"Your Majesty, Claw City on the west coast has come under attack!"
"The city's army commander reports that the assailant is none other than Malphite, the lava giant sea king lurking beneath the depths of the West Sea."
"As of now, only 200,000 troops remain across the entire west coast. If the other deep-sea tribes decide to mobilize, we may risk losing Claw City!"
The report echoed through the grand hall, once the seat of power in the region but now transformed into the throne room of the Zerg.
Kneeling on the cold, hardened ground was a Zerg soldier—an owl-like creature trembling in fear as he relayed the dire news to his ruler, the Ant King, who lounged atop the throne.
At first glance, the King appeared almost indifferent, his humanoid form bearing a striking resemblance to a kappa. He rested lazily on his throne, eyes half-lidded in contemplation.
"I see…" he murmured at last.
With a casual wave of his hand, he dismissed the soldier.
The owl-like warrior, understanding the unspoken command, quickly exited the hall, leaving behind an eerie silence.
Then, in an instant, a crimson light flickered within the chamber.
The once-languid Ant King slowly sat upright, an overwhelming murderous aura radiating from his body.
"Malphite…"
"This marks the fourth provocation in three years."
The voice was quiet yet heavy with menace.
This was the Insect King, Meruem.
Thirty years ago, the Queen of the Zerg—after devouring 90% of the world's esper Sea Kings—had finally completed her ultimate goal.
Combining the finest genes she had harvested, she gave birth to the perfect being—Meruem, the Insect King.
From that moment forward, the Zerg entered a new era.
A two-tier system emerged: at the top stood Meruem's elite guard, the most powerful warriors of the Zerg, tasked with solidifying the empire's control and expanding its reach across the continent.
Even the soldier who had just knelt before Meruem—a trembling, fearful figure—was no ordinary warrior.
Beyond the Zerg, he was known as a level-90 God of War, a figure of immense power.
Yet among the Zerg, level 90 was merely upper-middle class.
Thanks to the fusion of Sea King-class genes and the mysterious abilities granted by various Devil Fruits, Zerg warriors continuously evolved with each battle.
When the Zerg first arrived in this world, their average power level was only around 60.
Back then, the mighty Sea Kings who had consumed Devil Fruits easily suppressed them.
Fortunately, the Sea Kings initially remained within the deep sea, uninterested in claiming land, allowing the Zerg to grow.
Through relentless warfare, countless Zerg soldiers sacrificed themselves to hunt these powerful creatures, offering their essence to their Queen Sarah.
And in doing so, the Zerg only became stronger.
Now, after over 150 years of evolution, it was rare to find a Zerg soldier below level 70.
With their unique and unpredictable abilities, their combat power had soared to unimaginable heights.
It was this strength that cemented the Zerg's dominance over the continent.
But…
Long before Meruem's birth, the Zerg had already conquered the land.
Unlike the previous generations, he had never known weakness.
He had never seen the hardships his kind had endured more than a hundred years ago.
More importantly, he was unaware of the Zerg's true origins—how they had once been a species known as the Chimera Ants, hailing from another world entirely.
And so, he could never understand the reverence his mother held for the so-called "god" she worshiped daily.
To Meruem, the Zerg were the rightful rulers of this world.
They were the masters of creation itself.
They should bow to no one.
No god, no entity deserved their devotion.
In Meruem's eyes, if there was truly a god in this world…
Then that god could only be the Zerg itself!
Seated on his throne, Meruem lightly pressed against the armrest. His gaze, laced with murderous intent, seemed sharp enough to pierce through reality itself. At that very moment, the sky outside darkened, as if reflecting the ominous aura emanating from him.
Every palace guard instinctively knew what this meant—
Someone on this continent was about to meet an unfortunate fate.
"Have they grown so complacent that they can no longer recognize the true rulers of this world?" Meruem muttered, his voice cold and venomous.
"It seems we must remind these deep-sea creatures of their place."
His command rang out telepathically, resonating across the entire capital.
"Three royal guards—assemble in the main hall."
The moment his words echoed through the air, three overwhelming auras surged from different corners of the palace. In an instant, three figures materialized before him, kneeling with unwavering discipline.
"Your Majesty!"
Despite their immense power—each having reached the legendary level 100—none of them dared to meet Meruem's gaze. Their heads remained lowered in absolute deference.
Pitou, Youpi, Pouf—
The three strongest warriors of the Zerg, second only to Meruem himself.
"You three will accompany me to the West Sea," Meruem declared.
"This time, our mission is simple—"
"Exterminate the lava sea beast, Malphite!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
There was no hesitation.
The three guards were unfazed by the order—after all, routine purges of the ocean's alien races were common practice.
These cullings not only asserted Zerg dominance but also served a higher purpose: the fallen corpses would be devoured by their Queen Sarah, fueling the birth of even stronger Zerg warriors.
Without delay, four silhouettes shot into the sky, streaking westward like celestial harbingers of death.
Although this world was not vast in size, Leo—its creator—had shaped the continent into a near-perfect sphere.
The landmass accounted for 70% of the planet, while the remaining 30% consisted of four interconnected seas, positioned above, below, left, and right of the land.
In many ways, its structure mirrored that of the Pirate World—except here, the dominance of land and sea had been reversed.
It didn't take long for Meruem and his guards to reach the West Sea.
There, deep within the ocean's abyss, lurked Malphite—the lava Sea King.
Once a formidable ruler of the windless zone's deep seas in the Pirate World, Malphite belonged to the ancient Sea King species.
With a body stretching nearly 10,000 meters in length, he was a relic of time—an existence that had endured for over a thousand years.
To conserve energy, Malphite had long remained in seclusion, slumbering within the depths, avoiding unnecessary conflict.
Until that day…
A monstrous, unseen hand materialized within the void, seizing him effortlessly—
As if plucking a mere goldfish from a bowl.
Before he could even resist, something fell into his mouth—a fruit.
Malphite, having lived for countless centuries, instantly recognized it.
A Devil Fruit.
Among the ancient Sea Kings, there was a long-standing warning:
"Stay away from the cursed fruits."
For sea creatures, consuming a Devil Fruit meant inevitable doom.
No matter the power it granted, it would strip them of their ability to navigate the ocean's depths, leaving them weak and vulnerable.
And in the merciless world of the deep sea, a weakened Sea King was nothing more than prey—doomed to be devoured by stronger predators.
After what felt like an eternity of spinning, Malphite suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar, desolate sea.
Strangely enough…
Despite having consumed a Devil Fruit, he didn't feel the slightest bit weakened. In fact—
He could still move freely in the deep sea and even activate his newfound power.
A power that allowed his body to transform into searing hot lava.
Malphite had no way of knowing that this ability came from the legendary naval admiral, Akainu Sakazuki.
Years ago, after securing financial backing from the World Government and transitioning into a maritime trader, Akainu's strength had skyrocketed, surpassing even Kizaru and Aokiji by several levels.
However…
During a fateful battle to protect retreating Celestial Dragons, he found himself cornered. In a moment of misplaced loyalty, he risked everything to save a mentally incapacitated Celestial Dragon, only to fall into a carefully orchestrated ambush by the Revolutionary Army.
Reinforcements from the Navy and World Government arrived swiftly, but the Revolutionary Army had prepared extensively, willing to pay a steep price to ensure that Akainu and the Celestial Dragon never left the ocean depths.
Thus, the man who embodied absolute justice met his end—not in a grand battle against pirates or warlords, but in an absurd, tragic twist of fate.
Perhaps he was a true soldier, but his loyalty had been misplaced.
With Akainu's death, the legendary Magma-Magma Fruit returned to the sea, eventually resurfacing as a coveted item in the Chamber of Commerce's marketplace.
Now, bathed in the warmth of the sun, Malphite lay sprawled along the coastline, reveling in the rare comfort of dry land.
But fate had no intention of letting him enjoy such peace.
A sudden flash of red light tore through the sky—
And then—
BOOM!
A devastating explosion erupted as molten rock surged skyward like a fiery tidal wave, incinerating everything in its path.
"Oooouuuuch!!"
A deep, resonating cry echoed across the land.
As an Ancient Sea King-class creature, Malphite could communicate through special frequency-based sound waves, and right now, his roar conveyed pure agony.
The molten fragments of his body reassembled into towering lava formations. Slowly, a massive, plesiosaur-like head emerged from the inferno, rising toward the sky.
His furious gaze locked onto the source of the attack—
A humanoid figure with three heads, six arms, and a golden Buddha's halo radiating behind him.
"Youpi?! You again?!"
Recognition flashed through Malphite's mind.
As the captain of Meruem's royal guard, Youpi had clashed with him many times before.
After all, this wasn't the first time Malphite had waged war against the Zerg.
But despite their past battles, the Zerg had never been able to do much to him. Thanks to his elemental magma form and the Zerg's inability to use Haki, he had always emerged unscathed.
Yet today was different.
The moment Malphite laid eyes on Youpi, who had now fully transformed into the Buddha Form of the Mythical Zoan Human-Human Fruit, a strange sense of unease gripped him.
Before he could fully process the threat, an intoxicating fragrance suddenly filled his nostrils.
A neurotoxin?!
Malphite, experienced in the art of battle, instinctively held his breath and whipped his gaze toward the sky.
There, descending from the clouds, was a massive butterfly with shimmering, iridescent wings.
It was Pouf—
Now in his Mythical Zoan form, having fully embraced the abilities of the Illusory Butterfly from the Insect-Insect Fruit.
This creature was no ordinary beast—it was one of legend.
Ancient texts from the pirate world recorded its existence, stating:
"Those who consume it become incomparably fat."
…In other words, it was delicious.
One of the Illusory Butterfly's most dangerous abilities was its alluring fragrance—a scent so intoxicating that those who inhaled it would become highly aggressive toward its user, turning them into unwitting pawns of its will.
A unique form of taunt, deadly in its own right.
Fortunately, Malphite was unaffected by Pouf's ability.
But the moment Pouf arrived, a sense of unease settled in its massive chest.
Even as a Logia-type ability user, Malphite knew the Zerg had developed ways to deal with beings like him.
The only reason he had managed to evade capture for over 150 years was due to his overwhelming power.
Yet now, two of the Zerg's strongest captains had appeared before him, and for the first time in centuries—
He felt the urge to retreat!
Wasting no time, Malphite spun around and bolted toward the deep sea.
While the Zerg had absorbed countless genes from deep-sea creatures and were no strangers to the ocean, their natural preference was land-based combat. They hated fighting in water.
If he could just make it back to the depths, he could—
But before he could fully escape—
A powerful gust of wind howled through the air!
The force of it was so immense that it coalesced into the form of a colossal white tiger, materializing directly in Malphite's path.
Phantom Beast Zoan—Cat-Cat Fruit: White Tiger Form.
"Malphite, you're not going anywhere today."
A deep, menacing voice resonated from the tiger's mouth.
Pitou.
The third of Meruem's royal guards.
Her transformed form radiated raw, primal power, her golden eyes locked onto Malphite with an unshakable sense of finality.
And then…
The sky darkened.
Not like the slow creep of an approaching storm, but a suffocating blackness—a vast curtain of void that consumed the heavens themselves.
And from within that abyss…
A lone figure emerged.
Slowly, effortlessly stepping through the ripples of darkness, his presence more terrifying than the night itself.
Meruem.
His gaze—cold and unfeeling, like the heart of a black hole—locked onto Malphite with absolute authority.
"You…"
Malphite's mountainous eyes quivered.
And when he saw the three elite captains—Pitou, Pouf, and Youpi—all retract their transformed states and kneel before the approaching figure in complete reverence—
The realization struck him like a tidal wave.
The Zerg King—
Meruem!
Only he could command such unwavering submission from the Zerg's three strongest warriors!
Malphite didn't need an answer to his unspoken question.
It already knew.
Meruem's chilling voice broke the silence, his tone devoid of emotion, as if he were simply discussing the weather.
"Malphite. You have repeatedly challenged the majesty of the Zerg, violating my bottom line."
"Today, you will pay the price for your defiance."
The words were calm—almost eerily so.
But the moment they left his lips—
The darkness fell.
Like a descending guillotine, the black void came crashing down, engulfing Malphite's colossal body in an instant.
Only its massive head remained exposed.
Meruem's Dark-Dark Fruit ability, amplified by his terrifying physical prowess, left no room for escape.
This was one of the few Devil Fruit abilities that Leo himself had copied from the living users.
Now, that copied power had made Meruem the king of the Zerg.
Trapped within the abyssal blackness, Malphite struggled violently, his magma body flaring as he attempted to activate his elemental transformation and break free.
But—
Nothing happened.
His eyes widened in horror.
"Impossible!"
His voice trembled.
"There's no Seastone here…! And you don't know how to use Haki…!!"
"So why—WHY CAN'T I TURN INTO LAVA?!"
A primal panic seized Malphite's heart.
Among the Sea Kings, a civilization of their own existed.
Their history was not recorded in books, but passed down orally through generations, allowing them to preserve knowledge beyond what land dwellers could comprehend.
And from that knowledge, Malphite knew secrets that the Zerg had never discovered.
Seastone. Haki. The unshakable truths of the world.
Yet now—this creature, this King of Zerg, had defied them all.
Meruem's expression remained unreadable, his mind briefly registering the unfamiliar terms—Seastone? Haki?
But then, just as quickly, he dismissed them.
The words of the weak did not concern him.
"It doesn't matter."
He tightened his grip.
And the darkness constricted—