Chapter 190

"Isn't it beautiful?"

In the middle of the vast sea, Kuzan took out a bottle of alcohol from his backpack and took a sip of it.

The night was over, and the sun was slowly revealing its body.

However, Kuzan's surrounding wasn't as peaceful as he seemed to be. Around him, there existed nothing but cold ice—they were the frozen remains of what used to be the Gran Tesoro.

"What do you think, Aramaki?"

Kuzan turned around to his right and asked—where one frozen figure of a man was found: Aramaki or Admiral Ryokugyu.

Of course, Aramaki wasn't able to answer Kuzan's question, for he was dead.

"...Wonder why Sakazuki made you an Admiral."

Aramaki, by himself, may have stood a better chance against Kuzan than with Tesoro. The ability to maneuver gold served as nothing but a hindrance for the ability of Forest Forest fruit, granting Kuzan an unexpected advantage.

"A thoughtless charge-in like a bull. Though the title of 'Ryokugyu' surely fits you, the title of 'Admiral' doesn't."

'Perhaps,' He thought, 'this is why the Marine was reduced to this state now.'

Kuzan, finding that not much was left in the bottle, gulped down the whole thing.

*Vrooooooom*

The noise; it was music in Kuzan's ears.

It was the sound of the whole Red Line crumbling down, and he knew, that the world was about to enter a new era.

Kuzan smiled. Grabbing the bike that he left at the edge of Gran Tesoro, Kuzan leisurely began another chapter of his journey.

___________

"All... Blue."

Sanji whispered in a wonder. Turning his body around from atop the back of one Sea King, Sanji placed his hand into the water.

"So this is what it really meant."

He looked up and saw the middle of the sea, where the two men: Rowan and Imu, were facing one another.

Below them, there lied a huge pit that the Grimheart pirates came from. The surrounding water was pouring down to the pit, filling up the pit rapidly.

Bartolomeo unconsciously gulped. His fists were tightened in anticipation, and out of all the anger that has been built up within him for days, he shouted,

"Beat the hell out of that guy, Rowan!!!!!"

Rowan chuckled upon hearing Bartolomeo.

Imu's eyes gleamed murderously. He raised his hand up with the intention to impale Bartolomeo in one go.

*SPLASH*

The sea around Bartolomeo churned, before the huge spikes of water burst out from all sides akin to the soaring dragons. Then,

*BOOOOOOM*

all the spikes exploded into a harmless rain without harming Bartolomeo.

Imu's eyes twitched as he turned his attention back to Rowan.

Rowan locked his eyes onto Imu with an adamant determination.

*Boom*

He walked on top of the air as if walking on solid ground, and slowly approached Imu.

From atop the sky, Mihawk, Kong, Sakazuki, and many others stood on top of the sky creatures' back.

Sakazuki muttered in a disbelief, "Grimheart... you've fought me less than a year ago, and now... you've already grown strong enough to contend against that monster. How?"

Mihawk slowly raised his sword up, knowing what was about to come. His eyes were headed to one of the newly-arrived Grimheart pirates: Carina in particular.

Then he slashed. It was an awe-inspiring view, as his simple swing generated a huge wave of pressured air that flew to the Prominence.

Zoro witnessed this sight with anger, 'There still exists so much gap between him and me... damn it.'

In contrast to Zoro, Carina watched the approaching attack without any impression.

"Hawk Eye is mine."

Cavendish, who was a swordsman himself, wanted to refute against Carina's decision. But eventually, he ended up slouching, knowing from the operation of his Observation Haki that Mihawk was beyond what he was capable of handling.

Subsequently,

*ZOOM*

Prominence itself was teleported away from where Mihawk's attack was heading to, causing it to impact the empty sea.

Meanwhile, Dan, who transformed his body into the lightning, immediately travelled to where Luffy and Garp were lying.

"He's still alive." Dan said as he made a quick inspection of Garp. Subsequently, looking around, he realized that many required medical attention.

"Law." Dan called out.

Law replied in a gruff manner, "I know."

*BOOM*

Just then, at some distance away, Weevil dropped down from the sky and landed on top of one of the sky creatures, only for them to plummet without control, due to Weevil simply being too heavy.

*SPLASH*

"I-I... I still didwn't wipe thewm owut!" Weevil then swam out of the sea and gripped onto the edge of one Sea King, where the Phoenix pirates were resting upon.

Miss Bakkins, who would've said, 'No, that's enough vengeance! Now that Marco the Phoenix is dead, we should capture the rest and learn where they hid your father's treasure!', wasn't present. Perhaps she was crushed under the ruined parts of Red Line.

"Weevil." Vista, who was found without a left leg, muttered as his face was in a frown due to pain. The entire Phoenix pirates had no strength to fight, and they could do nothing but watch as Weevil make his way up from the sea.

Then,

"Neigh~!!!"

One horse triumphantly cried as he landed in front of Weevil daringly.

"H-hwuh?" Weevil exclaimed in surprise.

"You are..." Jozu said with half-lidded eyes, "Farul! What are you planning to—"

Jozu had to stop. Farul's entire body then turned black as he utilized Armament Haki: Hardening to his maximum capability.

A horse with the ability to use Haki. It was something that no one thought to be possible.

*Tap*

"How have ya been, Farul?" Bonney landed on the same Sea King, causing it to cry due to the increasing weight for him to support, "Seems like you need some help."

Unfortunately for the Sea King, Bonney wasn't the end.

"If his strength truly is equivalent to Whitebeard in his prime... you are going to need some more help." Robin said calmly as she too landed next to Farul.

"Neigh!!"

Cavendish smiled upon seeing Farul's fearless action. They surely have come a long way, and his partner for life was now going against the Warlord without any fear. He felt himself being filled with a positive emotion.

Taking his eyes off the scene, Cavendish unsheathed his sword and pointed at Kong, who was standing on top of one sky creature with narrowed eyes, "If I were not to fight the 'Strongest Swordsman of the World,' then... the Commander-In-Chief of the World Government shall suffice!"

"Heh."

Carina grinned as she flipped her dagger,

"You better win, Cave."

Just as Carina said so, she and Cavendish disappeared from the Prominence at the same time.

*CLANG*

Carina was in front of Mihawk, holding her daggers against him.

*BOOOM*

Cavendish held his sword, Durandal, with two hands, where the tip of it was pushing against Kong's Haki-imbued fist.

"...How wonderful." Sakazuki snarled in sarcasm as he looked at the Prominence, where Carmen, Alfred, and Urouge were gazing back at him. Upon his will, the magma began to bubble around him and flow downward.

"Kyeeeeee!!!!"

The poor sky creature that he was standing on top of, melted in a horrifying way.

With the advanced utilization of Geppo, Sakazuki, whose whole body was emanating hot magma at this point, floated on top of the sky, just as the three members of the Grimheart pirates watched the corpse of the poor sky creature dropping into the water.

*Splash*

"That was unnecessary." Carmen commented.

Alfred adjusted his monocle, as his arms began to grow dark-blue furs. Slowly, but surely, his appearance was changing into a more regal way.

Sakazuki waited with veins popped out of his forehead. This war provided him nothing but a sense of humiliation and embarrassment. Disregarding his so-called 'Absolute Justice,' Sakazuki only had one thought: to end the Grimheart pirates in the most gruesome way possible—out of his anger alone.

And among the three, it was Urouge who initiated the attack. Having his huge fist coated by the Armament Haki: Emission, he propelled to Sakazuki with a grin on his face.

*BOOOOOM*

Upon the clash, the magma splattered in all directions.

*SWOOSH*

Just then, Alfred moved at a blurry speed and parried all magma away from the endangered sites, preventing any further casualties from arising.

Uranus—or the lifeless Lunarian prince—then flinched, just as the sky creatures cried simultaneously. With the intentions to harm the fallen ones on the sea, they dove,

*SPLASH*

only to be prevented from achieving their goals by the Sea Kings that revealed themselves from the water.

"Y-you can't harm them!" Shirahoshi, though shaking in nervousness, said firmly as she glared at Uranus that silently floated atop the sky. From her side, king Neptune took out his trident warily.

Among the exhausted rebels, the ones who had some strengths left within them stood back up from the back of the Sea Kings.

"We still have an unfinished business to deal with, don't we,"

One of them was Ivankov, who growled with his fists clenched tight as the shadow loomed over him.

"Kuma?"

Kuma didn't respond. Instead, his jaw opened and a bright light was seen from within his mouth, about to shoot a beam of laser at Ivankov.

"Fish Man Karate,"

Then, a shout was heard,

"Arabesque Brick Fist!!"

*BOOOOM*

Kuma's head was turned sideway at the last moment, before the laser beam was shot to the empty sky.

"You are..." Ivankov turned around and saw, "Jinbe, the 'Knight of the Sea!'"

"We're here to help!" Jinbe said firmly as he landed next to Ivankov, "Let us talk later after the war is over, shall we?"

Ivankov, who took a moment to calm his breath, nodded as he found a grin forming on his face, "Mmmfufufu, agreed!"

Subsequently, the huge Pluton too restarted its movement. Descending down from the sky slowly, it pointed its huge drill downward with the intention to crush all who lied beneath.

Yet, it was prevented from doing so.

*BOOOOOM*

Prominence, which lied in the sky nearby, began its act. Without anyone controlling the ship, it roared in its dragon form before blasting an intense ray of flame, which pushed Pluton away temporarily.

*BOOOOOOM*

Then, upon Prominence slamming its head onto Pluton's side, the battle between the two strongest ships started.

As all these events happened simultaneously, Rowan and Imu kept their eyes locked on one another. There was no talk, for it wasn't required for them to know that a battle was incoming.

Then, a sheer pressure of Conqueror's Haki burst out from Imu, attempting to crush the whole area into his domineering will.

The whole sea was agitated in a chaotic fashion. Many clang onto the back of the Sea Kings, trying to prevent themselves from falling into the sea.

Rowan simply watched Imu's utilization of Conqueror's Haki, before he too mirrored Imu's action with his own will.

*PAZZZZZZZ*

An intense black lightning crackled into existence as two incredible wills clashed in the middle. The air trembled in fear. The clouds ran away from the sight, afraid that they will be caught by this calamity. The wild sea suddenly calmed down, worried that it may annoy the conquerors of the sea.

"...Just what... is..." Sabo couldn't help but mutter in a shock as he shielded his face.

It wasn't like anything that everyone has ever seen. Not even the Four Emperors. Not even the Admirals. No one, absolutely no one, has achieved this magnitude of disaster with Haki alone... not even Rocks D. Xebec and Gol D. Roger.

Imu found his face wrinkling up into a frown. The thought of having someone of equal strength as him, the sole king of the world, brought nothing but a sense of displeasure to his mind.

Imu slowly held his hand out. In correspondence, the huge pit of waterfall below the two of them suddenly began to swirl. The huge whirlpool, so huge that the Sea Kings began to swim vigorously to escape from being sucked in by it, was generated from Imu's gesture alone.

"H-hurry! Get out of here!!!"

Everyone, regardless of allies or enemies, realized that they will be caught in a crossfire if they were to continue to stay nearby the two. Whether by swimming or flying, everyone quickly dispersed to the area far away from Rowan and Imu, and all battles momentarily halted for this sake.

"Everyone, move onto this island!!" Nami, who was standing on top of the island of 'Yggdrasil' that contained the Breeze Tree Lilith, shouted.

"No need." Law said before pointing opening his palm, "Room.

Shambles."

In an instant, all immobilized ones were teleported on top of the island. With the weights gone from their backs, the Sea Kings managed to escape the sudden whirlpool safely.

Then, Imu clenched his hand.

*BOOOOOOM*

With a noise, Rowan found himself surrounded by huge bodies of water that reached so high that their highest points couldn't be seen.

In this state, Rowan grinned.

"Zone."

A transparent layer suddenly expanded from Rowan's hand and formed a dome-like shape around the huge area.

*Tssss*

Imu then noticed, that the temperature within this dome was rising at an exponential rate.

*TSSSSSSS*

An unbelievable sight occurred. The huge mass of water that threatened to crush Rowan into the depth of the sea, instantly evaporated into hot steam that couldn't afflict any harm to him.

"It's futile."

Imu said coldly. Just when he said so, the hot steam suddenly condensed back into the water once again.

"Or is it?"

Rowan responded impassively as the water evaporated again from the incredible heat within the 'Zone,' causing Imu's frown to deepen.

Reflecting his wrath, Imu's eyes began to glow in a violent red.

"Ignorant heir of Vasilia... do you truly believe that you have the capability to oppose me?"

The crown above his head sharpened akin to seastone spikes that he generated. The black clouds appeared and surrounded his long neck. His attire—the long robe—turned into black similarly to the black clouds, and flowed just like water would.

Without a doubt, this was the awakened ability of Human Human fruit, model: Umi—the strongest fruit of the world along with the Human Human fruit, model: Nika.

*VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Now, Rowan saw that the whole sea was subverted upside down. What was initially lying below, was now lying above his head—it was an awe-strucking sight, indeed.

"Let's test it out." Rowan, whose eyes blazed in confidence, stated daringly, "Between you, the ancient being with over 800 years of experience, and me, the pirate who sailed for 4 years, who is stronger?"

Then, Rowan's surrounding exploded in a pitch black. In order to defeat the sea that rose above the sky,

*PAZZZZZZ*

a huge skeleton of black lightning revealed itself.