“Damn you…”

  “What are y to aplish here?”

  The Five Elders, their faces dark with fury, reverted from their beast and hybrid forms baan shape. Their expressions were grim, their gazes murderous as they gred at Fallen Angel El, barely taining their anger.

  “e now, there's no need for such hostility,” El said with a pyful grin, appeariirely unfazed. He gestured casually, speaking with calm amusement: “There’s no need for threats. I’m simply making a suggestion: leave here immediately with your forces, and I won’t detohe explosives pnted in Mary Geoise.”

  His golden eyes gleamed as he added, “Oh, and be sure to warn those old-timers on the Red Line. If they try anything reckless, like using a wide-range queror’s Haki to incapacitate the signaling Den Den Mushi, that’ll automatically trigger the detonation system.” He leaned in, his smile widening. “And then, 5,000 meters above sea level, Mary Geoise will experiehe most beautiful fireworks dispy the world has ever seen.”

  A chill spread through the battlefield. Everyone khat the Holy Land housed not only the Celestial Dragons, CP0, and Holy Knights but also maired elites from previous geions—many of whom likely possessed queror’s Haki. While finding aralizing the Den Den Mushi through their Observation Haki might be possible, doing so would require time—a luxury they didn’t have.

  El khe explosives weren’t a perma deterrent, but that didn’t matter. With over 200 Celestial Dragons as hostages, he had more than enough leverage. If the Woverried anything underhanded, he repared to retreat to Wano and tinue building his forces i.

  “Damn you!”

  “Curse you, you bastard!”

  The Elders’ faces grew darker as the full weight of the threat sank in. Behind them, Fleet Admiral Hamans William, Steel Bone Kong, CP0 operatives, and Holy Knights gred daggers at El, their fury palpable. Their teeth ched, their bodies trembling with suppressed rage.

  “We’ll leave, but on one ditiourn the Celestial Dragons you’ve taken, and release Well and Howard Saint!” The sharp demand came from Elder Maimie, his voice cold and unyielding.

  “That won’t work,” El said smoothly, shaking his head with a faint chuckle. “Those Celestial Dragons are bargaining chips, and there’s no way I’m letting them go. As for Saint Muner and Saint Howard…” He paused, his smile turning cold and sharp. “Sorry, but they’ve already bee with.”

  “Bastard!!”

  The words hit like a hammer. The Five Elders and Holy Knights were livid, their eyes bzing with fury. It was clear what had happened: Saint Muner had been killed for his Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, the Azure Dragon.

  El igheir rage, turning io the Fish-meatio the coastline. “Are Sebastian and the others done? How maial Dragons did we catch?”

  A burly grouper Fish-man stepped forward, bowing slightly. “El-sama, their mission just cluded. They reported capturing over 200 Celestial Dragons.”

  “What!?”

  “Over 200!?”

  Shock rippled through the battlefield. Even the Five Elders, who were aced to camities, were visibly shaken. Gasps echoed among the gathered forces of the Wover. They stared at El in disbelief, their rage mingling with the cold grip of fear.

  “You heard that, didn’t you?” El’s voice, calm and mog, carried easily over the tense silehat’s 200 Celestial Dragons in my hands.” He shifted his gaze to the Elders, his golden eyes glittering with malice. “We’ll iate their release with your Woverer. For now, I suggest you leave Totto Land’s waters immediately.” A pause, and then he smiled darkly. “Otherwise, losing 200 Celestial Dragons will be the least of your worries.”

  The sheer audacity of his threat sent chills down their spines. Each figure gred with murderous i, clearly wishing to tear the other apart. Yet El stood his ground, brimming with fidence, his smile unwavering as he awaited the Five Elders’ decision.

  “Hmph. Let’s hope you keep your word,” one of the elders finally said, his tone cold. “If not, you surely uand the sequences of angering the Wover.” Their expressions shifted subtly, betraying an unseeal exge. Eventually, the Five Elders were forced to relent. No matter their unwillingness or seething rage, the dire circumstances left them no choice. Their immediate priority was log aralizing the explosives hidden in Mary Geoise. Above all, they had to avoid disturbing that figure who resided in the Holy Land.

  Retreat of the Wover Forces

  Shortly thereafter, two enormous winged forms—a thunderbird and an Itsumade—took flight. They carried the forces of the Wover, including many powerful fighters secured within the "S Dimension" of Vice Admiral Earth Dragon. Even the summoned reinforts—Saint Nasujuro, Saint Valkyrie, Saint Ju Peter, and Saint Saturn—did not immediately return teoise. They hovered above, exuding killing i, their gazes filled with fury ament as they relutly retreated, wary of a sneak attack from El's forces.

  Perched on Thunderbird Saint Denis’s back, the elders maintaiheir vigiil they finally vanished into the horizon.

  The Aftermath

  “Hahaha! What an unbelievable feat,” Rocks D. Xebec excimed, his ugh eg through the scorched isnd. “You actually forced the Wovero hold their noses and promise!”

  Rocks’s admiration for El’s audacious tactics was tinged with unease and a hint ret. In hindsight, he wished he had taken advantage of the chaos to attack the Wover’s weaker links and seize more Devil Fruit powers. Instead, all he had mao snag was a single Bird-Bird Fruit: Vulture Model.

  “Tch, what a waste… But enough about that. Where’s my reward?” Rocks stepped forward, extending his right hand toward El. “Don’t tell me you’re pnning to back out now!”

  “Hey, wait a sed! What about us?” Roger interjected, raising a hand with an exaggerated expression. “Cough it up!”

  Remaining calm, El oward one of the massive sea beasts nearby.

  “Yes, El-sama.”

  The beast leaped ashore, its massive maw opening wide before spitting out its cargo.

  BOOM!

  The ground trembled violently as a massive red stone smmed onto the earth, sending a cloud of dust billowing outward. As the debris cleared, everyone’s eyes locked onto the Road Poneglyph—a massive, weathered red stone marked with a glyphs, its surface dotted with moss and the wear of tless years.

  “So this is one of the Road Poneglyphs… the key to reag the Final Isnd,” Rocks murmured, his gaze burning with iy. Roger’s crew, including the Silver, Gold, and Copper trio, shared expressions of awe aement.

  “This is just one piece,” El said casually, shrugging his shoulders. “There are four in total, but as for the locations of the other three… I have no idea.” It was, of course, a lie. El khe whereabouts of most of the Road Poneglyphs but had no iion of revealing such critical information. “Regardless, this is the reward I promised you.” He gestured toward the massive stone and added indifferently, “You take an imprint or record its inscriptions, but you ’t take the inal with you.”

  While El was indeed ied in the Final Isnd, the scattered state of the Poneglyphs meant he could afford to let them copy this o was a small price to pay for their assistan this critical battle.

  “Hmph, so they get a share too?” Rocks frowned, his gaze flickering toward Roger and his crew. His displeasure was evident as he grumbled, “Selling the same thing to two buyers—isn’t that a bit much?”

  “Why? Don’t want it? Perfect. That makes things easier!” El shot him a sharp gre, instantly dising Rocks’s iions. It was clear Rocks was sizing up Roger’s crew, perhaps even pting attag them ht.

  “Hahaha! Like hell I don’t want it!” Rocks bellowed with ughter, his tone dangerous. “After all the trouble I went through, I’m taking my cut!”

  Bleam