Chapter 126: Echoes of the Heavens and the Sands

[General POV]

The eastern sky crackled with wild electricity. The Lightning Hydra towered in front of Victor, a massive nightmare made of fused bedrock and pure energy. The beast absorbed the leftover power from Enel’s storm clouds. Its three massive heads snapped at the air, generating loud thunderclaps with every movement. Glowing blue electricity surged through the cracks in its rocky scales.

The Hydra opened its three jaws and unleashed a massive torrent of highly concentrated lightning directly at the Warlord.

Victor gripped the handles of his Jade Wings. The weapons shifted in his hands, growing into twin, elongated jade swords. He tapped into his core. He channeled the Fa-Jin kinetic energy he had stored over the past few months directly into his legs and arms. A bright green aura flared around his body. He coated the green blades in thick, black Advanced Armament Haki.

He dashed forward. The sheer speed created a loud sonic boom that shook the clouds.

Victor moved seamlessly through the gaps in the lightning blasts. The air burned around him, but his Fa-Jin propelled him faster than the electricity could travel. He closed the distance and swung his right sword at the beast’s center neck. The heavy, green kinetic slash connected with a loud crash. He carved deeply into the rocky, electrified scales. Sparks flew in every direction.

The Hydra roared in pain. It thrashed its long necks. The left head lunged forward, snapping its massive fangs at his ribs.

Victor brought his left sword up and parried the massive teeth. The physical weight of the Kaiju pushed him backward through the air. He kicked off the monster’s chest to create distance, flipping backward as the right head unleashed another blast of blue lightning.

He used his Advanced Observation Haki. The world slowed down. He saw the beast’s next movements before they happened. The center head was going to bite high, while the other two heads would sweep low.

Victor kicked off the air using Geppo. He launched himself completely over the center head’s bite. He spun in mid-air and drove both of his Haki-coated blades down into the back of the monster’s neck. The dark blades pierced through the tough rock. The beast shrieked, violently shaking its body to throw him off.

He pulled his swords free and jumped away, landing on a small piece of floating debris.

The Hydra gathered all its energy. The blue light in its three mouths glowed brighter than the sun. It prepared to fire a combined, point-blank blast to wipe Victor out of the sky.

Suddenly, a blinding white light filled the entire horizon.

Victor paused and looked toward the west. A colossal beam of pure white energy shot straight up from the jungle of Upper Yard. The blast slammed directly into Shiki’s floating fortress. The stone castles, the heavy cannons, and all the surrounding landmasses melted away into nothingness. The entire fleet was wiped from existence in a single second. The beam kept going, punching a clear hole through the clouds above.

Victor shook his head and let out a wry smile. The ground team clearly ignored his strict warnings about combining certain magical cards. They used way too much power.

The Kaiju stopped its attack. The beast looked toward the western sky, completely distracted by the massive flash of light.

Victor capitalized on the opening instantly.

He drew upon his Advanced Conqueror’s Haki. He pushed his willpower into his twin jade blades. Thick streaks of black lightning violently sparked from the green metal. The air around him hummed with heavy pressure.

He pushed off the debris with a single, explosive burst of speed. Crossing the sky in the blink of an eye. Appearing directly in front of the Hydra’s three exposed necks.

He swung both swords in a cross-shaped kinetic slash.

The Haki-laced blades cut cleanly through all three necks at the exact same time. The heads separated from the main body, tumbling through the air. The massive monster crumbled. The lightning faded from its rocky scales, and the lifeless body fell down into the thick clouds below.

Victor put his swords away and dropped from the sky. He navigated the falling chunks of rock and landed safely at the edge of the massive crater where the Ark Maxim had crashed.

Jasmine and Robin were standing in the rubble, catching their breath.

The moment Victor’s boots touched the dirt beside them, a beautiful, massive chime echoed across the sky.

DONG…

The Golden Bell, The Light of Shandora, rang loud and clear. The rich sound swept away the remaining storm clouds. Pure, warm sunlight bathed the three of them. They stood in complete silence for a moment, listening to the ringing bell. The heavy tension of the long war finally washed away. The music felt peaceful.

Victor walked forward and looked down into the center of the crater. The dented gold floor was empty. A trail of blood led into the bushes.

Enel was gone. His surviving priests used the chaos of the crash to drag him away into the jungle while they were busy fighting.

Victor turned his attention to Robin. She was breathing heavily. The sleeves of her jacket were completely torn from her sudden physical expansion. She looked exhausted, but her eyes held a new, confident light.

He gave her a genuine, proud grin.

“You did great,” Victor said, walking over to her. “Congratulations on pushing past your limits and unlocking your Hybrid Were-Tiger form. You earned that power.”

Robin smiled softly, wiping a smudge of dirt from her cheek. “Thank you, Captain. I had a good partner to back me up.”

Jasmine rested her heavy hammer on her shoulder and laughed out loud. “Did you see that giant white beam? The ground team went completely overboard.”

“They absolutely did,” Victor agreed, looking up at the empty western sky. “We will have to have a long talk about collateral damage when we get down there. They erased an entire floating island.”

They shared a lighthearted laugh, enjoying the sunlight and the victory.

[Mr. 3 POV]

The heat inside the dark cave was miserable. We were hiding deep in the scorching deserts of Alabasta, far away from any towns or oasis settlements.

I sat in a circle with the surviving members of Baroque Works. Mr. 1 sat silently, sharpening his steel fingers. Miss Doublefinger leaned against the rocky wall, smoking her pipe. Mr. 2 Bon Kurei paced back and forth nervously. Miss Goldenweek painted quietly on a small canvas. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine sat in the corner, looking defeated. Mr. 13 and Miss Friday, the animal enforcers, rested near the cave entrance to keep watch.

The mood in the cave was incredibly grim. We were in full survival mode.

Crocodile’s grand “Utopia” plan was completely exposed to the citizens of Alabasta. The royal army and the furious, and common people were actively hunting down every single Baroque Works agent.

“We need to leave this country before we get caught,” Mr. 1 said quietly, his voice cutting through the heavy silence. “We have no safe places left over here.”

We discussed the horrifying events of that horrible day. An unknown person had appeared out of nowhere during the massive war in the desert. This monster abducted our boss, Mr. 0. He also kidnapped Eustass Kid and Basil Hawkins right in the middle of their fight.

The attacker did not stop with the powerful captains. The mysterious monster also targeted Miss Wednesday for a completely unknown reason.

“We really have no hope left,” Mr. 5 muttered, staring at the cave floor.

Several lower-ranked members of our organization sacrificed themselves to stall that monster. They died trying to figure out what was happening and give Miss Wednesday a chance to run. They fought bravely, but that monster was too strong.

Just as Miss Wednesday was cornered, Warlord Bartholomew Kuma arrived on the battlefield. Kuma did not explain his presence. He attacked Miss Wednesday immediately. He struck her with his massive paw pad, and she vanished into thin air. Then he said something to the monster and he himself vanished from there. Miss Wednesday current location and status remained a complete mystery to everyone.

We had no leader and no safe haven. We debated how to quietly slip out of Alabasta without drawing attention. We needed a ship and a disguise.

Footsteps echoed near the cave entrance. Miss Goldenweek walked into the dim light. She carried a fresh newspaper and a stack of newly printed bounty posters dropped by a passing News Coo.

She dropped the stack in the middle of our circle. We frantically sifted through the posters, desperate for any information on the shifting global power dynamics. We needed to know who was controlling the seas now.

I picked up one specific bounty poster and froze.

My eyes went wide. My hands started to shake.

The rest of the Baroque Works agents noticed my sudden reaction. Bon Kurei stopped pacing. Mr. 1 looked up from his hands. They all gathered around me, staring at the paper I held in my trembling grip.

The faces on the bounty poster stared back at us. We looked in pure shock at the crew making massive waves in Paradise.

“Is that…” Miss Doublefinger whispered, dropping her pipe.

We stared at the poster of the people who had defeated our boss. The reality of our situation sank in. If we wanted to survive this dangerous new era, we might have to seek out the very monsters printed on this page.