The aftershocks from the thousand-ship fleet's demonstration continued to sweep across the entire world for the next half a month.
The complete disappearance of Laugh Tale symbolized the end of an era and heralded the dawn of a new one.
...
Holy Land, Mary Geoise, the Room of Flowers.
On a sumr afternoon, the sun was just right, and a gentle breeze wafted through the courtyard, carrying the fragrance of flowers.
Orion and Imu sat facing each other.
On the stone table between them rested the wooden box that had once contained the devil's silhouette.
Unlike the relaxed and carefree atmosphere of half a month ago, both of their expressions were now sowhat grave.
Just a mont ago, a faint but distinct wave of energy had emanated from the box before falling completely silent.
The object inside the box had vanished once again.
"Mu can confirm that all the Devil Fruit energy contained in the box, including the devil's silhouette, has not reappeared in any corner of this world." Imu spoke first, her dark red eyes reflecting the wooden box.
"It should be just as you previously deduced. They have gone to another dinsion, or rather, another world."
Orion did not answer imdiately. He reached out, his fingertips gently touching the empty box.
This thing was like a one-way portal, continuously transporting the Devil Fruit energy of this world to another, unknown place.
Just then, a long-forgotten, almost-faded chanical notification sound abruptly rang in Orion's mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, for successfully ending the chaotic Great Age of Pirates and ushering in a brand-new era of peace for the Pirate World!]
[The world line has stabilized. The Host now faces a new choice.]
[Choice One: Remain in the One Pece World. You will reign as the sole king, enjoying supre power and glory. Your will shall be the only law of this world.]
[Choice Two: Return to your hotown. Your hotown, 'Earth,' has entered the Devil Fruit Era. Order is collapsing, and civilization faces a threat. Do you choose to return?]
[Note: If the Host chooses to return to their hotown, all abilities obtained in this world, including but not limited to Haki, physical arts, and swordsmanship, will be fully retained.]
An imperceptible ripple flashed through the depths of Orion's eyes.
Almost at the instant the system's notification faded, the air in the Room of Flowers suddenly began to twist.
A portal, emitting a soft white light but with its edges laced with wisps of golden electric arcs, silently tore open in mid-air.
An aura that did not belong to this world seeped out from behind the gate.
"This is..."
Imu shot to her feet, a look of genuine shock appearing in her eyes for the first ti.
She could feel that the portal connected to a space completely different from this one.
"Orion, you can really open a dinsional space?"
"No, I didn't open this." Orion also stood up, his gaze calmly fixed on the space-ti gate. "This is a passage to my hotown. It seems my previous guess was correct. All the Devil Fruit energy from this container went to my hotown."
Imu's pupils constricted slightly.
She instantly understood the aning behind Orion's words, and she also understood the true function of the container.
It wasn't 'containing'—it was 'transferring.'
It was guiding the Devil Fruit energy of this world to another.
Imu fell silent for a mont, then walked to Orion's side and naturally took his hand.
"What do you plan to do?" Imu looked up to et Orion's gaze, her dark red eyes showing not a hint of hesitation.
"No matter what you choose, Mu will be with you."
She had heard Orion ntion the word 'hotown' before.
It was the land that had birthed and raised him, where his beloved family resided.
Orion smiled and squeezed her hand.
Just then, an emotionless, chanical voice echoed from within the space-ti gate, reverberating clearly through the Room of Flowers.
[The space-ti channel is about to close. Countdown initiated.]
[Ten, nine, eight...]
Orion didn't hesitate in the slightest.
He didn't even consider the option of staying.
This world was already on the right track. The spark he had left behind was enough to start a prairie fire.
And his hotown was facing a disaster that he had indirectly caused.
Without any hesitation, Orion imdiately strode toward the space-ti gate that radiated a soft light.
Imu seed a little nervous, her hand holding Orion's tightening subconsciously.
She inexplicably felt like a nervous bride about to et her in-laws.
The mont before stepping into the gate, they both stopped in unison and looked back at the Room of Flowers.
The sunlight was the sa, the floral fragrance unchanged.
Imu held Orion's hand.
They withdrew their gazes and smiled at each other.
Then, they stepped forward together into the unknown white light.
The instant their figures vanished, the space-ti gate dissipated like a dream bubble, disappearing into thin air.
In the courtyard, only the gentle breeze remained, as if nothing had ever happened.
...
...
Earth, Atlantic Ocean.
On the surface of the sea, a massive aircraft carrier fleet flying the flag of a Country was cutting through the waves in combat formation, conducting a routine patrol.
The carrier's command center was deathly silent. Everyone stared intently at the sonar display, cold sweat beading on their foreheads.
"Report, General! The targets... the targets are surfacing! Their speed... their speed is too fast to calculate! My God! What kind of monsters are they!" A sonar operator's voice beca sharp and piercing due to extre fear.
On the screen, over a dozen huge red dots were shooting straight up from the ten-thousand-ter depths at a speed that defied the laws of physics!
Before the commander could issue any orders.
Boom—
A deafening roar suddenly erupted from beneath the fleet, and the entire aircraft carrier shook violently!
Then, before everyone's horrified eyes, the sea surface a hundred ters ahead of the carrier exploded as if boiling!
One... no, more than a dozen behemoths burst out of the water!
One of them resembled a giant sea serpent.
The half of its body that was exposed above the water was already a thousand ters long.
Its scarlet eyes were as large as buildings, and its gaping maw could easily swallow a skyscraper!
"Roar—"
With a roar that could shatter eardrums, the giant sea serpent lunged forward and bit down!
"Crack—"
The ear-piercing sound of tearing steel rang out.
A cruiser and a destroyer in the fleet, along with the hundreds of officers and sailors aboard, were like two fragile toothpicks.
They were instantly bitten in two and swallowed into its bottomless mouth!
Inside the command center, there was a deathly silence.
Everyone, including the fleet admiral, stared wide-eyed and dumbfounded at the terrifying, myth-like scene outside the window.
"Fuck, what the hell is going on? Where did so many deep-sea monsters co from!"
"Is Earth entering the Age of Titans?"
"Quick, quick, all hands to battle stations, prepare to counterattack."
...
...
Earth, East China Sea.
On the deck of a fishing boat, two n stood at the stern, smoking and chatting.
With a full haul this ti, they could finally relax, just waiting to get ho and enjoy life on land.
Suddenly, one of the n's eyes widened as he stared at a bizarrely shaped fruit floating on the sea surface not far away. It exuded an invisible, alluring aroma that made one want to devour it.
Before the man could react, his companion beside him imdiately grabbed a landing net and scooped the floating fruit out of the sea.
After retrieving the fruit, the man's companion squatted down to examine it.
The fruit was oval, entirely cyan, with each segnt of its peel growing downwards like scales.
The calyx was a solid purple, resembling dragon horns.
After looking at it for a mont, he looked up at the man. "What are you spacing out for, Li Annan? Co and see what this thing is!"
"Who cares? Let's cut it open and see if it's edible," the man nad Li Annan said decisively, squatting down.
He took out his pocketknife and skillfully sliced it in half. Then, he lifted one half to his nose and sniffed.
"Holy crap, it stinks to high heaven! Slls like shit! Must have been soaked in the sea for too long!" Li Annan said, flinging it into the sea.
Seeing that his companion hadn't thrown the other half away but was examining it closely, Li Annan quickly urged.
"Chen Zhinan, what are you doing? Don't tell you want to taste it!"
The man nad Chen Zhinan blinked and said tentatively, "Could it be a mutant jackfruit?"
"What jackfruit from your family looks like this? Besides, jackfruit doesn't sll like shit!" Li Annan pinched his nose and said irritably.
"Throw it away, hurry up and throw it away!"
Chen Zhinan ignored him.
After staring at the half-fruit in his hand for a while, he suddenly opened his mouth and took a large bite.
"!!!!"
The mont he bit into the flesh, Chen Zhinan's eyes flew open, and he desperately wanted to spit it out.
However, the instant he opened his mouth to do so, what ca out was not the fruit, but a small ball of fire.
Imdiately after, he couldn't stop himself from throwing his head back and letting out a long cry.
His neck twisted with the sound of cracking bones, and the clothes on his body disintegrated under an invisible shockwave of energy.
A fine cyan light then appeared on the surface of his skin, and countless scales rapidly writhed and grew, soon covering his entire body, forming overlapping layers of deep cyan and cyan dragon scales with cold, tallic edges.
The sudden scene made Li Annan, standing beside him, subconsciously gape.
He wanted to make a sound, but he was completely frozen in shock and terror.
Under his horrified gaze, two sharp horns bulged from Chen Zhinan's forehead, quickly breaking through the skin and extending outwards, curving into ferocious dragon horns.
The tips glowed with a purple luster, echoing the color of the fruit's calyx they had seen earlier.
Next, Chen Zhinan's mouth protruded and elongated, forming a wide dragon's snout filled with sharp, dense fangs.
His breath was scorching hot.
His arms and legs also gradually thickened and transford into scaled dragon claws.
His spine protruded and extended, growing a long and powerful dragon tail, its tip covered in thick scales, kicking up gusts of wind as it swayed.
"Ugh, ahh—"
As Chen Zhinan's roar echoed through the heavens, his body rapidly elongated and expanded.
His original height of over 1.8 ters instantly shot up to several hundred ters, finally transforming into a thousand-ter-long behemoth.
His azure dragon body lay across the sky like a mountain range, blotting out the sun.
"Dragon!!!"
With a roar that shook the clouds, the transford Chen Zhinan suddenly opened his mouth and spewed a ball of intense flas.
It shot across the sparkling sea like a rainbow piercing the sun.
The sea surface instantly evaporated from the terrifying heat, creating a trench several thousand ters long.
The sight made Li Annan's eyes roll back in his head as he fell over stiffly.
...
...
Earth, Philliphines.
In a southern coastal city, a middle-aged couple supported each other as they walked toward a lamppost on the other side of the street.
A missing person notice was posted on the pole.
Below the conspicuous words 'Missing Person Notice' was the missing person's information.
Na: Orion.
Gender: Male.
Age: 18.
ID Number: 5134***
The middle-aged couple who had arrived at the lamppost looked up at the faded photograph on the notice, and both of their eyes couldn't help but well up.
Then, the middle-aged woman took out a brand-new missing person notice from her coat with a trembling hand and covered the old one.
Unlike the information on the covered notice, the age was no longer eighteen, but had beco twenty-five.
Evidently, they had been searching for a full seven years.
After posting the new notice, the middle-aged woman raised her hand to stroke the photograph, her voice trembling as she spoke.
"Orion, my child. Mom doesn't ask to find you, I only pray that you... are alive and well."
After speaking, the middle-aged woman could no longer hold back.
She pressed her face against the notice and cried like a helpless child.
The middle-aged man standing beside her didn't offer any words of comfort, only silently wiping away his own tears.
Though he should have been in the pri of his life, his hair was completely white, making him look like a candle flickering in the wind.
Just then, a commotion suddenly erupted from the street ahead, followed by waves of screams from afar.
Before the middle-aged woman could react, a deafening explosion rang out, and all the cars in the stream of traffic on the street screeched to a halt.
Then, at the end of the street, several sedans were thrown high into the air, crashing down in all directions amidst a cacophony of screams.
Imdiately after, a ferocious Spinosaurus appeared on the street. It charged rampantly down the road, which was clogged with private cars.
Everywhere it went, the cars were either crushed to a pulp or violently flung aside.
In an instant, the entire street descended into chaos.
Shops on both sides hastily closed their doors, and pedestrians scattered in all directions.
Inside the cars, many elderly people, children, and young n and won scrambled out of their doors, tumbling and crawling as they fled.
The Spinosaurus on the street ignored the chaotic crowd around it.
After letting out a blood-curdling roar, it suddenly spoke in a human voice, its tone utterly insane.
"Be destroyed, all of you, be destroyed, ahahahaha."
Amidst the crazed shouts, after crushing more than a dozen cars, the Spinosaurus charged straight toward the middle-aged couple.
"Honey, run!"
After a brief mont of shock, the middle-aged man finally reacted.
He grabbed his dumbfounded wife and started to run.
However, there was no way their speed could match the rampaging Spinosaurus.
They had just turned around when the Spinosaurus suddenly leaped into the air, tracing an arc before plumting straight toward the middle-aged woman.
In a single breath, the Spinosaurus's massive shadow blotted out the sky above the couple, its rapidly descending form instantly engulfing them.
In the nick of ti, the middle-aged man instinctively shoved his wife out of the way.
Boom—
With a loud crash, the Spinosaurus landed heavily.
It hadn't crushed the middle-aged man.
After its feet hit the ground, the Spinosaurus glanced sideways at the man, who was frozen in place.
It then grinned with its bloody maw, letting out a sinister cackle.
"You're lucky! But, you won't be so lucky next ti!"
With that, the Spinosaurus abruptly lowered its head, preparing to swallow the man whole.
Just as the man was about to die in the dragon's mouth, and the wife who had been pushed to safety scread in despair, the space around them suddenly fell eerily silent.
The Spinosaurus, about to bite the man, also stopped uncontrollably, frozen in place like a statue.
Then, two figures flashed into existence, standing before the Spinosaurus.
The mont they saw one of the figures, the middle-aged couple's eyes widened simultaneously.
Because one of the two people who had appeared out of thin air was their precious son, Orion, whom they had searched for for seven years without success.
Similarly, Orion hadn't expected to see two familiar figures the mont he stepped out of the space-ti channel.
After a brief mont of astonishnt, his eyes widened, and he said with a trembling voice.
"Dad? Mom!"
Those two simple words struck the middle-aged couple like a bolt of lightning, leaving them rigid on the spot.
Imu glanced sideways at the couple.
She hadn't expected Orion to be reunited with his parents so soon after arriving in this world from the Pirate World.
However, she didn't interrupt him.
Instead, she walked straight up to the Spinosaurus, her red lips under the veil parting as she enunciated each word.
"Kneel!"
Boom—
A sudden explosion rang out as an invisible pressure descended from the sky, forming a gravity field.
The massive Spinosaurus was forced to its knees.
Then, an even more shocking scene unfolded before the middle-aged couple.
The massive Spinosaurus, after being forced to the ground, began to shrink rapidly, turning into a young man in his twenties in the blink of an eye.
"Who... who are you?"
The young man, now back in his original form, looked up at Imu in terror. "Why did you make revert to my human form!"
"It's actually the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Zoan, Spinosaurus Model."
Imu scanned the young man, her voice cold. "To have obtained the power of a Devil Fruit and not use it to maintain world order is one thing, but to dare co out and harm the innocent... you life is forfeit!"
Before her voice had even faded, Imu raised her hand and brought it down decisively on the young man's forehead.
"What... what in the world is going on?" The middle-aged man stood frozen, his mind a chaotic ss as he watched the young man being dispatched by Imu.
The middle-aged woman was the first to recover.
Ignoring the lifeless young man on the ground, she ran over and hugged Orion tightly.
"Orion?"
"Are... are you really My Orion?"
Looking at his mother's white hair, the iron-fisted Fleet Admiral who had suppressed all evil in the Pirate World couldn't help but feel his eyes redden.
He said in a trembling voice, "Mom, it's !"
"Your Orion has co ho!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)