Chapter 559: The First Generation, The First King!
However, Ryuunosuke did not refuse outright.
Instead, he looked at the First Generation and asked calmly, "If this is a deal, then what are you paying with?"
Ryuunosuke's meaning was simple.
A transaction was a transaction.
If the old ghost wanted a body, he had to offer something worthy of that price.
"I will tell you everything you want to know," the First Generation said, his expression indifferent.
"Of course, that includes Lilith, Adam, and Vegapunk."
"I am very familiar with both the Guardians and the Evictors. I watched them appear with my own eyes."
"As for finding a body, that is actually very easy for me."
"There are far too many beings in this world who crave power."
"…I have no doubt about that," Ryuunosuke replied.
Then his gaze sharpened slightly.
"But there is something I want to know about you."
"The First King."
"Is that you?"
"Me?" The First Generation chuckled softly.
"I am nothing more than a loser. Someone who lost the game of this world."
He tilted his head as if the question did not matter.
"So, can I take that as you agreeing to the deal?"
Ryuunosuke studied him for a moment.
Then, without another word, he raised his hand.
"Fine. Take it."
Jin's body lifted and drifted forward, landing right in front of the First Generation.
"Straightforward," the First Generation said, sounding pleased.
"As expected of Captain Ryuunosuke. Give me a moment."
As soon as he finished speaking, the First Generation dissolved into countless points of light and surged toward Jin's body.
In an instant, Jin looked like a cocoon made of light.
No, more accurately, it was the First Generation himself.
A moment later, an arm pushed out of that cocoon.
Just the sight of it made Ryuunosuke's scalp prickle.
His instincts screamed.
"What… what kind of power is this?"
Before he could even think it through, his body had already moved, taking a defensive stance on its own.
The pressure spilling from that arm was terrifying.
For a heartbeat, Ryuunosuke even wondered if he had made the wrong decision.
"Captain Ryuunosuke," the First Generation's voice came from within the light, amused and calm.
"Why are you standing like that?"
"We are not enemies, are we?"
The cocoon peeled open completely.
A figure stepped out.
In the next moment, the remaining light flowed into him like water, merging into his body and turning into clothing.
At that moment, Jin was no longer Jin, not in presence, not in feeling, not even in the way he stood.
Ryuunosuke was finally seeing the First Generation clearly.
Before, the First Generation had been an energy entity, vague and blurred, like something half remembered.
But now, he was standing there in full.
And Ryuunosuke noticed something strange immediately.
The clothes on the First Generation did not look like anything from the One Piece world.
It looked like casual clothing from Earth, from Ryuunosuke's previous life.
"A natural reaction," Ryuunosuke said honestly, still keeping his guard up.
"But First Generation… you're absurdly strong."
When Ryuunosuke first encountered him, he had assumed it was only a lingering soul.
Something preserved by some method.
This world had Devil Fruits, and later Adam and Lilith appeared.
Soul preservation was not shocking.
But this was different.
This presence did not feel like a leftover.
It felt complete.
"The fact your body reacts on its own means you are not weak either," the First Generation said with a smile.
"And we both carry the name Joy Boy."
"So I understand your strength."
"Joy Boy?" Ryuunosuke repeated, frowning.
"What is so special about that?"
"In my understanding, Joy Boy is simply someone acknowledged by the Three Kings."
"That should not be anything special."
He voiced the doubt he had carried for a long time.
Based on the intelligence he had gathered, and based on his own experience, he had become Joy Boy after gaining Shirahoshi's recognition.
The system had even confirmed it.
There should have been no issue.
Yet the First Generation spoke as if the name itself carried a terrifying meaning.
From what Ryuunosuke understood, Pluton and Poseidon were already in his hands.
As for the Uranus, it was in Roy's hands, and it was incomplete.
At the very least, Nojiko and Nami still existed.
So in this world, only two people should carry the name Joy Boy.
Him and Roy.
Roy had even sought Ryuunosuke's help before.
And Roy's miserable state when facing Lilith had made Ryuunosuke think the so called name of god was nothing but a label.
Unless Roy had staged everything to mislead him.
But even in the battle earlier, Ryuunosuke had not felt Roy's true strength.
"Joy Boy," the First Generation said softly, his smile deepening.
"To possess the name Joy Boy is to possess the possibility of becoming a god."
"The Three Kings of this world are not as simple as you imagine."
"Even Adam and Lilith could not control the Three Kings."
He paused, then continued as if casually revealing a truth that could shatter worlds.
"And the First King you mentioned earlier?"
"He is the one who created those Three Kings."
"That is the original Joy Boy."
The way he said it carried confidence and pride that could not be faked.
"Are you saying…" Ryuunosuke's eyes widened.
"It was you?"
Shanks and Roger had searched for the First King.
It had been said the information about the First King was in the East Blue.
And now, the First King was standing in front of him.
It did not feel real.
The First Generation laughed, as if he found that reaction nostalgic.
"Not exactly."
"I only planted the seeds of the Three Kings."
"I did not have much time to get involved in their succession and growth."
"Because back then, when I bore the name of a god, what I wanted was to break the limits of this world and leave it."
His gaze drifted toward the sea, as if he were looking at something far beyond the horizon.
"When you are strong, you sometimes face things more terrifying than when you are weak."
Ryuunosuke did not ask more.
Not because he was satisfied.
But because those few lines carried too much weight.
A being strong enough to create Three Kings.
An existence that bore the name of a god and still remained.
A power so great it turned tragic.
It all made Ryuunosuke's curiosity burn even hotter.
How many secrets did this man carry?
"Kid," the First Generation said, noticing Ryuunosuke's silence and smiling.
"Didn't you want to ask me something?"
"You can start now."
"I will only be here for at most a day. I still have things to do."
After speaking, he casually sat down on the deck like he belonged there.
"Sir," Ryuunosuke said, lowering his tone.
"You speak. I will listen."
He understood something.
The information he could pry out by questioning would likely be less than what the First Generation would reveal if allowed to talk.
Right now, being a listener was the better choice.
"As expected of Captain Ryuunosuke," the First Generation said, eyes filled with nostalgia.
"Clever."
"Fine."
"I have a lot to say."
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