Thousands of miles to the right of the Alabasta Kingdom, in front of the towering Red Line continent.
A bizarre scene appeared on the shimmering sea.
A slender, lanky man, looking like a bamboo pole, was riding a bicycle, moving in a straight line on the sea.
Wherever the bicycle wheels passed, the seawater froze.
Occasionally, one or two bloodthirsty carnivorous large fish would burst out of the sea, pouncing on the man riding the bicycle. However, before they could even get close, they would inexplicably be frozen into large ice chunks and fall into the sea with a thud.
The bicycle seemed to be heading towards the towering Red Line continent ahead, which resembled a mountain range stretching across the sea.
Boom!
Suddenly, the sea within several hundred meters to the left exploded, and a ferocious maw filled with countless sharp teeth lunged fiercely at the man on the bicycle.
It was a large Sea King, the kind that strikes fear into the hearts of all those who navigate the seas!
This Sea King had a neck that stretched for hundreds of meters, and its head alone was the size of a small mountain. A large section of its massive body was submerged beneath the surface.
Hearing the explosive sound of the seawater beside his ear, the curly-haired man stopped pedaling and braced one foot on the sea.
Where his foot touched, a layer of ice rapidly spread outwards.
"Oh dear, another Sea King, how troublesome."
A腥风 came rushing at him. Kuzan looked at the gaping maw so close to him, extended his right index finger, and gently poked it.
A wisp of extreme freezing air shot from his fingertip, striking the teeth of the pouncing Sea King with a crisp snap, like an icicle falling from an eave onto the ground.
The next instant.
Large swathes of ice rapidly spread across the colossal creature's body.
In just two or three seconds, the Sea King's massive body, protruding from the sea, was enveloped by a thick, frosty layer of ice. This included the sea beneath it and its enormous body hidden beneath the surface, all completely frozen.
Kuzan paid no mind to the thousand-meter-class Sea King that had been tragically frozen. Instead, he turned his head to look ahead, pulled out a folded paper map from his懷 and unfolded it.
Looking at the three large characters "Bug Worship Kingdom" marked on the map, and then at the empty sea before him, Kuzan's brow gradually furrowed, and a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
No matter how he looked at this place, it didn't resemble the territory of that affiliated country that had only joined the World Government last year.
The island that should have been nestled against the Red Line had completely vanished, with no trace of destruction.
It was as if this country had never existed.
Zzzzzzz.
A wisp of electric light extended down from the sky, landing on a swirling mass of clouds, revealing Enel's bewildered eyes.
He looked at the white sea of clouds before him, and not far away, a small sky island covered in green vegetation, protruding from the center of the cloud sea. Seeing the familiar layout on the sky island, Enel couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
Bika.
This sky island was his hometown, the island in the sky that he had completely destroyed with his Raigou.
This clearly shouldn't be a sky island anymore, so why were there a sea of clouds and the destroyed sky island of Bika?
A strong intuition told Enel that something was not right here, and it would be best not to approach easily.
However, his Observation Haki sensed some familiar life signatures on the small Bika sky island not far ahead, which made him unable to resist walking towards it.
As he approached, the misty, drifting town gradually appeared, and several laughing and playing voices became clearer.
"Hahaha, get up, Enel! Come and chase me!"
"Hurry, hurry! If you can't catch me, I won't give you back this apple!"
Those were the sounds of children laughing.
Listening to these familiar voices, Enel's expression grew increasingly silent.
Amidst the swirling mist, the town's street appeared before his eyes.
On the street, five children were running around a short golden-haired boy, their faces beaming with bright smiles.
Among them, the tattered, beggar-like little boy sat weakly on the ground, tears in his eyes, filled with fear.
"Enel! You fatherless and motherless bastard, are you descended from those naked Shandian savages? Get out of Bika!"
"Still trying to steal my family's apple? You shameless thief!"
"Go to hell! Monster with one less wing!"
The five children, varying in height, weight, and build, uttered malicious curses, surrounding the terrified little boy.
"Pull out his other wing! This deformed bastard doesn't deserve to possess the sacred features of our angel race!"
"Yes! That way, he won't be accepted by the savage Shandians, nor tolerated by the angel race. It's best if he gets eaten by the Gorgons in the Sacred Land!"
Saying this, the five laughing children reached out and pressed the skinny boy to the ground. A bloated fat boy, with a smug smile on his face, stepped on the boy's back and stretched out his fat hands, grabbing a snow-white wing growing from the boy's shoulder blade.
"A thief deserves his punishment, Enel!"
The powerless boy, unable to struggle, was pinned face down on the cold ground, tears of despair streaming from his eyes as he sobbed tremblingly, "I... I didn't steal it, that was my parents' apple tree..."
"Liar!"
The fat boy's face contorted, and his two fat arms strained as he grabbed the boy's only remaining wing and pulled upward.
Accompanied by the boy's painful screams, a blood-soaked, snow-white wing was held high by the fat boy, like a trophy.
On the street in the distance, some adults with wings on their backs glanced over from afar, then indifferently turned their heads and chatted merrily with their companions.
Boom!
A pale lightning bolt struck down, shattering the fat boy who was holding up his trophy, along with the laughing adults behind him, and the entire street and town, all into dust.
Enel walked forward expressionlessly, stopping in front of the little boy who was curled up on the ground, hugging himself.
"I'm not a thief, I didn't steal apples..."
Tears streamed from the corner of the little boy's eyes, blood flowed from his back, and he uttered weak murmurs.
Enel slowly crouched down, extending a slightly trembling hand towards the curled-up boy.
Suddenly, a fair and soft hand reached out from in front of him and grasped his right hand.
Enel was startled and quickly looked up, seeing a tall woman with long red hair, a vertical line between her eyebrows, and an extremely beautiful face that seemed to combine all the gentleness and maternal warmth in the world. She was bending down, extending her right hand, and holding his.
"Enel, don't be afraid, Mama is here."
The woman said in a gentle voice.
Enel was first astonished, then furious. He raised his hand, ready to unleash a lightning bolt at her face.
However.
"Wha... What's going on?"
Enel looked at his slender, small hands, at his ragged, emaciated body, and his mind suddenly became muddled.
He had become small.
Not only that, a heart-wrenching pain came from his back.
That kind of pain, the kind that made one wish for death, was so familiar.
He had experienced it once before.
But he never thought he would experience it a second time.
A flush of shame and anger exploded in Enel's chest. He wanted to roar, to vent, to unleash his Raigou and destroy everything here.
But this weak body could not exert even a trace of power.
Two soft hands lifted him from the ground, holding him in a warm embrace.
The beautiful woman with long red hair gently looked down at him and softly said, "Don't be afraid, Mama is here. You're safe now. Come, let's go home."
Listening to the soft comfort, the anger and restlessness that had been surging in Enel's heart suddenly vanished little by little. A feeling of anticipation, gratitude, and happiness emerged in his heart.
A smile gradually appeared on his pained face as he nestled in the woman's embrace.
"Good child, be reborn in my kingdom."
The corners of the woman's mouth slowly curved upwards.
Behind them, the white sea of clouds continuously spread outwards, revealing a colossal creature behind it.
The woman held little Enel, humming an unknown melody, and turned to walk into the dark, open maw of the monster behind her.
Mist swirled, and the colossal creature vanished, as if it had never appeared.
In the sky of the Calm Belt, Rorschach, with eyes as sharp as knives, manipulated the airflow, his body already expanded to eight meters tall.
Streaks of leaping electric light continuously surged from his body, spreading and extending into the surrounding sky, amplifying his Observation Haki.
He had become a 360-degree, all-seeing satellite camera with a fifty-kilometer radius, roaring through the sky above the sea, with no intention of concealing his whereabouts.
The fierce whistling of the airflow attracted giant Sea Kings.
But the volcanic, explosive surge of killing intent emanating from Rorschach's body kept these massive beasts from approaching.
Where had Hibari and the others gone?
What happened to the Kirin Go?
Not only was Hibari's Den Den Mushi unreachable, but so was Enel's.
This situation was exactly the same as Sengoku's description of Zephyr's disappearance.
The seas of the Calm Belt were vast and boundless. If not for the setting sun on the horizon to guide him, even Rorschach had a high possibility of getting lost on this endless expanse of water.
With a feeling of irritable worry, Rorschach searched for nearly two more hours. As the sky in the Calm Belt completely darkened, he finally discovered an island at the edge of his Observation Haki's range.
This instantly focused Rorschach's weary mind. His body suddenly swelled further with a boom, breaking through the air and cutting a brilliant arc of electric light across the night sky, rushing rapidly towards the island fifty kilometers away.
As the distance closed, under the full coverage scan of his incredibly powerful Observation Haki, the life signatures of all the island's residents were exposed to Rorschach's senses without any concealment.
And as the power of lightning extended above the island, Rorschach could even clearly see the people and buildings on the island.
The two warships moored in the rocky outcrops were, of course, no exception.
"Kirin Go! The other one, could it be, Teacher Zephyr's warship?"
The moment he saw the two warships, Rorschach's pupils sharply contracted.
Because, in his Haki perception, he had already seen where Hibari and Law were.
However, Zephyr was not seen on the island.
Nor was Enel's trace found.
Another part of the island was shrouded in a mist.
And it was that mist that prevented the lightning power he had unleashed from extending further, blocking it.
Just from this, he knew that there was definitely something abnormal about this island.
"Hmph!"
Rorschach let out a cold snort. Not only did his speed of rushing towards the island not decrease, but it accelerated once again.
Among the densely packed houses on the island, specks of lamplight flickered on.
As the massive figure, shrouded in storms and electric light, cut through the island's night sky, the island residents, standing in front of their homes, all raised their necks and looked up.
Even at this moment, their faces still held that satisfied smile.
Boom!!
In the center of the town, a brilliant electric light crashed to the ground, creating a shattered crater and sending swirling clouds of dust outwards.
Countless tiny shattered stones shot out in all directions with a do-do-do sound, hitting the surrounding house walls and immediately creating bowl-sized dents.
Amidst the swirling dust, a terrifying figure, taller than most of the island's houses, slowly rose, extended a giant hand, tore through the smoke screen in front of it, and with a pair of cold eyes, looked at the crowd walking towards them.
"Brother Rorschach!"
Suddenly, in the crowd, a petite Marine girl, with a pleasantly surprised smile on her face, quickly ran along the street towards Rorschach.
Many Marine soldiers, including Bepo, Law, Pammer, and others, stood at the front of the crowd.
Now seeing Hibari run out, they immediately followed behind her and walked towards him.
Hibari was panting, scurrying all the way to Rorschach's front, and looked up at Rorschach's mighty figure with a flushed, tender little face.
"Brother Rorschach, I thought you wouldn't find this place. I was just thinking of taking everyone out to sea to look for you..."
"You are not Hibari. Don't use Hibari's face and speak to me in that tone." Rorschach did not return to his human form. With his horrifying, muscular body covered in azure scales, he looked down at Hibari who was standing in front of him, and the Marines who followed closely behind her. "We are not that close."
Hibari was stunned, then a look of grievance appeared on her small face.
"Brother Rorschach, why do you say that? Hibari is very sad."
Rorschach ignored her, instead sweeping his indifferent vertical pupils across the growing crowd around him.
With a slight perception from his Observation Haki, he found that there were nearly five thousand people here.
What was strange was that ninety percent of them had the same stiff smile on their faces.
Only Hibari, Law, the Marine soldiers, and a few other residents closer to him had more natural expressions on their faces.
Especially the speaking Hibari, whose tearful and aggrieved appearance made anyone who saw it feel a pang of pity.
"What is this place?"
Rorschach looked at Law, who was approaching.
Law replied in his usual cool voice, "This is the Country of Reunion."
"Country of Reunion?"
"Yes, it means..." Law began to explain, but was stopped by the coldness in Rorschach's eyes.
Rorschach's voice was indifferent, "Since it's a country, then where is the king or the one in power here? Come out and show yourself."
A profound silence fell over the large plaza.
No one spoke. The thousands of people in the crowded space simply stared with those increasingly unsettling, rigid smiles.
Seeing no response, Rorschach nodded.
"Very good."
"What did you say? Brother Rorschach?" Hibari looked up in confusion, only to see Rorschach, still in his demonic form, his cold eyes suddenly narrowing.
Boom!
A terrifying, torrential aura, like a mountain flood or a tsunami, surged from his body, transforming into an infinitely expanding black-and-red light mass, and instantly slammed into the surrounding crowd.
(End of Chapter)
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