"AAAAAHHH!!!"
A blood-curdling scream tore through the air as the resentment entity emerged once again.
It began devouring the bodies of slave traders, black flames engulfing them and burning them to ashes.
"This flame… interesting."
The resentment entity fully emerged, leaving only a pile of white bones behind.
Then, its hollow gaze locked onto the others.
"Trying to run? Hmph."
With a cold snort from Roy, the entity froze mid-air before its body began dissolving. Atmos quickly placed a miracle pile of apples nearby.
The black flames raged, but under the crushing weight of Roy's Conqueror's Haki, they were snuffed out.
The Devil Fruit then reformed once again.
Miro dragged another slave trader forward.
"No, no! Please! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!!"
The trafficker, seeing what happened to the previous one, trembled in terror, even wetting his pants.
But his begging was useless. Atmos picked up the fruit, and Miro pried open his mouth, shoving the fruit inside.
The moment it entered his body, he burst into flames.
Atmos and Miro quickly backed away. They had just seen the flames turn someone into bones in an instant.
The entity reappeared again. This time, its body seemed slightly different; the color had faded a bit more.
It once again burned its host to death and tried to flee.
It was killed again. Then it turned back into a fruit.
And so the cycle continued.
Until all the slaves traders were dead.
"How many now?" Roy asked Miro.
"Twenty-three, big bro," Miro replied.
A heap of white bones piled on the ground. Roy wasn't even sure how many had died.
"Big bro, is this fruit still not usable?" Atmos asked.
Roy held the fruit in his hand, staring at it for a while. He wasn't sure. Erasing the resentment will of this fruit wasn't so easy.
Devil Fruits do have a consciousness, but a fruit with such strong self-awareness, one filled with hatred, this was the first time Roy had seen something like it.
"No, still not ready," Roy said.
"Are we going back, then?" Miro asked.
"No. We're going to the Kingdom of Lulusia," Roy said, looking up.
"Lulusia Kingdom?"
Atmos and Miro exchanged puzzled looks. They didn't understand why Roy wanted to go there.
But the distance wasn't far. In fact, it was one of the World Government's closest affiliate nations to the Red Line.
It was a short trip; Atmos flew them straight there.
At that moment, chaos had broken out in the Lulusia Kingdom.
After the Reverie, the Revolutionary Army launched revolutions in eight nations simultaneously, Lulusia included.
Now, the Lulusia Kingdom was in turmoil and no longer a World Government affiliate. Roy's group arrived unnoticed.
"Big bro, the Revolutionary Army incited an uprising here and liberated the kingdom," Miro reported after gathering intel.
"There are many Revolutionary Army members on the island, and a lot of locals want to leave and join them," Atmos added.
"That doesn't matter. I'm waiting for something," Roy said, looking up at the sky.
"Waiting for something?"
The two followed his gaze skyward but saw nothing unusual. Still, trusting Roy, they waited.
Meanwhile, the Marines had begun mobilizing, and the Seraphim had been deployed.
The operation to abolish the Seven Warlords of the Sea was underway, with the Marines and Seraphim acting together.
The Straw Hat Pirates had already arrived in Wano but hadn't met up with the others yet.
The Big Mom Pirates were also en route to Wano. The world was shifting.
After raiding the Big Mom Pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates had returned to Moby Dick Island.
"Roy still hasn't come back?" Whitebeard asked as he played with Ryan.
"Not yet. He said he'd return in a while," Marco replied.
"What's he up to? His name's been all over the news lately." Whitebeard glanced at a nearby newspaper.
After the Reverie, the world had been shaken by huge headlines.
First, the World Government passed a resolution to abolish the Warlord system. The Warlords were now considered illegal pirates once more, and the Marines were ordered to hunt them down.
Second, and more troubling, was the news that Roy, the Whitebeard Pirates' Vice Captain and one of the Four Emperors, had joined forces with the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff to assassinate King Cobra of Alabasta at Mary Geoise
The world was in shock. Rumors of an alliance between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Revolutionary Army were flying everywhere.
People were terrified. The Whitebeard Pirates were ruthless, and the Revolutionary Army opposed the entire World Government. Together, they posed a massive threat.
Even within the Whitebeard Pirates, tension rose. Many disliked the Revolutionary Army and preferred to stay pirates. Some went to Whitebeard, asking about the truth of the reports.
But Whitebeard didn't have an answer; he had no idea why Roy would be working with the Revolutionaries.
"Big bro must have his reasons. I don't believe he'd kill King Cobra like that. If he wanted him dead, he could've done it at Marineford, why go to Mary Geoise and work with the Revolutionaries?
It doesn't add up. And look at the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff, Sabo, he looks injured," Marco analyzed.
"Injured?!" Whitebeard asked in surprise.
"I'm also a Phoenix Fruit user. I can see his flames have changed, and there's blood on his hand. He's clutching a wound, not Cobra's blood. Look here, Pops." Marco pointed at the newspaper.
"Hmm, looks like you're right. Roy wouldn't have done it. Then the one who killed Cobra must have been someone from the World Government," Whitebeard agreed.
"As for those brats, tell them to wait until Roy gets back. They need to calm down. And since when do pirates look down on Revolutionaries? What's so noble about being a pirate anyway?" Whitebeard snorted.
Tension brewed in the Whitebeard Pirates. After defeating the Big Mom Pirates, many became ambitious, even dreaming of taking down the other Emperors and ruling the New World.
"It won't be easy to calm them down. Let's wait for big bro to return. He's the only one who can straighten things out," Marco said with a chuckle, realizing even he couldn't suppress them anymore.
Only Roy could control the current unrest within the Whitebeard Pirates. Once he returned, their problems would be solved.
...
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu