"Tsk tsk, what a grand operation!"

  "Those Wover dogs must be losing their minds!"

  "Heh, what could drive them crazier than blowing up Marineford and pnting explosives in Mary Geoise?"

  "At this point, there’s nothing for us to worry about!"

  "With all those Celestial Dragons as hostages, are we really afraid of their retaliation?"

  …

  The members of the Fallen Angel Pirates were astonished but couldn't help marveling at the audacity of the operation. None of them had expected Barry’s group to fail at directly raiding the Wover's treasury yet succeed in looting the private vaults of the Celestial Dragons instead.

  Although the World Nobles led vish lives, their wealth and reserves were undeniably immense. Apart from a few scattered families, maial Dragons had accumuted treasures eions. Their colles were undoubtedly astonishing. If all their vaults were emptied, the riches would be unimaginable.

  "With the limited time avaible, it’s impossible for Barry to have emptied all of the Celestial Dragons' treasuries," Sally said with a smile. "But I imagihe haul is still signifit!"

  "Hmm, even a fra of it is already astonishing!"

  El nodded, smiling. He had to admit, fortuen apanied audacity. Although every move the Fallen Angel Pirates had made felt like walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss, the rewards had been equally immense. With each battle, they had only growhier.

  Especially during these past weeks, Barry and his team’s infiltration of the Celestial Dragons' private treasuries had yielded a trove of Devil Fruits that was nothing short of astonishing. Some of the abilities they recovered surprised even El, potentially rivaling the colles housed in the Wover’s official treasury.

  It wasn’t hard to guess that many of these Devil Fruits were whimsically acquired by the Celestial Dragons—whether through tributes from sycophants or purchases from au houses—and used as mere pythings. The Five Elders had likely "requisitioned" a rge portion of these fruits over time, uhe guise of y for the gover. Otherwise, Barry and Ryan’s group might have brought back far more than the 20 or 30 Devil Fruits they mao recover.

  "I suspe opportunity like this won’t e again," e ented with a chuckle. "After this i, the Wover will undoubtedly tighten its security. Pulling off something like this iure will be much harder!"

  The Wover was no fool. A sirategy could not succeed repeatedly. They would learn from this failure, being more cautious and vigint iure. Pulling off su ued move again would be nearly impossible.

  More importantly, the risks were immense.

  "Have Barry and the others follow the inal pn. Do not use the Mirror World for transport," El said firmly to Sally. "The Five Elders' spatial teleportation abilities might allow them to directly access the Mirror World. Be extra cautious!"

  "Instruct the Homies in the Mirror World to monitor its interior closely. If there is any sign urity, report it immediately!"

  The mission to have Barry and his team infiltrate Mary Geoise had been a signifit gamble. A single misstep could have resulted in catastrophic losses, with Barry and his group potentially being trapped there forever. But there was no other option; calcuted risks had to be taken. Fortunately, their objectives were successfully achieved.

  "Uood!"

  Meanwhile, the events unfolding at sea were causing an uproar. Even though the live broadcast had e without warning, several nations and fas had received the signal. Through the proje of Den Den Mushi, they withe horrifyiru of Marineford as it was engulfed in fmes.

  The shog and visually overwhelming se left them stuheir disbelief turning intency as they scrambled to tact the Wover or nearby Marine brao firm the situation. However, no responses were forthing. This silenly fueled their unease and stoked fears of the worst.

  "Crack!"

  "The footage just now... Was that really Marineford?"

  "Is it true? Did the iic bastion of justice go up in fmes?"

  "Who could have done such a thing?"

  "Unbelievable..."

  Throughout the Grand Line and the Four Blues, cities and royal capitals—especially those with advanced unication and proje teology—withe broadcast from the Fallen Angel Pirates. Seeing the catastrophic explosion and the plete destru of Marineford left many in shock. Fear and panic spread among civilians, who found it hard to believe their eyes.

  After all, in the turies sihe Wover was founded, nothing of this scale had ever occurred.

  "Could this really be true?"

  "How could this happen? What’s going on?"

  "Did Marineford truly fall?"

  "But... we all heard that deafening explosion just moments ago!"

  "That’s right! The sound of the bst unmistakably came from Marineford’s dire!"

  "Oh, heavens! Is this the end of the world?"

  "Could it be that a terrifying war is about to break out?"

  On the Sabaody Archipego, a bustling crowd gathered in a tral square. Through proje equipmely set up by agents of the Underworld Trade Syndicate, they too saw the disaster unfold. The masses turned pale as fear and uainty took hold.

  "Kehahahaha! What a masterpiece!"

  A wild-looking, golden-haired man ughed heartily.

  "Captain Shiki, should we go take a look?" one of his crew members asked hesitantly.

  "Of course! How could we miss out on such a spectacle?" the lion-like man roared, heading toward the harbor without hesitation.

  "Wait for us, Captain Shiki!"

  His crew exged gnces before rushing to follow him.

  "Kurararara! Quite the spectacle, isn’t it?"

  Elsewhere on the Archipego, a tall, golden-haired young man sat on a tree branch, stroking his promi in amazement.

  "To pull off something like this... It could only be the work of the Fallen Angel Pirates, right? Was this their doing?"

  "e, fet about that for now!"

  A nearby pirate captain wearing a tri hat shouted to him, "It looks like the Marines are mobilizing!"

  "Our ship has just fis coating; we o set sail!"

  "Alright, I’m ing!"

  Bleam