The swirling sand finally settled.
The vast, ruined dock had fallen into an eerie silence.
No—not ruined.
Obliterated.
What remained was scorched earth and a massive crater, with seawater flooding into the torn seabed.
Everyone stood frozen, stunned.
Thinking back on what had just happened felt like a dream.
Just moments ago, Sanji and Zoro had insisted on staying to watch.
Now their mouths were dry.
They finally understood why Bogard had said it was already too late to leave.
They'd thought a pirate with a 270 million bounty would put up a fight.
Instead, he'd been vaporized.
Their earlier clash with Luoyu?
Child's play.
He'd been holding back.
"Z-Zoro… the ship's here. We should go. Now."
Nami's voice trembled behind them.
A brand-new pirate ship had appeared nearby.
Their earlier defiance was gone—shattered by that single attack.
Even Luffy, injuries forgotten, was already scrambling aboard.
Bogard watched silently.
To him, this might've been a nightmare.
But for these fledglings raised in the cradle of the Four Blues…
It was the best kind of wake-up call.
If they could survive it, they might just grow stronger.
"G-Garp, grab the Den Den Mushi. What the hell just happened? Tell me!"
Sengoku's panicked voice crackled through the line.
Garp adjusted the receiver.
The scene behind him came into view.
Sengoku slumped into his chair.
"It's gone. All of it… gone."
"Hahaha! So what?" Garp laughed. "If Kaido wants to throw himself at Marine HQ again, let him. Wouldn't be the first time."
As a hero of the old era, Garp had faced Rocks himself.
Kaido didn't scare him.
"No, Garp. I'm worried about something else." Sengoku's voice dropped. "One of the Five Elders recently proposed reviving a shelved initiative. If it passes… it'll shake everything."
A shelved initiative?
Garp's expression darkened.
He knew exactly what Sengoku meant.
If that proposal resurfaced, it would rock Marine HQ to its core.
"Sengoku, we can't let that happen. You know what it would mean."
"I'll do everything I can to block it," Sengoku said grimly. "Let's hope the Five Elders don't act on selfish impulse."
"By the way… where's Straw Hat Luffy?"
"He ran."
"Ran?!"
Sengoku roared, gripping the Den Den Mushi. "You bastard! I knew you'd pull something! Get after him! If you don't catch him, don't bother coming back!"
"Also, the World Government wants us to assist in hunting down the traitorous CP9. Tell Luoyu to prepare."
"Yeah, yeah, got it!" Garp laughed.
They'd worked together for years.
Sengoku knew Garp's tricks.
And Garp knew Sengoku's tells.
If Sengoku had asked Garp to chase Luffy instead of Luoyu, it meant he was turning a blind eye.
Because Sengoku was Fleet Admiral of the Navy—not a puppet of the Five Elders.
If that proposal passed and Garp was pushed too far…
Sengoku knew the Navy's strength would suffer.
He understood all too well: to the World Government, Marine HQ, Enies Lobby, and Impel Down were just tools to maintain order.
Their real ambition lay in the still-developing SSG project—an obedient, artificial army.
"Damn it… this mess is giving me a headache. Let's hope nothing worse comes of it."
Sengoku hung up, rubbing his temples, lost in thought.
Back at the ruins, Luoyu dismissed the golden Kannon behind him.
He looked at the scorched crater before him, a little surprised.
The "Hundred-Type Kannon" was a technique from another world—Hunter x Hunter.
Chairman Netero's signature move.
A thousand punches per hour, refined into a single prayer strike.
The slowest motion delivering the fastest, most devastating blow.
The "Zero Form" Luoyu had just used was the ultimate version.
It compressed all of the user's power into one final, overwhelming strike.
In the original story, Netero had used it to end his legendary career.
But he'd been 120 years old—far past his prime.
His aged body had only a fraction of its former strength.
And even then, he'd nearly taken down the King.
When Luoyu first acquired the move, he'd wondered how powerful it truly was.
Now he knew.
It had exceeded his expectations.
Of course, that strike had been powered by forced overtime—burning through his performance bonus.
Without that, vaporizing a Flying Six member in one blow would've been much harder.
"Whew. Fifty-eight seconds. Still under a minute."
He checked his system balance: 6.5 million Berries.
"Good. If I'd gone over a minute, I'd have lost a third of my hard-earned 7.5 million."
There were plenty of pirates with bounties on the sea.
But only those who caused major incidents or had special backgrounds were eligible for Navy bonuses.
Most bounties were inflated nonsense.
If Luffy hadn't defeated Crocodile and stormed Enies Lobby, he wouldn't have qualified either.
Still, thinking about that 270 million bounty…
And the 13.5 million bonus it earned him…
Luoyu couldn't help but smile.
"Admiral Luoyu, there are… a lot of bodies over there. Should we bury them?" Helmeppo asked, pale as a sheet.
Just thinking about that blast made his spine tingle.
He was glad he hadn't spoken up for the Straw Hats earlier.
Otherwise, he might've been vaporized too.
"Bury them?" Luoyu blinked, then rolled his eyes and took a swig.
"No. That's not a corpse. That's a bonus."
"Dead or alive—I want that Flying Six member brought back."
Just then, a soft chime echoed in his mind.
A system notification had arrived.