Silence.
For a moment, the entire pirate ship fell into an eerie stillness.
Aside from the sound of waves crashing against the hull and the occasional cry of birds flying overhead, Buggy and the others could even hear their own breathing.
Mohji, Cabaji, and Marianne instinctively tightened their grip on the Magic Eye Crosses hanging around their necks. Their eyes were filled with indescribable shock.
The dead… brought back to life?
Gulp.
Someone swallowed nervously, the sound breaking the tense silence.
During that brief moment, Crocodile's sharp gaze swept quickly across the deck. The stunned expressions on Buggy and the others' faces immediately caught his eye.
From their reactions alone, the doubts in Crocodile's mind vanished.
He had indeed died.
Of course—
there was another, more important reason he knew this.
He could no longer use the Sand-Sand Fruit.
This was completely different from when Conrad had sealed his Devil Fruit ability with Key Magic.
Back then, he could still feel the power within him—it was simply inaccessible.
But now—
the power of the Sand-Sand Fruit was completely gone.
Hmm?
The long scar running across Crocodile's face tightened slightly.
He noticed the recording device placed nearby.
After a brief moment of suspicion, he began to understand something.
His resurrection wasn't an accident.
"Was this your doing, 'Magician' Yuuki?"
Crocodile quickly regained his composure. His previously stiff body relaxed as he tilted his head and cracked his neck.
The events in the depths of the sea before his death were still vivid in his mind.
They had made him painfully aware of just how terrifying the man before him truly was.
A monster like this should only exist in the New World.
Seeing that Crocodile could calm himself so quickly—even after experiencing resurrection—and even roughly guess what had happened, Yuuki couldn't help but feel a little impressed.
"That's right," Yuuki replied with a smile.
The reason he revived Crocodile was simple.
Crocodile's reputation.
The resurrection of a former Warlord of the Sea would attract far more attention than the revival of an ordinary person.
"What do you want me to do?" Crocodile asked bluntly.
Even in such an unfavorable situation, he still carried himself with a certain domineering presence.
"Nothing."
"What needed to be done is already finished."
Yuuki shook his head lightly.
Then—
he stopped supplying the magic sustaining Crocodile's resurrection.
Crocodile's body suddenly stiffened.
He staggered backward as he watched his own body begin to crumble.
"So that's how it is."
He looked down at his disintegrating form.
Then—
a cruel smile spread across his face, as though he had just realized something amusing.
"This is incredible…!"
"Hahaha!"
"I can already imagine the chaos you're going to unleash on this sea!"
His wild laughter echoed across the deck—
until his body completely collapsed into dust.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Buggy, Marianne, and the others stared in shock, their hands trembling slightly around their Magic Eye Crosses.
"There's no need to doubt what you just saw," Yuuki said with a smile.
"That really was resurrection."
"It simply requires magic to maintain it."
"Since Crocodile himself has no magic, his revived body couldn't sustain itself."
The explanation was only half true.
"So, it's real!"
"That's unbelievable!"
"Captain, you're amazing!"
"So, if we have these Magic Eye Crosses… does that mean we can't die?"
Voices of shock erupted across the deck.
"In theory, yes."
Yuuki paused briefly.
"Of course, that assumes your bodies remain mostly intact."
Then he continued,
"So, everyone…"
"Are you ready to show your fangs to this world?"
"Yes, Captain!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Mohji and Cabaji shouted excitedly, their eyes blazing.
"An immortal pirate crew…"
Marianne clenched her Magic Eye Cross tightly.
"That's terrifying."
But her dark eyes were burning with excitement.
Yuuki gestured toward the three Devil Fruits lying on the deck.
"You three can each choose one."
"With both Devil Fruit powers and magic, your strength will increase significantly."
Without hesitation, Mohji, Cabaji, and Marianne each picked a fruit.
Mohji chose the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, pairing it with his Beast Magic.
Cabaji chose the Float-Float Fruit, which complemented his Wind Magic.
Marianne chose the Wax-Wax Fruit, which combined well with her Painting Magic.
Watching the three of them gain both Devil Fruit powers and Magic Eye Cross abilities—
Buggy nearly started drooling.
"Captain!"
"Please give me a Magic Eye Cross too!"
Buggy dropped to his knees in front of Yuuki, tears streaming down his face.
He looked as though he might start crying at any moment.
"You're not a combatant," Yuuki said calmly.
"And you don't like fighting anyway."
Buggy burst into tears.
He didn't care about power.
But the resurrection ability was irresistible for someone as terrified of death as he was.
"I can fight too!" Buggy wailed.
Yuuki ignored him.
In an instant, he appeared beside the recording device and removed the tape inside.
Buggy's strange luck made him far more valuable.
Until Yuuki found a way to harness that luck, he had no intention of letting Buggy risk his life in combat.
"This world's technological development really is bizarre," Yuuki muttered, glancing at the oddly shaped tape.
Then he looked out over the sea.
"Keep the helm steady."
"I'm going to speed things up."
The early experiments were finished.
There was no reason to waste time anymore.
Boom!
An immense surge of wind-element magic enveloped the entire ship.
In the next moment—
the Magic Eye Pirates' ship shot forward at incredible speed.
At the same time—
While Yuuki's ship raced toward Sabaody Archipelago, the Straw Hat crew had already crossed Reverse Mountain and passed the first island.
They had just arrived at Little Garden.
But the island was no longer the same.
After Yuuki's battle with Bartholomew Kuma, vast areas had been reduced to barren land.
Only the outer edges of the island still contained scattered vegetation and a few remaining wild animals.
"What happened on this island…?"
Usopp stared blankly at the desolate landscape filled with enormous craters.
Zoro and Sanji scanned their surroundings with serious expressions.
The craters didn't look old.
But there were no meteor fragments inside them.
So how had they been created?
At their current level, neither Zoro nor the others could imagine a battle capable of reshaping an entire island's terrain.
Still—
they could sense the danger.
"I'm starving…"
Luffy rubbed his flat stomach.
"This island doesn't look like it has any food…"
Because Yuuki had wiped out the Baroque Works branch on Whiskey Peak, the Straw Hats had been unable to restock supplies there.
After staying for three days to let their Log Pose reset, they set sail again.
But now they had arrived at Little Garden—
a place even more barren.
"Stop standing around!"
Nami shouted, hands on her hips.
"We're almost out of food!"
She glanced at the Log Pose on her wrist with worry.
"Who knows how long it'll take for it to record this island."
Sanji exhaled a long puff of smoke and crushed his cigarette underfoot.
"No food already, huh?"
"Let's check the area for wild animals."
Suddenly—
Luffy's nose twitched.
"Meat!"
"Where is it?!"
He dashed off toward the smell.
"Luffy!" Nami shouted.
"That idiot!"
Zoro immediately chased after him.
Soon the entire crew followed.
Before long they reached one of the few areas of the island where tall trees and plants still remained.
The smell of roasted meat grew stronger.
But mixed with it was another scent—
blood.
And rot.
"There's someone here," Sanji warned.
Unlike the carefree Luffy, the others were immediately on guard.
Usopp even pulled out his slingshot.
"MEAT!"
Luffy spotted a roasted animal—something like a deer—turning over a fire.
The mouthwatering smell filled the air.
But just as he ran forward—
his foot caught on something.
He crashed to the ground.
Nami sighed and reached out to help him up—
but suddenly froze.
Her hand pulled back quickly.
Her face filled with fear.
Dozens of arms had sprouted from Luffy's body, binding his arms and legs tightly.
"What the hell is this?!" Luffy shouted, rolling around.
Zoro and Sanji stopped instantly.
Shock filled their faces.
"Where did those arms come from?" Usopp stammered.
"Another Devil Fruit user," Zoro said.
He and Sanji stepped in front of Usopp and Nami protectively.
Ahead of them stood a woman wearing a light blue jacket and a cowboy hat.
Nico Robin.
"I don't like sharing my food," she said calmly.
Inside, she compared their faces with the bounty poster.
So, they finally arrived.
Robin had reached Little Garden early.
She originally expected to wait several more days.
"Well, um…"
Nami forced a smile.
"We weren't trying to steal your food. That guy's just a bit reckless."
But tension still lingered in her voice.
Zoro and Sanji remained on guard.
Behind Robin—
several dead pirates lay scattered on the ground.
It was clear what had happened to them.
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