Chapter 223: [223] : The Haki Knot Unleashed! Island-Shattering Conqueror’s! Get That Damn Ship Closer!

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The moment Vivi’s words fell—the entire kingdom of Dressrosa, watching the live broadcast, was stunned into silence.

Liberate this place??

What did that even mean?

The eyes of many citizens of Dressrosa glazed over with confusion.

Thanks to the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, anyone who had ever harbored rebellious thoughts against the Donquixote Family had been turned into a toy. And all related memories of their existence had vanished completely from the minds of everyone else.

Under these circumstances, the people of Dressrosa—their minds riddled with these crucial memory gaps—couldn’t possibly grasp the meaning of the word “liberation.”

“SKY SOVEREIGN ROWEN!”

But it was a different story for the few who operated in the shadows—those who knew what had truly happened to Dressrosa. They watched the broadcast, their terror mingled with a desperate flicker of hope.

They feared this Emperor might be lying.

But for a kingdom like Dressrosa, forced to live and breathe at the whim of a single Warlord, there was absolutely no reason for a figure like Sky Sovereign—to lower himself to deceive them.

THAT MEANT IT HAD TO BE REAL.

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And no one was more ecstatic than those who had been turned into toys!

“Rebecca!”

A one-legged toy soldier felt an incredible surge of emotion course through him.

Kyros.

The legendary hero of the Corrida Colosseum, who held an unbelievable undefeated record of 3,000 matches. He was the husband of King Riku’s daughter, Scarlett, and the father of Rebecca.

Ten years ago, when Doflamingo staged his coup, he took King Riku hostage. In a desperate attempt to save the king, Kyros was forced to sever his own left leg. But in the very instant he moved to strike Doflamingo, he was touched by Sugar and transformed into a toy soldier.

Because of this, both Scarlett and Rebecca lost all memory of him.

He couldn’t even shed a tear when his wife died—his toy body was incapable of it, unable to feel the warmth slowly leaving her body…

It was hell.

A hopeless, desperate hell.

In his despair, he had brought his wife’s body back to Rebecca and told her the truth. From then on, he had watched over her as a soldier, teaching her how to fight. But Rebecca still didn’t remember who he was.

AND NOW!

Sky Sovereign was going to liberate this country!

Before an Emperor, what was the Donquixote Family?? Doflamingo himself had been killed by Sky Sovereign Rowen!

Hope!

TRUE HOPE HAD FINALLY ARRIVED!

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“Hah!”

Vivi’s gaze sharpened intensely.

Knowing the current state of the country, Vivi understood that no speech, no matter how grand, would have any effect. The liberation could only begin after the power of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit was broken and the people’s memories were restored.

VMM! BOOM!

A terrifying aura roared to life, erupting from Vivi’s entire being!

“CON-CONQUEROR’S HAKI??”

Trebol and the others were no strangers to this power! It was the same as their deceased Young Master, Doflamingo—the disposition of a King!

It wasn’t just Straw Hat and the Pirate Hunter.

DESERT PRINCESS VIVI POSSESSED CONQUEROR’S HAKI TOO??

An icy chill washed over Trebol and the other officers.

What a terrifying pirate crew!

WHAT A TERRIFYING EMPEROR!

To think he would send ’three’ wielders of Conqueror’s Haki to descend upon Dressrosa!

Were they… being overestimated this much??

At that moment, Trebol and the others were drowning in absolute despair. Against a lineup like this, even if their Young Master were still alive, they wouldn’t stand a chance!

And now—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The terrifying aura precisely targeted Sugar.

Thump!

Sugar’s eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed, completely unconscious.

Sugar’s willpower was pathetically weak; her combat strength was virtually nonexistent. She relied solely on her Devil Fruit ability, using her appearance as a ten-year-old girl to make people lower their guard. This was why Doflamingo had assigned his top executive, Trebol, to be her personal bodyguard.

Faced with Vivi’s Conqueror’s Haki, she naturally had no resistance whatsoever.

In her time with Rowen, Vivi had undergone special training and successfully awakened her Conqueror’s Haki, even learning to control it with precision.

After the Summit War, she was publicly acknowledged as the Fourth Strongest combatant under Rowen’s command, a fact reflected in her bounty.

Now, all four of Rowen’s top combatants—

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Vivi.

—HAD ALL AWAKENED CONQUEROR’S HAKI!

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VMMMM!

The instant Sugar fainted—

Countless points of light began to flash in every corner of the Kingdom of Dressrosa.

The people who had been turned into toys by the Hobby-Hobby Fruit began to revert to their original forms! At the same time, memories of these individuals flooded back into the minds of their families and friends.

In that moment, every citizen of Dressrosa finally understood what had happened.

They cried, they laughed, they shouted, embracing their loved ones in overwhelming reunions.

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Meanwhile, the SMILE factory was thrown into chaos.

The 500 enslaved dwarves from the Tontatta Kingdom, along with countless other toy-slaves, were all returned to their true selves. At the same time, all surveillance snails had their signals hijacked, broadcasting the live feed.

They, too, understood who had saved them.

“Sky Sovereign… I’ve heard that name. He must be someone incredible,” Leo, the dwarf with the Sew-Sew Fruit, murmured.

BAAAAAAAAAAANG!

The main gate of the SMILE factory was blown apart.

“LIBERATE THE SLAVES! FOLLOW ME!”

The captain of the 13th Division of the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet, “Water Buffalo” Atmos, roared as he charged in.

It wasn’t just Luffy’s group of three who had come here; an entire fleet had arrived!

Atmos’s mission was to utterly destroy the factory.

“It’s Sky Sovereign’s subordinate, ’Water Buffalo’ Atmos!” the Donquixote forces stationed there cried in horror.

“DAMN YOU! DON’T THINK YOU CAN BREAK THROUGH HERE SO EASILY!” roared the executive Lao G.

“Hmph.” Atmos merely shot Lao G a cold sneer. A pathetic officer from a mere Warlord’s crew. He didn’t know his place.

Spurt!

Lao G was defeated in an instant, blood spraying through the air.

“DESTROY THIS PLACE! BROADCAST IT LIVE!” Atmos roared, leading the numerous forces of the Sky Sovereign Grand Fleet.

Soon, the live feed from here was broadcast.

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“The SMILE factory! NO!”

Watching the broadcast, Trebol collapsed to the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably.

IT’S OVER… IT WAS ALL OVER!

The toy slaves, the factory—everything they had painstakingly built over so many years—gone in an instant.

This was the brutal reality!

When faced with an Emperor—Sky Sovereign—their entire operation was just that fragile. That emperor, sitting on high, didn’t even need to appear in person.

A small part of his fleet was enough to obliterate them.

Warlord??

Pirate Kingdom??

Before an Emperor, they were nothing more than insects!

Powerless to resist!

Trebol trembled violently, his eyes turning bloodshot.

“IF THIS IS HOW IT IS! THEN KILL THEM! KILL AS MANY AS YOU CAN! DESTROY DRESSROSA!” Trebol had gone completely insane, issuing a horrific, inhuman order.

They couldn’t fight an Emperor. But they could slaughter the people of Dressrosa before they died!

“STOP IT!” Viola screamed in fury and horror.

“Stop?? Sky Sovereign destroyed everything! He wants to Liberate this place?? Then we’ll carry out a Massacre! This is the Revenge of the Donquixote Family!” Trebol burst into a deranged, neurotic laugh as his forces turned their blades on the citizens.

“You want to save them?? You can’t… Straw Hat! Pirate Hunter! Desert Princess!”

“NO MATTER HOW STRONG YOUR CONQUEROR’S HAKI IS, YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY COVER ALL OF DRESSROSA!” Trebol laughed neurotically, looking at Luffy and the others.

To get a little revenge on Sky Sovereign before he died… it would be worth it!

“So naive.”

Vivi looked at Trebol, her eyes completely devoid of emotion.

“Huh??” Trebol’s pupils shrank as he watched the Desert Princess take out a Transponder Snail.

“Oi, you idiot. You know who’s behind us, right? Did you really think your little tantrum could escape the calculations of the Ultimate Human?” Zoro said with a mocking smile.

Trebol’s pupils constricted violently. A cold sweat erupted from every pore.

Sky Sovereign Rowen had another title—a man whose wisdom and power were on a completely different dimension from normal humans…

The Ultimate Human!!

“Be unraveled, knot.”

Vivi looked at the special Transponder Snail in her hand and untied a unique knot hidden within it.

It was a knot… of Conqueror’s Haki!

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VMM! BOOOOOOOOM!

The instant the knot was undone, a flash of utterly terrifying crimson-black lightning appeared above Dressrosa, tearing the sky apart!

The bolt of tyrannical, ferocious lightning was so immense that it pierced through the entire sky above the Kingdom of Dressrosa—the entire island!

Island-Shattering-Class Conqueror’s Haki!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

All the Donquixote forces who had just raised their blades… Along with all the high-ranking Donquixote executives—their eyes rolled back in their heads, and they collapsed, completely unconscious.

In the face of this Haki, there was no difference between a high-ranking executive and a common soldier.

They were all—fodder.

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“SK… SKY SOVEREIGN ROWEN!!!”

Staring up at the Conqueror’s Haki that had ripped apart the sky of the entire island—Trebol’s body went completely limp, his eyes utterly submerged in terror.

To pierce an entire island…

Haki like this. In this era, on these seas. Only one man could possess such power. The one who had surpassed Red-Haired Shanks to become the Most Dominant Haki User on the seas.

The owner of this Conqueror’s Haki was—

Emperor Sky Sovereign Rowen.

In the next instant, Trebol felt an irresistible, terrifying Will descend upon him. In his despair, his eyes rolled back, and he too fainted.

Under this horrifying wave of Conqueror’s Haki—

The Donquixote Family… was annihilated.

“This… this is Sky Sovereign Rowen’s Haki. The Strongest of the Four Emperors!”

Across Dressrosa, the pirates and bounty hunters who learned the source of this power trembled violently. Under its pressure, they felt as small as insects.

Rowen had tied his Haki into a knot within a special Transponder Snail.

Unlike Joy Boy, who was gone, Rowen was alive and could use his Strongest Trait System’s “spiritual power channel” to precisely control who was affected.

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Witnessing such power, everyone dropped to their knees.

This was Sky Sovereign’s Haki. It was outrageously powerful. The entire island was within its range, and the man himself wasn’t even present!

What kind of power was this??

What an unbelievable man!

The citizens of Dressrosa, having survived the reign of the Donquixote Family, burst into tears of joy. The Kingdom of Dressrosa was saved!

“WE’RE SAVED!”

“FREEDOM!”

“SKY SOVEREIGN!”

Cheers erupted one after another.

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“How’s it looking, Luffy?” Hearing the cheers, Zoro looked over at Luffy.

“Yeah. I can feel it. The Desire for Liberation… it’s incredibly strong!” Luffy nodded.

This was why Rowen had sent them here. The more oppressed a place was, the greater the desire for liberation it would generate once freed.

Luffy needed that desire to complete the awakening of his Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nika!

“Alright, I’ll start collecting it.”

Vivi took out another special Transponder Snail, one made by Rowen to absorb the desire for liberation.

As his mastery over Haki reached new heights, his use of the Strongest Trait System had also been upgraded, allowing him to collect this desire without being present.

And at that very moment…

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In the seas surrounding Dressrosa.

“JACK-SAMA! WE CAN’T GO THERE! THAT’S SKY SOVEREIGN’S TERRITORY!”

Horrified voices echoed continuously.

“WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?? GET THAT DAMN SHIP CLOSER!”

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