Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 637 Li Xia Yimu
The blazing, bright fireball expanded rapidly, engulfing everything in its path.

The powerful impact had already knocked down the houses, the scorched earth crackled and popped as it burned, and the rubble turned into crimson molten lava in the high temperature, sweeping outwards with scorching heat waves.

When the fireball expanded to a certain limit, it burst like a punctured balloon, emitting a deafening explosion. The next second, it transformed into a huge pillar of fire that shot into the sky. The pillar of fire was hundreds of meters high, with its fiery tail swirling and soaring into the clouds. Even the dense clouds were tinged with a dark red color by the pillar of fire.

The scorching heatwave churned up the surrounding clouds, and under the disturbance of the airflow, the clouds even began to swirl around the pillar of fire.

Mary Geoise fell into a deathly silence at that moment. Countless people stopped what they were doing in astonishment, staring at the towering pillar of fire that seemed capable of destroying everything.

Zefa stood at a distance with two students, their faces reflected in the firelight, looking relaxed and carefree, without any burden.

They had already entered Mary Geoise according to plan, originally intending to draw the World Government's attention by creating an explosion during the World Conference.

To create an opportunity for others to attack Egghead Island and rescue Vegapunk, Zephyr activated Blast Rock without hesitation after receiving news of the plan's change.

"Using the explosive rock to destroy the Celestial Dragons, the root of all evil, is indeed the most appropriate thing to do."

As a former Marine Admiral, Zephyr had visited Mary Geoise many times and was extremely familiar with the place. No one was more skilled than him at dealing with the powerful explosive rocks.

After calculation, the explosive rock accurately destroyed the Celestial Dragons' settlement area, turning it into a sea of ​​fire. Except for some Celestial Dragons living in 'Pangu City', the entire Celestial Dragon race was essentially wiped out!
What's even more interesting is that because of the Fishman Tiger's arson and release of slaves in Mary Geoise fifteen years ago, the Celestial Dragons separated the slaves. Only the slave who had been completely brainwashed and lost his sense of self was kept by his side, while the others were all placed in the shabby Lower City!
"Major attack!"

The navy stationed in the city finally realized what was happening. They were about to declare martial law as ordered, but were stopped by their superiors who looked somewhat puzzled.

"The situation within the Holy Land is currently unclear! Do not act rashly. Ordinary marines, come with me to protect Pangu City!"

The lieutenants and field officers went to the upper city to direct firefighting and search for surviving Celestial Dragons. Remember, we must not miss any Celestial Dragon who could possibly be saved!

Pangaea is the core of the entire world. The World Government, the Five Elders, and high-ranking Celestial Dragons are all here. If anything happens, they are here to protect it. Even if they do nothing, no one can question them.

This politically precise and ingenious arrangement came from Tsuru, and this single step temporarily pulled the navy out of the storm.

At least a buffer period was reserved to observe the changes in the Holy Land from an outsider's perspective.

This is Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Navy's Chief of Staff!

Having only a vague understanding of what might happen and Garp's decision through Garp, they quickly devised a strategy of remaining unchanged amidst all changes, successfully extricating the Navy from the situation.

"A-He and Sengoku asked me to tell you—this is your own decision and action."

Garp tucked the Den Den Mushi into his pocket; the Navy's stance was clear: they would side with whoever won.

Even such an attitude is quite rare, and Li Xia was not surprised, but even somewhat pleased.

At least what I did during this time was not in vain. If I had failed, it would have been the "Admiral's solo trip" incident. If I had won, it would have been the loyal navy maintaining order.

"What to do now?"

"Wait!"

Li Xia showed no anxiety whatsoever, appearing as calm as if he were not waging a war against the world, but rather enjoying a picnic.

"wait?"

"Yes, I'm waiting, and the Five Elders are waiting too."

Li Xia pointed to the still raging fire in the distance:

"This power has clearly frightened the Five Elders. They are worried that there will be more explosions like this. Although they themselves will not die, everything else will be destroyed, and other places or even a country will be destroyed. The Five Elders do not care."

But Pangaea is different; besides the Five Elders, Im also resides there.

He pointed to a towering ancient castle in the distance, similar to Neuschwanstein Castle.

The spire of Pangu City was tinged with an eerie crimson by the afterglow of the pillars of fire. The jewel-encrusted window frames crackled and popped, and the luxurious curtains by the windows fluttered in the heat. But the city was as still as death, completely silent.

"So, I'm waiting, waiting for my allies to arrive."

Li Xia simply sat down on a roadside bench and enjoyed the 'Celestial Dragon Fireworks':
"The Five Elders are also waiting, waiting for Im's orders."

"Im is also waiting, waiting to see what I'm going to do."

Like a ring toss, pulling one thread affects the whole thing, but Li Xia, the instigator, didn't move, creating a strange balance.

The Five Elders even suspected that the explosion might not be related to Light Chase, but rather that the Revolutionary Army, which had been lying in wait, had taken advantage of the sudden incident to launch a surprise attack, attempting to muddy the waters and achieve some ulterior motives.

Therefore, both Li Xia and the Five Elders were conserving their power. No matter what happened, keeping their power in their hands was always the right thing to do.

Under these circumstances, the entire holy city of Mary Geoise fell into an eerie calm.

The fire was still raging, and panicked sailors could be seen running around everywhere, but it was unclear what they were doing.

World Government officials desperately tried to dissuade the royal family from leaving, promising to protect their safety.

However, most of the royal family members did not believe it. They had just recovered from the shock of being stunned by Conqueror's Haki when they heard the explosive news that almost all of the Celestial Dragons had been wiped out.

The Celestial Dragons are of much higher status than them; a Celestial Dragon can kill a member of royalty with just a small ransom.

Now that all the Celestial Dragons are dead, tell them that the World Government can protect royalty who are not even as noble as the Celestial Dragons?

What a liar!
Not to mention King Neptune, whose eyes were bloodshot and who wished he could return to the Dragon Palace Kingdom right now, muster his troops, and then—and then seal off the Dragon Palace Kingdom, preventing anyone from the ground from entering!

The entire CP department was mobilized to search for the possible 'culprit'.

At this moment, half the sky was lit up red by the fire. Faced with the raging flames caused by the explosion that had destroyed half of the holy city, the marines were helpless.

Why did Tiger choose to set fire to the Celestial Dragons' slaves 15 years ago?

This is because Mary Geoise, located on the red earth continent and thousands of meters away from the ocean, lacks sufficient water!
Li Xia seemed to have been forgotten. He sat on a bench in the square, quietly watching the crimson sky as the fire spread and gradually approached the square.

The fierce winds high above carried the flames, their scorching heat already reaching us from a distance.

The air was subtly distorted by the high temperature, and the leaves of the roadside plants had begun to curl up from the heat.

But Li Xia felt unusually comfortable, like she was in a sauna.

"Meow!"

Black Charcoal's voice rang out in the team channel; it was the fastest, so it returned the fastest.

Shanks, Rayleigh, and Jabba have landed on Sabaody Archipelago.

"Contact the World News Press to begin live broadcasting worldwide!"

Broadcasting live to the entire world is no simple task, and in fact, quite difficult in today's world, but it's not impossible. After meeting with Stussy, the queen of the underground entertainment district, through a news agency, Xiaolong obtained a Den Den Mushi (snail phone) from Vegapunk that could broadcast globally.

Stussy is a clone, a product of early technology, and has always been an undercover agent for Vegapunk.

Li Xia closed the chat channel, then suddenly looked up as if sensing something, only to see that the flames that had spread to the vicinity had suddenly parted to create a path.

A dark figure shrouded in a hood came stepping through the flames. Wherever he passed, the orange flames strangely turned black. The figure walked step by step, with only a pair of emotionless, indifferent eyes visible beneath the tall, pointed hood.

When he walked into the square and faced Li Xia, who was sitting on a bench, several meters away, the whole world seemed to suddenly fall silent.

The pitch-black flames slowly spread out behind him, while the orange flames around Li Xia seemed to be attracted by something, surging towards Li Xia and turning into warm and blazing pure white flames the moment they touched him.

The two flames, one black and one white, clashed fiercely, like two giant waves of different colors crashing together.

Immediately, a series of tiny crackling sounds began to ring out.

"Wright-Scholes"

The voice of the shadowy figure was very peculiar, indistinguishable between male and female, as if many voices overlapped together, somewhat indistinct, and unsettling to listen to.

"I am very interested in you. Your soaring strength, your youthful body, and even the Seraphim created by your bloodline factors are exceptionally powerful."

What bothers me most is that your race is different from all that is currently known.

Li Xia remained seated, leaning back against the now-scorching bench, and calmly asked in return:

"Who told you that, Im? Was it York, Vegapunk's alter ego?"

"boom!"

The pitch-black flames instantly expanded several times over with incredible ferocity, coalescing behind Im into a terrifying, demonic, gigantic black shadow.

The white flames behind Li Xia surged upwards in the same manner, forming a white figure resembling him behind him.

Who are you trying to scare? None of those who came are the real thing!

"Who are you!"

For the first time, Im abandoned his dismissive attitude and began to look the young navy man in front of him seriously.

"Forget it, it'll all be the same no matter who you are."

Im slowly extended a hand wrapped in black, and that unsettling, eerie voice rang out again:

"I'll give you a chance. Accept my contract, and as a reward, I will make you the most powerful person in the world, even above the Five Elders."

I can also give you endless life, and the whole world will be yours to take whatever you want!

"Don't worry about aging, don't worry about death, all you have to do is accept my mark."

Im's voice grew deeper and deeper, carrying a special allure.

To be honest, Im's offer is quite attractive. If Li Xia were a native of the area, he might have been tempted, because Im really does keep his word.

However, once you accept Im's mark, you will be completely under Im's control.

"Don't you want to become someone above the Five Elders, the sole king of the entire world?"
Power, money, and beautiful women.
Everything you could ever want is here!

Im placed his hand in front of Li Xia, as if everything would be within his grasp if he simply reached out.

"Im!"

Li Xia let out a long breath, suddenly stood up, looked at the dark figure opposite him, and asked in a strange tone:
"How high is the highest mountain you've ever seen? How long is the longest river you've ever seen? How big is the biggest tree you've ever seen?"

Do you know what the world outside is like?

Have you ever seen a wider sky?

Before Im could answer, he took a few steps forward and stood beside Im, but in completely opposite directions.

"The highest mountain is always the next one, the longest river is the one you will eventually cross, and the biggest tree has seedlings, because the seeds come from the mother tree."

A wider world lies beneath your feet; stepping onto it leads to the distant horizon.

The world has no end, and the journey never stops.

Im was silent for a moment, then his eyes gradually filled with astonishment and disbelief. He forcibly suppressed his anger and said in his strange tone:

"Are you mocking me?"

Li Xia turned his head to face Im, who was also turned to the side. There was no worry or fear on that young face, not even any emotion.

"Yes, I'm cursing you. I've seen many races struggle and fight their way forward, only to be battered and bruised, yet they never gave up. And look at you, sitting on the throne of the world, ruling for a full eight hundred years."

Yet they did nothing, hiding in Pangu City, single-mindedly wanting only to eke out an existence forever, and even created the current distorted world.

I found it quite ridiculous.

Im's figure began to tremble. For eight hundred years, no one had ever dared to speak to him like this, let alone mock him so directly and blatantly.

"Hehehehehe Although I don't know how you know these things, you will soon tell me the secrets of your soul."

But now, prepare for your judgment, you fool!

Behind Im, black flames crisscrossed, forming a huge six-pointed star pattern on the ground. Amidst the flashing light, five figures of varying heights and builds emerged.

Li Xia seemed not to see them, but several figures also appeared in the distance of the street.

Even though they were still far away, their terrifying aura was in no way inferior to that of the Five Elders here.

In Im's pupils, which had widened slightly.

Li Xia said calmly:

I'm arguing with you because I'm waiting for my men to arrive. What are you waiting for?

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

(End of this chapter)