The Going Merry cut through the waves like a silver needle, but the atmosphere on deck was heavy. Even Luffy was quieter than usual, sensing the tension radiating from Amine. They were approaching Jaya, but to Amine's eyes, the island didn't look like a tropical paradise. It looked like a Recycle Bin.
"Look at the trees, Nami!" Amine shouted over the wind, pointing his new stylus—a gift from the system after the Alabasta victory. "They aren't green. They're 'Placeholder Assets'! The textures haven't loaded correctly because this island is where the Author throws away the ideas he didn't use!"
"Placeholder what?" Nami yelled back, gripping the tiller. "Amine, talk like a normal person! The sky is turning gray, and the compass is spinning like crazy!"
"It's because we're entering a No-Save Zone!" Amine scrambled to the mast, drawing a giant 'Stabilization Shield' around the ship.
Suddenly, the ocean itself groaned. A massive shadow covered the Merry. The crew looked up, and for the first time, they saw it—a colossal galleon falling from the sky. But it didn't fall like a normal object. It fell in 'Slow-Motion Frames', glitching through the clouds as if the gravity code was broken.
"Luffy! Get back!" Zoro roared, drawing his blades.
The falling ship slammed into the water just meters away, creating a massive wave of 'Digital Static' instead of white foam. From the wreckage, a voice boomed—a deep, distorted laugh that sounded like a broken speaker.
"So... the Little Scholar thinks he can edit my world?"
A man walked out from the wreckage. He was tall, with a wild beard and eyes that were nothing but black voids. Blackbeard. But he wasn't the Blackbeard Amine remembered from the manga. This version was surrounded by a dark aura of 'Null-Code'. He was a Living Virus.
"You..." Amine whispered, his system screaming in terror. [Warning: Unknown Entity Detected. Power Level: Unreadable. Narrative Weight: Infinite.]
"I'm the one who eats the stories, kid," Blackbeard laughed, raising a hand that dripped with black ink. "The Author thinks he's in control, but I'm the one who's going to 'Delete' the King of the Pirates. And you? You're just a delicious little 'Draft' I'm going to swallow whole."
Amine grabbed his stylus, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I'm not a draft, Teach. I'm the Final Version!"