This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
The moment Rowen unleashed the electric current, Imu, who had been at the original location of the Holy Land, turned pale, his face alternating between green and yellow as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Pff!!"
The surrounding black shadows were also affected by the state of their true body, freezing in place.
Roar!
Such a perfect opportunity was something Mountain Ancestor would naturally never miss. Letting out a furious roar, it swept its enormous pincers sideways.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The black shadows were smashed away one after another.
Though it didn't understand what had happened, the enemy hadn't escaped as swiftly as before. Having suppressed its fury for so long, his rage erupted completely; there was no mercy in this strike.
Bang!!!
Its colossal torso, so vast it looked majestic even from outer space, slammed into Imu like a mountain, causing pillars of blood to erupt from his body as he was sent flying like a baseball.
Imu was blasted backward at supersonic speed, finally crashing into a corner of the Calm Belt and raising a thousand-meter-high white wave with a thunderous roar.
That single sweep had sent him flying directly from the Red Line all the way to the middle of the first half of the Grand Line! A body of such titanic size, one capable of destroying the world, naturally possessed destruction on this level.
Yet Mountain Ancestor was not satisfied with the result. Its glowing eyes locked firmly onto the Calm Belt. It could sense that the opponent was not dead.
"Roar!!!"
At the same moment, the same realization surfaced in Imu's mind. He summoned dark energy once more to heal the injuries suffered by the Tremor-Tremor Fruit shadow. Propped up as he rose from the ocean, Imu turned his head toward outer space, blood seeping from the corners of his eyes.
"Why?!!"
Why wasn't Rowen dead?!
Why was he alive again?!
And not only that, Imu could clearly feel it: the power of the Goro Goro no Mi (Thunder Thunder Fruit) had completely vanished from his body!
This wasn't a disappearance due to a broken "connection," but an emptiness left behind after being taken away.
It was like a necrotic muscle; one might have no sensation in it, yet it was still part of one's body.
But just now, some force had carved that piece of flesh out completely!
Imu did not understand that power, but he was extremely familiar with the aura it carried.
"Rowen!!!"
To fully control this world, every fragment of power was indispensable. Even if he had lost contact with the Goro Goro no Mi, as long as Rowen died, Imu could still recreate new seeds.
But when even the very source of that power was seized, when it came time to claim the world as his grand prize, Imu was shocked to discover that centuries of planning had collapsed in an instant.
The will of the planet was a blended amalgamation of everything on the planet, of all things and all beings. It possessed no self-awareness, much like the "Heaven" described in 'Heaven and Earth are unkind, treating all things as straw dogs'. Precisely because of this, replacement was possible.
By merging one's own "self" and "emotions" with that "Heaven," one could achieve control over the world.
But now, even if he controlled everything else, the missing part would never grow back.
Let alone replacement, without a portion of its origin, the planetary will would not even be born.
In that case, this planet would merely be… a planet.
"Roar!!"
Crossing half the Grand Line in a single step, Mountain Ancestor barreled into the First Half and swung its pincers once again.
"It's all because of you!!"
Imu's eyes were bloodshot as he turned back in fury.
If not for Mountain Ancestor, the moment Rowen died he could have immediately recreated the seed and reclaimed the power of the Goro Goro no Mi.
But Mountain Ancestor's awakening forced him to delay the process. After all, no one could have imagined that Rowen, whose head and spine had been torn out, who had completely lost all signs of life, could still revive.
Enemies meeting face to face were bound to burn with hatred. Staring at the gigantic pincers swinging toward him, Imu clenched his teeth and roared:
"Go die, asshole!!"
Buzz, !!
A violent buzzing erupted between heaven and earth. Then, a dazzling white beam descended from the sky, plunging straight down at a speed that would leave anyone in awe.
Boom!!!
A white beam several kilometers thick slammed into Mountain Ancestor's back. The terrifying force instantly crushed it into the ocean, kicking up countless towering waves. Mountain Ancestor couldn't help but let out a mournful cry as it collapsed, an enticing aroma spreading across the surface of the sea.
Outer space, aboard the Ark.
Rowen stared wide-eyed at the distant spherical object that had suddenly "unfurled wings of light." His cigar fell from his mouth with a pa-da sound, hitting the floor.
"W… T… F…?!!!"
"Fuck! Fuckfuckfuck!"
Kizaru was equally horrified, standing not far away, repeatedly gasping in shock.
The others in the command room weren't much better. All of them stared at the sphere floating in space, their expressions frozen in disbelief.
Because that thing was far too familiar to them.
It was none other than,
The moon that had been hanging above their heads for countless years.
Rowen knew that the moon in this world was highly unreliable. After all, the cover stories, strictly speaking, seemed unrelated to the main plot, yet they revealed many foreshadowings closely tied to it.
Thus, the place of origin of the Skypieans, the moon, naturally concealed secrets as well.
But who could tell him what the hell this was?!
Lunar artillery?!!
At this moment, the upper half of the moon still retained its original shape, but the side facing the planet below had been torn open by countless enormous metal components. The entire sphere had been forced apart as it underwent a transformation, extending a majestic metallic cannon barrel.
"Even the government's top-secret archives don't have a log of this! What the hell is this thing?!"
Seeing even Mountain Ancestor screaming in agony under the bombardment of that white light, Kong roared emotionally. Just thinking that such a terrifying piece of artillery had been floating above their heads for so long sent a chilling dread through him, pushing him closer to madness.
However…
"It's the Skypieans' base!" *2
Two exclamations rang out at the same time. Tsuru glanced at the released Bald Zero, and after he stepped back, she continued.
"Gan Fall once asked us to investigate Angel Island, as well as the later-destroyed Birka. From that, we discovered that the ancestors of the Shandians and the people of Angel Island once lived on the moon. Later, due to a shortage of energy, they flew to the Blue Planet… that is, they settled in the Sky Islands."
"This… was something that happened a very long time ago, longer ago than the history of the World Government itself."
"Energy shortage… huh?"
Rowen recalled that there really was such a thing and finally let out a breath.
In that case, it was no wonder they had never known about this. With energy already depleted, this single shot might have completely exhausted all remaining power on the moon.
"But I remember the Skypieans' technological level wasn't even as advanced as that of Blue Sea dwellers, right? Their ancestors could actually remodel the moon?"
Aokiji asked in confusion, but quickly fell silent on his own.
What was there to be surprised about?
After all, even the Blue Sea had Pluton, yet didn't people still know nothing about it?
"This is what you call a break in civilization."
Rowen said calmly. "Their previous civilization was destroyed due to the exhaustion of resources, leaving behind only a portion of the population barely surviving. Whether as a warning to themselves, or simply because no one could master it anymore, after being reborn from ruin, they chose to start over from slash-and-burn agriculture."
"That's right!"
Tsuru looked at Rowen strangely, feeling that after this awakening, something about him had changed.
"You could even say they no longer belonged to a single collective. Different Sky Islands became independent, forming social groups similar to primitive tribes, each fighting on its own."
"The simplest example, on Angel Island, 'God' is merely a title for the ruler, just like our 'King.' But on Birka, God was not only the ruler, but also the object of worship and sacrifice for all people. Their civilizational paths were completely different."
Tsuru suddenly recalled something. The reason God-worship arose on Birka was that the Goro Goro no Mi ability user from 200 years ago merely accelerated the process. The real root cause was that the people of Birka had mastered the technology to create a certain fruit that could activate human potential.
A group of people gained control of this technology, were the first to enjoy the benefits of awakened potential, and thus became Birka's rulers… Naturally, to the outside world, they called it "God's blessing."
And according to a surviving God's Officer (scientist) from Birka, the reason Birka was destroyed was because all the accumulated "God's blessings" that had been enshrined in the temple over generations suddenly disappeared.
In order to recreate this Fruit of Potential, they forcibly activated machines left behind by their ancestors despite an energy shortage, resulting in a catastrophic explosion.
What a… coincidence, wasn't it?
"By the way, isn't the focus right now not archaeology?" Masked Zero interrupted from the side. "Is it really okay to just keep watching?"
Everyone froze for a moment.
That… did seem to be the case.
It was all because the lunar artillery was too shocking!
"Notify everyone, retreat behind the moon to take shelter!"
Rowen issued the order, then smiled.
"I suddenly have an idea. I'm not sure if it's right."
"Oh? What is it?"
The others looked over in curiosity.
Rowen stroked his chin and asked with narrowed eyes,
"Who was the one who first spread the information about Uranus awakening?"
Hearing this, Bald Zero's pupils shrank.
"Imu!!"
(End of Chapter)
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