The moment everyone stepped onto the soft cloud beach, they had not even had time to recover from crossing over just now.
A slow, unhurried round of applause suddenly rang out in front of them.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The applause kept a steady rhythm, neither hurried nor slow, yet each clap seemed like a heavy hammer smashing into their hearts.
Shanks's smile instantly froze.
Crocodile abruptly raised his head, yellow sand surging from his palm.
Robin immediately raised both arms, ready to counterattack with her ability at any moment.
But then, a chill suddenly rose up their backs.
With their Observation Haki, they had actually sensed nothing from this sudden applause.
It was as though that person simply did not exist in this world. Only when he revealed himself did he suddenly appear within their perception.
"Who?!"
Shanks shouted sharply and looked straight ahead.
However, the instant that figure entered his sight.
His entire body was struck as if by lightning, and he stood frozen in place.
It was an old man.
Long silver-white hair hung loosely over his shoulders, with several strands falling across his forehead and swaying slightly in the sea breeze.
His face was weathered yet still carried a heroic air. His brows held the sharpness and composure of someone who had been through countless battles, while a faint curve hung at the corners of his mouth.
That face had endured the passage of time, yet the handsome outline of his youth could still be seen.
A high nose bridge, a sharply defined jaw, and those deep eyes...
'No. Wait. Those eyes.'
Shanks's pupils suddenly contracted.
Those eyes were completely black.
There were no whites, no texture or shine in the pupils, only pure black.
That black was so deep that it made one's heart tremble, as though one were staring into an abyss, or as though the abyss itself were staring back at you.
There was none of the liveliness or emotion that should belong to the living in those eyes, only emptiness and dead silence.
But apart from those eyes.
That face, that figure, that bearing, that calm and unhurried posture.
They were exactly the same as the person in Shanks's memories.
"Vice... Vice-Captain?"
Shanks blurted out in shock, his voice trembling with disbelief.
Those three words seemed to have used up all the strength in his body.
"Dark King Rayleigh..."
Crocodile stared fixedly at the figure that had suddenly appeared before him. The veins on his forehead bulged, and his expression was extremely grim. Each word seemed to be forced out from between his teeth, "Weren't you already dead?"
He and Shanks were from roughly the same era.
Although the Roger Pirates had already disbanded when he made his debut, and he had never had the chance to see this legendary Dark King with his own eyes, he had seen that face.
On wanted posters, on the front pages of newspapers, and in the legends passed from pirate to pirate.
He was a symbol of an era.
He was the strongest right-hand man beside the Pirate King Roger, the one known as his right arm.
But the problem was.
Rayleigh had clearly died a long time ago.
He had died more than ten years ago, in that incident that shook the entire world.
During that surprise attack launched by countless pirates against Mary Geoise.
That battle was called the pirates' final dance by the sea of today.
Countless powerful pirates had died on the spot, their blood staining every inch of that Holy Land red.
Yet the result of that war had also been earth-shattering.
The Celestial Dragons' undefeated reputation was completely shattered then and there.
Two Five Elders, along with several Celestial Dragon families, were completely wiped out in that war, becoming dust in history.
It was also after that war that Ross truly ascended to the highest position and became the supreme ruler of this world.
And Rayleigh, as one of the powerful figures who had charged at the very front lines of that war, his death had been personally confirmed by the World Government and was a fact known throughout the entire sea.
But now...
'Why?'
Why was the Dark King Rayleigh, who had already died in battle back then, standing alive right in front of them?
"Impossible... absolutely impossible!"
Crocodile muttered to himself, yellow sand surging wildly between his fingers and nearly slipping out of control.
And in this split second.
Clang!
A blinding flash of sword light tore through the air and suddenly slashed out.
Shanks moved.
Almost instinctively, he drew the sword Griffin from his waist. Black Armament Haki and massive Conqueror's Haki wrapped around the blade at the same time.
The two forces intertwined into terrifying black-and-red lightning that leaped wildly along the edge of the blade.
That slash was as fast as lightning and as fierce as thunder, carrying enough terrifying force to cut through mountains as it came crashing down toward the silver-haired figure's neck.
However...
Clang!
An equally sharp blade of light suddenly met it.
The silver-haired old man seemed to have anticipated Shanks's attack long ago. He didn't even raise his eyelids, merely drawing his sword with his right hand as casually as could be.
He was so fast that his movement could barely be seen.
The sword was completely snow-bright, and a layer of dazzling purple lightning actually wrapped around its blade.
Lightning and sword light intertwined, drawing a brilliant arc through the air and precisely blocking Shanks's full-powered slash.
BOOM!
The two terrifying forces collided in midair, sending out a visible shockwave that swept all the surrounding cloud sand into the air.
"Hahahaha!"
The silver-haired old man finally spoke.
His voice was hoarse and aged, yet it still carried the composure and carefree manner of someone who had been through countless battles.
He looked at the young red-haired man before him. A trace of relief actually appeared faintly in those black, hollow eyes.
"Shanks, kid, compared to the last time I saw you, you've indeed grown quite a bit. But...", He paused, a complicated tone showing in his voice, "You've certainly matured too."
"You're not the vice-captain."
Shanks gritted his teeth, forcefully suppressing the anger and grief surging in his heart, "Don't wear his skin and say things like that!"
He suddenly exerted force and slashed again.
One slash, then another.
Sword light poured down like a waterfall, relentlessly.
He absolutely would not allow it. Absolutely not. He would not allow someone to wear the face of his former companion and do something so disgusting, desecrating the dead.
"Sigh!"
Rayleigh let out a light sigh, his voice full of bitterness, "I wish I could deny it and make you stop thinking of me. But some things..."
He casually swung his sword, blocking Shanks's attacks one after another like a storm, "Are beyond my control."
He paused. Those black eyes quietly looked at Shanks as he slowly spoke, "Shanks. Back then, you and Buggy were fooling around on the ship and accidentally knocked over a bottle of wine I had gone to great lengths to get from the Kingdom of Carlock. I gave you two a good beating. Do you remember?"
At these words, the sword Shanks was swinging suddenly stopped in midair.
In that instant, his entire body seemed to have been immobilized. He couldn't move.
How was that possible?
Only three people involved knew about this matter.
Buggy had long since gone into hiding and was nowhere to be found.
Rayleigh had died in battle.
Shanks should have been the only person in the world who knew about this matter.
But why?
Why did this fake Rayleigh know too?
Could it be that he was real?
But if he was real, why did he have this attitude?
These words and this tone were nothing like the Rayleigh in his memories.
"Why do you...", Shanks's voice began to tremble, something rare for him.
"The World Government has mastered a certain ability."
Robin's voice suddenly came from the side.
Her expression was extremely complicated, and her eyes were filled with a kind of indescribable sorrow, "It's called Resurrection of the Dead."
"After people die, their souls enter Hell, pass through reincarnation, and are reborn. And the World Government has control over reincarnation."
"They can forcibly bring the souls of the dead back from reincarnation and then put them back into restored bodies."
"You've got to be kidding me."
Yasopp's eyes widened, and he instinctively objected, "Th-This kind of thing... Can humans really do that?"
That was already beyond what could be described as powerful.
That was practically the authority of a god.
"This is real?"
Even Crocodile, a warlord who had seen and experienced so much, couldn't help sucking in a cold breath. His expression became extremely grave, "If the World Government is really this powerful, then what are we even fighting for?"
To oppose a force that could control life and death and command reincarnation.
This couldn't even be described as throwing an egg at a rock. This was simply seeking death.
"Actually, you can find out about this with just a little asking around."
Robin's voice carried an indescribable helplessness, "In Reverse City, you can even have what kind of person you'll become in your next life decided in advance. You didn't know?"
She looked at everyone's expressions of disbelief, and a deep sorrow flashed through her eyes.
Precisely because she knew how powerful that man was, she felt so helpless.
If it weren't for that hatred engraved so deeply in her heart, so deep that she couldn't let go or come to terms with it.
She actually wanted to give up too.
But...
No matter what, she wanted that woman to personally say that she regretted it.
Even if it was only one sentence.
"So that means..."
Shanks's voice was hoarse to the extreme.
He stared at the silver-haired figure before him, as though forcing himself to accept this cruel reality, "You really are the vice-captain? But why..."
"Why am I here?"
Rayleigh interrupted him. A complicated expression appeared on that weathered face, "I don't want to be here either. And the way I was resurrected isn't the way that little girl described."
He paused before slowly speaking, "Rather than saying I'm still Rayleigh... it would be more accurate to say that I'm merely a body called Rayleigh."
"What do you mean by that?", Shanks blurted out.
"You think..."
An old and steady voice suddenly came from the sky.
Immediately afterward, a figure clad in silver armor slowly descended from the clouds and landed steadily beside everyone.
It was the Sky Knight, Gan Fall.
Seeing him appear, everyone immediately took a guarded stance. Yellow sand, sword light, and arms formed by abilities all pointed toward this uninvited guest.
But Gan Fall merely glanced at them, showing no intention of attacking at all.
Seeing this, everyone relaxed slightly, though they remained highly vigilant.
"You think...", Gan Fall repeated what he had just said, his gaze sweeping over everyone, "Are a person's memories and consciousness the same thing?"
"No!"
Robin shook her head, her expression solemn, "This question was scientifically defined by the World Government long ago."
Her knowledge was not limited to history and ancient texts.
During her time with the World Government back then, as long as it was knowledge she had the qualifications to access, whether astronomy, geography, biology, or physics, she had studied it eagerly.
It was just that there were many deeper things she had not been qualified to access.
She paused before slowly explaining, "Consciousness comes from the soul. Our ability to control ourselves, perceive this world, and respond to the outside world. All of this is based on our consciousness. And the essence of consciousness is the soul."
"Memory is different," She raised her hand and pointed at her temple, "It is stored in the brain. Everything this body has experienced is stored there."
"Of course...", Her tone changed, "A sufficiently powerful soul can carry more matter. When the soul leaves the body, it can also copy a portion of the memories from the brain."
"The World Government has researched all of this?"
Crocodile couldn't help interrupting, his voice full of doubt and surprise.
If he didn't have some knowledge himself, he almost wouldn't have understood what Robin was saying.
Not to mention the Straw Hat brat beside him. Luffy had long since looked completely confused, unable to keep up with the conversation, and could only stand there scratching his head as though he were listening to a heavenly text.
"They have," Robin nodded, "I don't know how these studies were carried out. But the World Government really does possess these data and conclusions."
She turned her head toward the silver-haired figure, her eyes filled with complexity, "Now I think the World Government most likely used the bodies of Rayleigh and the others for experiments."
"Vice-captain..."
Shanks abruptly raised his head, gritting his teeth as he stared fixedly at the Rayleigh before him.
But the target of his anger was not the figure standing before him.
It was the people who had taken Rayleigh's corpse and used it for experiments.
He understood now.
Rayleigh had died long ago.
His soul might have already entered reincarnation and been reborn.
And this Rayleigh before them...
Was merely a monster created by the World Government resurrecting the body and implanting the memories.
"Looks like you've all figured it out."
Gan Fall spoke calmly, without the slightest emotion in his voice, "There has indeed been no soul inside Rayleigh's body for a long time. But he possesses all of his past experiences, all of his memories, and even all of his strength. He even possesses a new consciousness of his own."
He paused, "If you want to say that he is Rayleigh, that's actually not wrong."
Back then, when he first learned this secret, he had almost been shocked out of his wits.
But later, as he learned more and more of the World Government's secrets, he gradually became calm about it.
Besides, the things His Highness Conis, whom he served, could do were even more shocking than this.