Chapter 408: World's Upheaval!

"Boom!!!"

"Crackle… crackle…"

Blinding arcs of lightning flashed intensely.

The icy surface quaked, perpetually collapsing and fracturing apart. The Thunder God's hammer collided head‑on against Iron Fist Garp. A towering figure staggered back several steps from the impact, each footfall causing the ice to thunderously crack. Gaping fissures rapidly spread around, enough to make onlookers break out in cold sweat.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, as if receiving some signal, Thunder God Thor—the Kukulkan family's eldest son—kept a wary eye on Garp yet shrugged in mild resignation:

"Looks like today, we won't get to fight to our hearts' content!"

Under Garp's perplexed gaze, Thor abruptly turned around and shouted to Gerd, Sif, and others, who were locked in battle with the Navy's powerful fighters:

"Mom, we're pulling out!"

"Clang!!!"

In the New World's front half, near the G-1 fortress, the icebound waters served as a battlefield. Gerd brandished her sentient, dazzling crimson scythe—radiating fearsome heat—and clashed against Black-Arm Zephyr, whose fists unleashed frosty energy, clad in icy gauntlets. After that heavy impact, she deftly disengaged, retreating a short distance.

"Mm… time to sound the retreat, is it?" Gerd raised an eyebrow.

Their objective had never been an all‑out fight to the death with the Navy, only to hold off Buddha Sengoku, Iron Fist Garp, Black-Arm Zephyr, and other high-level Navy combatants. Now, clearly, there was no need to keep tangling.

"Boom!!!"

A deep rumble echoed.

Radiant Buddha light and blazing fire collided viciously, generating a deafening explosion.

Two silhouettes—though mismatched in stature, both formidable—were blasted aside.

Sif, shrouded in blue flames, soared backward before alighting next to Gerd, remaining unscathed. She smiled softly:

"So no choice but to quit? My guess: El has accomplished his end, hmm?"

As if confirming that notion, the several Homies withdrew. Shouldering her scythe, Gerd looked relaxed.

"Crackle…"

A glint of electricity, and Thor's hulking figure appeared, standing firm. By way of the expansive "mantra" he maintained, he'd received news from the flying battleship "Ark: Telling Word." He gave a light laugh:

"Yes— things went even more smoothly than planned!"

"Not going to continue?"

From across the scarred ice lay Buddha Sengoku, expression grim. He regarded Thor, Sif, Gerd, and the rest with fury and bitterness, an uneasy look on his face. Meanwhile, Zephyr, Garp, and others came together, while the navy's side—who had also stopped trying to fight—drew back and regrouped behind Sengoku, glaring at the opposing group.

"Clap… clap…"

Just then, from a warship resting on the water's surface, a Marine rear admiral leapt down with Moonwalk, traversing the ice toward Sengoku. He presented a transponder snail that had not been knocked unconscious by the earlier waves of Conqueror's Haki.

"Admiral Sengoku, it's a call from Fleet Admiral Kong!"

"Hmm?" Sengoku, Garp, Zephyr, and the rest exchanged doubtful glances.

On the other end of the line, far away in Holy Land Mariejois, Steel Bone Kong's calm voice asked:

"Sengoku, how are things over there?"

"Apologies, Fleet Admiral Kong. We've reached a stalemate…but it looks like those people don't plan to continue either." Sengoku answered in a low tone.

"Let them go—no need to hold them here."

Steel Bone Kong sighed wearily:

"Yes— about God Valley, then?" Sengoku didn't object. Although the Fallen Angel Pirates hadn't deployed all their forces, their current might was not to be underestimated. With none of the navy's top trio able to overpower them, staying locked in stalemate achieved nothing. Sengoku's greater worry was God Valley.

"We've gotten word that the Fallen Angel Pirates have already attacked Hachinosu. In all likelihood, the Rocks Pirates are finished…"

Kong paused, apparently in a chaos-ridden Holy Land, originally heading for an audience with the Five Elders but told to wait:

"The World Government also took severe losses…Saint Dennis, the High Commander of the Holy Knights, along with a CP0 'strongest shield' agent in whom the Government invested heavily, were both killed by Rocks!"

"On top of that, we got played by Fallen Angel El…all the Fruits we'd planned to award as prizes turned out to be swapped out!"

Earlier, at the height of battle, that so-called "national treasure" the Government held had gone operational. But…some kind of mishap occurred, and contact was lost—very bad news. The Five Elders had evidently made a final stand, indicating confidence in escaping unscathed. Yet they still hadn't shown up. Kong had his own suspicions.

In his years as Fleet Admiral, he wasn't ignorant of the Government's inner secrets. Though never having seen them, retired Admiral William once insinuated there might exist an even higher power above the Five Elders. Steel Bone Kong's heart quaked at the thought.

"Don't remain in deadlock. Pull back to G-1; be psychologically prepared for all-out war!"

Addressing the panicked Holy Knights and CP0 agents around him, Steel Bone Kong exhaled:

"We may be on the brink of a worldwide upheaval!"

With their greatest trump card gone, Kong wasn't sure the World Government could withstand the Fallen Angel Pirates. The navy had no path of retreat either—even if they tried defecting, they'd be dismantled, then punished in the aftermath.

"What!?"

Hearing that, Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr all blanched, staring at each other in cold dread. Gazing at Thor, Sif, Gerd, and the rest—these towering shapes exuding tremendous force—the trio felt a weight press heavily on their hearts. For Steel Bone Kong to say such a thing meant that whatever happened at God Valley was surely catastrophic.