Chapter 445

Kaido’s lips curled into a grin.

Even though he sensed Gao Wen’s killing intent, even though he knew he had no power to resist this man before him.

But his will refused to bow here.

He had roamed the seas for decades.

Kaido had been defeated, humiliated, chased by the Marines into desperate flight.

But he had never once cowered!

“That’s truly a pity.”

Gao Wen sighed, the Guanshi Zhengzong glinting with cold light, about to sever Kaido’s head—when a chilling pressure, indescribable and immense, descended from the sky!

Even Gao Wen, as strong as he was, felt every hair on his body stand on end!

He snapped his head upward—and saw countless stars piercing through the clouds, plummeting from the heavens!

The phone worm in his arms rang at that moment; when he answered, Rayleigh’s frantic voice came through the receiver:

“Gao Wen, run! The World Government is activating that ancient weapon—it will erase everything in Britannias, even you...”

“No need.”

Gao Wen swallowed hard:

“I’ve already seen it!”

The line fell instantly silent.

“What... is that?!”

Everyone around him raised their heads, gazing upward.

The chilling pressure that had terrified even Gao Wen now crushed them, making it hard to breathe!

“Hahahahahaha—!”

Kaido’s wild laughter erupted—he stared straight into the sky, his eyes blazing with insane will:

“Gao Wen!”

“Looks like this time, we’re going to hell together!”

“You schemed against the World Government—they schemed against you too!”

“At the World’s Greatest Martial Arts Tournament, when we were both exhausted, they activated the ancient weapon—they planned to bury us all!”

“If I remember correctly, its range can easily cover an entire nation!”

“Even you, monster that you are, cannot escape!”

Those who realized what was happening were seized by utter terror.

They had never seen an ancient weapon before.

But this was Britannias—the inland sea occupying nearly half its territory, formed in just two years, and created by nothing but an ancient weapon.

Erasing nearly half a nation’s land—this was no longer mere destruction; it was divine miracle.

“Run!”

A desperate, suffocating cry burst from Kid’s mouth.

He ignored everything else and immediately manipulated metal to carry the Straw Hat racing—before they could even blink, they arrived at the gates of Camelot.

But when he looked up, he saw only the clouds at the horizon, torn apart simultaneously by a beam piercing heaven and earth!

Before his eyes...

Only utter, annihilating despair.

“What the hell?!”

“How can my dream end here?!”

Amid the panic of the crowd, only Gao Wen raised his head, silently watching the sky.

Facing the Heavenly King once more.

A flicker of panic crossed his mind—then vanished. He forced his eyes wide, staring at the apocalyptic final weapon above.

“So that’s how it is...”

“So that’s how it is...”

“So that’s how it is...”

He sighed three times—and his spirit surged higher.

“I never waited for a warrior from the Martial Arts Tournament to rise strong enough to match me—or help me take that final step.”

“After all, how could a fellow human possibly enable me to cross beyond humanity?!”

“I waited for you!”

All that had transpired over the past two years rose in Gao Wen’s mind.

Only now did he understand: since confronting the Heavenly King’s attack in Britannias two years ago, his heart had begun to waver.

A waver in his blade, in his strength, in his Dao!

How could human power stand against natural disaster?

When that thought took root, he clung to the pursuit of an equal weapon to counter the World Government, to oppose the ancient weapons in the Celestial Dragons’ hands.

The door to myth had quietly shut on him.

In this moment, Gao Wen suddenly realized—he and Crocodile were not fundamentally different.

Crocodile feared the New World, those called monsters.

And he himself had always feared those obliterated by history—weapons capable of being called natural disasters!

This was an unprecedented crisis, terrifying even Gao Wen—and yet, it was also the chance to take that final step.

“Hahahahahaha—!”

A near-mad laugh erupted from Gao Wen.

As he realized he had walked the wrong path all along, and now returned to the true way, the suppressed Conqueror’s Haki surged upward, step by step...

Soaring! Exploding! Blasting!

Kaido, still crushed beneath Gao Wen’s foot, felt not a man standing on him—but a mountain.

Yet even that was too small a word—it was a continent, an ocean—something utterly inhuman!

And worse—the oppressive force of the Conqueror’s Haki kept climbing, nearly without limit, thickening until it became visible to the naked eye!

“What is he doing?!”

Kaido trembled in terror, straining his eyes to see everything—but all he saw was crimson.

“He doesn’t seriously believe his flesh and blood can stand against such a disaster?!”

“Absurd!!”

“Utterly absurd!”

The next instant.

The Heavenly King descended.

Camelot and everything within dozens of kilometers was swallowed whole!

Trees, buildings, mountains, rivers, earth...

The pure white beam, like an apocalypse, dissolved everything it touched in an instant.

The projected phone worms stationed near Camelot died immediately from the unbearable heat.

All anyone saw was a pure white light falling from the heavens—the projection screen went black.

They didn’t know what had happened—but the crushing, almost-apocalyptic pressure filled them with dread, fear, and desperate curiosity about what had occurred in Britannias.

“What happened? What exactly happened in Britannias?!”

“Was that blinding light divine punishment?!”

“No!”

Someone, face pale with horror, recalled what had happened in Britannias two years ago!

“No, that was...”

“I’ve seen this before—two years ago, in Britannias!”

“It erased nearly half of Britannias from the map—this inland sea was formed then!”

“Ancient weapon!”

“Definitely an ancient weapon!”

The Extortion Bar.

Rayleigh stared blankly at the phone worm in his hand, breath held.

He remained frozen for a long time, holding no hope that Gao Wen had survived.

The power of an ancient weapon had surpassed the imagination of this era’s people.

After all, these weapons were never created to be weapons—they had other purposes originally.

Yet many creations end up used in ways opposite to their makers’ intentions.

That is humanity’s tragedy.

“Is this the end of Knight Gao Wen?!”