Chapter 427 - 266

Chapter 267: The Shattered Vessel of the Vow!"An... swer... me!!"Luffy's words, sharp and cold as a blade of judgment, each word carved deep into the depths of Neptune's soul, bringing a pain that felt like being torn apart.His brain buzzed, falling into a brief blankness.His hand gripping the Golden Trident had knuckles turning white from excessive force; he loosened and tightened his grip repeatedly, his heart torn fiercely between the eight-hundred-year-old oath of protection and the desperate faces of his subjects before him.After a long time, this weathered king seemed to have exhausted all his strength for struggling, and he let out a long, heavy breath of pent-up air, as if a great burden had been lifted.When he opened his eyes again, the hesitation and pain in his gaze had been replaced by a determination to burn his boats."I... I understand, Lord Luffy."He faced Luffy and actually bent his body, which symbolized royal power, in a deep and solemn bow.Scalding hot tears welled up uncontrollably from his eyes, mixed with complex emotions."Lord Luffy... I, Neptune, as the King of Fish-Man Island... representing all the citizens..."He raised his head, looking at Luffy with tear-blurred but burning eyes, and screamed with all his might:"I beg you... destroy noah!! Save Fish-Man Island!!"This earth-shattering request instantly drowned out the fearful whispers brought by noah, spreading clearly to every corner of the plaza.All the residents who had fallen into despair turned their heads in unison, their eyes filled with a sliver of hope and prayer as they focused intently on the figure wearing the straw hat."Hahahahaha!! Neptune, have you gone senile?! You're actually begging a human?!"From above, Vander Decken IX's frenzied sneer came like a maggot on a bone, filled with twisted pleasure:"Look at it! Look at this 'Vessel of the Vow'! This is a great power capable of causing cataclysms and destroying the world!! No one can contend with it! No one can stop it!!""Even if he is a so-called 'emperor of the sea'... in this deep sea, before this absolute massive force, he is nothing more than a tiny ant!!""Accept reality!! The destruction of Fish-Man Islandis the price for betraying my 'love'!""This exquisite scroll of destruction will become my eternal collection! Kuhahaha—!!"However,At the very moment his laughter was most rampant.Buzz—!!An indescribable sensation seized the entire world.Time seemed to have its pulse squeezed by an invisible giant hand, falling into a complete standstill.The wind stopped, the sounds died down, and even the light seemed to freeze.BOOM!!!!!!Boundless, roaring, and boiling silver-white lightning, without any warning... instantly filled the entire "sky" above Fish-Man Island!In everyone's sight, that silver-white sea of lightning covered the entire firmament in the blink of an eye; its brilliance was so intense that even the light of sunlight tree eve paled in comparison!Under this terrifying aura that looked down on all things and dominated heaven and earth, the void trembled and distorted violently, appearing in large patches of blurriness and ripples!Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!... On Fish-Man Island, as if harvested by an invisible scythe, figures one after another, without warning and in succession, rolled their eyes, foamed at the mouth, and fell straight down!Whether it was ordinary residents, Ryugu guards, or... Vander Decken, even including the Ministers of the Left and Right on the high platform, and the three princes... without exception, they didn't even struggle before completely losing consciousness under this indiscriminate supreme pressure covering the whole island!Vander Decken's frenzied smile froze on his face; he didn't even have time to change his expression before his mind went blank, his body went limp, and he collapsed from where he stood.King Neptune held on for a moment longer with his tenacious willpower; his massive body was swaying, but a calm and firm voice reached his ears clearly:"Don't worry.""Fish-Man Island... leave it to me."In the last moment before his consciousness sank into darkness, Neptune turned his eyes with difficulty and vaguely saw... in the center of the high platform, that figure was already completely enveloped in pure, blazing white flames that seemed capable of purifying everything!Within the flames, the outline of the figure was blurred and sacred, emitting a more fundamental majesty and power that made the soul tremble.Suddenly, his train of thought snapped, and Neptune's giant body crashed to the ground.At this point, the clamor faded, and dead silence descended.The entire Fish-Man Island, with its millions of residents, seemed to have turned into a giant sleeping city. Only five people remained who could stay conscious and barely manage to stand:Yamato, gripping her Spiked Club, her amber pupils burning with high fighting spirit;Roronoa Zoro, clenching his teeth, his muscles tensed all over to resist the invisible pressure;Sanji, whose cigarette had long since gone out, cold sweat beading on his forehead as he stared fixedly at the sky;Trafalgar Law, barely supporting himself with kikoku, his face as pale as paper, his eyes filled with unbelievable shock;And... Princess Shirahoshi, who was enveloped in a layer of soft but resilient light blue shimmer, and although her face was full of confusion and fear, she miraculously had not fainted."Hey... this level of Haki..."Sanji's expression was extremely grim as he squeezed the words through his teeth,"Isn't it a bit... too exaggerated?!!"He was shocked to find that his proud speed and strength were actually exceptionally difficult to even move a finger within this omnipresent domain of terrifying pressure!His body felt as if it had been injected with ten thousand tons of seawater, incredibly heavy.Law's situation on the side was even worse.He barely managed not to kneel by relying on the famous sword kikoku; the ability of the Ope-Ope no Mi could hardly be mobilized under this pure crushing aura, and sweat slid down his cheeks like streams, dripping onto the ground.He had never felt such... a terrifying sense of suffocation!Even though they were only affected by the aftershocks erupting from the center... in an instant, they personally experienced the despairing deterrent from the peak that the original Aramakifaced when he tried to take advantage of the situation on Onigashima!And at the center of all this storm and pressure, that ball of blazing white fire slowly raised its head, its gaze locked onto the world-destroying shadow above that blocked everything and was slowly descending!!!At the same time—Dong—! Dong—! Dong—!A strange, heavy drumming sound, sounding like it came from an ancient battlefield and also like a heartbeat, rang out without warning!The entire ground of Fish-Man Island began to rise and fall violently like the surface of the sea, with surging waves!All ground and objects that came into contact with this vibration instantly lost their original rigidity and turned into highly elastic rubber that could be stretched and deformed at will!The entire world seemed to have turned into a giant rubber playground!!"—Screech!!"Above the firmament, the silver-white Haoshokulightning that had originally filled the fields like the Milky Way hanging upside down seemed to receive a king's summons, letting out a sharp screech and madly converging towards the same center point!The majestic Haoshoku energy, so vast it was hard to measure, condensed into solid plasma, wrapping around his arm and letting out a crackling explosion; the light was so intense it was impossible to look at directly."Hahaha!! This feeling... this sense of omnipotent power...""It really... gets the blood pumping!!!"Before his voice could fade, the silver light around him suddenly exploded, completely breaking through the obstruction and pressure of the ten-thousand-meter deep sea above, forming a vast and stable absolute domain.He stepped into the void and soared into the sky, in an instant facing the slowly descending giant vessel, noah.Standing before noah, which was as magnificent as a mountain, mottled, and exuded an ancient, desolate aura, Luffy's figure was as tiny as a grain of dust at a giant's feet.But as he looked up at this giant ship that had carried eight hundred years of waiting and broken promises, there was not a hint of awe or hesitation in his eyes, only a clear resolve."Perhaps to others, you have a special meaning and carry a unique destiny..."His voice rang out calmly, penetrating the silence of the deep sea and the sighs of noah's ancient wood."But... I don't care!"He took a small step back, his right fist wrapped in destructive energy retracted to his waist.On his fist, what had gathered was not just the lightning of Haoshoku, but also a dreamlike, constantly rotating and compressing white nebula-like vortex, emitting terrifying fluctuations that even made space wail."From the moment Joy Boy chose to break the vow and let the promise fail...""You... should no longer exist in this world!!!"BOOM!!!!!!The fist swung out.Luffy's tiny fist lightly pressed against noah's ancient and mottled hull.In the next instant—Centering on the point of impact, a ring of visible white ripples composed of pure, ultimate power spread out instantly in a spherical shape, like a nuclear bomb dropped into a calm lake!Wherever the ripples passed, the ancient wood of noah, which had remained incorruptible through eight hundred years of seawater erosion, was directly vaporized as if by the highest temperature plasma, completely disintegrating and dissipating from the most basic particle structure level!The white ripples silently and swiftly swept through the entire hull of noah, from bow to stern, from the keel to the highest mast.That colossal object that had blocked half the sky of Fish-Man Island and brought the shadow of doomsday didn't manage to hold on for even a second longer before this absolute power.The light shone brightly, swallowing everything.When the white light slowly dissipated, the "sky" was once again illuminated by the soft glow of sunlight tree eve.noah... along with Vander Decken IX, who was unconscious upon it and filled with twisted obsession... had vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.Only a few lingering energy ripples in the seawater, which had not yet fully dispersed, proved that the destructive scene just now was not an illusion.However, just as the aftermath of noah's dissipation had not yet completely settled!!Rumble... The originally relatively calm waters around Fish-Man Island suddenly became incredibly violent, and huge undercurrents were generated out of thin air, churning madly!Then, in everyone's horrified sight, several shadows so large they made the soul tremble slowly rose from the deeper, darker abysses of the sea, approaching!Those were... Sea Kings!Each of them was over five thousand meters in size! Like moving mountain ranges, just a part of their bodies emerging from the darkness brought an incredibly terrifying sense of pressure!They circled around Fish-Man Island, their giant heads slowly lowering, several pairs of grand pupils emitting the luster of vastness and wisdom fixedly "stared" at the tiny figure in the deep sea who had just destroyed noah.A long and complex sigh, as if gathered from countless ancient thoughts, sounded like an echo of the deep sea itself."Are we... still a step too late..."Another even heavier, scrutinizing grand "gaze" focused on Luffy.In the giant pupils, ancient light slowly rotated, filled with inquiry, scrutiny, and a hint of indescribably complex emotion."So... it was this 'little fellow' who personally destroyed... the 'Vessel of the Vow'?"