The moment those words were spoken, all Five Elders' expressions changed, and they looked visibly tense.
Among them, the elder in the black suit, with long straight white hair and a long beard, instinctively apologized.
"My apologies, Imu-sama. I will retrieve that new fruit from the Celestial Dragons, and I will warn them not to misuse that power."
But unlike before, Imu shook their head this time.
"No... this time is different..."
"Different from before...?"
The Five Elders exchanged baffled glances. In the end, one of them carefully asked,
"Imu-sama, what do you mean?"
"That Devil Fruit was not born from the power nurtured by Uranus..."
In an instant, all Five Elders were shocked. Then a cold voice rang through the entire Room of Flowers.
"A child has broken free of Uranus's control. Just like that Devil Fruit bearing the name of a god. Go find it. One force capable of disrupting the balance of this world is already more than enough..."
...
Out on the sea, the blazing sun was still burning fiercely.
Endless flames poured toward the tiny black point at its center.
Seeing this, even a fool would know that whatever Yemu was doing, he absolutely could not be allowed to succeed.
But just as John raised his swords and prepared to cut through it all, an unexpected figure appeared.
A mass of black-and-cyan flames emerged and blocked his path.
John should have cut it down immediately, but when he saw the figure before him, he still stopped in shock and shouted in astonishment,
"Lillilu, why are you here? I thought you died with the captain long ago..."
As the black-and-cyan flames burned, Lillilu stood atop white clouds, floating in midair in a gigantic form. She glanced at Yemu behind her, who was fusing the powers of two Devil Fruits, then turned back to John in front of her and said firmly,
"It's been more than ten years, John."
At that moment, the familiar voice made John feel as if he had gone back to the old days, when they had both been aboard Rocks's ship, and Lillilu, as Rocks's pet, had often appeared on deck.
"That's a surprise. You're actually calling Master 'captain.' I don't remember you ever calling him that before."
Lillilu's words made John's expression change, and a trace of gloom passed over his face.
Much as he did not want to remember that period, the truth was that for John, his time aboard the Rocks Pirates' ship had been when he was at his most spirited and free.
Nothing like now...
But that was not the point.
He looked at Lillilu blocking his way, then at Yemu behind her, and asked with deliberate meaning,
"Why are you here? Did you leave Rocks and find yourself a new master?"
Lillilu naturally understood the provocation in his words. She shook her head.
"It's not that I found a new master. The boy behind me was always my young master."
"Young master?!"
John's eyes flew wide open. Realizing something, he suddenly roared,
"Don't tell me this brat is Rocks's..."
"Think whatever you want, John. Unfortunately, the moment you stood in our way, we were destined to become enemies. Otherwise, we might have had the chance to catch up."
John's gaze turned cold.
"You don't actually think you can stop me, do you?"
Lillilu shook her head without hesitation.
"Of course I know I'm not your opponent. But I have other ways."
"Other ways?!"
"Yes. It may be a little disrespectful to Master, but the situation has changed, so there are things I can no longer leave unsaid."
Lillilu looked at John and said something that stunned him.
"John, do you know? From the very beginning, Master was only using all of you. Newgate, Shiki, Linlin, you, and everyone else..."
Even knowing it was probably only meant to stall for time, John still could not stop himself from asking,
"What do you mean?!"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Master never truly intended to rule the world. Or rather, ruling the world was only a trivial matter to him. What he wanted was far more than any of you ever imagined."
John's expression turned ugly.
"So all those dreams he told us about were lies? And the final battle, the attack on God Valley, that was all a deception too?!"
"You can think of it that way. But there was one thing Master did not lie about. The legendary Ancient Weapon, Uranus, really was in God Valley back then. If someone could wield its power, then yes, they really could rule the world. But unfortunately, Uranus could never be controlled by an ordinary person. Or rather, as she is now, only the Celestial Dragons can wield her power."
Hearing that, John could not hold back any longer.
"What exactly is Uranus? Why can't ordinary people control her?"
Lillilu thought for a moment, then finally answered.
"As for Uranus... you could call her the god who gives birth to all things. She was the first life ever born into this world. The energy of most life as we know it comes from her. In that sense, all of us could be called her children."
"!!!"
John froze, then asked in confusion,
"Then why can only the Celestial Dragons control her power?"
"It's simple."
Lillilu glanced behind her at Yemu.
"As a mother, she had two children. One betrayed her, and one protected her. Who do you think she would favor?"
"Sometimes right and wrong aren't what matter. Justice is only defined by where you stand. Pirates and Marines, the D clan and the Celestial Dragons, freedom and control, child and mother."
"Not to mention that one of those children even created a terrifying weapon to oppose her."
"Whatever that weapon was originally made for, to a mother, it was still betrayal..."
"In that situation, if it were you, who would you choose?"
Lillilu's words made John fall silent in thought.
But there was still one thing he did not understand.
"If that's the case, then what exactly was Rocks after when he attacked God Valley?"
"That?"
Lillilu looked at Yemu behind her, and in that instant John understood something and froze.
"Looks like I don't need to say it out loud. There are some differences, but he is Master's greatest masterpiece. More than that child, he is the one who has broken free from this world's control. The one who is truly free..."
...
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