A blazing sun fell from the heavens as endless light and heat erupted all at once.
Robin's eyes widened sharply at the sight.
She had known Cyrus longer than anyone else.
Back when she had first met him, during his battle with Marine Admiral Aokiji, he had given her this exact same feeling.
As though another sun had appeared out of nowhere.
Had Cyrus gone all out?
No.
Robin silently shook her head.
Although this attack looked very similar to the one she had seen back then, it still was not as powerful as the force she had felt from him not long ago.
Cyrus had grown far stronger again!
"It's over."
Issho, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
"Issho-san, what happened?" Robin immediately asked.
She was not worried about Cyrus. She was mostly curious about the outcome of the battle.
"I cannot say for certain, but the other two presences have become very faint," Issho said, shaking his head.
With Observation Haki, he could vaguely sense what was happening on the island, but the intense heat covering Whole Cake Island was greatly interfering with his perception.
Katakuri felt his heart loosen slightly when he heard that.
"Should we move closer?" Baby 5 asked.
"Not for now. That island is not suitable for you to land on at the moment," Issho said, shaking his head.
For those without sufficient strength, that kind of heat meant they did not even have the qualifications to approach.
'Cyrus's development of the Flame-Flame Fruit had surpassed imagination.'
Issho sighed inwardly.
He suddenly felt that his own Devil Fruit ability still had a great deal of room for development.
It seemed he truly needed to think carefully about that.
Because Issho could also feel it.
The gap between himself and Cyrus was widening rapidly.
Back when they had fought in Alabasta, Issho had still been able to vaguely grasp Cyrus's level of strength.
But now, not much time had passed, and Cyrus's strength had increased by this much again.
Even someone like Issho still had pride in his nature.
...
The dazzling light quickly faded, but the extreme heat continued to spread.
If this had not happened at sea, such an intense temperature could easily have caused a massive natural disaster.
However, the seawater around the island evaporated under the heat, rapidly absorbing that thermal energy.
The dark clouds in the sky had been blasted apart by the earlier impact, only to condense again quickly because of the rising water vapor.
Thunder rumbled, and violent winds began to howl once more.
Everyone on the surrounding seas was waiting for the result of the battle.
This fight would undoubtedly change the balance of power in the New World.
How would Big Mom, one of the Emperors of the Sea, meet her end?
Just as many people were thinking that, the island suddenly became calm.
However, the water vapor created by the high temperature around the island condensed into a thick mist, making the scene on Whole Cake Island blurry and indistinct.
The Observation Haki of these people was inferior to Issho's.
If even Issho could not clearly perceive what was happening inside, then they had even less chance.
But no one dared to approach recklessly.
Putting aside whether the battle had actually ended, even if it truly was over, if they approached rashly and were mistaken for enemies, no one was confident they would survive.
Wang Zhi stood on a ship at the outer edge of the battlefield.
On the deck beside him lay the unconscious Golden Lion.
The people from the other ships had all shrunk into a corner of the vessel.
It was not that Wang Zhi had never thought of taking the chance to leave.
But Cyrus's strength had exceeded his imagination.
Before coming here, Wang Zhi had already tried to overestimate Cyrus as much as possible because of what Cyrus had done.
Only after the actual fight began did he understand just how naive his previous thoughts had been.
Originally, he had even intended to use the presence of four legendary pirates, himself included, to negotiate cooperation with Cyrus.
But now, he did not even dare to leave without permission.
The seas of the New World were vast, but they could also feel very small.
Putting aside whether he could escape or not, even if he did manage to run, he would probably have to spend the rest of his life hiding somewhere.
Besides, since Cyrus had not killed him outright, that meant Cyrus still had other plans.
Or rather, Wang Zhi still had value.
While the people aboard the surrounding ships waited for the result, on Whole Cake Island, Cyrus sheathed his sword.
The cloak of flame around him had already withdrawn.
His previously terrifying aura had vanished.
Before him was a crater over a hundred meters wide. Inside it, the melted earth was rapidly cooling.
Two charred figures lay within.
Cyrus lowered his head and looked at his raised left hand, then slowly clenched it.
His health had already fallen to the twenties, but it was recovering rapidly.
Most of that lost health had not been reduced by attacks. Rather, it had been naturally consumed after he increased his output.
Originally, he had thought his output and recovery could now remain balanced.
But as his strength grew, and as his control over his ability improved, he had also gained a new understanding of how to output that power.
To put it simply, the level of output had risen as well.
The result was that his combat strength had increased by another large margin.
At first, Cyrus had thought this battle might become a prolonged fight.
But during the battle itself, he had already understood the situation.
The four people he had fought this time were all powerful as each of them had their own specialty.
But this was what numerical superiority looked like.
Cyrus's basic stats had never been weaker than theirs to begin with.
More importantly, Cyrus no longer had any weaknesses. Every dimension of his combat ability had been pushed to the limit.
"Even without activating my skill, my current strength already places me among the strongest people on this sea."
Cyrus murmured softly, his expression calm.
In the beginning, this was what he had been pursuing.
After obtaining Undying Will as his trump card, Cyrus's state of mind had become far more relaxed.
But Unbending had restrictions after all.
Now that his strength had reached this point, even Cyrus himself found it somewhat unreal.
This battle had allowed him to understand his own strength more clearly.
After glancing once more at the two charred figures inside the crater, Cyrus turned away.
The result had already been decided and this result had also met his expectations.
They were not dead, but for a very long time, they would lose their ability to fight.
The same included the Golden Lion from earlier.
It was not impossible to keep these people alive.
If he could truly obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit first later on, then the Soul-Soul Fruit and Float-Float Fruit were not impossible to bring into his possession as well.
As for how to deal with Silver Axe and Wang Zhi?
Silver Axe did not matter much.
Wang Zhi, however, was different.
His base was Hachinosu, the very same island that had once served as the stronghold of the Rocks Pirates.
If he was obedient enough, keeping him was not out of the question.
Of course, it was definitely not because Wang Zhi's real-world prototype came from a great pirate of ancient times in Cyrus's previous world.
...
A moment later, Cyrus had already decided how to handle all four of them.
But next, there was still someone he needed to meet.
Cyrus stepped forward, and his figure suddenly transformed into a mass of flame that shot into the sky.
On a ship in the outer sea, Morgans paced back and forth, occasionally raising his head to look toward Whole Cake Island.
The News Coos he had sent over earlier were probably done for.
That made Morgans feel deeply regretful.
Failing to capture real footage of the battle left this news-obsessed man extremely disappointed.
But even if he had failed to get the footage, he still had to know the outcome of the fight.
What exactly was happening on Whole Cake Island now?
Just as Morgans was thinking this, a streak of flame tore across the sky and arrived above the ship in an instant.
Then a figure appeared from within the fire.
The moment that figure appeared, the entire ship fell silent.
Everyone raised their heads and stared at the person standing in midair above the bow, their mouths hanging open, their expressions blank, their bodies frozen stiff.
Cyrus lowered his gaze and swept his eyes across them.
Then his attention landed on Morgans, who was looking up at him, and Stussy standing beside him.
After that, Cyrus slowly descended from the air and landed on the deck.
"Come to think of it, this is our first real meeting, isn't it, Morgans? You've taken quite good care of me before."
After landing, Cyrus looked at Morgans, whose beak was hanging wide open, and spoke with a faint smile.
"No, no, it was only what I should have done."
Morgans immediately shook his head.
"You think I'm praising you?" Cyrus spoke again, his tone giving no clue as to what he was feeling.
Morgans froze, unable to determine what Cyrus intended.
"How is the matter I mentioned before coming along?"
Seeing Morgans's reaction, Cyrus shook his head slightly and asked again.
"You mean the cooperation?"
Morgans's eyes swept over Cyrus's face.
While inwardly marveling at how young he was, he asked in return.
"Yes."
Cyrus nodded.
"That matter is already being pushed forward. As for the exact pace of progress, I'm not entirely clear on my side either," Morgans immediately replied.
"I place great importance on the Hunter Guild. You should pay more attention to it as well."
Cyrus nodded after hearing his answer.
"No problem. Of course I understand that. After all, in the eyes of the World Government, I'm also someone who must be eliminated. Other than cooperating with you, I don't have many roads left to take."
Morgans immediately made his position clear.
"However, the result of this battle…"
What Morgans cared about most right now was still that.