?"
Redfield suddenly reformed his body and threw a punch imbued with immense power, radiating both Armament and Conqueror's Haki.
Faced with this strike, Kong showed no fear — instead, his fighting spirit flared up. He focused his power and struck back with overwhelming force.
BOOM!!
It sounded like a thunderclap right on the surface of the sea. The sky itself seemed to darken for three full seconds before the shockwave finally rippled outward.
Accompanied by flashes of lightning and violent gusts, the collision of two Conqueror's Haki unleashed an indiscriminate storm of force.
Countless pirates immediately collapsed unconscious, unable to withstand the sheer pressure.
"I am glad you still possess such strength... at last, I can avenge my defeat from all those years ago!"
Kong sneered slightly. He retracted his right fist, then lashed out fiercely with his left.
At that moment, his bones became harder than steel — indestructible and unyielding.
But suddenly, from a vast distance away, a streak of sword light shot toward them like a long flowing ribbon.
This blade energy cut across the entire battlefield, slicing through the land and splitting the ground right down the middle.
Redfield and Kong both paled instantly and leaped backward to evade.
SWISH!
The sword beam passed right between them, leaving behind a terrifying, chilling aura that made everyone freeze in awe.
"If you two keep fighting like this, Sabaody Archipelago will truly be destroyed. I only wanted to live here quietly in retirement, yet you seem determined to wreck my home."
The newcomer held a sword in his hand — not a famous or legendary blade, just an ordinary weapon found anywhere.
He wore wooden sandals, stepping forward with a rhythmic clack-clack sound.
"Silvers Rayleigh, the Dark King!" Kong clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Why do you always have to meddle in everything? We at the World Government have known all along that you were hiding here — we simply couldn't be bothered to deal with you."
"Hahaha... well then, thank you for pretending not to notice," Rayleigh chuckled softly, glancing left and right.
With one top-tier power after another appearing, the battlefield had fallen into total silence; everyone had stopped fighting.
"All this fighting... it's all for the sake of the blueprint, isn't it?"
Rayleigh spoke up suddenly, raising his left hand to reveal a thick stack of papers.
"Pluton exists. Not just Pluton — Poseidon and Uranus are also real. Roger knew exactly where each of them lay hidden. But the blueprint for Pluton is meaningless now. The technology required to build it has long since been lost to history. Even if you spent decades, or even half a century, trying to reconstruct it... you would never be able to make it work."
He paused, then shook his head with a faint smile.
"To control Pluton, you need a 'Ship Spirit'. The reason it possesses the power to wipe out an entire island with a single shot is that the 'Spirit of Pluton' dwelling within its hull holds immense, god-like power!"
He spoke calmly and steadily, yet his voice was powerful and resonant, carrying clearly across the entire battlefield.
Everyone stood stunned, shocked speechless by this revelation.
"'Spirit of Pluton'?"
"A ship spirit inside the battleship... can that really be true?"
"If the construction methods have been lost... that means even with the blueprint, there are no shipwrights left alive capable of building it?"
For a moment, countless people felt dazed and hollow, unable to accept the truth.
Had all their bitter struggles and deaths been for nothing — just a hollow dream?
Hearing this, Vladimir raised an eyebrow. He instantly ran a rapid calculation using his power, then nodded to himself.
"There is an 80% chance what he said is true. So the 'Ship Spirit' part is definitely real... though I'm still skeptical about whether construction is truly impossible."
At that moment, he recalled his earlier conversation with the Empress aboard the Kuja ship — they had talked about ship spirits back then too.
Thinking of this, Vladimir suddenly broke into laughter.
"Hahaha... You foolish humans! The power you all pray for and crave so much is, in my eyes, nothing worth mentioning. But know this: the battleship does exist somewhere in this world. And I... know exactly where it slumbers."
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