Seeing Golden Lion Shiki knocked away, Brook knew he had to retreat from today's battle. If Shiki, who controlled the floating Golden Island, got knocked out cold, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Redfield! Take Shiki and fall back with him! Big Mom, be ready to support me anytime! I'll hold off Kong!"
Redfield didn't hesitate. Today, he had truly seen the gap between himself and a true powerhouse. Without another word, he grabbed the unconscious Golden Lion and flew toward the golden ship.
"Hmph. Brook, do you really think you can stop me?"
Kong tried to press forward and eliminate the dangerous Shiki, but Brook cut him off. Kong was on guard—Brook's Soul Slash was not something he could ignore.
"I admit I can't defeat you yet," Brook said with calm determination, "but I can stall you for a while. Thanks for letting us see the gap between us and a Marine Admiral. Now—take this!"
"King of the Underworld: Land of the Dead!"
With Redfield evacuating Shiki and Big Mom circling overhead, Brook unleashed his newly developed forbidden technique. Gripping his sword with both hands, his eyes glowed an eerie green.
At his command, ghostly generals began to wail as their spectral forms were absorbed into Brook's body. His frame grew in size, and waves of blue flames surged from within him.
As the strongest ghost general, David Kyons, was pulled into Brook's body with a final, agonized roar, Brook's aura hit its peak. Even Kong grew solemn at the sight of Brook's transformation.
While Brook's aura still didn't surpass Kong's, his soul-damaging power had multiplied tenfold.
Kong activated his three-foot-thick Armament Haki, spreading it wide. Since Brook wasn't dragging this out, Kong wasn't holding back either. He was ready to settle it in one clash.
"I have a sword called Seve Star Sword. Take a look, Admiral Kong!"
Brook's terrifying aura exploded across the battlefield. The sky turned a deep, dark blue, and for a moment, the world stood still. Even Kong felt his soul freeze, forcing him to take the attack head-on.
With both hands, Brook unleashed a massive blade of dark-blue sword energy, stretching hundreds of meters long. It slammed into Kong, who had fortified his entire body with Armament Haki. The moment the attack landed, Brook's aura rapidly faded.
"Big Mom!"
Brook called out weakly. Jolted by his cry, Big Mom snapped out of her daze and flew down on Zeus, scooping up the drained Brook without hesitation. She ignored the devastating explosion behind them as they escaped!
Kong's eyes were wide as the soul slash tore into him. For just a second, it froze his soul—paralyzing him. By the time he could move again, the slash was already on him.
He summoned all the Armament Haki in his body, turning into a jet-black iron titan. His hardened defense extended three meters beyond his body, trying desperately to block Brook's soul-cutting strike.
The slash wasn't just force—it was terror. It carried a force that cleaved at the soul.
As the energy struck, the ground around Kong disintegrated into powder. Buildings crumbled under the pressure. The shockwave echoed for miles. From afar, the wounded Rear Admiral Sengoku looked toward the blast with deep worry.
Moore's Seagull News Bird was flung into the sky, still recording the carnage. Iron Shield Island was reduced to rubble.
The fleeing civilians and Count Ironshield's troops wept in horror at the devastation. The Count clenched his fists in silent rage.
His city—built over two decades—was gone in an instant. In the eyes of true monsters, his title of "Count" meant nothing.
Just as Kong's seemingly infinite Haki began to falter under Brook's strike, a small, near-transparent ripple of sword energy slipped through his defenses—through his blackened skin, through his hardened body...
Puff.
No wound. No blood. Just a scratch-like sensation—but Kong's entire body trembled in pain. His face twisted, and his skin lost its color.
He clutched his chest, veins bulging in his forehead, sweat pouring out of him.
The pain drove him to one knee.
His right hand clutched his chest, trembling. His left hand dug into the earth, crushing it into powder. He had never experienced this kind of pain before.
"Brook!!!"
Kong roared. But the pain didn't fade. No matter what technique he used, even with life-recovery abilities, it stayed.
There was no physical wound—his soul had been sliced open.
There was no known way to heal that. The only ones who could recover faster from such damage were those who had awakened Conqueror's Haki.
As the Golden Island receded into the distance, Kong slowly stood. He would have to learn to live with this pain, sleep with it, breathe through it, until—bit by bit—his soul stitched itself back together.
He had underestimated the Hell Pirates. A crew pulled into the spotlight by sheer force. And he never expected Brook's Devil Fruit power to completely ignore his defenses and strike directly at his soul.
That man was his natural enemy.
It made Kong question everything. Was the path of physical invincibility truly the right one?
---
On the Golden Island.
The battered Golden Lion Shiki barely managed to keep the island floating. He hadn't expected Kong's all-out counterattack to be this devastating.
"That was insane… I need to get that strong too!"
Kaido's eyes were ablaze as he watched his comrades return from battle. Even bruised and bloodied, they radiated power.
Crocus quickly tended to Shiki's injuries, but when he turned to Brook, he hesitated—after all, Brook wasn't a normal man.
"Brother Brook… how bad is it? What do you need me to do?"
Brook, too tired to move, simply waved him off. "No need for that. Big Mom, give me some Homies to eat."
Without hesitation, Big Mom conjured souls into several cakes, turning them into talking Homies. Brook gobbled them down one by one, absorbing their soul energy and starting the long recovery from his ultimate slash.
---------------
But this kind of Homie food barely contained any soul energy, and Brook urgently needed to slaughter a group of living creatures to restore his soul power—and feed his Ghost General!
"Shakky, find a nearby Beast Island. I need to replenish my soul energy! After that, we'll head back to Sky Island!"
Brook gave the command. His current weakened state made him feel insecure. He had to recover his combat strength fast. If he were more ruthless, he might've just gone ahead and slaughtered an entire town!
"Got it, Captain!"
Shakky immediately pulled out a nautical chart and began searching for nearby islands. But many didn't have a permanent log pose, making them hard to reach.
"Brother Brook, we've got a few options—Little Garden in the Grand Line, Merveille Island, and the Ruskaina in the Calm Belt. All of them are crawling with beasts. The Kirin Lion's O-Kan Island is another option, but Moore Thomas already has permanent log poses for the first three, so let's skip O-Kan Island. Why not return to Sky Island to rest and grab the log poses first?"
Shakky quickly narrowed it down. In fact, Little Garden was the most suitable. It was en route to Sky Island, and on the way back, they could pass Reverse Mountain and enter the West Blue.
Since Golden Island didn't yet have a proper propulsion system, they couldn't cross the Calm Belt—not unless they temporarily anchored it at Sky Island and used the Golden airship to fly across directly into the West Blue.
But there was also a Sea Prism Stone chamber on Golden Island. Eventually, they'd need to recover the Fortress Fruit and collect a huge number of books from the scholars' island—Ohara. The Erebus ship wouldn't be able to carry both the chamber and all those books.
Ohara had stockpiled so many books that even Capone Bege, whose Fortress Fruit could create structures up to 70 or 80 meters tall, wouldn't have been able to carry them all.
Known as the Island of Scholars, Ohara had been collecting books from around the world for over a thousand years. Even ancient texts were accessible there.
Poor Nico Robin had gained so much free knowledge when she was just eight—learning archaeology, ancient languages, and even passing a doctorate-level exam.
··
"Alright then, let's head back to Sky Island first! Linlin, make some more Homies for me!"
Brook agreed after hearing Shakky's suggestion. But his weakened soul left him no choice but to rely on Big Mom's soul stockpile.
Linlin obliged, creating Homies one after another using her soul abilities. Brook harvested and consumed them nonstop, gradually restoring his spirit.
Meanwhile, Kaido was roaming around the island out of curiosity—only to be challenged by Fisher Tiger, another trainee on the crew. The two immediately clashed but were quickly broken up by Fish-Man Tom.
At 8 years old, Kaido's strength was equivalent to a bounty of 20 to 30 million berries. By age 10, when he became the strongest soldier of his kingdom, he should've hit 50 million. At 13 or 14, when he escaped the Navy, he was already worth 70 million.
Now, Tiger—after training under the Hell Pirates—could fight Kaido evenly. That was something he'd be bragging about for life.
Kaido was currently just mingling with some low-level soldiers. No mentor, no special food, no real sparring partners—his potential was being wasted!
If the Hell Pirates began training him seriously, he might grow faster and become even stronger than he did in his original timeline!
··
Back on Iron Shield Island, Kong endured the torment in his soul as he returned to the warship. With sheer willpower, he gradually adjusted to the pain, though it still affected his combat strength.
Admiral Kong, are you alright?"
Rear Admiral Sengoku looked at Kong's pale face with concern, guilt heavy on his shoulders—he'd lost to Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!
At 28, Sengoku had plans—become a Vice Admiral by 30, an Admiral by 40, and Fleet Admiral in his 50s. He believed that under his leadership, the Marines could truly dominate the world.
But today marked his first loss against an equal opponent. Newgate was younger, yet both his Haki and Devil Fruit abilities were stronger!
"I'll live. But you—you need to get it together. Winning and losing are part of the job. Don't let one failure crush you. Justice will push us forward—and make us stronger!"
Kong was clearly disappointed, but he held back and chose instead to fire up Sengoku's fighting spirit. He wouldn't let a talent like him fall into despair.
"I understand, Admiral Kong! Next time, I'll defeat Edward Newgate and erase this humiliation!"
Determination blazed in Sengoku's eyes. He vowed to double down on training. Intelligence wasn't enough anymore—he had to level up his raw power. He would never lose face to pirates again.
"We misjudged the Hell Pirates. Their overall power is terrifying. No Vice Admiral can take them on. Even Admirals will have to be careful."
Kong gave the warning seriously, then returned with Sengoku to Marineford for recovery. He wondered if the scientists there had any way to repair soul damage.
Just like that, the Navy retreated, leaving Iron Shield Island in ruins. If they hadn't shown up, Shakky might've just looted a few wealthy merchants. But thanks to the Marines, the entire island was destroyed.
Wonder what Count Iron Shield will say when he hears? The Navy and World Government weren't about to compensate the Kingdom of Valoran. And the Heavenly Tribute (Sky Gold) still had to be paid!
That's the tragedy of weak nations in this world—no right to demand anything from the strong.
··
Golden Island soared back to Sky Island, above Jaya Island. In Shandora, many of the angels had joined the World Economic News Agency, helping with news editing and printing.
Moore Thomas found Sky Island angels to be safer, more disciplined, and trainable. So, aside from top-level designers, the rest of the news agency's HQ staff on Sky Island became field reporters.
Editing and printing were assigned to the angels. They even raised seagulls to act as News Birds. Angels were diligent, focused, and reliable.
As Golden Island docked in Sky Island, Moore Thomas led a welcoming party to greet Brook. Morgans, now two years old, had already learned to walk and sat in his mother Monis' arms, eyeing the newcomers with curiosity.
"Brother Brook! So glad to see you again! It's already been over a year since we last met—and now you're a world-famous pirate!"
Moore Thomas rushed forward and hugged Brook. Their Moore family had backed a real powerhouse this time. With Brook's help, they were now thriving in the underground world!
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