Chapter 348: This World Should Not Be Like This!

At the same time.

The border of Britannias.

A transparent doorway opened from the void, and countless survivors walked out, staring in a daze toward the central region of Britannias.

Their bodies trembled without their realizing it!

"What is that?!"

"Light!"

"A blinding light fell from the sky, wiping out everything it touched!"

"This is divine punishment!"

A surviving believer of the Awakening Church knelt on the ground, his face filled with an inexpressible despair and fanaticism.

His mind was on the verge of collapse; he took the pillar of light that had swallowed Avalon as the gods' punishment.

"Because our blasphemous acts have brought down divine punishment, the blasphemers must pay the price!"

"Burn them!"

"Burn—!"

Hiss—!

Before the man could finish speaking, a longsword swept across his neck and severed his head.

Many nearby failed to dodge in time, getting splashed with blood; their faces showed terror as they scrambled away.

Everyone's gaze converged on the headless corpse, yet there was little sympathy in their eyes.

"If gods truly existed, there would be no divine envoy like Wales, no evil-doing by the Awakening Church, and certainly none of this before us!"

An old man's eyes were bloodshot.

He had been a noble of Britannias, a family of modest means, yet he had been controlled by the Awakening Church and offered up everything.

Not only his wealth, but his own family!

At this moment, his heart held nothing but unspeakable hatred.

The people around him felt much the same.

After breaking free of Wales's control, they had only just realized how utterly absurd everything they had done truly was.

And as for the being who had saved this nation—even if it were the legendary Demon Dragon, it was still a Demon Dragon that had saved the world, worthy of being enshrined in a temple, worthy of being recorded in the history of Britannias!

"Pah—!"

A guard in tattered armor spat at the corpse, unwilling to spare it another glance.

But.

When the crowd turned back to look at the pillar of light in the distance, piercing heaven and earth, nearly filling their entire field of vision, their faces could only turn deathly pale!

"If divine punishment truly exists, this must be what it looks like, right?!"

"I've already lost my family, lost my home, and only just barely survived, but now…"

"But why?!"

"I was just… I just wanted to live. I worked day and night, paid my taxes, I only… only wanted my family to have a slightly better life."

"But now even that chance is gone?!"

"Is there truly no way to survive in this world?"

……

Despairing wails and sobs spread through the crowd, showing signs of growing ever more intense.

Bevier stood at the front of the crowd, listening to the sounds around him, watching the burning world in the distance; he only felt a chill through his whole body, a pressure lodged in his chest, but more than that, a deep sense of helplessness.

Gao Wen had defeated Wales, and he had thought hope would lead Britannias.

Jeanne had seized Fafnir's body and destroyed most of Avalon, killing countless people in the process; in the end, the survivors who made it through the portal numbered only a few tens of thousands, while Avalon city had originally held several hundred thousand!

Gao Wen had faced Jeanne and easily suppressed her, and Bevier had thought hope was truly about to arrive.

But the pillars of light falling from the heavens had swallowed everything on the earth.

All of Avalon, along with everything within several hundred kilometers around it, had been buried beneath those pillars of light.

Striking down the Awakening Church believer earlier and killing the unrest in its cradle had already drained Bevier of all his strength; at this moment he could only barely remain standing by leaning on his sword.

He opened his mouth:

"This world shouldn't be like this…"

"Hasn't this world always been like this? Living is an extraordinarily difficult thing!"

Beside him, Morgan pressed her lips tightly together, her eyes wide as she stared at everything in the distance, her gaze filled with bloodshot veins, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Yet her gaze did not waver in the slightest; she stared fixedly at everything unfolding in the distance, determined to etch that pillar of light piercing heaven and earth, and the countless dead, into her heart.

"Outside Britannias, rare races are hunted and sold as slaves to every corner of the world."

"The World Government collects an enormous Heavenly Tribute, sucking the blood of all ordinary people."

"Pirates plunder everywhere, stirring up chaos and leaving behind endless blood debts…"

"This world has always been like this…"

"Only Mr. Gao Wen—Mr. Gao Wen is the special one!

"That naive desire to give everyone a chance to live is the only salvation in this hopeless world!"

Morgan lowered her gaze, looking at the intact Life Card in her palm, her eyes soft, carrying a kind of firm, unwavering hope.

This was the Life Card Gao Wen had left her before the Lionheart Knight entered Britannias; its being intact meant that even under such a devastating blow, Gao Wen was still unharmed, and for her that was enough.

Her heart was already filled entirely with that man's shadow, but she knew all too well she still had other things to do.

Morgan tucked the Life Card away, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, turned to look at the survivors behind her, and spoke in a voice that was not loud, yet carried a soothing power:

"People of Avalon!"

"I am the First Princess of Britannias; King Arthur is dead, and everything here is temporarily under my command!"

"The danger has not yet passed; the enemy's attack could come at any moment. What you must do now is evacuate with me, temporarily!"

"Once everything has settled, we will rebuild our homes!"

"We will welcome a new king for Britannias!"

The sounds of weeping among the crowd slowly subsided.

They turned to look at Morgan, gazing at Bevil standing beside her and the contingent of Britannias guards, their eyes reigniting with hope as if they had found their backbone.

Very quickly.

Under Morgan's lead, the crowd began evacuating toward a more distant location.

Bevil followed close beside Morgan, his gaze never leaving the woman before him, for from Morgan he sensed a power unlike anything he had ever experienced.

He could not help but speak:

"You..."

Morgan did not turn back, her expression resolute:

"I simply felt that if Mr. Gao Wen were here, he would surely say such words and do such things."

"I am merely imitating him; I wish to become someone like him."

"You understand me, don't you?!"

"Bevil!"

Bevil's mind conjured the image of Gao Wen, and he could not help but nod:

"Ah."

"An existence like the sun."

"Indeed, it is quite awe-inspiring."

The crowd retreated along the coastline toward the safe zone.

Yet just as they turned, they discovered that the distant sea was surging violently, towering waves rolling toward the shore.

A storm was about to strike.

Bevil perceived far more than the others and harbored even more doubts:

"Something is wrong!"

"Logically, at this season, there should be no tsunami within Britannias!"

"Was it triggered by the attack that fell from the sky just now?!"

With catastrophe imminent, Morgan had no time to dwell on these matters:

"Move first!"

"Evacuate to higher ground!"...

In the central region of Britannias.

The spreading pillar of light gradually calmed and dissipated, leaving behind a colossal crater stretching beyond sight, lying across the earth.

Within view, apart from crimson magma, there was only a bottomless, shoreless giant pit.

Xiang Keluo stood at the crater's edge, gazing into its depths; all that met his eyes was a sea of red, so scorching he could barely keep them open.

A-Jin likewise stared blankly at the giant pit before him, his eyes filled with both terror and relief:

"If we hadn't evacuated an hour early, if the Captain hadn't held our life cards and rescued us in time, we might already have been blasted to ash."

"Ah."

Zoro's forehead was drenched in cold sweat; even the Murasame at his waist, usually restless, had become extremely docile, as if cowed by the world-piercing power unleashed moments before.

Sanji lowered his head, pulling a cigarette from his breast pocket, trying several times but failing to light it.

He simply flung it into the magma; with a hiss, the cigarette instantly burned to ash.

At that moment, everyone in Gao Wen's group stared blankly at the terrifying scene before them.

The world-piercing power unleashed just now had surpassed their imagination, utterly shattering the understanding they had built over decades.

It also gave them a true sense of the phrase 'one shot destroys a nation,' though that feeling was hardly pleasant.

Law pressed down the brim of his hat, his tone solemn:

"An Ancient Weapon?!"

Gao Wen lowered his gaze and nodded:

"Ah."

"One of the three Ancient Weapons: Uranus."

"I knew the World Government possessed such a thing, but I did not know they could already deploy it now."

"This may well alter the entire world's landscape."

No one contradicted Gao Wen's judgment, for a weapon capable of destroying a nation in a single strike already possessed the power to instantly annihilate any force.

Even a near-immortal monster like Jeanne was blasted to slag in an instant; Gao Wen himself had exerted his utmost strength merely to barely bring everyone out of the attack's range, otherwise they likely would not have survived.

Yet doubts still lingered in their hearts.

Xiang Keluo pressed further:

"Since the World Government possesses such a weapon, why has it remained sealed until now?!"

"There must be some reason preventing them from deploying this weapon; it could be energy, or it could be ammunition."

"Or perhaps it might cause consequences they are unwilling to bear!"

"Correct."

Gao Wen affirmed:

"The abuse of ancient weapons will cause sea levels to rise."

"With every use, vast stretches of land will be submerged; the day all land sinks beneath the ocean will be humanity's end."

"There is only one most precious resource in this world."

"That is land!"

"Only with enough land can people survive!"

Xiang Keluo froze for a moment, his pupils contracting slightly:

"So this world perhaps wasn't always like this, with a greater proportion of land? Is that why Mary Geoise was built atop the Red Line?! Even the Celestial Dragons fear the day the world sinks!"

"Yes."

Gao Wen lowered his gaze, looking toward the distant massive crater.

Crimson lava flowed, emitting a scorching light that flushed his face red, yet still could not melt the chill in Gao Wen's eyes.

Just moments ago, what he had always persisted in, the future he wished to reach, had been shattered.

"I originally thought that with my strength, I could firmly establish myself in the New World, carve out a territory large enough, and live a carefree life together with all of you."

"I had always intended to make Britannias my place to settle."

"But before I could even settle down, just as I had found this place, everything was destroyed."

Hearing this, everyone turned their heads to look at Gao Wen.

This was the first time they had heard Gao Wen speak of his dream, yet it was no grand declaration about obtaining the One Piece or seizing control of this world.

Compared to those powerful figures whose goals encompassed the entire world, Gao Wen's ambition could even be called ordinary and mediocre, yet everyone knew that they themselves had a place within Gao Wen's dream.

This was the man's consistent, never-before-revealed gentleness, incongruous with his formidable strength, yet it made people feel warmth.

Warmer than sunlight.

Hiss—!

Gao Wen closed his eyes.

What reached his ears were the despairing wails of Avalon's residents unable to flee as the Heavenly King descended upon the world, the sound of the earth being swallowed and bones burned to ash.

He carefully recalled the experiences of his journey thus far.

From the East Blue to the New World.

Gao Wen and his companions had slain the mad Wapol brothers of the Drum Kingdom, fought fiercely against the Golden Lion in Water Seven to save its commoners, crushed Hody's conspiracy on Fish-Man Island, and annihilated the Heaven-Sense Church in Britannias...

Gao Wen had changed many things.

He had given those who were meant to die a chance to live again.

Yet he had changed nothing.

They still had to live under the World Government's rules, under the oppression of the Heavenly Tribute, amidst the plundering of pirates.

Not knowing when they would die, like weeds in the wind.

Just as now, the paradise Gao Wen had chosen for himself was annihilated in an instant by the Heavenly King's attack just as it was within his grasp!

Sea levels rose, seawater eroded the land, and the massive crater became an inland sea.

For this nation, once reputed to possess the most fertile land in the world, how much land would remain afterward had become a problem staring them in the face.

And even more people who should have survived had already been burned to ash by the Heavenly King.

Even Gao Wen's companions might, on some day, be blasted to death by the Heavenly King from Mary Geoise.

This sense of losing control made Gao Wen increasingly unwilling to accept it:

"This world should not be like this."

"It should not be like this."

Xiang Keluo stood beside Gao Wen, shoulder to shoulder with him; sensing something, he merely said lightly:

"No matter what you choose to do, I will stand by your side."

"After all, you once said you would establish an utopia where I could obtain a peaceful life."

"Although such a thing no longer matters to me now."

Gao Wen slowly turned around, seeing only pairs of eyes that were firm yet filled with fervor.

A Jin wore a smile on his lips, his countenance appearing much brighter:

"Captain, you know my life belongs to you."

Zoro hugged his sword, the corners of his mouth splitting into a grin:

"I won't leave until my swordsmanship surpasses yours, Captain; no, even if I surpass you, I will wait for the day you surpass me."

Gao Wen chuckled helplessly and shook his head.

He suddenly understood why Box-Man Kamone, upon learning that the treasure he had guarded all along was merely empty boxes and that freedom lay right before him, had still firmly chosen to stay there.

Kamone had found his One Piece there.

Gao Wen had now found his as well.

"Then let us make a scene!"

(End of Chapter)