Novel Chapter
For a colossal Sea King like the lanternfish, Conqueror's Haki wasn't useless—but it definitely wouldn't work as easily as scaring off the Lord of the Coast.
The lanternfish carried multiple islands inside its body. Not as absurd as Zunesha, but it had built up enough resistance to partially ignore Conqueror's Haki intimidation.
Right now, what it felt most was wariness and rage.
"That size..."
Cold sweat dripped down Crocodile's face. If Aus's ability wasn't stabilizing the Oro Jackson, the water pressure from just opening its mouth would be enough to suck the entire ship in!
Aus controlled the ship, lifting it into the sky. His crimson-glowing eyes locked onto the super-sized Sea King below.
He had zero interest in taking a stroll inside that thing's mouth.
Aus's massive Observation Haki swept across the lanternfish's enormous golden lantern on its head. Disappointing...
So huge, yet not Pure Gold.
Made sense, though.
Pure Gold—a divine substance created by pure chance. If there was an island-sized amount of it, that'd be the weird part.
"Even Lord Bonbori... can make that kind of face?"
The blonde little loli leaned over the ship's edge, mouth hanging open as she watched the giant lanternfish churning the sea below.
"Haven't found it yet?"
Mihawk drew the black blade Yoru from his back. His sharp hawk-like eyes gazed down from the sky—exactly like a sky predator eyeing its prey.
"Can't help it. The space inside this thing is massive. Finding it's a pain."
Aus frowned. Right now, the three islands inside the lanternfish, its organs, blood vessels—everything was exposed to his Observation Haki.
Under these conditions, finding Pure Gold was like finding a needle in the ocean.
"Buy me some time."
"...Got it."
Mihawk glanced at Aus, then leaped up and stood at the bow of the Oro Jackson, locking his gaze on the creature below.
"You guys... don't tell me..."
Olga didn't know exactly what these guys were doing, but she understood their goal was Pure Gold. She tried to step forward—
But suddenly, a golden hook pierced through the collar of her shirt.
She dangled in midair, flailing her limbs uselessly.
"Hey, quiet down, brat. Or I'll throw you overboard."
Watching Aus frown and Mihawk raise his blade, Crocodile removed the cigar from his mouth with his other hand, stopping Olga from causing trouble.
Mihawk ignored the freezing high-altitude winds. His open white shirt and short black hair fluttered in the air.
He slowly raised Yoru. A massive emerald-green slash carrying black-red lightning—like it could split the world itself—shot out.
As the sound of tearing air rang out, the lanternfish sensed danger but couldn't dodge with its massive body.
CLANG—
SPLURT—
An exaggerated gash opened on the lantern atop the lanternfish's head. A massive waterfall of golden light poured out!
The lanternfish was furious!
It raged for... about a second.
Then it opened its massive mouth, swallowing as much of the gold falling from the crack as possible, spinning in place.
At least that bought time to keep it from fleeing into the deep abyss.
Stomach acid, bones, animals...
God knows how many years this thing had lived. How many islands it had eaten!
Aus scanned round after round. Among a group of dinosaurs, he found an unusual figure.
A scientist disguised as a dinosaur.
Seeing that figure, Aus didn't react much. An ordinary ambitious person might capture this guy to mass-produce Pure Gold endlessly.
But Aus just found that troublesome. The guy's greatest value was making Pure Gold—but Aus didn't need the whole world to live forever. Enough was enough.
Holding onto someone like that would just attract trouble if the World Government found out.
Hell—
Faced with the ultimate temptation of eternal life, even Imu and the Five Elders might come knocking.
Finally, his Observation Haki swept across a patch of land and discovered an unusual ruin.
"Finally found it."
Ignoring layers of traps, his Observation Haki took in the full picture. At the very end of the mechanism sat a lump of golden glowing material.
Found it~
"Super Warp: Conductor's Baton!"
Instantly, a fist-sized golden glowing object appeared in Aus's hand.
The moment it touched him, a strange sensation swept through Aus's entire body.
This...
His microscopic-level Observation Haki scanned his body. He felt something weird—like his metabolism suddenly froze.
He could still digest and generate energy, but there was this frozen, unchanging feeling.
"So this is Pure Gold..."
With Pure Gold in hand, Aus wasn't the only one reacting strongly. Olga's eyes went wide as saucers.
"That... that's..."
"Yep, Pure Gold."
Could probably hang it in a room and use it as an infinite energy lightbulb.
Mission accomplished. Aus didn't want to stick around. After reuniting Olga with her dinosaur-disguised father, Aus casually warped off the heads of all the creatures on the island.
Reuniting them and giving them a safe living environment—consider it thanks for creating Pure Gold.
...
"This... is Pure Gold?"
Aus gave each of them a small piece. Mihawk and Crocodile stared at the sesame-seed-sized "golden bean" in their hands, looking at Aus with speechless expressions.
"What's with those looks? This tiny bit is enough."
According to their wishes, Aus fused the little golden bean into accessories they carried.
Mihawk chose the small knife hanging from his neck. Crocodile chose a ring.
"Warning—don't wear them yet. This stuff will freeze your body's changes...
In other words, it can grant eternal life, but it also stops growth and development. That two-hundred-year-old little girl is proof."
"What?!"
Both immediately put them away.
Especially Mihawk. He hadn't reached his peak as a swordsman yet. How could he stop progressing forever?
They quickly returned to Sabaody Archipelago. Aus distributed pieces to his trusted people, including Little Mingo.
Apparently, when Doflamingo received this gift, he locked himself in his room for a long time. Then he immediately ordered an expansion of the Devil Fruit acquisition plan.
The news inevitably reached the World Government, but that was it. After all, only a handful of people in this world qualified to receive such intelligence.
As for Pure Gold? Imu didn't need it. The Five Elders didn't need it. Only some Celestial Dragons might want it.
That's why in the original story, the ships searching for Pure Gold only had one CP0 agent and a few Marine warships—not all the Admirals mobilized with the Holy Knights backing them up.
The few who truly held power were already immortal. No matter how much the underlings scrambled, it didn't matter.
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