Chapter 302: Final Chapter: Developments, Peace and Time
The celebrations lasted for 3 days in total, with only the leaders of the army being on the periphery, making a more concrete plan for their future World Government.
Sengoku had already begun writing letters to all world leaders, calling upon them to visit the former Holy Land within a month.
Shiki had already cleared out the debris with his power, and they would start rebuilding soon.
The Celestial Dragons were found in their little hiding spot deep under the earth, on the other side of the Red Line. The one to find them was none other than Enel. How could they hide after all?
IMU had tried putting them in a room fully encased in seawater and sea stone, but Enel's senses were trained to the point where he noticed it regardless — the small void near the bottom of the sea.
A warrior squad from the Fishmen Kingdom led by Jinbei were the ones to dig them up, not even bothering to take them out of the room they were in as they quite literally dragged them whole to the top of the sea.
Then it came... The live execution of the Celestial Dragons, followed by Enel's announcement to the world.
"Many generations have fought for freedom in this ruined world. And this time it was our turn, we sought it out with our every breath..."
By Enel's side stood Luffy, behind them were Garp and the marines, Francisco and the Pirates.
And in a platform right in front of them were the kneeling nobles, all gagged and weeping, their heads sticking out and waiting to be cut clean as gravity itself didn't allow them to move.
Their executioners? Former slaves who had been trapped with the Nobles. All of their marks are now erased with the help of Vegapunk, but their memories of torment are still there.
"Today we stand at the precipice of a new dawn. A time without the shackles of old, where even those who were once called slaves may rise and live freely.
The blood of the nobles shall quench our thirst for vengeance, and our vision of the future may remain pure. No longer will there be a throne, no longer will there be Celestial Nobles that you will be forced to look up to and respect!"
Enel waved his hand as he spoke with great vigour, like the true leader he had become.
For a moment, the awakened Lightning God could feel it... The entire world was shouting. Screaming...
"Off With Their Heads!"
His voice resonated with their wishes as the former slaves who had suffered restrained themselves no longer.
Blades fell, necks were cut, and heads were rolling.
Some were gutted, some simply received a cut to the jugular, left to bleed out.
Only one former World Noble was not on the pedestal, getting killed. He was the only one who had treated his slaves like people, the only one who didn't subscribe to the ways of his fellow 'Celestial Dragons'.
Donquixote Mjosgard was his name. His world had been changed by his time spent in the Fishman Kingdom in the past, and that was the only reason for his survival. His ability to change had shown everyone that he was just human at the end of the day.
But the others were too far gone. Only the children would be spared, those that had not the time to do anything wrong yet.
They would be closely watched by the Marines, to make sure that nothing would happen to them, and that they would not attempt to regain any of their past 'glory'.
Such was the end of the former world's nobility, but it was also the start of a new world.
The movement of Enel's Army was swift as the celebrations ended. A 'New World Republic' was quickly formed, and they established their base in the very land they fought on.
The Holy Land of Mary Joise was quickly redeveloped, and it was aptly renamed that same year to the Land of Liberty, Liberterra.
It became a sprawling city made of machinery and marble, housing both the 'Palace of Parliament' one of the largest in the world, and the 'Punk Laboratory', which was the new residence of Vegapunk and his satellites.
And of course, unlike the gigantic structures previously standing on that land, nothing was restricted to outsiders following the rule of law, everyone was invited to visit it, to lay their eyes upon the many tombstones that littered the 'Hall of the Greats'.
There lay what remained of the bodies of the many heroes who had fallen in that massive struggle for freedom.
It told of their stories, their dreams, things that people who knew them best had written down.
As for the rest of the world...
The Giants... After refusing to join Enel's Army and fight against the World Government, they were somewhat sidelined with news of the Sky King's victory.
But they were mostly a closed-off country, so things didn't really affect them as much. Life went on as usual.
Wano was somewhat different. Despite not being in a state to join Enel, they all celebrated when he won.
Regardless of the fact that Wano was not too affected by the world's ruling power in its closed state, they still considered Enel, Luffy and their merry bands the saviours of Wano.
A victory for them was a victory of Wano by proxy, so Momonosuke pulled no stops and celebrated for an entire week, opening up the pantry of the Noble clans to feed and get the entire population drunk at the same time.
As they were celebrating, the New World Republic quickly spread its influence through the world with the help of the Neo Marines, led by Monkey D. Dragon.
With overwhelming might, they quelled any and all piracy across the 4 Seas for the time being. They also set up blockades throughout Paradise, the first part of the Grand Line, something that had been somewhat unheard of previously.
This allowed kingdoms to thrive, and communities to prosper. Prosperity was further enhanced by the fact that Vegapunk's technological advancements were now allowed to be spread to the world, and used for the good of the people.
Many no longer needed to go hungry, previously tribalistic nations were now having their horizons expanded.
But most importantly... People no longer had to live in fear.
After so many months of fighting and rebelling for a cause they saw just, they were now finally getting closure for it all was exactly what they all needed.
Countless lives were lost, but at the very least they had won. They were now able to move forward, remembering those who passed whilst also looking forward to the new things in their lives.
Unfairness was always going to exist in the world, same for crime. But at least now people didn't have to worry about an oppressive tyrant constantly breathing over their necks.
With the now unrestricted technological growth spurred by Vegapunk, regular criminals were also much easier to catch thanks to camera systems becoming more widespread.
As for Enel, the man who had spurred everything on. The one that had thrown down the gauntlet first in front of the World Government. The man that had carried victory in his mind and his back through it all... He was finally free to rest.
Rest was the one thing that Enel had little of through his journey, and as soon as matters were settled, he decided to depart from Liberterra and go his own way.
Francisco wanted to follow him at first, but Enel left in the middle of the night, leaving behind only a note.
In the end, Francisco would go off to join The Golden Lion Shiki. Slightly disappointed but not quite, as he still got to spend time with his friends in the New World.
As for the reasons behind Enel's departure... He had seen countless things previously, but not often did he have the time to enjoy the things that truly interested him. The many wonders of the world.
Stunning views and ancient architecture that few eyes in the world had the pleasure of witnessing... Enel wanted his eyes to gaze on them all personally, not from a distance through his godly senses.
The flying Viking boat became something akin to a legend in a few months that Enel had travelled alone.
But he wasn't going to be alone for much longer... One day, as he was visiting some ruins of a forgotten kingdom deep within the New World, he received a visitor...
Right upon his ship, a person was knocking on the tall door of his room.
He had felt them coming, but he was still going to act surprised when opening the door... At least he planned to, until the doorknob grew a hand and punched him in the gut. With haki.
The Emperor sighed as he felt the vibrations of that hit reverberate through his abdomen. Still, with his best smile, he opened the door.
"Robin! It's been so lon-" He didn't even get to finish as the Archeologist stormed in and and kicked him in the shinguard.
"Shut up you ingrate! How dare you just vanish like that?!?" As some might have guessed, she was a bit mad.
"I-I mean... I needed some time to decompress after everything-" Another kick interrupted the former Emperor, this time he was starting to sweat a bit, his calm facade breaking.
Ok, maybe she was more than a bit mad.
"Decompress?! We all needed time to process everything! But you just up and vanished as soon as Liberterra was built!" Robin's annoyed voice seemed to bounce off of Enel's fake smile.
"Ok... Maybe I was having a bit of a midlife crisis..." The Emperor finally admitted as he took a deep breath and analyzed his surroundings.
"Obviously you were!" Robin pulled on his earlobe, dragging him on the deck and pointing at the ruins he had been examining closely for a week... Nothing more than a broken-down stone archway with some scribbles on it.
"That's what you've been doing instead of spending time with me?!?"
Enel blinked a few times, looking in between the stone structure and Robin.
"Yeah... It's kinda stupid when you put it like that." Enel scratched his blonde stubble as his royal blue eyes now focused more on Robin.
The Straw Hat Archeologist was about to complain a bit more, but Enel's next words stopped her in her tracks.
"Say, how's about we look at stupid stones together from now on? Kill two birds with one interesting stone monument, or whatever the saying was."
The Lightning God immediately leaned down his arms wrapped around her as he spoke. Robin's eyes widened slightly before a smile rose to her lips.
"Should've said that from the beginning you brute..."
Robin's own arms ended up wrapping around Enel's muscular torso.
It was the start of their own adventure now...
Off to the side, Morgans's Blimp was still hovering in the vicinity. The Underworld Emperor had finally done his job reuniting the two lovers.
"Hmm... This is going to be big, wholesome news!"
The bird-man cackled as his team of editors looked at him with concern.
The News Tea Pot floated away after Morgans snapped a few shots of Enel and Robin hugging.
Enel couldn't help himself but flex slightly when he felt the photos were being taken, doing his best to look as handsome as possible, an attempt that was definitely felt by Robin, who immediately raised her arms and pulled on his cheeks with annoyance in her gaze.
"You damned showoff! Who're you trying to look good for?!?" Robin's faux rage was only really betrayed by the happy smile stretching across her lips.
Enel himself couldn't help but smile widely as well. He then lowered his body even further and kissed Robin, it was a long and passionate one, surprising even Robin.
But as the former Emperor stood straight and looked into the horizon, confidence brimmed within him.
'Finally! Time to no longer worry about time!'
Enel sighed, before clucking Robin's hand tighter within his own.
'Now with the best company possible as well!'
As the sun set had reached its peak of beauty, the only thought in Enel's mind was...
'Life couldn't be any better...'
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Heh, and so marks the end of the journey ;)
Well at least one of them. The world goes on.
I still have to do an epilogue for this, and I plan to do so. But I'll just leave it at this for now.
I've already started writing an original story and will post an update here as well when I feel it is ready to be uploaded. ;)
But for now, thank you all for sticking through with this story! In all its ups and downs, I can't help but say that it was a fun story to write.
I hope you stick around in the future as well, for any other stories ;) I don't plan to stop writing anytime soon
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