...
Outside the light screen, the world seemed to be cut into countless silent islands at this moment.
The noise of God Valley had frozen.
Those powerhouses who dominated the seas, regardless of their stance, were now staring at the sea surface that had already returned to calm, staring at the splash that had long since disappeared.
No one spoke.
Even the air became thick…
That straw-hat-wearing boy. That boy who had been knocked down again and again by Kaido's kanabo, yet climbed back up every time.
That boy who had just comprehended Conqueror's Haki Coating and clashed head-on with the Strongest Creature in the World as a newcomer.
That boy who smiled while saying "I'm definitely going to send you flying," with a smile still on his face until the very last moment — had he really died just like that?
"Great… This is great…"
Watching Luffy fall into the sea, the most relieved were undoubtedly the Five Elders.
They currently had no way to interfere with the future. Luffy's father, Dragon, was also heavily protected. Right now, the only way to completely resolve this trouble was for Luffy to be killed by Kaido's hand in the future!
Saint Topman V. Warcury's forehead was covered in fine sweat that shimmered under the sun.
He let out a long breath, as if he had been holding it in for a long time.
Ever since he first saw that straw-hat-wearing figure on the light screen, he had been holding it in until now.
"That brat… is undoubtedly dead."
His voice carried the relief of having survived a disaster, a sense of a huge weight finally being lifted from his heart, and a trace of lingering fear after the crisis that he himself was unwilling to admit.
As someone who knew far too many secrets of the world, he understood better than anyone what the word "Nika" meant.
It wasn't the codename of an ordinary Devil Fruit. It was a taboo that the World Government had tried to erase by all means for hundreds of years. It was a possibility that could shake the world order.
And now, this possibility had been smashed apart by Kaido's kanabo.
It had been swallowed by the raging waves beneath Onigashima.
"Nika cannot reappear in this world."
Saint Marcus Mars took over the conversation. His aged voice was filled with undisguised mockery and contempt.
His fingers lightly tapped on his cane, the rhythm steady and unhurried.
"The Straw Hat brat… was ultimately just a failure."
He admitted that when the white-haired "Nika" first appeared on the light screen, his heart had truly skipped half a beat.
That was a fear etched deep into the soul — the embodiment of the nightmare that the Five Elders had been fighting against for a hundred years of rule.
But now, that nightmare had sunk to the bottom of the sea.
"What a pity…"
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro pushed up his glasses. The reflection on the lenses hid his eyes. "We couldn't confirm the corpse with our own eyes."
"A Devil Fruit user falling into the sea with no one to rescue him," Saint Shepherd Ju Peter said coldly. "There's only one possible outcome."
The Five Elders exchanged glances.
This was truly a reassuring outcome for them.
However, not everyone was celebrating.
At the edge of God Valley, Garp did not move.
This old man who would later be called the "Marine Hero" stood at the edge of the crowd with his hands in his pockets, staring fixedly at the now-empty sea surface on the light screen.
There was no expression on his face. The young Marines around him did not dare to approach.
They had never seen Garp like this before.
It wasn't anger. It wasn't sadness. It wasn't even any emotion they could interpret.
"That brat…"
Garp finally spoke. His voice was so hoarse that even he found it unfamiliar.
"Won't give up that easily."
No one responded to him, but he didn't need a response either.
Not far from him, another figure also remained silent.
Monkey D. Dragon, the man who would be regarded as the "most vicious criminal" by the World Government in the future and the supreme leader of the Revolutionary Army, was lying on the ground at this moment, looking up at the light screen with his eyes wide open.
He also did not look away.
Even though the boy's figure had already disappeared from the light screen.
There was nothing on the sea surface. Only wave after wave of indifferent and eternal tides.
…
"It seems… you ultimately couldn't become Joy Boy after all."
On the light screen, Kaido's voice was very calm.
He was still standing there.
Carrying his kanabo, he gazed down at the stretch of sea that had swallowed Luffy.
A long time had already passed — long enough for the waves to settle, long enough for the dust to fall, long enough for everyone to accept the outcome of this battle.
But he had not left…
He simply stood there like that, brows furrowed, his pupils reflecting the bottomless waves.
Then he spoke that name.
"Joy Boy!"
Upon hearing this name, the brows of the Five Elders, who had just relaxed outside the light screen, instantly twisted together.
"Kaido!"
Saint Marcus Mars's voice sounded like it was squeezed out from between his teeth. "How does he know about Joy Boy?"
This situation was unexpected. The Five Elders looked at each other. It was a vigilance they rarely showed — genuine vigilance.
Regarding Joy Boy, regarding the blank century, regarding the history that the World Government had gone to great lengths to bury…
These secrets — even the Pirate King Roger had spent his entire life just to touch the surface.
Yet Kaido actually knew this name!
How could this "brute" who relied on brute force and violence to ascend to the throne of an Emperor, this "beast" who believed in nothing except power, know this name?
Could he also know the truth about Nika?
"History…"
Saint Topman V. Warcury muttered. "The future Kaido… clearly knows a lot as well."
The Five Elders fell into a brief silence.
Meanwhile, in God Valley, all the pirates' gazes simultaneously fell upon the young Kaido at the same moment.
Kaido froze.
Those gazes — Roger's, Rayleigh's, Whitebeard's, Golden Lion's… even Rocks casually glanced over…
"Wh-what…"
The young Kaido rarely stammered. "That's something my future self said. I don't know anything right now!"
But no one looked away.
"Joy Boy?"
Roger repeated the name in a low voice. A certain indescribable light flickered in his eyes.
Rocks didn't press further. He simply gave Kaido another glance.
In this strange atmosphere, the Den Den Mushi in Kaido's arms suddenly rang.
It was a call from his subordinates. Kaido picked it up, listened to the report from the other side, then raised his head and announced to those below: "Straw Hat Luffy… has been killed by me."
…
When the news of Luffy's fall reached the banquet hall, everyone was stunned.
"Luffy he…"
Chopper's voice rang out in the banquet hall.
This reindeer doctor was standing beneath Quinn's massive jaws. Half of his body had already been bitten. Blood was flowing down his fur.
But he seemed unable to feel the pain.
"That kind of thing… is absolutely impossible!"
Tears burst from his eyes. His voice was squeezed out from the depths of his throat, hoarse and desperate.
"Luffy said he was going to defeat Kaido! He said he was going to become the Pirate King! He said he would never die!!!"
Quinn bit down hard. Chopper let out a pained grunt, but his eyes remained fixed on the direction from which the bad news had come.
He refused to believe it. He would not believe it.
"Nonsense!"
Franky's voice also exploded in the banquet hall.
He was piloting General Franky, swinging his mechanical fists down onto the ground and sending two of the ability users attacking him flying.
His steel body let out creaking sounds under the strain of his anger.
"Straw Hat boss!" Law's voice was trembling.
At this moment, upon hearing the "news of Luffy's death," his heart still felt like it had been tightly gripped by someone.
Kid didn't speak.
He stood atop the ruins of the banquet hall. His mechanical arm hung down, his face covered in blood.
When Kaido's victory was announced through the Den Den Mushi, his expression didn't change.
He was simply silent for a few seconds.
Then he grinned and let out a cold laugh. "Tch… That idiot."
Kid didn't say anything more mocking. He also didn't order a retreat.
Jinbe was still fighting.
This former Warlord of the Sea was currently locked in a fierce battle with Fozzie F.
His punches were still heavy. His steps were still steady. His breathing was still calm.
But at the moment he heard the news of Luffy's death, his movements had shown an extremely subtle pause.
Just for a thousandth of a second.
But Fozzie F caught it and took the opportunity to leave a wound on his shoulder.
Jinbe paid it no mind.
"This old man… doesn't believe it."
Jinbe's voice was low. He didn't say anything more. He simply clenched his fist and swung an even heavier punch at Fozzie F.
The samurai in the banquet hall began to waver.
They were the Akazaya Nine who fought for the Kozuki family, and the volunteer army fighting for the future of Wano Country.
When the news of Luffy's death spread through the crowd like a plague, their morale still inevitably collapsed.
That was the man who had led them out of the Udon prison in a bloody path.
A man who had been willing to bet his life for Wano Country despite never having met them before.
That man…
"Luffy isn't dead!!!"
A sharp, tearful childish voice pierced through the despair and chaos of the banquet hall.
Kozuki Momonosuke.
This eight-year-old boy, regarded by everyone as the "hope of the Kozuki family," was currently holding the enemy's Den Den Mushi with both hands. Tears flowed down uncontrollably.
His body was trembling. His voice was trembling. His entire being was trembling…
But even so, his eyes shone brightly.
"He told me!"
Momonosuke shouted hoarsely into the Den Den Mushi, toward all the bloodied samurai in the banquet hall, toward the entire Onigashima, toward countless eyes watching inside and outside the light screen…
"Luffy said he would definitely defeat Kaido!"
The samurai were stunned.
"He's not dead yet!"
Momonosuke's tearful voice carried unshakable conviction. "He's still fighting! He'll come back! So… so until then…"
He took a deep breath and shouted with all his strength: "Please everyone… keep fighting with everything you have!!!"
A brief silence.
Then, somewhere in the banquet hall, a sword was gripped tightly once more.
Then another place.
And another.
Those gazes that had just dimmed lit up with flame once again, one after another.
No one knew whether what Momonosuke said was true or false.
No one knew whether this was the boy's nonsense or a real transmission.
But they all chose to believe!
Outside the light screen, countless spectators' hearts still hadn't settled.
"Is it true?" The crowd watching the light screen whispered among themselves.
"Or did that child say it on purpose?"
"I don't know…"
But the next moment, they knew.
On the light screen, Momonosuke was still crying, but his expression had changed.
It was no longer sadness. It was no longer despair. It was no longer that forced "I have to be strong" from before.
There was clearly a voice in his ear!
"Momo." That was Luffy's voice.
The boy who was currently falling into the deep sea, about to be completely swallowed by darkness.
His consciousness had already faded. His body was sinking. His voice was intermittent, as if separated by countless layers of seawater.
But every word reached Momonosuke's ears clearly.
"Tell everyone…"
"I'm definitely going to defeat Kaido."
There were no bold declarations. No emphasis on "believe me."
There was no signature declaration of "I never die."
Just calm — even carrying a sense of natural certainty, like stating that the sun would rise as usual tomorrow…
He definitely would!
Momonosuke nodded heavily.
He didn't answer. He didn't need to answer.
Because his expression had already told everyone the answer.
Luffy was still falling.
The seawater was cold, but his body had already gone numb and could no longer feel the chill.
The light grew darker and darker. The sea surface above had become an increasingly small, unreachable speck of light.
Luffy wanted to move, but he couldn't.
He wanted to breathe, but his lungs were filled with seawater.
He wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids were as heavy as if the entire Onigashima was pressing down on them.
But Luffy couldn't fall like this. There were still things he hadn't finished…
Kaido hadn't been defeated yet.
Wano Country hadn't been founded yet.
Zoro, Sanji, Jinbe, Chopper, Franky, Nami, Robin, Brook… Everyone was waiting for him to return.
He couldn't die.
But his body no longer obeyed him.
His consciousness was like sand in an hourglass, falling grain by grain, faster and faster.
Just as the last grain of sand was about to slip away, a black shadow broke through the seawater and appeared beneath him.
It was a submarine.
The coated hull gleamed with a cold light in the deep sea — torpedo tubes, periscope, streamlined shell…
It wasn't a Marine ship. It wasn't a Beasts Pirates warship. It wasn't any armed force from Wano Country.
It was Law's ship — the Polar Tang!
The hatch opened. A hand reached out from the darkness.
Luffy's falling body was steadily caught by that hand.
Inside and outside the light screen, countless eyes witnessed this scene.
Some suddenly stood up. Some held their breath. Some covered their mouths with both hands.
...