The island was in a state of collapse.
The entire island was vibrating violently. Powerful shockwaves triggered massive earthquakes, and bottomless abysses, like spiderwebs, spread across the island, tearing it into fragments.
The black tide, which spread out like a tsunami, crushed everything on the island's surface: forests, farmlands, residences, and people. Everything was pulverized in that instant.
Darkness enveloped the entire island.
Almost in the very next second, a pitch-black dragon tore through the air.
Looking down at the island below, wrapped in black mist and black flames, Robin, standing on the black dragon's head, couldn't help but contract her pupils.
"Are we too late?"
The woman clenched her fists, her tone full of self-reproach and frustration.
They had rushed over at the fastest possible speed, but it seemed they were still too late.
That ability again!
The ability to easily open the door to a different dimension—there was simply no way to deal with them!
"We can only do our best now!"
Shanks, standing alongside Robin, took a deep breath. "Níðhöggr, please!"
The black dragon didn't hesitate, instantly flapping its wings and descending.
The moment it plunged into the darkness, the darkness dispersed, and light returned!
Whether it was the black mist, the black flames, or even the vibrating air, everything vanished the instant it touched Níðhöggr's massive body.
And it wasn't over. The enormous black dragon opened its mouth and roared, and black air currents spread out like a gale.
It was a cone-shaped roar that spread outwards.
Wherever the roar passed, all the darkness similarly vanished.
Soon, the island was restored to peace.
But the price of this peace was that the entire island was shattered, and everything on its surface had been utterly destroyed, leaving only a barren wasteland.
"..."
Shanks glanced down, his expression heavy.
Then, he looked up at the sky.
There was a small black dot there—the quietly suspended aerial battleship.
"Níðhöggr!"
The black dragon immediately flapped its wings, preparing to ascend.
However, before they could fly high, the large ship suspended in the sky suddenly exploded, blooming into a brilliant flower of flame in the high altitude.
"Bastards!"
Robin bit her lip, "They abandoned the people on the ship without hesitation?"
"Ze ha ha, after all, they're just clone soldiers."
In the interdimensional space invisible to Robin and Shanks, Teach floated in front of them, saying with a grin, "But, thankfully, the Door-Door Fruit replication was very successful, or it wouldn't have been so easy for us to escape this time!"
In this space, besides the four of them, there was also a bloodline factor artificial human floating motionlessly.
Over the past year, the replication of the Door-Door Fruit had been completed.
Although, like Vegapunk in the original work, they couldn't create a true Paramecia-type Devil Fruit; they could only grant the artificial humans Paramecia Devil Fruit abilities in the form of green blood.
But that was enough.
Judge had cultivated a batch of bloodline factor artificial humans specialized in the Door-Door Fruit.
Each of the Grand Executives was now accompanied by one.
Now, even when facing the God's Knights at their peak, Roa wouldn't need to personally intervene.
Even if Imu personally descended, as long as they weren't unlucky enough to be ambushed, escaping should pose no problem.
"But, when did the Whitebeard Pirates get involved with the remnants of Roger's crew?"
Charlotte Linlin looked somewhat surprised at Shanks and Robin, who were descending towards the island, which had been turned into a blank slate, aboard the pitch-black giant dragon.
"Who knows,"
Shiki the Golden Lion puffed on his cigar. "Does anyone here understand lip-reading?"
"How would this old lady know!"
Charlotte Linlin snapped.
"Ze ha ha ha ha! Me neither!"
Teach said with a grin. "Kaido probably doesn't either. It seems impossible to figure out what they are saying by lip-reading."
There was nothing they could do. The Door-Door Fruit wasn't omnipotent. At the very least, they, being inside the interdimensional space, couldn't hear what people in the real world were saying.
The artificial human who opened the door only did so based on Charlotte Linlin's gestures.
"Why not just follow them?"
Kaido folded his arms and scoffed, "Let's find their lair directly."
"Follow them?"
Shiki turned his head.
The pitch-black dragon that had landed on the island below was already soaring into the sky.
Then, it shot through the air like a black bolt of lightning, vanishing on the horizon within a few seconds.
"You try chasing that?"
Shiki sneered.
"Tch."
Kaido could only click his tongue in frustration.
The speed was that fast?
"Ze ha ha ha ha! Let's go back! The harvest from this trip is more than enough!"
Teach laughed heartily.
Although they lost an aerial battleship and some clone soldiers, compared to the gains from this venture, it was negligible.
On the back of the pitch-black dragon flying rapidly away.
Shanks and Robin looked at the two people lying quietly on the black dragon's back, their breathing weak, their faces grim.
"Vista, and Thatch,"
Shanks's tone was heavy. "What exactly happened!"
Only these two survived from the entire Whitebeard Pirates.
Or rather, only these two were still preserved intact on the island. As for the others, let alone their lives, their bodies had been ground away in that creeping darkness.
Even Whitebeard's corpse could not be found.
"Shiki, Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, and Teach—"
Vista, whose body was so twisted he was almost unrecognizable, spoke in a deep, faint voice,
"Marco was killed, Old Man was killed, Jozu was killed... Teach, that bastard,"
Vista gasped deeply with almost every word, "That guy has the ability to steal Devil Fruit powers... They were after the Old Man's power..."
"What?"
Robin instantly exclaimed, "The ability to steal Devil Fruit powers?"
"There's actually an ability like that?"
Shanks's pupils also contracted.
This meant the Pirate Alliance could now easily seize various Devil Fruit abilities?
This was bad!
If so, Roa's power would continue to swell endlessly!
"And there's more,"
Vista gasped. "Teach, he got the Old Man's ability. He seems to possess three Devil Fruit abilities at the same time..."
"..."
Shanks and Robin instinctively exchanged glances, both seeing a hint of horror in the other's eyes.
Three different Devil Fruit abilities?
How could that be possible?
Although the two monsters, Roa and Imu, had abnormally diverse powers, they were, in the end, only different derivations of the same base ability!
They weren't multiple Devil Fruit users!
Three different Devil Fruit abilities—how strong was that bastard Teach now?
Was Roa's monstrous cohort about to gain another world-shattering monster?
"Straw Hat..."
Vista shed bloody tears. "Will you still oppose Roa?"
Without any hesitation, Robin nodded solemnly. "The stronger his power, the more dangerous that Roa is! We absolutely cannot allow him to continue destroying this world!"
The state of the world on the Red Line's side was known to all.
They must not let that bastard Roa act wantonly any longer!
"Good, I'll help you!"
Vista almost coughed up blood. Though his voice was weak, his tone was absolutely resolute. "I'll help you—"
Even though the Old Man was dead, and everyone was dead, the Whitebeard Pirates had not been destroyed!
He and Thatch were still alive!
There were dozens of affiliated pirate crews in the first half of the Grand Line!
They could still fight!
No matter what, they had to make that bastard Roa pay the price, even if it meant sacrificing everything!
Looking at the coughing Vista, Shanks felt a pang of emotion.
The Whitebeard Pirates, once rivals to his Roger Pirates, had met their end like this.
Roa, you bastard, you've done too much evil!
"Welcome aboard, Vista!"
Shanks looked serious.
For them now, every bit of strength was precious.
After all, the enemy was simply too strong.
"Right, Shanks,"
Vista seemed to recall something. He said, "There are others, others fighting Roa,"
"Have you heard of the Revolutionary Army?"
"The Revolutionary Army?"
Robin paused slightly.
Indeed!
Over the past year, the Revolutionary Army was the only faction in the North Blue that consistently stood up and resisted the Pirate Alliance!
Even when facing a monster like Roa, they never showed fear. Even with constant failures, they never stopped resisting!
Moreover, before Roa's return, those people were resisting the World Government!
Their stance was exactly the same as theirs!
The Revolutionary Army!
They were people who could become allies!
Robin and Shanks exchanged glances again.
It seemed they would have to take a trip to the North Blue next!
Sometime later, at the Calamity City.
The sky city had begun its circuit above the Red Line, as instructed by Roa.
During this process, Viola had also begun her work, using her eyes to constantly probe in all directions, helping Roa locate the World Government's whereabouts.
The search began from the ruins of Mary Geoise.
Only ruins and a lone, enormous tree remained there now.
The Sunlight Tree Eve, which brought sunlight to Fish-Man Island, stood atop this red continent.
Of course, Roa wasn't interested in that.
After all, though the massive nest at the top of the tree, which was no smaller in scale than Elbaf's Treasure Tree Adam, was still there, the colossal creature that should have inhabited it was long gone.
Teach and the others returned to Calamity City shortly after the search began.
Because the aerial battleship had been detonated, they could only slowly fly back using Shiki's ability.
"Oh, not bad, Teach,"
Roa assessed the grinning Teach with interest. "You finally got what you wanted, and the effect is instantaneous."
In terms of aura, Teach was now a full level stronger than when he left.
If the previous Teach was at the peak of humanity, like Big Bro Kaido and Uncle Shiki, with a value of 100 (referencing his own value 26 years ago).
Then the current Teach's value had exceeded 110.
Although it was only a small ten points, Teach had undoubtedly surpassed the limit of humanity, reaching a truly non-human domain!
He had pulled ahead of formidable characters like Uncle Shiki, Big Bro Kaido, Bullet, and Loki.
In the whole world, aside from himself and Imu, there should be no one capable of defeating him.
"Ze ha ha ha ha!"
Teach was all smiles. "It's all thanks to you, Boss! I knew that only by following behind you could my ambition have a chance of realization!"
Let me say it again, choosing to side with the Boss back then was the most correct decision he had ever made in his life!
"Hmph, this bastard was very arrogant on the way back,"
Charlotte Linlin scoffed. "He didn't put us in his eyes at all. Roa, you better watch out; this bastard might usurp your position one day."
"Oh?"
Roa raised his mouth with interest. "Teach, is Aunt Linlin telling the truth?"
This guy was indeed prone to getting carried away and naturally had a rebellious streak. If his power ever surpassed his own, there was no doubt he would immediately turn against him.
"H-how could that be!"
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Teach's forehead. "I would never betray you, Boss!"
"Only by following behind you can I avoid losing my way!"
"Hahaha, I think so too."
Roa laughed heartily. "The rules of this world have always been simple!"
He raised his right hand, and a black dot abruptly burst forth from his index fingertip.
Sizzle!
A pitch-black ray instantly sliced past Teach's ear.
"..."
Teach's eyes widened instantly, and his back was completely drenched in cold sweat.
I would have died!
If that attack had hit, I would have died!
What terrifying Haki!
To what extent had the Boss refined his Haki over this past year?
"A true powerhouse is never betrayed,"
Roa said with a smile. "Right, Teach?"
"Of course!! Absolutely, Boss!"
Teach nodded frantically.
He had indeed become very strong, but that strength was still so utterly insignificant in front of the Boss!
"Hmph."
Shiki snorted softly.
Was this truly rational?
Even Teach, that arrogant brat with three Devil Fruit abilities, was still insignificant before Roa.
Could the difference between Devil Fruits really be that vast?
Furthermore, aside from anomalies like Teach, was it a cruel reality that one could not surpass the limits of humanity without Devil Fruits on the level of Roa's and Imu's?
It was quite infuriating!
"But Roa,"
Kaido spoke up. "It seems those remnants of the Roger Pirates are mixed up with the Whitebeard Pirates."
"I can only say,"
Roa said with a light chuckle, "Uncle Whitebeard seems to have made another wrong decision."
He didn't need to guess. The remnants of the Roger Pirates wanted to rally the Whitebeard Pirates to oppose him.
But Uncle Whitebeard seemed to have refused.
The result could only be this.
Being overly protective of his "children" had, ironically, led to this outcome.
How pathetic.
"That dragon,"
Shiki's tone was serious. "What are you going to do about it? Roa, if that thing fully matures, no one in the world will be able to match it!"
Unlike the other Ancient Weapons, the Nidhogg was specialized for anti-human combat, possessed its own consciousness, and could even use Haki.
"I can't deal with it right now either,"
Roa said with a smile. "But don't worry, once this world becomes a little more delicious, everything will be fine."
"..."
Shiki was silent.
So, by inflicting more suffering on this world, this bastard Roa could continue to evolve, right?
If he evolved further, he would completely surpass the realm of Imu and Joy Boy!
Was this guy aiming to evolve into a humanoid Ancient Weapon?
If so, he might indeed be able to fight the Nidhogg.
Regardless, Calamity City continued its advance, searching the Red Line for any trace of Imu.
Meanwhile, in the West Blue, North Blue, and the New World—the three seas where the Pirate Alliance had been silent for nearly a year—they finally began to move again.
The Devil Fruit User Hunt had begun.
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