"And now? Is this greeting gift still to your liking, Rosen?"
With a flick of his wrist, Shiki the Golden Lion used the power of the Float-Float Fruit to lift Big Mom's entire fleet from the sea, positioning it on the battlefield. He crossed his arms, staring at Rosen with intense interest.
Rosen first glanced at the Big Mom Pirates descending from the sky, then looked at Charlotte Linlin and Edward Newgate. His expression remained cold and unreadable.
He hadn't anticipated Shiki's return, nor had he known the Big Mom Pirates would join the battle. Intelligence on the Floating Pirate's return was nonexistent. But it didn't matter. The relics of the old era were gathering before him—a perfect chance to purge them all.
"What do you mean?" Charlotte Linlin's smile vanished, her brow furrowing. Rosen's calm reaction unnerved her. She had arrived with her full fleet alongside two other Emperors, yet this man showed no fear.
"It means that after today," Rosen stated, his voice cutting through the wind, "there will be no more Four Emperors."
He raised a hand and casually pointed at the air.
Sizzle.
The sky tore open like fabric, splitting into six gaping black voids.
One by one, cold-faced figures stepped out from the darkness.
Dracule Mihawk stood proudly, his black blade Yoru strapped to his back, eyes sharp as a hawk's.
Boa Hancock emerged in a purple cheongsam and high heels, her beauty unparalleled, though her expression was icy.
Donquixote Doflamingo strode out, cigar dangling from his lips, black fur coat billowing, a smirk playing on his face.
Bartholomew Kuma followed, his massive frame imposing, hands scarred and bearing paw pads.
Crocodile and Edward Weevil appeared last, completing the assembly.
Six of the Seven Warlords of the Sea stood at the exits of the black voids, collars gleaming around their necks. Jinbe was the only exception, still fighting alongside Whitebeard.
The Seven Warlords had arrived en masse. Their intent was clear.
"Warlords! What is the meaning of this?" Big Mom roared, her voice shaking the air. "Have you become the Navy's lapdogs for so long you've forgotten you're pirates? This is our chance to crush Rosen! Throw off those collars and join us!"
Charlotte Linlin's heavily painted face twisted into a snarl. She had seen the news about the collars, but she never imagined the Warlords would actually fight for the Navy.
"Two Emperors versus the Navy..." Dracule Mihawk surveyed the battlefield. The Navy was outnumbered. Their only advantage was Rosen himself. But with the Warlords switching sides, the tide could turn. If they betrayed Rosen now, his undefeated streak might finally break.
"Join forces with us," Big Mom urged, her voice dripping with honeyed venom. "Even Rosen cannot defeat the combined might of two Emperors and the Seven Warlords!"
Rosen remained silent, watching the Warlords make their choice.
"I understand," Mihawk replied, his voice flat.
He drew Yoru, the black blade gleaming in the sunlight. Then, without hesitation, he swung it downward.
CLANG!
A wave of dark green sword light erupted, tearing across the sky and sea. The slash crashed down upon the Big Mom Pirates' fleet like a tsunami.
"HAWKEYE!" Big Mom shrieked, her face contorting in fury.
"Fufufufufu!" Doflamingo laughed, his fingers dancing like a puppeteer's. "I thought you'd slash at the Marines, Mihawk. How decisive."
While Mihawk unleashed his devastating slash, Doflamingo saw an opening. Jozu, Whitebeard's Third Division Commander, was locked in combat with Gion. Doflamingo's fingers twitched, and parasite strings shot out, binding Jozu's limbs for a split second.
It was only an instant, but in a battle between titans, an instant was enough.
Gion, Admiral candidate and user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, transformed into a bolt of lightning.
"One-Sword Style: Lightning Blade!"
Her blade, wrapped in blinding white lightning, slashed across Jozu's diamond-hard body.
CRACK!
A grotesque scarlet wound opened from Jozu's neck to his abdomen. Blood sprayed across the deck.
"Jozu!" Marco screamed, his Phoenix flames flaring in rage.
The Warlords weren't holding back. This wasn't like the Marineford War where they were reluctant participants. This was a massacre.
Bartholomew Kuma raised his hands. The air compressed into a palm-sized sphere of energy between his paws—a bear paw-shaped shockwave, compressed to the size of a fist.
He vanished.
He reappeared instantly within the Big Mom Pirates' fleet, directly above a cluster of ships. He opened his paw, leaving the energy sphere floating in mid-air.
Then he vanished again, returning to his position.
BOOM!
The sphere expanded a thousandfold in an instant. A monstrous shockwave, like a mountain-sized bear paw, slammed down on the fleet.
Ships disintegrated into splinters. Pirates were crushed instantly, their bodies exploding into red mist. The sea itself was torn open, forming a crater that swallowed the wreckage.
The Paw-Paw Fruit's destructive power, unleashed without restraint, turned the area into a hellscape.
Boa Hancock drew her fingers to her lips, forming a heart shape.
"Slave Arrow!"
Countless pink arrows rained down like a storm. Anything they touched—steel, wood, flesh—turned to stone instantly.
Mihawk's slash carved through ships. Kuma's shockwave obliterated fleets. Hancock's arrows petrified hundreds.
The Warlords, once the Navy's watchdogs, now unleashed their full fury upon the Emperor crews. Their collars didn't restrain them—they directed them.
The Four Emperors were already a relic of the past. Rosen would ensure it.##
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