Chapter 549: The End of the Old World, The Dawn of Adventure

Im realized with growing dread that every one of Karl’s strikes was slicing away at the very core of his life force.

For the first time, fear crept into his heart—his life force was draining far too quickly.

Each time Karl’s blade landed, it cost him a massive chunk of life essence, the kind it would take centuries of slumber to recover.

“Khfff!”

In that fleeting moment of distraction, Karl swung again, splitting Im’s head in two—this time, even deeper than before.

“What on earth just happened?”

“Yeah, weren’t they evenly matched just a second ago? Why does that Black Dragon look almost scared now?”

Everyone watching could hardly believe what they saw. Just moments earlier, amid smoke and chaos, Karl and Im had seemed completely on par.

But now everything flipped. Karl kept Im on his back foot, pressing forward, attacking relentlessly. Their blows clashed like lightning and thunder, echoing dull booms in the sky.

“Get over here!”

With an angry roar, Im wielded the peak of his gravitational power, pulling the Five Elders and the remaining war weapons straight to him—then absorbed them into his own body.

Buzz!!!

In that instant, her entire constitution reached a higher state.

He wanted to stop it, but there was no time. It all happened in a blink—one moment Im’s head was half-sliced and he was staggering back, the next he summoned the Five Elders from miles away and absorbed them.

“Strike while he’s down! Don’t give him a chance!”

Karl had no intention of standing around like a fool and letting Im absorb all that power. Seeing Im bask in that surge, he raised his halberd and went for her head again.

“Damn it, you fight dirty!”

Dark blood gushed from Im’s mouth.

All the essence he’d just regained was sent flying out of his body by Karl’s blow.

“You forced my hand!”

“I’ll blanket this world in darkness and destruction forever!”

Im let out a furious howl, lifting her face to the sky, unleashing wave after wave of black energy that rippled outward.

Karl, closest to the blast, was instantly engulfed. His mind flooded with visions of slaughter, chaos, darkness, bloodlust, and death—every kind of negative impulse.

If Im hadn’t been so sure of defeat, desperate to reclaim control of the world, he’d never have unleashed something powerful enough to destroy the whole sea.

The black waves kept spreading, threatening to swallow the entire ocean. The first to be hit were Roger, Whitebeard and the others.

But anyone strong enough to reach admiral-level stood their ground. Their wills were rock solid. They gritted their teeth, fighting off the influence, refusing to give in.

Meanwhile, revolutionaries and ordinary soldiers on the outskirts weren’t so lucky. Eyes burning red, they turned on their friends, weapons in hand.

Karl noticed this carnage even as he fought on the front lines, fending off the shockwave.

“You’re not the only one with a trump card, Im!”

“Didn’t you always wonder how the two islands guarding the New World disappeared? I’ll show you right now!”

“Doomsday Cannon!”

Karl threw open his jaws, sucking up the energy from the land beneath his feet. The once yellowish terrain faded to pale ash.

Moments later, all the gathered energy surged together, ready to burst from him at once.

Buzz!

Rumble!

A torrent of energy swept out like a tidal wave, tearing up earth and stone all around.

“No!”

First came a blinding, pure white light, then a thunderous roar unlike anything anyone had ever heard. It was terrifying beyond words.

The light blazed like a second sun, hanging ominously in the sky. Everyone across the sea looked up, convinced a new sun had appeared.

“Mom, look! There are two suns in the sky!”

“Oh my god, why is there another sun up there?”

All over the sea, people who’d gotten back to their daily routines after the live broadcast shut down stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the sudden burst of light overhead.

When the glare finally faded, the Red Line was split right down the middle.

On the ground, all that remained was Karl, now shriveled and small as a withered branch, along with a single scale no bigger than a house.

“Let’s go! Our adventure awaits!”

As the fighting ended, Luffy looked around at his surviving crew and grinned.

It was finally time for them to set out again.

Kaido, Shanks, and Whitebeard each gathered their own crews and departed. Children of the sea, they were never meant to stay in one place.

If Karl ever caught them for forced labor, they’d have no idea where to go cry about it.

After all, with the World Government in ruins a new power had to rise. Most of the old establishment was now useless, so where would Karl go looking for recruits?

…

With the Red Line split in two, Zunesha and the Sea Kings worked together to break up the floating land, turning it into a sprawling new island.

Backed by millions of fishman engineers under Karl and the Revolutionary Army led by Dragon, the sea entered a new era of progress.

With the Red Line shattered, the Four Seas were unified—no more divisions and no more Calm Belt to block the way.

A sea train was opened connecting every island, Den Den Mushi were made available to everyone, and things like news, newspapers, entertainment, and tech spread quickly to every corner.

New, fair laws were established so everyone would know the price of their actions before they acted.

Sea patrols were formed to crack down on every kind of crime and corruption.

Taxes and tariffs were canceled except for commercial tax. Slavery was outlawed, and all peoples could finally live in peace.

No more oppression, no more great wars—a new era of peace had come.

Roger, Rayleigh and others slipped quietly into retirement, joining the nursing home Garp started. Many legendary pirates and navy men ended up there as well.

Five years later!

“Chief Karl, the sea’s transformation is complete. Every island’s connected by rail, and anyone traveling the seas is now called an adventurer. They all have to register at the Adventurers’ Guild…”

A massive city was built where the ruins of the Red Line once stood. They called it Dragon City.

Dragon took over from Karl, but staring down this mountain of paperwork, he couldn’t help but grumble. This job was anything but easy.

But even as he complained, his hand didn’t stop writing for a second.

This place had now become the political, military, and cultural heart of the entire world.

Luffy even earned a new title to match the Pirate King—now he was known as the King of Adventurers.

As for Karl, he set off across the seas with Charlotte Linlin and the kids, exploring everywhere—even making more than one trip to the moon.

In the end, he took a band of fellow adventurers aboard the Azure Dragon to the edge of the Earth-Moon system. Staring into the stars, he pressed the ‘complete’ button.

At the border between the Earth and the Moon, a gateway appeared. Beyond it lay his home planet—Earth. The scene shifted and at last, he saw his long-missed parents.

“Starry seas, I’m coming for you!”

With that, the curtain fell, carrying away a soul that refused to bow down!

Thus, the story ends!

But this is only the start of a brand-new adventure!