Chapter 475: Black Reversal: Domination
The sea breeze on the deserted island howled, sweeping up rubble and dust, making the hems of their clothes snap wildly in the wind.
Borsalino was the first to break the silence. His usual lazy expression was long gone, replaced by an extremely rare solemnity.
The eyes behind his lenses were now as sharp as blades, and his tone was much deeper:
"That thing just now... that's the 'reason you weren't ready yet' you've been talking about, right?"
Roy stood with his back to them, looking toward the distant Holy Land shrouded in dark clouds and black mist, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Ah~"
He sighed softly, a hint of a wry smile on his lips.
"Terrifying, isn't it?"
Borsalino adjusted his glasses, murmuring in a low voice: "Kowai ne~ If you had been a second later, I might have... lost a brother."
His tone was still frivolous, but within that familiar "joking" flavor, there was a trace of heaviness and gratitude.
Sakazuki leaned against a fractured rock, his brows locked in a deep frown. The violent fury on his face had dissipated, leaving only a suppressed shadow.
"That feeling," he began hoarsely, "was like being grabbed from the very depths of my soul."
"In that split second, I truly thought I was going to be dragged down."
He raised his magma-covered hand, his fist clenched tightly. "If I really got pulled into the abyss by that thing... would I still be me?"
Kuzan lazily sighed, interrupting with his hands in his pockets: "Hey, hey, hey~ Let's not make this sound so horrifying, alright? If you got controlled, I'd have to be the one to collect your corpse."
He tilted his head, a smirk on his lips. "A walking volcano? Just thinking about that image... is terrifying enough."
"Pfft," Kizaru chuckled softly.
The atmosphere finally relaxed a little.
However, the three of them soon simultaneously looked back at the figure still deep in thought.
Roy stood quietly by the ocean cliff, the wind lifting the hem of his cape. His expression was pensive as he pondered inwardly:
"During these two years, I used the special ability of the Space-Space Fruit to return to the God Valley timeline once again."
"This time, I didn't interfere with the original development of the plot. I was merely a bystander."
"I just wanted to see exactly how someone as strong as Rocks ultimately failed..."
That nightmarish scene flashed through his mind again: Imu's cold eyes, Rocks's fury, and that darkness that swallowed heaven and earth—
"Before he lost control, Imu planted a seed in his heart."
"She manipulated him with her power, and provoked him with her words—enraging him, torturing him, stoking the deepest hatred in his heart."
"Until the moment he completely erupted and his mind collapsed—that power, 'Black Reversal: Domination,' was fully activated."
"That wasn't a pure ability... it was more like a mental infiltration."
"This power requires a 'vessel,' a person completely consumed by their emotions."
"Anger, hatred, agony... As long as the emotions reach their absolute peak, they will be taken over by that 'Black'."
"The reason Saint Garling deliberately used words to enrage Sakazuki and Kuzan was to create that trigger condition..."
"So—it's not simply a matter of combat power, but a matter of mechanics?"
Roy's thoughts churned endlessly in the howling wind.
He had been calmly deducing the trigger logic behind "Black Reversal: Domination," but in a certain instant, a thought so outrageous it bordered on the absurd flashed from the depths of his mind—
"Wait a minute..."
His expression paused slightly, a bizarre light surfacing in his eyes.
—That boy.
—That irrepressible laughter.
—That "optimism" that not even death could make yield.
"No wonder..." Roy muttered, a hint of sudden realization in his tone.
"No wonder the Luffy of my past life laughed like that after awakening the Nika Fruit."
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze looking out toward the end where the sea met the sky.
"That kind of laugh wasn't ordinary joy... it was complete liberation."
"Devoid of humanity, devoid of fear, like a monster that only knows how to laugh."
"So that is the antithesis of the 'Black Reversal'."
He exhaled softly, an amused smile rising on the corners of his lips.
"In other words—"
"Only those 'idiots' who are inherently fearless, angerless, and unattached... won't be swallowed by the darkness."
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it felt, and he let out a low, self-deprecating laugh:
"Haha... So, only that kind of 'pure idiot' embodies true freedom?"
As his thoughts shifted, he couldn't hold back anymore. He raised a hand to his forehead and laughed even more wantonly:
"Could it be—that Laugh Tale actually has a sign that reads: 'Idiots without the Nika Fruit are forbidden from entering!'?"
"All of you guys who get angry, who think, who struggle, are nothing more than toys manipulated by Imu!!!"
"Only Nika—that lunatic who is always smiling—can stand above it all!!!"
His laughter rippled through the wind, carrying a bit of wildness and a bit of irony.
Kizaru, Kuzan, and Sakazuki exchanged glances and fell into a collective silence.
The sea breeze blew past, the atmosphere growing so bizarrely awkward it almost solidified.
"...What are you laughing at?" Finally, Kuzan couldn't help but tilt his head and ask, one eyebrow raised.
Roy froze for a moment before realizing what he had just blurted out.
He coughed lightly, quickly putting away his smile and pretending to adjust his cape with a deadpan expression.
"It's nothing."
He turned around, gazing deeply at the dark clouds gradually dispersing on the horizon.
"Don't worry—"
"That thing... I already have a clue on how to handle it."
The sound of waves crashing against the reefs drifted in on the wind. The three Admirals faintly sensed that Roy's seemingly casual remark might foreshadow—
That the scales of the entire world were about to tip once again.
Holy Land Mary Geoise · Pangaea Castle · Beneath the Empty Throne.
The air was solidified, so oppressive one could almost hear heartbeats.
The Five Elders knelt on one knee, their heads bowed low, even their breathing overly cautious.
Saint Mars, heavily wounded by Roy, knelt at the very end, his entire body wreathed in faint black mist.
That body, pulverized by Conqueror's Haki, was right now enveloped in Imu's power—regrowing.
Fractured bones snapped back into place amidst a bizarre light. That "regeneration" process felt more like a punishment. The agonizing pain made the veins on his forehead bulge, yet he dared not make a single sound.
After a long silence, Saint Garling bowed deeply, his forehead almost touching the cold floor tiles.
"My apologies, Your Majesty."
"This subordinate is incompetent... I let them escape."
Silence like a grave.
In the next second—
"You all,"
A deep voice slowly emanated from the throne, carrying a chill that froze the soul.
"Lost."
Just two words, but they struck like thunderbolts.
"—!!!"
The Five Elders shuddered violently, all bowing their heads as cold sweat slid down their temples. No one dared to defend themselves; no one dared to look up.
That blurry silhouette seated high upon the Empty Throne slowly stood up.
The voice rang out again, piercingly cold and calm, yet harboring an unquestionable command: "That thing Vegapunk developed."
"Go bring it here."
"The Reverie..."
The aura abruptly tightened, as if heaven and earth were swallowed by that single sentence.
"—Will be convened early."
As the words fell, the temperature in the entire grand hall plummeted.
The Five Elders kowtowed in unison, their voices perfectly synchronized and trembling:
"By your command—Your Majesty!"
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