Chapter 124: Supreme Teigu

At the very moment the Emperor's words fell, a deafening boom suddenly rang out from the secret chamber's great doors.

The heavy metal doors were blasted open by an unmatchable force, fragments flying in all directions.

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, a tall figure slowly emerged.

Sakazuki strode into the secret chamber with steady steps, his gaze sweeping over the room full of crystals before finally settling on the frail figure on the high platform.

"Heh." Sakazuki let out a cold laugh, "Hiding in a place like this playing house? It's over, brat."

Upon hearing this, Honest's face instantly turned ashen pale. He whipped his head toward the Emperor, his voice filled with urgency and fear: "Your Majesty! Hurry up!!"

A flash of coldness crossed Sakazuki's eyes as he violently swung his right fist. In an instant, a giant dragon condensed from crimson magma roared as it charged toward the minister.

Seeing this, a hint of determination flashed through the Emperor's eyes. He took a deep breath and murmured softly: "Father Emperor, Mother Empress, please grant me strength."

The words barely left his mouth when the Emperor gripped the scepter with both hands and fiercely drove it into the center of the high platform.

"Crack!"

A crisp shattering sound rang out, as if something had been broken. The next moment, a suffocating energy wave erupted from the scepter.

The surrounding crystals suddenly blazed with intense light, emitting a piercing blue radiance. The entire secret chamber seemed to instantly transform into a vast ocean, countless blue rays intertwining to form a giant energy vortex.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently.

"Rumble—!"

The secret chamber's floor was instantly heaved up, rubble flying everywhere. A giant finger broke through the earth, followed immediately by a second, a third — in the blink of an eye, a massive palm rose from the ground, blocking the way before the minister. The palm was so large it stood dozens of meters tall, its fingertips piercing through the chamber's ceiling.

"Boom!"

The magma dragon slammed heavily into the giant hand. Scorching magma splattered in all directions, yet that giant hand did not budge an inch.

Sakazuki's brows furrowed slightly, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes as he stared at the giant hand: "This is……"

At this moment, Minister Honest's originally terrified expression vanished in an instant, replaced by a ferocious grin.

He abruptly stood up, pointing at Sakazuki, his voice brimming with arrogant pride: "Hahahaha!!!" Honest's laughter reverberated throughout the entire secret chamber, "See it now, you rebel who knows not the heights of heaven and depths of earth!"

Just as his words fell, the ground suddenly began to tremble violently. The ground beneath Sakazuki's feet started to crack, countless shards of rock spraying out from the fissures.

"What?!" Sakazuki's pupils abruptly contracted, and he instinctively leaped back several meters.

The very moment he steadied himself, the spot he had just been standing suddenly burst open, a giant metal palm breaking through the soil. That palm was large enough to easily crush an ordinary building.

Sakazuki retreated step by step, finally stepping out of the secret chamber's boundary.

The moment he planted his feet, the earth beneath him began to tremble violently, as if some colossus was about to break free from the ground.

"Rumble—!"

Amidst the deafening roar, the ground began to collapse. Rubble scattered like a violent storm, forcing Sakazuki to raise his arms to shield himself.

"This is the Empire's trump card!" Honest's voice grew increasingly shrill amidst the shaking, "The Supreme Teigu of Origin and Apex! Kneel! Submit to this supreme might!"

The secret chamber's ceiling had long since been blown away, revealing the clear blue sky above, but this patch of blue sky was quickly shrouded by a massive shadow.

"Crack! Crack!" Accompanied by the ear-piercing screech of metal grinding, more components slowly rose from underground. Thick arms, broad shoulders — every movement triggered violent tremors.

Sakazuki felt as if he were standing atop a huge drum, his whole body constantly jolting to the rhythm.

In the blink of an eye, a staggeringly massive figure manifested. It was silver-white all over, draped in a cloak, like a majestic ancient monarch. This colossus stood a full kilometer tall, nearly propping the sky apart.

"Didn't expect there to be a trump card like this," Sakazuki murmured softly, his fists unconsciously clenching, a trace of rare surprise in his voice, "So this is A-rank difficulty?"

Meanwhile, inside the giant robot's cockpit, the young Emperor was overlooking the entire battlefield through the Quan Shi Ping Mu.

When he saw the inner city already razed to the ground, an angry expression instantly surfaced on that childish face.

"Th-this how is it possible!" The young Emperor's voice trembled with anger, his eyes flashing with disbelief. His knuckles turned white from excessive force.

Rage ignited in his eyes: "This is the city Father Emperor painstakingly built! You rebels, how dare you destroy Our city like this!!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Honest's voice came through the communication device, "Now is not the time for anger, we must focus all our energy on dealing with the enemy before us!"

The Emperor took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. His gaze locked onto Sakazuki's figure, a flash of determination crossing his eyes.

"You're right, Minister," the Emperor's voice turned icy, "It's time to let these traitors witness the Empire's true power."

The Emperor's eyes fixed on the Quan Shi Ping Mu before him, Sakazuki's figure locked on by a red crosshair.

"Try this first." The Emperor said softly, and as his words fell, the Supreme Teigu's massive chest began to ripple with dazzling light. At first just a faint blue glow, but in the blink of an eye it swelled into a giant light sphere.

Sakazuki stood in place, his pupils abruptly contracting. His Observation Haki frantically warned him, every hair on his body standing on end, a sense of crisis instantly sweeping over him.

"This move absolutely cannot be tanked!" Alarm bells rang wildly in Sakazuki's heart.

"Soru!"

Almost the instant the thought flashed through his mind, Sakazuki's figure had already turned into a body flicker.

Only a low boom remained in the air, the sound of instantaneous acceleration breaking the sound barrier.

The very instant Sakazuki vanished, a beam hundreds of meters thick erupted from the Supreme Teigu's chest.

"Boom!"

The beam traversed a distance of hundreds of li at an unimaginable speed, sweeping across everything in its path, leaving not a blade of grass growing where it passed.

Distant mountain ranges, before this terrifying energy, were like paper — instantly reduced to dust.

Sakazuki's gaze locked onto the distant mountain range that had been completely flattened.

A trace of shock he could not conceal flashed through his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a calm demeanor.

"Truly astonishing destructive power," Sakazuki murmured to himself, a hint of rare admiration in his voice, "If hit directly by an attack like this, even I would find it hard to escape unscathed."

However, just then, Sakazuki's gaze returned to that massive robot. His eyes sharpened, as if calculating something.

"But." Sakazuki narrowed his eyes, "With a body this gigantic, its speed probably won't be too fast."

(Chapter End)