Chapter 462

His burly frame, arrogant posture, and overwhelming aura far surpassing the figure remembered in the Five Elders’ minds made them unable to connect the Blackbeard of their memories with the man before them.

And more importantly, Blackbeard had appeared silently in Mary Geoise without triggering any alarm from the Divine Knights, leaving only two possibilities.

The first was that Blackbeard had crushed all opposition in Mary Geoise with absolute force.

But only Im, seated on the Void Throne, and the Lion King of Britannias—whose fearsome claws had just begun to spread across the world—could accomplish such a thing.

The former had no reason to do this, and the latter could never ally with Blackbeard!

Then it could only be the second possibility…

“You…”

Blackbeard plopped onto the sofa, snatched a bottle of red wine from the table, and gulped it down in a few swallows, frowning slightly as he glanced at the label:

“Rocambo?”

“A legendary wine I’ve only read about in newspapers—yet its taste is nowhere near as good as I imagined.”

“It’s like… like a cheap, decades-old fermenting stench from a cellar, mixed with a sour, rotten odor.”

“Tch…”

As he spoke,

Blackbeard swept his gaze across the five grim-faced men.

A fragment of memory stirred in his mind.

He still remembered how, back in the Valley of the Gods, these men had slaughtered the Davy family with utter arrogance—but now, looking at them…

They were no different from this bottle of wine.

Blackbeard suddenly found it tasteless, his expression darkening as he said:

“The one who’s dealing with a few insects that sneaked into Mary Geoise sent me to deliver a message.”

“After Britannias, it’s time for you five to step down.”

“Whether you keep your lives depends on your future actions—but right now, I think you’re already close to death!”

“Hehehehehe—!”

Amid the wild laughter,

Blackbeard slammed the wine bottle onto the table, shaking the entire building, leaving a visible crack circling the surface.

The Five Elders dared not move, only watching silently as Blackbeard turned and left.

The office fell into deathly silence; the five stared at the darkened projection screen, icy dread flooding every inch of their bodies!

Yet they had no solution.

Staying in Mary Geoise meant waiting for death; going to Britannias to face that monster meant certain death too!

“Why?!”

“Why can’t these vermin quietly accept their fate as slaves?”

“Why resist?!”

“Isn’t it their honor to offer everything to the gods?”

Satan’s whisper rose in the darkness, then vanished the next instant.

This time, no one besides the Five Elders heard his question—and no one wanted to.

…

Off the coast of Britannias.

Avalon’s bombardment had ceased; endless seawater had been vaporized, condensed into the air, forming a vast white fog that completely shrouded the coastal region.

A sea breeze slowly dispersed it, revealing the hellish scene beyond Britannias’ shores.

The seabed lay exposed, molten reefs contacting seawater with piercing hisses.

Farther out, the warships that had once stood like island fortresses, surrounding Britannias with menacing claws, had vanished.

Only the sea, tireless, continued pushing wreckage of pirate ships—mixed with flesh and blood—onto the shore.

In mere minutes, the beach was piled high with debris, a sight that sent chills down the spine.

On ships about to sink, the surviving pirates were terrified beyond measure, with no will left to continue the battle.

Avalon, modeled after one of the three ancient weapons, the Pluton, had for the first time revealed its terrifying firepower to the world.

Its power had already silenced the entire world—truly, physically silent.

Only after a full half-hour did faint cries for help and moans begin to surface from the sea.

“I…”

“I want to live!”

On a sinking pirate ship, a wounded man pleaded, struggling to look at his comrades on deck.

All he saw were one corpse after another—already cold, no, searing hot.

Some had been struck by the blue light, half their bodies vaporized, the other half charred to ash.

Others had been severed at the waist by flying shrapnel.

Some had their eyes burst from the unbearable intensity of the blue light…

Only then did he realize he was the luckiest man on this ship.

No, perhaps not.

When he looked down, he saw he had already been cut in half—his survival this long was a miracle.

Gulp—!

The sea rose, slowly swallowing the survivor’s body.

A crushing fear filled him, yet he was powerless to resist it; at this moment, he wished he had died in the explosion.

Similar scenes unfolded across every corner of this sea.

The desperate cries on the water stood in stark contrast to Britannias’ silence.

After all—crushing you is none of your concern!

This was the most naked contempt!

“Hssss—!”

At the border of Britannias,

Jin, who had barely survived, lay on the beach, gasping for breath.

Even though he had activated his Lunaria bloodline ability at the last instant, maximizing his defense, he still suffered severe injuries.

His wings were burned away; his entire body was badly scorched.

Quinn, whom he had torn off with all his strength, was nearly dead—had he not undergone inhuman modifications, Quinn would have been reduced to ash in that attack!

“Quinn?!”

Jin murmured; seeing no response, he closed his eyes.

The pain in his body meant nothing to him—he had endured the World Government’s most horrific experiments.

But his inner frustration gnawed relentlessly at his flesh.

He had once been ambitious, willing to be used by the World Government just to avenge Kaido—yet he never even saw his enemy’s face before being crushed without mercy.

How agonizing was this feeling?!

“Jin…”

Quinn’s weak voice spoke, filled only with defeat and fear:

“Listen to me.”

“You can’t defeat Knight Gao Wen!”

“You’ve done enough for Brother Kaido—it’s time you thought of yourself now.”

Jin opened his mouth, but his instinctive rebuttal died unspoken.

The two, who had always disliked each other and bickered constantly, had rarely spoken truthfully—until now, wounded and near death.

But…

Too late.