BOOM,
Under the still, silent night sky…
"Hm?!"
Luffy, who had been admiring the moonlit view from his window, suddenly felt a wave of discomfort, like the very fabric of the world had just... shifted.
The sensation struck so abruptly, it was as if something had pierced through from another dimension. For a moment, he wasn't even sure if what he felt was real.
Was it just his imagination?
BOOM!
Another tremor rolled through the ground.
No… this time it was real. Definitely real.
Luffy immediately stood up, eyes sharp with curiosity. He moved to the window, scanning the surroundings for the source of the tremor.
For something, or someone, to unleash this level of power without him noticing… it had to be extraordinary.
BZZZZZZ,
The frequency of the tremors suddenly increased. Even the building Luffy stood in began to sway noticeably, creaking under the strain.
"Luffy~!"
"Luffy!"
"Luffy-san!"
Before the tremors even settled, Nami and Brook had already thrown on simple clothes and dashed toward Luffy's room. Robin, however, used her powers to transform her lilac nightgown into a low-cut, form-fitting evening dress in a flash.
All three rushed toward Luffy's room in a hurry.
"Don't panic!"
Luffy's voice was calm and composed the moment he saw his crewmates. The unease in his expression vanished, replaced by the steady air of a captain.
He had to remain unmoved. He had to uphold the dignity of a captain, calm as a mountain.
This was a matter of pride.
Besides, this seemed to be nothing more than a natural earthquake. Probably a volcanic tremor from the seabed below. Nothing unusual for an island nation.
Nothing worth losing their heads over.
Without delay, Luffy released a burst of Observation Haki, letting his spiritual awareness wash over the entire island.
As the range of his Haki expanded, his brow furrowed slightly in strain.
Strange…
He sensed nothing unusual on the island itself. It was as though the entire island had fallen out of sync with the world, continuously shaking, disconnected from reality.
"That's odd…"
Luffy muttered quietly to himself.
He split his Haki again, this time sacrificing detail for range.
And finally, he found something.
The extended reach of his Observation Haki spread beyond the island and over the sea.
There, in the distance, he discovered a clear boundary, a visible arc where the world seemed to split.
Beyond that arc, the ocean was calm and peaceful.
But within it? The world quivered and shook, just as he felt it now.
BZZZZZZ,
This... earthquake, that didn't quite feel like an earthquake, continued relentlessly. The islanders had long since been jolted from their sleep, but most took it in stride, fleeing into the emergency shelters that had been built for just such natural disasters.
After all, natural disasters weren't uncommon for a sea-bound nation.
But Luffy's gut told him this was no ordinary quake.
He expanded his Observation Haki to fully envelop the trembling zone.
And then,
Luffy's eyes snapped open, surprise mingling with a faint smile.
At the same time, Brook also spoke up, visibly shaken:
"Luffy-san! I think… I can feel Reishi in the air! It's vibrating!"
"Really?!"
Luffy's expression lit up.
In this world, only two people should be able to sense Reishi (spiritual particles):
One was Brook, who had become an Arrancar through the power of the Hōgyoku.
The other was,
Zoro, who had obtained a Zanpakutō and awakened the powers of a Shinigami.
And just now, Luffy had realized something else:
The tremors were centered around Zoro.
He turned to Nami.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced, when Nami first awakened her Dragon Slayer Magic as a child, the sheer force of that magical eruption had changed the entire weather pattern over Cocoyashi Village.
Zoro had been holding back for a long time. A big reaction was only natural.
But…
Things didn't seem quite as smooth as Luffy had hoped.
Brook's skeletal face twisted in panic. He suddenly exclaimed:
"This is bad, Luffy-san!"
"The Reishi is spilling into the real world!!"
"What?!"
Luffy couldn't quite grasp what Brook meant, but the sheer fear in his voice made it clear, this was different from what had happened with Nami.
"We need to check it out!"
There was no time to overthink it. Even Luffy could now feel something brushing against his body, something invisible, untouchable, unstoppable.
The pressure wasn't intense, yet, but it was growing fast.
Brook, meanwhile, looked like he was thriving in the strange energy. He absorbed the Reishi in the air hungrily.
The bones of his arms grew darker, denser, and black energy began to creep down from his hips to his legs.
Taking the lead, Luffy opened the door and made his way to the basement, where Zoro had been resting.
The mansion's maids had already evacuated to a private shelter at the first sign of trouble.
They knew their masters well. The ones they served didn't need protection.
To them, the crew's daily sparring matches already felt like gods waging war.
As they neared Zoro's chamber, Luffy and the others immediately noticed something strange.
The once-empty room, normally so dull that even rats avoided it, was now glowing faintly blue, a soft light seeping through the cracks in the door.
When Luffy opened the door,
FLASH!
Dazzling blue light ricocheted off the dark walls and converged into a brilliant beam that shot directly into their eyes.
"Yohohoho~ My eyes! I'm going blind!"
"Though I don't have any eyes!"
Brook's usual skeletal pun made a rare return. Clearly energized by the Reishi, he covered his face with his sleeve while laughing, happier than Luffy had seen him in ages.
Once Luffy adjusted to the light, he stepped closer to Zoro.
And strangely, the closer he got, the less the ground shook.
"Brook, do you know what's going on?"
Luffy asked, turning to the only person who could understand this strange phenomenon.
Brook was glowing faintly now, as if absorbing energy from the air.
But as he drew nearer to Zoro, something changed. A strained expression crossed his skeletal face.
His movements stiffened. He opened his mouth with effort, speaking in a broken tone:
"L-Luffy… sir…"
"…Something's wrong!!"
"The… Reiryoku is rising… fast!!"
BOOM!!!
Brook suddenly collapsed to one knee, hands slamming into the floor with such force that the wooden planks cracked and splintered beneath him.
"Brook?! What's wrong?!"
Luffy and the others rushed to his side, concern etched on their faces.
But Brook said nothing. His expression alone said it all, he could no longer speak.
Luffy immediately turned to Robin:
"Robin! Get him out of here, now!"
"Understood!"
Sensing the danger, Robin didn't hesitate. She grabbed Brook and pulled him out of the chamber.
"Nami, you too!"
Even Luffy felt the strange pressure building in his body now. He quickly called out to Nami.
She gave one last curious glance at Zoro's glowing body, then nodded and left the room without argument.
Once they were gone, Luffy wasted no time.
"System! What the hell is going on with Zoro?!"
Even without spiritual awareness, Luffy could feel it, something oppressive, spiritual in nature, pressing down on his physical body.
[System Answer: Zoro has completed the Shikai Awakening Trial. He is currently undergoing spiritual awakening.]
"No kidding!"
"I'm asking why it feels like my soul's being crushed! Is this Reishi?!"
[System Answer: The Pirate World lacks the unique energy needed to birth Shinigami. The system is currently extracting compatible energy from another dimension to rebuild Zoro's body.]
[This energy is not regular Reishi, but a denser, higher-grade form of spiritual energy, comparable to that of the Hōgyoku.]
The system's voice was cold and mechanical, but it wasn't finished.
[Friendly Warning: Due to the sudden accumulation of excess Reishi, and the lack of laws in this world to conceal it in an alternate plane, Zoro's awakening may inflict unpredictable damage on the real world.]
"…What are you saying?"
As Luffy listened to the emotionless explanation, a sense of dread began creeping over him.
"What kind of damage are we talking about?"
The pressure was intensifying. Even Luffy was starting to panic.
[This island, and a portion of the surrounding sea, may be consumed by the Reishi storm, converted into Reishi and erased from existence.]
"WHAT?!!"
Luffy's face turned pale.
He didn't care about himself.
But on this island, it held Foosha Village… and Mount Colubo. Dadan was still here!
There was no way he would let this happen!
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