Chapter 104: A Meteor? Three Minutes Earlier...

Zoro recalled what he had seen beneath the sea.

The countless craters were like scars carved into the earth itself.

Every single one seemed to tell the story of a devastating battle.

Even now, the sight lingered vividly in his mind.

Sanji’s brows were tightly furrowed as well.

Deep within his eyes was a trace of fear.

He looked around as if trying to piece together clues from the scene he had just witnessed.

"If I’m not mistaken..."

"There used to be an island here."

He spoke slowly.

"Then something happened."

"It was bombarded so heavily that the entire island was erased from the surface of the sea."

His voice was low and grim.

Even he was shaken by the scale of destruction.

"What...?!"

Nami’s pupils contracted.

Based on Sanji’s description alone, she could easily imagine the horrifying scene.

An island swallowed by endless bombardment.

Shells raining down without mercy.

The ground torn apart by countless explosions.

Buildings reduced to rubble.

Forests uprooted.

Everything flattened.

Most unbelievable of all—

The bombardment had blasted the island itself below sea level.

The ocean had rushed in and swallowed what remained of the land.

It was difficult to imagine the terror and despair experienced by anyone unfortunate enough to be there.

"That’s horrible..."

Nami whispered.

Her heart filled with shock and anger.

Who could have done something like this?

And why?

Clenching her fists, she silently vowed to uncover the truth.

"Damn it!"

Luffy gritted his teeth.

"Who would do something so stupid?"

"They sank a beautiful island!"

"When I find them, I’m gonna make them pay!"

His fists trembled with anger.

His eyes burned with fury.

"That’s terrifying..."

Chopper’s body shook slightly.

"What kind of power could do something like this?"

As the crew’s doctor, he had never witnessed destruction on such a scale.

The sheer thought of it filled him with fear.

Then—

Usopp suddenly jumped onto the railing.

With his hands on his hips, he looked down at everyone arrogantly.

"You ignorant pirates!"

"Obviously this was the work of the great Captain Usopp!"

"Back in the day, I commanded eight thousand subordinates and—"

BAM!

Before he could finish, Nami’s fist sent him flying.

A giant lump instantly appeared on his forehead.

Usopp clutched his head tearfully.

"N-Nami..."

"You..."

Nami glared at him.

Her eyes were ice cold.

"At a time like this, you’re still fooling around?"

"Go repair the ship!"

"Y-Yes ma’am..."

Usopp immediately surrendered.

Nami took a deep breath and began assigning tasks.

Standing at the bow with her hands on her hips, she addressed the crew.

"The Log Pose still needs a full day to store the magnetic field here."

"Only then can we obtain the direction of the next island."

"So we have to stay here for a whole day?"

Luffy immediately collapsed against the railing.

"That’s so boring..."

He looked like a deflated balloon.

Adventure was waiting somewhere out there, yet they had to sit still.

To him, that was torture.

Chopper copied his pose and slumped against the railing as well.

He absentmindedly tapped it with a hoof, equally bored.

Usopp was about to join them when he suddenly glanced upward.

His eyes narrowed.

"Huh...?"

"What’s that?"

He pointed toward the sky.

"A meteor?"

"A meteor?!"

Luffy instantly sprang back to life.

"Where?!"

"Where?!"

Chopper became excited too.

Everyone followed the direction of Usopp’s finger.

Far in the distance—

A streak of golden light was descending diagonally from the heavens.

A brilliant tail stretched behind it.

The glowing trail illuminated the sea below.

It looked exactly like a meteor crossing the sky.

"Wow!"

"It really looks like a meteor!"

Chopper bounced excitedly.

"We’ve gotta go see it!"

Luffy leaped off the railing and immediately wanted to head toward it.

Meanwhile, Usopp pulled out a telescope and carefully observed the object’s trajectory.

Trying to determine where it had come from.

As for what that "meteor" actually was...

Let’s rewind three minutes earlier.

Sky Island

Jozu was completely immersed in a level of excitement he had never experienced before.

He had waited far too long for a moment like this.

Not merely because nobody could challenge him.

But because he finally had an opportunity to test his true limits.

For Jozu, this wasn’t simply a demonstration of strength.

It was a chance to surpass himself.

A chance to discover where his boundaries truly lay.

"Seventy thousand!"

With a roar, he pushed the energy concentration to an entirely new level.

Yet even that wasn’t enough.

Moments later—

He shattered his own record.

"One hundred thousand!"

"One hundred thousand beams!!!"

Within mere seconds, Jozu successfully compressed one hundred thousand beams into a single ray of light.

The brightness alone was blinding.

More terrifying was the unimaginable amount of energy contained within it.

At that moment—

The very atmosphere seemed to tremble.

A suffocating tension spread through the surroundings.

Everyone held their breath.

All eyes were fixed on Jozu.

Because they knew...

What happened next would be historic.

Blenheim and several other Division Commanders had already retreated far away.

No one wanted to remain anywhere near the blast zone.

Even commanders of their caliber couldn’t guarantee survival if they were caught in the explosion.

To put it bluntly—

If they got hit directly, there might not even be a body left to recover.

As for scouting the impact area afterward?

A Logia User would obviously be the safest choice since they could become their element and avoid physical harm.

Yet despite that...

Not a single volunteer stepped forward.

That thing looked terrifying just to watch.

Ron, however, remained perfectly calm.

The power Jozu had displayed had genuinely surprised him.

The move—

Myriad Paths: Nuclear Blast

—not only resembled a real nuclear weapon in appearance...

The energy fluctuations it emitted were equally shocking.

A nuclear bomb.

The most destructive weapon known on Earth.

And Jozu was recreating something frighteningly similar through pure power alone.

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