One Piece: Conquering Wanokuni at Start

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A Certain Sea Area in the New World

In the second half of the Grand Line, the ship arrived at the cloud-shrouded sky of a mysterious sea.

Guided by the vivre card's signal and the Shadow Guard's intelligence, the ship used its aerial advantage to approach its destination swiftly. Before long, a massive silhouette emerged from the misty horizon, its immense form shifting with the earth-shaking roars of a deep, resonant moo and the thunderous sound of waves crashing below.

"Is that... the Zunesha?!" Nojiko exclaimed, her voice trembling with shock as she pointed toward the distant behemoth.

Her eyes climbed the towering figure shrouded in clouds, its outline seemingly endless. Despite being briefed beforehand, the reality of seeing Zunesha with her own eyes far outstripped anything described on paper.

The colossal elephant stood in the shallow depths of the sea—though its knees alone submerged in the water reached further down than anyone dared imagine. Its immense body stretched into the heavens, with pitch-black eyes larger than entire battleships and ivory tusks that dwarfed mountains and islands.

Towering tens of thousands of meters tall, Zunesha was one of the largest known creatures in existence. Its strength and size alone could easily annihilate an island.

"Boom... Boom... Boom..."

Each ponderous step of its four enormous legs, like titanic pillars, sent tidal waves rippling across the sea, creating monstrous surges and shaking the nearby ocean with tsunamis.

Nojiko felt utterly insignificant before such an entity. Compared to Zunesha, she was but a speck of dust in the vast expanse. The sheer disparity left her doubtful, questioning whether her Millet-Millet Fruit could truly have any effect on a creature of this magnitude.

Alex, standing beside her, studied the massive elephant carefully. He, too, was awed by its size and presence, but his composure quickly returned. "No matter how intimidating it looks," he thought, "in the end, it's still an animal."

He acknowledged Zunesha's unique traits: its survival over a millennium, its ties to the legendary Joy Boy, and its eternal punishment to walk endlessly. But such ancient mysteries held no interest for him. What mattered was whether this enormous beast could be brought under his control.

"Nojiko! Your turn," Alex commanded.

Nojiko stepped forward at once, raising her hands. Channeling her accumulated energy, she manifested an enormous dumpling—nearly half a meter in diameter—using her Devil Fruit powers.

With Alex's Float-Float Fruit ability, the dumpling was sent flying with pinpoint accuracy, embedding itself onto Zunesha's massive body like an invisible parasite.

As the dumpling made contact, Alex turned to Nojiko. "Well? What's the result?"

Closing her eyes, Nojiko focused intently on the connection. After a few moments, she opened them again, her face tense. "No, Lord Alex," she said, shaking her head. "I can sense the dumpling's effect taking hold, but... there's a terrifying, ancient consciousness within Zunesha. I can't suppress it."

"Ancient consciousness?" Alex echoed, his eyes narrowing as he studied the towering giant. "Is it the will of the beast itself?"

Zunesha, the ancient elephant punished to walk the seas for eternity, had once been a companion of the Joy Boy who bore the weight of sin. The command that bound it for centuries was so deeply ingrained that even the Millet-Millet Fruit couldn't fully override it.

"If its will can't be broken by control," Alex mused, "perhaps it can be shattered through force."

After a moment of contemplation, he gestured to one of his accompanying battle maids. Acting as a living arsenal, she retrieved a weapon from Baby-5's transformed form: Akizakura, its metallic warmth still fresh.

With a leap, Alex flew forward, creating distance between the ship and Zunesha. Taking position in midair near the elephant's massive body, he drew Aki Sakura, and the blade began to radiate an overwhelming sword intent.

The weapon, already infused with the essence of souls and bolstered by Alex's immense willpower, was further amplified by the Quake-Quake Fruit's devastating potential. Combining his abilities with the destructive force of the More-More Fruit, Alex prepared to unleash a strike capable of slashing with the power of a hundredfold shock waves.

Alex had no intention of killing Zunesha outright. His goal was to incapacitate, using the power of vibration to achieve his ends.

In an instant, the veins in Alex's right arm bulged as he channeled his immense strength into the attack.

"More-More—Fifty Times Air Shock!"

The blade of Akizakura pulsed with terrifying energy, the ultimate fusion of sword intent and the Quake-Quake Fruit's devastating vibrations.

As Alex swung his sword, a beam of radiant energy shot forth. The sheer force of the attack tore through the skies, leaving jagged scars in the clouds, as if the heavens themselves were cleaved.

The blinding strike erupted into a massive wave of white energy, its vibrations rippling toward Zunesha with devastating precision.

CRACK! CRACK!

The force hit the air around Zunesha, causing the surrounding space to fracture like a spiderweb. The shockwaves enveloped the colossal elephant, whose endless march came to a sudden halt as it glanced around, momentarily disoriented.

Before Zunesha could react further, the unleashed energy detonated spectacularly.

BOOM!!!

The sky erupted in a deafening explosion, a destructive force pressing down upon Zunesha like the weight of an entire world.

Moo!!!

The Elephant Lord bellowed in agony, the sound reverberating across the seas. For the first time in a thousand years, the ancient behemoth was forced off its feet, its titanic form hurled through the air like a ragdoll. The creature's immense body crashed into the ocean, sending tsunamis rippling outward and scattering the mist that surrounded it.

Even the land of Zou, atop Zunesha's back, shook violently. From a distance, tiny black figures—residents of Zou—could be seen tumbling from the elephant's body, like ants falling from a great height.

As the enormous creature began its descent back toward the sea, unconscious from the overwhelming blow, Alex acted swiftly.

Using the Float-Float Fruit, he raised an enormous wall of water, a towering tsunami tens of thousands of meters high, to cushion Zunesha's fall. With a single gesture, he redirected the waves to force Zunesha upright, stabilizing the behemoth's massive form atop the ocean surface once again.

With the task complete, Alex turned and flew back toward his ship, satisfied with the result. He had no intention of risking the loss of the Road Poneglyph hidden on Zou because of his attack.

As Alex returned to the ship, Nojiko approached with good news.

"Lord Alex, it's done. While Zunesha was unconscious, I managed to establish control. The Elephant Lord now responds to my commands."

Under Nojiko's mental direction, Zunesha ceased its movements entirely, standing still in deference.

"Well, it seems this method works," Alex remarked, his gaze fixed on the unconscious behemoth. He could sense the ancient, chaotic darkness lingering in its eyes, even as the creature lay dormant.

Though Zunesha lacked the decisive power of Poseidon or Pluton, its colossal size alone had immense potential to disrupt and influence the seas. Moreover, its connection to Joy Boy presented a unique opportunity, one that could lay the groundwork for future plans.

After some thought, Alex issued his next order.

"Nojiko, plant a hidden safeguard within Zunesha. A contingency. If anything goes wrong, we'll have a failsafe ready."