Falling Sky, God's Power

Yamato couldn't just whack Queen down with her kanabo—that just wasn't her personality. Faced with Queen, who had started "acting shamelessly" after being unable to compete with her, there was really nothing she could do.

"Uncle Queen, what are you even trying to gain from this? Weren't you slacking off with Hancock just fine?"

"Look at this mechanical arm of mine—when I get back, I'll have to replace it entirely. Does that seem fine to you?"

Perfume Femur's petrification effect was different from the Love-Love Beam—it comes with the impact of Hancock's actual kick. That's why Queen's mechanical arm was now in ruin.

Actually, it wasn't that Hancock was being excessive—it's just that this fake match wasn't easy to fight. Her Love-Love Fruit is a rule-type ability, and in some ways, its petrification effect is even more terrifying than the Hobby-Hobby Fruit.

When the user of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit loses consciousness, its power stops working. But the Love-Love Fruit is different. If you're petrified by Hancock, unless she actively releases the ability, or your Haki is strong enough to be immune to the Love-Love Fruit, you stay petrified.

Otherwise, even if you killed Hancock, the petrification wouldn't be undone. Even the next user of the Love-Love Fruit wouldn't be able to undo the previous user's petrification.

Although Queen had, under Kaido's pressure and external threats, trained up an impressive Armament Haki, it still wasn't strong enough to be immune to Hancock's powers. The most critical issue was—he was a pervert.

If someone had no desires, no lust, and a pure heart, then the Love-Love Fruit wouldn't easily be able to petrify them. But Queen wasn't like that.

If Hancock had used a different fighting style, Queen might already have been turned to stone and packed off somewhere.

It was a personality problem—Hancock's powers just happened to perfectly counter Queen's personality.

"Then can't you switch with someone else?"

"Switch with someone? No, Miss Yamato, you have to trust my instincts. I feel like something nasty has its eye on me. I'd feel much safer by Lord Arceus's side."

"Then what are you going to say to father later?!"

"Miss Yamato, you're still young. With this kind of performance, Boss Kaido definitely won't let me off the hook. Since I can't escape anyway, I might as well drag someone down with me—haven't you heard Wano Country's legend about the river ghost?"

"When the time comes, whether you end up worse off or I do—it'll all depend on Boss Kaido's mood. Who knows, maybe since he's had his fun fighting, he'll just forget about us altogether."

Yamato didn't say anything. She just kept staring at Queen, giving him the creeps.

"Boss Kaido's always been like this. Miss Yamato, you should know that by now."

"I know. But Uncle Queen, I won't forget what happened today."

"Yamato, Queen—what are you two talking about over there?"

Watching Queen and Yamato having what looked like a debate competition in the corner, Arceus called out to them, prompting them to temporarily set the matter aside. At least until they returned to Onigashima, Kaido wasn't likely to pull anything too outrageous.

"It's nothing, Dad. I was just thinking about how I should repay Uncle Queen in the future."

"Repay? Whatever, do as you please. Queen, what do those Marine flag signals mean?"

Arceus wouldn't interfere in personal relationships behind the scenes. Moreover, the infighting within the Beasts Pirates had never really stopped—it was just that the scale of their internal brawls was a bit larger than the outside world's brawls; his attention was currently focused on the battlefield.

From a high vantage point, a Marine messenger could be seen waving flag, seemingly conveying some kind of signal

In a battlefield like this, standard communication methods were largely ineffective. Although the Marines did have loudspeakers that could project voices across all of Marineford, that would also allow enemies to hear, so they were using traditional flag signals instead.

Pirates typically wouldn't know how to interpret these signals, but thanks to Doflamingo, Vergo had risen through the ranks inside the Marines all the way to Vice Admiral. Getting his hands on flag signal codes wasn't hard at all.

"Please hold on a second. It means: 'All units disengage from the enemy's main forces, retreat quickly, break away from combat as soon as possible.' That's the gist of it. What are these Marines trying to pull?"

Flipping through a small notebook he carried, Queen quickly deciphered the message from the Marine messenger. And as the command was relayed, the Marines began to move again.

On such a vast battlefield, there were always some who would notice the flag signals. Once they saw them, they'd notify their comrades nearby, and eventually the message would spread across the ranks.

At this point, the Marines had already begun moving. Aside from a few who were too deep in the heat of battle to stop, the majority of Marines obeyed the command and began retreating from the dangerous areas.

This was one of the key differences between the Marines and most pirates—they carried out orders more thoroughly.

However, the fighting hadn't come to a complete halt—they were still clashing with other pirates.

"Sakazuki, looks like there's a new plan from higher up. Let's pull back for now."

Kizaru looked in quite a sorry state—his 'Justice' coat was nowhere to be seen. Upon seeing the order from Marine Headquarters, he naturally wasn't going to defy it.

"You go first. I'll follow in a bit."

"Sakazuki."

Akainu didn't retreat immediately. Instead, he continued his fight with Whitebeard. Faced with this, Kizaru rejoined the battle too. Both were Logia-type users—no matter what sudden developments occurred, they could still handle it.

The battle continued—but the sky had begun to change. The clouds seemed to be drawn by some unknown force, swirling in the sky like a vortex. The light gradually dimmed as dark clouds shrouded the sky of Marineford.

Ordinary people didn't notice the change in the sky, but the stronger one was, the more they could sense that something was off.

Kizaru used Yasakani Sacred Jewel to force Whitebeard back, and even Akainu didn't continue attacking—he simply stared warily at the sky. Even for them, this was an unprecedented situation.

At the same time, Sengoku, who was fighting Kaido, also pulled back some distance. As he looked toward the center of the vortex in the sky, Kaido grew visibly annoyed.

"Damn it, why the hell are weird things interfering with my fights today?!"

Fuming, Kaido shot a Blast Breath toward the sky—but his attack vanished like a rock sinking into the ocean, making no waves at all once it entered the sky.

Aboard the Genesis, Yamato looked up at the sky. Her body was sending off danger signals—and what triggered this sense of danger was precisely the mysterious vortex above.

"There seems to be something up there?"

"Yamato, get behind me."

"Yes, Dad."

Yamato didn't ask anything. It had been many years since she last heard him say those words. Arceus had only spoken to her like that when they were travelling outside when she was a child.

To hear them again after so many years wasn't good news—it meant Arceus believed whatever was in the sky could pose a threat to her.

"How interesting. Eight hundred years of heritage... They still have a few tricks up their sleeve."

Above the sky, it was as if a terrifying eye opened within the clouds. Blinding light illuminated all of Marineford—the glare so intense that many couldn't even keep their eyes open. At the same time, a massive beam of energy had fully gathered.

The air seemed to distort under the force of this power. From below, it looked as if some terrifying monster was hidden in the sky, about to tear open the heavens and rain down its fury.

In the next moment, the monster found its breakthrough point—a hideous fissure split through the twisted sky, and an indescribable beam of terror descended from above. As it fell, the light split into multiple light rays, slithering like venomous snakes seeking their prey.

The terrifying aura caused the people below to stop in their tracks, waiting helplessly for the judgment from above. That indescribable power left them with no courage to resist in their hearts.

The curtain of light slowly descended, its oppressive might pressing down like a falling sky upon every person beneath.

Under its glow, people's faces turned pale. Even those not directly in the path of the beams gave up struggling, simply collapsing where they stood, awaiting whatever fate had in store for them.

But things didn't unfold as they had expected. The destruction they imagined didn't arrive.

Instead, a similarly colossal pillar of light shot up from the ground, forcefully intercepting the descending attack midair and—bit by bit—pushed it back.

"Dad... what is that thing?"

"Probably an Ancient Weapon or some kind of superweapon. But don't worry—it'll be over soon."

The Thousand Arms shone with bursts of brilliance as the power released by Arceus completely pushed it back.

"If this was meant to pass judgment... it's nowhere near enough."

BOOM—VMMM!

Before that massive energy could fully disperse, Arceus's attack detonated it in midair.

Like a helium flash, the explosion tore through the sky—its deadly brilliance lighting up every corner of the battlefield.

The massive energy explosion sent violent winds sweeping across all of Marineford, hurling countless Marines and pirates in all directions. Those too close to the explosion were slammed hard into the ground.

Only the Genesis, wrapped in a halo of rainbow-colored light, stood firm and unmoving amidst the explosion. And all of it—all of it—was broadcasted to every corner of the world through the Den Den Mushi in Buggy's hands.

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