Chapter 48: Chapter 48: I Suddenly Regret
Sword God Ryuma: "You? You really think you can carry out my will?"
Lucas: "That's right! If you lend me your strength, I'll finish what you started. Wano will no longer be a land of shame—it will return to being the pride of the samurai!"
Sword God Ryuma: "Hmph. Bold words! Then let me ask you this—have you ever slain a flying dragon?"
Lucas: "Not yet, but soon. Because Wano's current ruler—Kaido—is a dragon."
Sword God Ryuma: "What?! I thought the dragon I slayed was the last of its kind! I didn't expect another to exist… and ruling Wano, no less! No wonder Kozuki Oden failed. A monster like that… defeating it will take more than just swordsmanship."
Ding! Sword God Ryuma has sent an exclusive red envelope: [Swordsmanship – Top] to group leader Lucas!
Lucas smirked. "Now this is what I was waiting for!"
Golden Lion Shiki: "Hold on—top-level swordsmanship? Is that a step above a Great Swordsman?!"
Lucas: "That's right! I'm curious now—has the current world's strongest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, reached this level?"
Sword God Ryuma: "'World's strongest swordsman'? Hah! That was my title, once. If he claims it now, then I'll have to see for myself whether he's worthy."
Golden Lion Shiki: "Hahaha! Then why don't we find Mihawk and have a duel? Let's settle once and for all who holds the greatest swordsmanship!"
Sword God Ryuma: "Now that is an idea I can get behind!"
Lucas: "Wait—who even held the title of world's strongest swordsman in your era?"
Whitebeard: "There wasn't one. There were too many powerful swordsmen back then. No single person officially held the title."
Lucas: "You've got to be kidding me. No one?"
Pirate King Roger: "That's right. The strongest swordsmen of our time included me, Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Rayleigh, Kozuki Oden… But none of us were pure swordsmen."
Golden Lion Shiki: "Hahaha! It's true! Back then, we didn't care about the title of 'World's Greatest Swordsman.' I was after world domination, Whitebeard wanted family, Roger wanted adventure, and Rayleigh—well, he was just lazy."
Whitebeard: "For us, swordsmanship was just a tool for battle—not a goal. Our era was dominated by pirates, and a swordsman's prestige wasn't as important as their ambition."
Golden Lion Shiki: "But don't let that fool you! Just because we didn't claim the title doesn't mean our swordsmanship was inferior. If you really want to test how strong Mihawk is, use my swordsmanship to fight him!"
Ding! Golden Lion Shiki has sent an exclusive red envelope: [Swordsmanship – Great] to group leader Lucas!
Lucas grinned as he accepted it. "Alright, challenge accepted!"
He understood what they meant. Even though their era had no 'official' world's greatest swordsman, it had sword masters whose skill surpassed legends.
It was like Red-Haired Shanks—despite never claiming the title, his swordsmanship rivaled Mihawk's.
Outside World
Marco and his men returned, dragging Vander Decken's corpse behind them, along with the bald sea monster, who was still alive but barely conscious.
Lucas cracked his knuckles. "Alright, everyone ready? Let's begin!"
Activating the Float-Float Fruit, Fishman Island trembled, the very water surrounding it shaking as the massive landmass lifted. The entire island, along with its protective bubble, rose, slowly ascending from the depths of the Red Line's underwater passage, climbing higher and higher toward the ocean's surface.
Inside the Chat Group
Fisher Tiger: "This… This is unreal! The Float-Float Fruit can actually lift an entire island?! This ability is beyond terrifying!"
Golden Lion Shiki: "Hahaha! NOW you understand whose ability this is?! My Float-Float Fruit is legendary!"
Lucas: "Too bad you never used it properly, Shiki. Everyone says Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit is the most destructive power in the world. But in my opinion, Float-Float is even deadlier."
Whitebeard: "What?! Explain yourself! There's no way I'm losing to that!"
Lucas: "Don't get mad—just look at the facts. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit is devastating, but it's limited—it can only destroy one island at a time. And against something as massive as the Red Line, it's uncertain whether it could even cause major damage."
Lucas: "But the Float-Float Fruit? That's different. Lift an entire island, drop it from high enough, and the impact alone could cause worldwide destruction."
Lucas: "Here's an example—if I lifted an island and dropped it on Marineford, the shockwave alone would obliterate the entire base. But that's just the beginning. The resulting tsunami would—"
ü Engulf Sabaody Archipelago.
ü Slam into the Red Line, potentially cracking its foundation.
ü Trigger massive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and secondary tsunamis.
ü Reverse the flow of the Grand Line, causing disasters in Alabasta, Water 7, and Impel Down.
ü Push the Sea Kings from the Calm Belt into the Four Blues, causing a global ecosystem collapse.
Lucas: "In short—the Float-Float Fruit isn't just a powerful ability. It's a world-ending weapon."
Pirate King Roger: "… Are you serious?!"
Lucas: "Dead serious."
Golden Lion Shiki: "… I never thought about using it like that…"
Lucas: "That's the problem—you never used your power correctly. If you had, you wouldn't have needed a fleet to take on the World Government. You could have just bombarded them from the sky."
Golden Lion Shiki: "..."
Golden Lion Shiki: "Wait. You mean I could've just dropped islands on Marineford and Marijoa instead of fighting a full-scale war?!"
Lucas: "Exactly. Drop a few islands on Marine HQ today, then target Marijoa tomorrow. Within a month, the Gorosei would have been begging for a truce."
Golden Lion Shiki: "..."
And once again, Shiki felt regret.
"Dammit…" he muttered. "If I had just thought of this sooner…"
His entire life, he had dreamed of conquering the world—yet the key to absolute power had been in his hands all along, and he never realized it.
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