Robin, hearing Carol’s haggard voice, sounded worried.
“Are you alright?”
Carol’s hoarse voice replied,
“I’m fine.”
“Stay there for a while.”
“When the chaos here settles down a bit, I’ll come back for you.”
After saying this, he hung up, clearly not in the mood or energy for idle chat.
Robin also breathed a sigh of relief, regaining some of his spirit. He looked at the garbled video Den Den Mushi, then at the Den Den Mushi he had just hung up.
A strange sense of dissonance washed over him, as if a grand conspiracy was slowly unfolding…
----
New World, former Mary Geoise.
The ten-thousand-meter-high red earth continent, which resembled a city wall, now had a massive opening torn through it, completely connecting the New World to the Grand Line.
Islands on both sides had sunk and capsized in the earthquake.
The aftermath of the earth-shattering explosion sent hurricanes and tsunamis cascading across the world.
The edge of the atmosphere.
Carol, having hung up the Den Den Mushi, his eyes bloodshot, continuously scanned with his Kenbunshoku Haki but found nothing. Despite being prepared, he could not calm down.
“Cough cough—”
Having been at the center of volcanic ash for an extended period, Carol’s already weakened body couldn’t help but cough up blood. He quickly wiped it away, continuing his search…
---
Half a day later.
An island floating from the moon slowly appeared above the giant blue planet. Before it could even enter the atmosphere,
A bolt of lightning struck down, piercing through the edge of the atmosphere and directly into the flowing magma at the center of the explosion.
Zzzzz—
A powerful magnetic field accompanied an ability burst. Enel, submerged in magma, gritted his teeth, his Kenbunshoku Haki, spanning tens of thousands of meters in diameter, radiating outward.
“Where… where…”
---
Above the sky.
The moment the floating Egghead Island appeared, Carol stopped searching. He teleported to the laboratory on Egghead Island. As soon as he landed, his legs buckled, and he nearly fell.
Fortunately, he was supported by an approaching Brook. Lilith handed him a bottle of nutrient solution. Carol thanked her and injected it into his body, regaining some strength.
He looked at Vegapunk, enduring the headache, and asked,
“Has the infiltration been completed, Doctor?”
Vegapunk also looked sorrowful and exhausted, clearly having not rested in days.
“Yes.”
“All communications across the world have been completely severed and are being monitored.”
“We can proceed with the plan.”
Carol nodded and took a deep breath.
“That’s good.”
The inability to communicate earlier was due to the massive explosion that interfered with the planet’s magnetic field. But as the Den Den Mushi in Carol’s arms vibrated slightly,
Carol knew the planned operation had succeeded, as his call to Robin had gone through.
Now, transmitters scattered throughout space, encircling the entire planet, were blocking all communication devices except for the Navy’s, and were capable of real-time monitoring.
The world, inherently composed of islands, now had each island completely isolated, unable to receive external information.
As for the News Coo…
Morgans, the king of news, had already been brought under Navy control. In other words, only the Navy now possessed a god’s-eye view of the world.
What needed to be done next was to use the monitoring and intelligence from the News Coo, before the endless volcanic ash disappeared, to ferret out those who had not yet surfaced in this world, one by one…
What was apparent on the surface had been dealt with by the Navy; now it was time to deal with those in the shadows…
No one would escape…
---
Carol, having regained a bit of strength, released Brook’s support.
He suddenly noticed Soaring’s anxious expression. He asked Lilith for another bottle of nutrient solution, injected it into his body, walked over to Soaring, and placed his hand on him.
“Which direction.”
Soaring looked at Carol, whose aura was dimming, and gritted his teeth.
“Northwest.”
The Life Card he held in his fingertips was already burnt at the edges and trembled slightly towards the northwest.
Carol took a deep breath and mustered his spirit.
“Let’s go.”
Whoosh—
He vanished from that spot.
After the two disappeared, Brook walked to the edge of the island, looking down at the endless volcanic ash. He turned and returned to the laboratory, finding Vegapunk.
“Do you have a map of the current New World battlefield?”
Vegapunk nodded.
“Yes.”
His hands flew across the console, and a model of encirclement, formed by Den Den Mushi locations, appeared. The blank areas indicated islands that the Navy had not yet managed to encircle.
Brook memorized the entire battlefield map of the New World and walked outside.
BOOM!!!
He shot up into the sky, transforming into a streak of light and vanishing.
---
New World, the last endpoint island.
Corpses, corpses everywhere.
Navy warships and broken pirate ships were beached.
Blood stained the sand, forming a mottled path leading deep into the island.
Seven days of relentless battle, not even the world-shaking roar or the approaching hurricanes and tsunamis had affected the desperate fight to the death between the two sides.
This fleet, led by Hippolytus and Zephyr, had pinned down the remnants of the Beast Pirates here.
The remnants of the Beast Pirates, fighting and retreating to this location, had intended to detonate the New World in a mutual destruction, only to find they had been completely outmaneuvered by the Navy.
The endpoint island, now a well-known location through Navy propaganda, had become a dud.
No matter how many bombs were dropped or attacks launched, the magma within the volcano not only failed to explode but steadily decreased, even drying up…
Jack, the leader, had not yet recovered from his rage when the remnants of the Beast Pirates were engulfed by a barrage of cannon fire. Cluster bombs developed by the research team spread across the sky above the island.
Innumerable tiny sub-bombs evenly filled the entire island, burning and exploding.
Following this, the Navy fleet concentrated its firepower on the dozens of pirate ships docked at the shore, cutting off the pirates' retreat with an unyielding momentum.
This continued for seven days of battle…
BOOM—
BOOM—
BOOM—
The earth trembled, and the sounds of fierce collisions rang out.
Jack, transformed into a colossal mammoth, his eyes blood red and his sanity gone, trampled the ground in a continuous charge.
Zephyr, appearing minuscule before him, was nevertheless powerful.
With both arms blackened and breathing heavily, Zephyr repeatedly sent the ancient beast flying.
After seven days of non-stop combat, the Navy, with a force of several warships, had annihilated the remnants of the Beast Pirates’ dozens of pirate ships. Although successful, only a handful survived.
Among the remnants of the Beast Pirates, Jack, who had been promoted to one of the former top commanders, was still alive but had lost his mind.
On the Navy fleet’s side, the commanding Vice Admiral Hippolytus had died long ago. Before his death, he detonated an explosive rock, taking two of the remaining Tobi Roppo, Sasaki and Black Maria, with him.
As for the others, only a few military doctors were saved under Aine’s protection; the rest had all died on this island. Aine, meanwhile, continuously provided cover for Zephyr.
BOOM—!!!
He sent the mammoth-transformed Jack flying once more, but this also aggravated Zephyr’s old wounds.
“Cough… cough cough…”
He knelt on one knee, gasping and coughing.
The prolonged battle and exhaustion, combined with old wounds from his life-or-death battle with Roger years ago in the Skypiea Sea Battle, could no longer be contained, and his body began to crumble.
The fractured bones in his chest and his bellows-like lungs indicated that Zephyr was at his limit.
Zephyr took a deep breath, suppressing his discomfort, and looked up at the charging beast again. Tired… so tired…
His vision was blurring. Zephyr supported himself on one knee and stood upright, adopting a punching stance.
Buzz—
The front halves of his arms were coated with Armament Haki. Just as he was about to punch, he stumbled, the Haki receded, and he knelt on one knee, dazed.
“Zephyr-sensei!!!”
A woman’s anxious scream echoed from afar.
Zephyr looked up at the charging mammoth, his mind taking a moment to register who the voice belonged to.
“It’s Aine…”
His consciousness was already hazy. He shook his head, but it was futile.
Suddenly,
Aine, wielding her broken twin swords, appeared in front of Zephyr, intending to attack the berserk beast.
Zephyr’s pupils constricted. With strength he didn’t know he had,
He reached out and grabbed Aine’s wrist, unleashing a burst of immense power. To Aine’s disbelief, he flung her aside.
Zephyr stood up with renewed ease, as if a resurgence of his past self, and looked at the flying Aine.
“Thank you, Aine.”
“But I’m not done yet.”
He picked up his shattered sunglasses from the ground, put them back on, and looked at the charging beast.
An inexhaustible power seemed to surge within him, making Zephyr feel as if he had returned to his prime. That was the year before the Skypiea Sea Battle, the year his wife hadn’t died…
As he reminisced, he stood up again, coating his arms with Armament Haki. His left hand moved forward, his right hand pulled back—this was the most standard punching stance he had taught countless Marines.
Zephyr smiled, regaining his focus, and looked at the frenzied beast that had already reached him.
“I…”
He took a step forward, the air around him churning.
“Am…”
Zzz—
Lightning flickered around his arms, and an endless surge of spirit rose.
“Zephyr!!!”
He threw a punch.
…
…
BOOM—!!!
---
The deafening roar was far louder than imagined.
A large hand was buried in the head of Jack, who had transformed into a colossal mammoth. His incredibly hard skull had been smashed to pieces.
The hand slowly withdrew, and beneath it was Zephyr’s fist.
Zephyr, who had prepared himself for death, blinked in surprise and chuckled softly.
“You brat…”
Soaring slowly turned around, releasing his hand from Zephyr’s fist. He suppressed the tremor in his voice and looked at Zephyr.
“Father.”
Zephyr smiled and said,
“Have you completed the mission assigned to you by the Fleet Admiral?”
Soaring nodded heavily, his voice trembling.
“Yes.”
Carol’s hoarse voice sounded from beside them.
“It’s all over, Instructor Zephyr.”
“We have won.”
Carol, enduring his grief and the intense pain in his head, had been teleporting with Soaring, finally allowing the father and son to have their final farewell…
Zephyr breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
“That’s good… that’s good…”
His body went limp and he fell backward.
Carol and Soaring quickly caught him from either side, gently lowering him. Aine rushed over from the distance.
“Zephyr-sensei!”
She collapsed beside Zephyr, her hands glowing as she attempted to use her ability. Zephyr waved his hand to stop her, shaking his head.
“It’s no use.”
“I know my body well.”
“Let it be…”
Zephyr’s gaze fell upon Carol as he spoke.
“Have we truly won…”
“You’re not just comforting an old man about to die, are you…”
Carol gripped Zephyr’s hand, his voice hoarse.
“Truly.”
Feeling the strength in Carol’s palm, Zephyr’s face broke into a radiant smile.
“Good… good… good…”
“Now it seems…”
“Sakazuki was right…”
“Back then, I even debated the issue of killing with Sakazuki…”
“Thinking about it now, how foolish I was…”
“Only by killing can we stop killing…”
“I was wrong…”
“Wrong…”
This man, who had been strong his entire life, finally let go of his long-held convictions upon hearing of victory, uttering the words he had been unwilling to face.
Perhaps if he had killed all those pirates back then, the incident that haunted him for life would never have happened…
At this moment, Zephyr felt a sense of release, and a hint of liberation, as he looked at Soaring.
“You’ve truly grown up…”
He recalled how Soaring had just grabbed his fist and smashed it into Jack’s head.
Zephyr, who had held an umbrella for others his entire life, was finally held by someone else, and it was his own son. This made him inexplicably happy.
Zephyr slowly turned to Aine and said,
“Aine.”
“Do me one last favor…”
“Restore my body to how it was 30 years ago…”
That year, Zephyr was at his peak. That year, Zephyr was not yet seriously injured. That year, Zephyr had not yet lost his wife…
Aine nodded repeatedly, tears streaming down her face as she placed her hands on Zephyr’s body and continued to use her ability.
Zephyr’s body gradually regained its youth, but his life force continued to wane.
It was the Grim Reaper beckoning to him.
After Aine finished, Zephyr lightly raised his arm and looked at his firm skin, then turned to Carol.
“Do I… look like it…”
Among them, only Carol had seen Zephyr 30 years ago. Soaring and Aine were only children then.
Carol took a deep breath and nodded heavily.
“Not a bit different, Admiral Zephyr.”
That was Zephyr’s title from 30 years ago…
Zephyr smiled heartily, and the sensation of dizziness and weightlessness suddenly struck him.
Lowering his arm, Zephyr used his last ounce of strength to move Soaring’s hand into Aine’s.
“You two… in the future… take good care of each other…”
“Don’t be… sad for me…”
“I… am very happy…”
“Because I will soon see… your mother…”
His body gradually lost strength, and his consciousness became blurred.
Zephyr’s voice, which had been a low murmur, devolved into continuous muttering.
“I… am very happy…”
“Truly…”
“Very…”
“Happy…”
Finally, his arm hung limply…
“Father (Zephyr-sensei)!!!”
Soaring and Aine collapsed onto Zephyr’s body.
Despite its futility, Aine continued to use her Rewind-Rewind Fruit ability, weeping and trembling…
----
Sea Year 1520.
The seventh day of the Great Cataclysm.
A fleet composed of several warships, led by Vice Admiral Hippolytus and Zephyr, the chief instructor of the Marine Headquarters, successfully counter-attacked and annihilated dozens of pirate ships.
Facing enemies several times their number, not a single Marine soldier retreated. For the justice they carried, they all died on this island.
The leader of the Beast Pirates remnants, Drought Jack, was killed. Not a single person from his dozens of pirate ships, numbering in the thousands, escaped.
Vice Admiral Hippolytus, who led the Navy, saw something in Black Maria’s illusion. With a smile, he detonated the explosive rock and died.
And Zephyr, the old man who had dedicated his life to the Navy, at the last moment of his life, received news of victory. His body also reverted to the appearance it had when he parted with his wife.
In the end…
He died smiling…