With a thought,
A layer of armor, composed of pure Origin energy, materialized around his body, shielding him from the unknown.
Without hesitation, he effortlessly departed from the pirate world, stepping into the Void Zone once more.
Although this wasn't his first time here, every visit carried the same overwhelming sense of isolation.
No matter how many times he experienced it, the Void felt like an abyss of endless emptiness—a place where even thoughts seemed to dissolve.
Without the protection of Origin energy, he couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen if he were exposed directly to the Void.
"I wonder... are there any beings out there capable of surviving in this place?"
"Creatures of that level could probably destroy entire dimensions with a mere flick of their fingers..."
Leo mused idly as he moved through the void, letting his thoughts wander.
But just as he was about to reach his new world, his body suddenly halted mid-air.
"Huh?"
His eyes widened, pupils contracting as he focused on a peculiar object floating not far ahead.
At first glance, it seemed like some kind of living creature—or at least, what was left of one.
For a brief moment, a chill ran down Leo's spine.
Had his words just jinxed him?
Had he truly encountered a terrifying existence in the Void?
But then—
An oddly familiar presence radiated from the drifting figure.
Leo's brows furrowed.
"Wait a minute... this thing… it's from my world?!"
With a mere thought, he summoned his Origin energy, weaving it into a massive net with a flick of his wrist.
Stepping forward, he enveloped the floating entity within the energy field and pulled it closer.
"...A dog?"
Leo muttered, frowning as he examined the creature.
Its body was in tatters—more than half of it had already disintegrated into nothingness, leaving only a broken shell of what it once was.
And yet, despite its pitiful state, Leo could feel it—the same aura that existed in his new world.
This wasn't just some random anomaly.
This thing came from his world.
Leo let out a chuckle, shaking his head.
"Well, well… looks like those little guys have been busy in my absence."
After all, while only a month had passed for him, over a hundred and fifty years had flown by for the Chimera Ants.
"A century and a half… anything could've happened in that time."
Curious, Leo infused the creature with a burst of life essence, stabilizing its deteriorating form.
Then, without further delay, he accelerated towards his world.
After deliberately pushing his speed to the limit, Leo finally arrived—
And what he saw stopped him cold.
His world had a massive hole torn straight through it.
Not a metaphorical one.
An actual, gaping tear in the fabric of reality.
The very essence of his world—the power that constructed it—was being steadily devoured by the Void.
Leo's eyes twitched.
"Holy shit. I didn't know this thing could break?!"
His heart pounded in his chest.
This was his first attempt at world creation, and much of it had been trial and error. He had been feeling his way through the dark, never entirely sure what would happen next.
And now, he was staring at the consequences of his ignorance.
Luckily, the breach wasn't yet catastrophic.
Forcing himself to remain calm, Leo raised his hand.
With a swift motion, he wove a complex web of Laws and Origin energy, sealing the fracture in the world's barrier.
But even though the damage was repaired, Leo understood the implications of what had happened.
His world had been touched by the Void.
But even so, Leo, who knows how scary the Void is, knows that his world is estimated to have been harmed by the Void.
Glancing at the half-dead black dog beside him, Leo let out a long sigh.
At this point, he had a pretty good idea of what had transpired.
The Chimera Ants and Devil Fruit abilities…
Their combination had exceeded even his expectations.
He had never imagined that in just over a century, someone would emerge with the power to shatter the world's boundaries.
And this idiot actually did it.
Even in the Pirate and Hunter worlds—both of which had existed for countless years—few had ever surpassed Level 100 in strength.
Yet in his own world, in just one hundred and fifty years, a being strong enough to break reality itself had been born.
Leo sighed again, rubbing his temples.
"I really screwed up this time."
With a shake of his head, he merged his Origin armor with the world's barrier, slowly guiding himself—and the big black dog—down into the world.
As Leo descended, he surveyed the damage.
The world was in ruins.
The once-stable landscape had been utterly shattered.
Craters littered the ground like scars of an ancient war.
Mountain ridges had crumbled, collapsing into endless plains.
Vast lands had split apart into deep, yawning canyons, while rivers of molten lava gushed freely, transforming entire regions into hellscapes of fire and destruction.
The oceans, too, had changed.
Strange, fragmented sea regions had formed where the Void had siphoned away parts of their original power.
Some areas had been cut off from all light, trapped in an eternal night, while others had become overgrown with rampant vegetation, evolving into vast, untamed jungles.
The natural laws of the world had been warped by exposure to the Void.
And now, everything was descending into chaos.
"My God…another massive project..."
Leo sighed, feeling an inexplicable exhaustion wash over him.
With his current abilities, restoring the world to its original state was practically impossible.
The only viable solution he could think of was to use source energy to isolate each region individually, preventing further chaotic interactions between the different environments.
It was a tedious task—one that would take considerable time and effort.
But there was no other way.
With a deep breath, Leo expanded his perception, stretching his awareness over the entire planet.
In truth, the fate of this particular continent wasn't all that important to him.
At worst, he could abandon it entirely.
After all, thanks to the relentless efforts of the Zerg, this world had already expanded four to five times its original size.
If necessary, he could simply create a new planet or continent from scratch.
But what truly concerned him…
Were the ones who had played a major role in this world's development—the Zerg.
Unfortunately…
As Leo swept his perception across the land, he found something deeply unsettling.
The bodies of the creatures in this world seemed largely intact…
But their souls were completely gone.
Or, to put it in simple terms—
They had lost their very will to live.
Across the continent, over 15 million Zerg soldiers and millions of Sea King species in the ocean stood frozen in place, their eyes dull and vacant.
Like puppets with severed strings.
Leo frowned.
"This is really a pain in the ass."
It had taken a great deal of effort to nurture the Zerg race, and now all that progress had been wiped away in an instant.
Losing such a useful tool just because of their reckless ambition was beyond frustrating.
With a sharp focus, Leo extended his perception further, searching for the Zerg Queen.
It didn't take long before he found her—
Sarah.
She was still inside the underground palace.
But unfortunately…
Her current state was no different from the rest of the Zerg.
She sat motionless, staring blankly at the space before her.
Even when Leo appeared before her—showing her the big black dog—her pupils remain lifeless.
"Tch…"
"So the entire Zerg race is done for, huh?"
With an indifferent expression, Leo tossed the big black dog beside Sarah, then casually created a stone chair and sat down.
This unexpected disaster had taken him by surprise, but it had also taught him a valuable lesson.
In the future, when reshaping worlds, it wasn't enough to simply strengthen the creatures inhabiting them.
He also had to consider their mental resilience.
Otherwise, history would simply repeat itself.
At that moment—
Leo suddenly understood something.
Why was it that, despite the countless powerful individuals and advanced technologies in the Pirate World…
No one ever ventured beyond their own planet?
Why did they cling so desperately to the Grand Line, which was nothing more than a single route on a global map?
Perhaps…
This was the world's way of maintaining control.
Perhaps the Will of the World itself had established invisible rules—guiding, limiting, and regulating the actions of living beings.
"Using rules to shape evolution…"
Sitting in the silent palace, Leo tapped his fingers on the chair's armrest, deep in thought.
Even though the Zerg and the Sea Race had lost their ability to think, that didn't mean they had become completely useless.
For now, Leo needed to rework his strategy for this world.
Originally, his plan was to divide the world into multiple dimensions—each developing its own civilization independently.
That way, civilizations could evolve separately without interfering with one another, strengthening the world in a controlled manner.
And once one civilization reached its limit, he would simply create another dimension and repeat the process.
But after witnessing this disaster, Leo immediately discarded that plan.
It was a terrible idea.
Hell, he hadn't even finished developing one civilization—and he had already come close to destroying the world.
If he allowed multiple civilizations to progress in different dimensions, who knew how many more disasters like this would occur?
For all he knew, the next catastrophe could be even worse.
Nope.
That plan was going straight into the trash.
Which meant—
He needed a new approach.
Fortunately, Leo had already come up with several alternative strategies.
And now, after careful consideration, a new idea took shape in his mind.
"This… might just work."
His gaze fell upon Sarah and Meruem, who sat motionless before him.
Slowly, a smirk spread across his face.
"Luckily… they only lost consciousness."
"That makes things a whole lot easier."
With a wave of his hand, Leo took control of both Sarah and the big black dog, lifting them effortlessly into the air.
The next step?
A complete and totalreformation of this world.
...
...
New World – Kanto Region, Cerulean City
Ash, who had seemingly slept for an eternity, slowly regained consciousness.
After struggling for a moment, he finally managed to open his eyes, greeted by the blinding sunlight.
The first thing he saw was the vast, clear blue sky, dotted with leisurely drifting clouds, basking in the golden glow of the sun.
His vision blurred momentarily, and his heart filled with confusion.
"Strange... where's my tent!?"
He sat up abruptly, only to realize that he was no longer in the wilderness where he had camped the night before. Instead, he was in a town—one that felt all too familiar.
This place is...
His gaze locked onto a landmark building not far away, and in an instant, a flood of memories rushed through his mind.
"This is Cerulean City!!!"
Like a bolt of lightning, realization struck. He pointed toward the iconic Water Hall before him, exclaiming in shock.
Though he had no idea how he had suddenly been transported from the wilds of Alola back to Kanto's Cerulean City...
He didn't panic.
After all, he had faced countless trials and tribulations during his journey. This was just another mystery to solve.
That is, until—
"!!!"
"Where are my Pokémon!?"
Instinctively, he reached for his belt—where his Poké Balls should have been.
But his hand grasped nothing.
His Poké Balls were gone. All of them.
"Pikachu!?"
Ash's heart pounded as he shouted desperately.
But...
The usual, cheerful response—the one that always came without fail—was absent.
The silence was deafening.
"What's going on!? Is this another one of Team Rocket's tricks!?"
He spun around, scanning his surroundings, only to find that he wasn't the only one in distress.
All around him, people were in a state of panic, their frantic voices overlapping.
"Ninetails!? Ninetails!? Where are you!?"
"Bulbasaur! If you hear me, come here!"
"My Poké Balls are gone! And... why am I here!?"
One desperate cry after another filled the air, turning the city into a scene of chaos.
And this wasn't happening just in Cerulean City.
The same confusion, the same panic, unfolded across the Kanto Region.
Across Johto.
Across Hoenn.
Across Sinnoh.
Then—
FWOOOOSH!
BOOM!
A massive firework exploded high in the sky, vibrant and dazzling, visible to all.
Everyone's attention snapped toward it.
And then—
A deep, rich voice—laced with amusement—echoed from above, reaching every ear with eerie precision.
"Brave ones, welcome to my world!!!"
"I am the master of this realm... a being you might even call a god."
"If you search your memories, you should realize... your world was completely destroyed not long ago."
"But, out of sheer kindness, a passing god saved you—lost souls without a home—and brought you here."
"From now on, you will continue your existence as warriors in my world!"
"Let me tell you a little secret—if someone manages to defeat the terrifying Demon King, they will receive a divine reward!"
"If you have any questions... well, use your brains and figure it out."
"That is all!"
And just like that—
Whoooosh—
The world seemed to come alive, as if it had just been activated for the first time.
"Hey! Lord God! Where's my Pikachu!?"
Ash stood in the middle of Cerulean City, fists clenched, yelling at the sky.
But his voice was swallowed by the chaos around him, lost in the sea of shouting and confusion.
"Pikachu..."
He reached out toward the sky, but his hand soon fell limply to his side.
The words of the mysterious voice had triggered something in his memory.
Though he still didn't fully understand why—he knew it was true.
Their world had been destroyed by an unfathomable force.
And for some reason, all Pokémon Trainers retained this knowledge before being thrown into this so-called system.
But...
For Ash, none of that mattered.
If Pikachu wasn't here—then this world might as well be destroyed, too.
His mind faded into emptiness, his thoughts drifting into the void.
Minutes passed.
Or perhaps it was hours.
Just as Ash's mind was sinking deeper into despair—
Two familiar voices pierced through the fog in his head.
"Ash!!!"×2
"...Huh?"
That voice—
It snapped Ash out of his daze.
His dull, unfocused eyes lifted as he turned toward the sound.
And then—
His empty gaze lit up.
"Brock!!! Misty!!?"