Flames burned fiercely, turning the entire island into a wasteland.
This scene, like a natural disaster, spread throughout the world via live broadcast, and even now there were Den Den Mushi continuing to record, waiting to keep spreading the footage.
Ordinary people, upon seeing Ohara turned into a living hell, all had blank expressions.
"So terrifying…"
"Is this a Marine Admiral?"
"They say if you provoke the Celestial Dragons, the Marine will send an Admiral…"
"Hiss, this is a monster."
"Are you kidding me, how can there be such terrifying people in this world."
"Mama, I don't want to be a pirate anymore, I want to go home and become the Mountain Bandit King." [T/N: Lol]
"..."
Not only were ordinary people discussing this, but pirates from the Four Seas to the first half of the Grand Line, as long as they happened to catch the live broadcast, were all shocked by Sakazuki's great power.
In their understanding, living beings couldn't be this strong.
Yet the Marine casually sent out an Admiral candidate, and he was already strong to such a degree.
You must know, above the Admiral candidates, there were still active Admirals and the Fleet Admiral.
In other words, there were more than one such monster within the Marine.
———
"Gurarararara!"
On an island in the New World, the Whitebeard Pirates who were resting happened to witness Sakazuki showcasing his power.
In front of the screen, the tall and burly Whitebeard let out a hearty laugh.
"Old man, why are you laughing?", Beside Whitebeard, the punk-headed blond youth Marco asked curiously.
Even he had been frightened by Sakazuki's strength.
The Whitebeard Pirates had always benchmarked themselves against the Marine. Whitebeard was certainly on the same level as the Fleet Admiral.
Then they, the division commanders, naturally had to benchmark against Marine Admirals.
He was currently the 4th Division Commander and the ship's doctor of the Whitebeard Pirates. Not long ago, the 2nd Division Commander left the crew, leaving that spot still vacant.
They still didn't know that Zephyr had retired and gone to CP0. Based on their understanding of the Marine, it should've been him and Sakazuki as counterparts.
Seeing Sakazuki's performance today, Marco felt his heart go cold halfway.
"The Marine brats have all grown up. The sea ahead will be more interesting," Whitebeard wore a bold smile on his face.
Right now, he was still that peak powerhouse with long golden hair, far from his twilight years.
With Roger and Golden Lion(Shiki) both captured, the current Whitebeard Pirates were already the strongest pirate crew on the seas.
Even with Kozuki Oden's departure, the crew still had two vice-emperor level old companions, and Marco and others were rapidly growing, promising future.
With such deep foundations, and Whitebeard only wanting to protect his companions, how could he fear the Marine's power?
"Still as domineering as ever, old man," Marco looked at Whitebeard's imposing figure and subconsciously lifted his head high.
He was, after all, a commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Even if he wasn't as good as Sakazuki now, he might be able to beat him in the future.
Similar conversations were happening in all corners of the New World.
The current New World, due to Golden Lion being captured and Roger Pirates disbanded, had fallen into complete chaos.
Now that they saw a Marine Admiral show his strength, each of them felt even more urgency in their hearts.
If they didn't become pirate kings, they wouldn't even qualify to go head-to-head with the Marine.
If they didn't want to be constrained by the Marine, they'd have to carve a bloody path first, become legendary pirates, only then would they be qualified to consider such things.
———
BOOM!!!
The Tree of Knowledge was completely burned to ashes, and the whole island was billowing with thick smoke.
Sakazuki slowly lowered his arm, standing in the air, panting heavily.
That full-force output just now had consumed most of his stamina, to the point that even his justice cloak had been burned away completely.
Keeping the magma from damaging his clothes was already his current limit.
The Marine's image must not be tainted.
Buzz!
Sakazuki descended from the sky, landing in front of Rosse.
Since Rosse had given him both face and substance, he would also give the other party the appropriate respect.
Under the gaze of all viewers from the world broadcast, Sakazuki landed and decisively knelt on one knee before Rosse, "Saint Rosse, I have completed your command."
"Not bad," Rosse smiled slightly. After this incident, as long as his stance remained unchanged, Sakazuki would be a solid ally in the future.
He took off his World Government cloak and walked over to Sakazuki, draping it over the other's shoulders, "Stand up, Admiral Sakazuki."
"Yes!", With Rosse's help, Sakazuki slowly stood up.
Compared to the justice cloak, Rosse's World Government cloak was much more refined. Sakazuki's tall and upright figure looked even more majestic under its contrast. The cloak swayed lightly in the wind, yet did not reduce the murderous aura on his body. On the contrary, it added a sense of inviolable authority.
And the viewers around the world, looking at Rosse at this moment, had completely changed their view.
Previously, they only knew that injuring a Celestial Dragon would summon an Admiral. Aside from a few people, most didn't understand the deeper meaning of those words.
Now, they completely understood.
Offending a Celestial Dragon equaled deploying Sakazuki, equaled the destruction of Ohara, equaled certain death.
And in the eyes of everyone, Saint Rosse had become a very noble existence even among the Celestial Dragons.
Ohara was destroyed, but the shock left to the world continued to spread.
.
.
.
[One Day Later]
After the Buster Call ended, the five warships once again dispersed.
Kuzan, Borsalino, and Yamakaji would stay stationed in West Blue, using the momentum of Ohara's destruction to sweep through the pirates there.
Since Sakazuki's reputation had already been established, it was time to deliver a heavy blow to the pirates.
Sakazuki, on the other hand, was summoned back to Marine Headquarters.
After this incident, Kong had clearly understood the World Government's intentions and took the opportunity to recommend to the Five Elders the promotion of Sakazuki to Admiral.
Given Sakazuki's performance this time, the Five Elders agreed to Kong's proposal and prepared to bestow the rank of Marine Admiral on Sakazuki one month later, assigning him specifically to guard the New World.
The sharpest blade must be shown to the world.
"Gion, go take a trip to Island of Promises," Inside the cabin, Rosse hugged Gion, his voice slightly lazy.
Since he had promised Gion, he would of course follow through.
Island of Promises was where the Red Count found the Vampire Fruit. Although it was in the New World, with Gion's current strength, there shouldn't be much trouble.
The New World was full of powerhouses, but also filled with CP0's hidden networks. With the support of the World Government, she could move freely in the New World.
After all, while it seemed full of powerful people, those who could reach Shichibukai(Warlord) level weren't that many.
A remote place like Island of Promises, if it had a few people on Gion's level, that would already be impressive.
"Understood!", Gion's eyes flashed with excitement, clearly understanding the meaning behind the place Rosse mentioned.
With this Mythical Zoan-type fruit, it would be equivalent to holding a ticket to Admiral-level strength.
She absolutely wouldn't miss this opportunity.
[T/N: I still don't know if 'Island of Promises' is the correct name or not but from all the digging I did, I reached that name. If any of you know the name of the place where Patric Redfield found his Vampire Fruits, let me know, I will change it]
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