Arceus's Pirate Journey

The scorpion’s shell reddened under the magma’s heat, while within the magma, Sakazuki’s body gradually coalesced. He was magma; magma could not harm him. Rather, it allowed him to move freely within it.

”Inugami Guren!”

His right arm pierced into the giant scorpion’s abdomen, with vast quantities of magma continuously injected into its body. Under this barrage, the scorpion’s physique began to sag, ultimately collapsing into the lava.

But unlike ordinary creatures that would be charred to ashes by scorching magma, it instead emitted an eerie white glow.

BOOM!

The third stage, explosion.

A massive mushroom cloud ascended skyward, and the powerful shockwave swept over every inch of the island, obliterating any remaining structures. This explosion embodied the true nature of the Gift of Nature’s attack.

A high-powered skill triggered by a Devil Fruit had reached its pinnacle of might. This Gift of Nature, one could say, brought explosive power to a new 2.0 era.

.....

Out at sea, the winds from the explosion ruffled Zeraora’s fur, and Queen beheld his masterpiece. His insistence on leaving with Zeraora was precisely for this reason; the explosion knew no friend from foe, and getting caught in it would be equally detrimental to them.

In his last experiment, without even using his full strength, he demolished an entire facility. Witnessing the full power of the Gift of Nature, Queen wore a maniacal grin.

”Muhahaha, as expected of yours truly. With a blast such as this, there shouldn’t be anything left on that island... hmm... nothing left at all...”Some people laugh until they cry, and recalling those nearly-ripe bananas on the island, an inner pang of regret stirred. The joy from the explosion was gone.

As for returning to check the outcome, he had no inclination for that right now. They had successfully escaped, after all. Sakazuki was the Navy’s top-tier fighter, and Queen doubted such a person would die just from an explosion. Not everyone was named Ashura Doji.

The sadness did not linger long as he remembered how joined forces with Zeraora could contend with an Admiral, reigniting hope for the future. It seemed he had been overly cautious before; he was still very powerful.

This inner narrative of Queen’s, from Zeraora’s perspective, seemed like the rambling of a madman, alternating between laughter and tears, thoughts completely unreadable.

”How about I give you some news to calm you down?”

”What is it?”

”You helped take a lot of heat off the boss earlier, but with what you just did, it seems you’re not exactly ’taking the fall’ anymore.”