This voice…

This familiar voice...

In that instant, everyone froze. Then, as if realizing something, their eyes widened. They had all heard this voice before—in that world-shaking speech not long ago, in the declaration that tore apart the political systems of the World Government's Member Nations...

The owner of this voice was...

Disbelief swept across every face in the room. Each person turned sharply, their eyes wide with shock, staring toward the source of the sound.

Then...

An indescribable panic surged in their gazes.

Saint Figarland Garling's face turned pale. He whirled around, locking his gaze on the direction of the sound, his pupils now bloodshot.

Doflamingo, after a brief moment of stunned silence, immediately regained his composure. An almost uncontrollable, strange smile spread across his face.

For he had clearly seen it.

The Five Elders, who always looked down on everyone with their superior arrogance... when they heard that voice, the expressions on all five of their faces shifted in unison.

Tension, shock, disbelief, and even a trace of deep fear—Doflamingo swore that the scene unfolding before him, the expressions on the Five Elders' faces, was the most spectacular thing he had ever witnessed in his entire life!

"Stand down!"

A captain of the Holy Land Guard suddenly shouted in alarm.

In an instant, hundreds of heavily armed Holy Land Guard members surrounding the plaza formed defensive formations, their eyes locked on that direction.

Meanwhile, the numerous representatives from Member Nations and other invited guests immediately reacted, their faces filled with shock, murmuring in disbelief:

"Hey, that voice..."

"Could it be..."

"This... how is that possible..."

"That direction... atop the Celestial Stairway..."

"Pangaea Castle!"

"Impossible!"

A wave of panic spread through the crowd.

"Did I hear that correctly? King Cobra... that voice..."

King Riku of Dressrosa leaned in quietly to Cobra's side, nudging him with his hand and whispering urgently,

"—I know nothing!"

Cobra said firmly, his voice resolute and unwavering.

King Riku : "..."

If you don't know, then why the sudden outburst?

King Riku gave Cobra a strange look.

Countless changes unfolded in an instant, and before anyone could react—

BOOM!!

A deafening roar suddenly echoed from the summit of the Celestial Stairway, like thunder splitting the Sea Clouds, sending sharp pain through their eardrums.

Like the shockwave of a nuclear explosion, a violent ripple surged from the top of the stairway, instantly scattering the cloud cover surrounding Pangaea Castle.

As the sea of clouds that had obscured their vision was torn apart, the crowd saw a massive column of blue lightning, like a hurricane's shockwave, erupting from the Hall of Power within Pangaea Castle. It shot straight into the sky like a pillar of thunderous light, then exploded into concentric rings of airwaves that quickly turned into a raging storm.

"Damn it!"

Figarland Saint Garling's heart trembled violently. Sensing the terrifying, destructive aura emanating from that attack, the Five Elders' faces paled, their pupils suddenly constricting to pinpricks.

This energy fluctuation... Could it be that the damn brat is about to strike against Imu-sama?

Their eyes darted rapidly, clearly engaging in swift telepathic communication as their gazes swept over the numerous guests and Member Nations representatives present.

No! The existence of Imu must not be exposed!

Otherwise, the legitimacy of the World Government's rule would face unimaginable repercussions!

In an instant, this conclusion formed simultaneously in the minds of the Five Elders.

But the height of the Celestial Stairway, at their current distance...

"Kong!! Stop that damn brat—"

Saint Saturn suddenly stepped forward, his voice a furious shout.

Before he could finish, a dark figure hurtled backward like a cannonball from the Hall of Power—now a gaping crater in Pangaea Castle—and vanished into the plaza's earth at astonishing speed.

BOOM!

The crowd felt the ground beneath their feet tremble violently, as if struck by a minor earthquake, before erupting in a towering cloud of dust.

"Protect the Member Nations representatives!"

"Alert! Alert!"

"Damn it! An attack!?"

"Cover me!"

"..."

Amidst the chaos, panicked screams echoed across the smoke-filled plaza. The gale swiftly dispersed the dust, revealing a scene that silenced everyone.

In the massive crater at the plaza's center, a bare-chested figure with explosively defined muscles struggled to rise from the depths. His usually sharp mohawk was disheveled and dust-covered, a faint trail of blood trickling down his angular jawline.

It was unmistakably Kong!

The Five Elders: "..."

"Kong, what the hell were you doing? Why didn't you stop him!?" Saint Saturn demanded sternly.

Kong glanced at him expressionlessly, his face clouded as he raised a hand to wipe the blood from his mouth.

"The reason... you'll know soon enough, Five Elders."

Before his words faded, under the blinding sunlight, at the very pinnacle of the Celestial Stairway, a towering figure emerged slowly from a gaping hole in the wall of the Hall of Power.

His short black hair whipped wildly through the air. The upper half of his black suit lay in tatters, revealing a body scarred beyond recognition. Under the sunlight, his sharply defined muscles gleamed with a stone-like brilliance.

Visible blue-purple lightning coiled and danced around his form, swirling upward like flowing flames or fading ribbons. Each step he took was deliberate and measured, yet the moment his foot touched the ground, the entire plaza felt the earth tremble beneath them.

Crimson-black lightning danced at his fingertips, and the blood at the corner of his mouth made his grin look savage and deranged.

Thud! He stepped forward.

His black combat boots landed atop the very peak of the Celestial Stairway. Leaning forward slightly, his gaze was cold and deranged as he looked down upon this world.

He looked down upon the Commander of the God's Knights, the Five Elders, the representatives of all Member Nations across the world, and the Celestial Dragons within the Holy Land beyond.

It felt as if the world had turned upside down in that moment.

A savage grin spread across his face.

"Oy."

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