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Sunlight poured down through the torn-apart sea of dense fog.
And before Shinryu, just as he had expected, the gigantic entity that had lurked in the mist for countless years finally revealed itself.
It was exactly as described in the ballad mentioned by Moria and in the information provided by Brook.
It was an unimaginably enormous island ship.
In fact, calling that thing a 'ship' was pushing the definition too far.
It was practically an entire continent!
Even Shinryu's massive body, transformed into his Scarlet Dragon form, appeared tiny in comparison to the landmass below.
Forests and trees covered the entire island, and at its center stood three gigantic mountain peaks.
The central mountain was the tallest, while the other two were much smaller.
And at that moment...
"Wuuu!"
On the central mountain, two enormous hollow openings seemed to form the eyes of the island.
Endless grey mist continuously spewed out from the entire mountain peak, as though it were something tangible.
The dense fog spread endlessly, as though it were the sails of a ship.
"Rumble!"
The roar of colossal waves echoed out as they began to move.
Even Shinryu was shaken by the sight before him.
The continent served as the hull, the mountains as the masts, and the Mirage Energy as the sails. This gigantic ship, which had existed since ancient times, was completely beyond his understanding.
"As expected..."
After the initial shock had passed, Shinryu confirmed his suspicions.
"So the fog of the Florian Triangle really is produced by this thing."
"Abyss."
Shinryu muttered softly.
The truth was already laid bare before his eyes.
The colossal object before him, massive enough to resemble a continent, was the giant ship called 'Abyss', the very vessel that had appeared in the Kozuki Clan's prophetic song.
And much like the Giant Soldier's Hand, this gigantic ship that dated back at least eight hundred years was also a "Devil Fruit-powered object."
Shinryu was not particularly surprised by this.
In the current era, Vegapunk developed the ability to make objects consume Devil Fruits through research into Lineage Factors, and according to Vegapunk himself, the technological level of the Ancient Kingdom eight hundred years ago far surpassed even his own understanding.
In fact, the research robot on Egghead Island, named 'Emet,' originated from that Ancient Kingdom.
Whether in technology or Lineage Factor research, that kingdom from 800 years ago had clearly reached the absolute pinnacle.
Given that level of technology, it was hardly strange for a ship to consume a Devil Fruit.
The ship had eaten the Mythical Zoan Mirage Beast Devil Fruit, meaning it was alive.
Every breath it took and every exhalation it released ultimately gave birth to the entire "Florian Triangle Sea".
"It's disappearing again..."
At that moment, the surrounding mist gathered once more and the tremendous sound of the waves strangely began to fade, as though the Mirage Energy could swallow sound itself.
Seeing that the ship was about to vanish back into the dense fog, Shinryu hurriedly descended.
'Bang!'
His figure transformed once more into a half-human, half-dragon form, and he appeared instantly within the forest below amid flashing thunder.
The moment he stepped into the forest, he noticed that the mist had become thinner.
But more importantly...
'...'
...he could see the trees around him constantly changing.
Sometimes they grew large and lush and green, and sometimes they shrank and became withered and yellow.
Shinryu casually summoned a gust of wind to blow away part of the mist ahead.
And then, just as expected, the trees before him instantly transformed into withered branches that had long since died.
"Mirage Scene."
Recalling the characteristics of the Mythical Beast · Mirage Devil Fruit he had just seen within the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, Shinryu naturally understood.
In the Florian Triangle Sea, where sunlight was almost non-existent, how could any forest possibly survive for such a long time?
The forests on this gigantic ship were most likely all 'Mirage Scenes' created by the power of this Devil Fruit.
"Judging from Mr 4's gun dog, Lassoo, after non-living objects consume Zoan Devil Fruits other than the Human-Human Fruit, they may display Devil Fruit abilities, but they probably won't possess very high intelligence."
"At most, they would gain basic, beast-level intelligence."
Shinryu silently speculated.
"This giant ship should be the same. Its intelligence isn't high, so it only instinctively drives the Mirage Scene, maintaining the island's appearance from its 'past'."
As he continued thinking, Shinryu quickly discovered another issue.
It was only after he stepped into the forest that he finally saw the island's ground.
"Red..."
He crouched down and grabbed a handful of soil and the rock beneath it, instantly noticing its striking red color.
Although countless years had passed, the Mirage Scene meant that everything here still retained its original appearance.
This allowed Shinryu to immediately remember where he had seen this exact shade before.
"Yeah... isn't it obvious?"
"With a landmass this enormous, even gigantic islands couldn't possibly compare. If we're talking about where it came from, there's practically only one possible answer..."
The truth was already laid bare before him.
"The Red Line."
That's right.
The color of the soil and rock on this island was almost identical to that of the colossal continent that divided the world, the same one he had previously seen at the Sabaody Archipelago!
"This ship was once a part of the Red Line!"
And after realizing this fact, Shinryu instantly understood exactly which part of the Red Line this ship had once been.
In truth, the entire Red Line was almost completely unmarked.
The sole exception was an area ten thousand meters beneath the sea, directly above Fish-Man Island.
Only there did the Red Line possess an enormous, hollow opening.
This was also the gateway through which all pirates heading towards the Grand Line passed into the New World.
Almost nobody in the world knew how the giant hole had appeared or what had happened to the land that once occupied it.
But now...
Shinryu seemed to have found the answer.
The missing piece of land had been transformed into the enormous island ship beneath his feet... the vessel named 'Abyss'.
"The moment I boarded this ship, the information already became this explosive..."
Shinryu muttered to himself, desperately trying to hide his shock.
But only moments later, he could no longer do so.
Because, at that moment...
"Hm!?"
The 'Wind-Thunder Heart Network,' which he had maintained ever since boarding the ship, had detected something utterly unbelievable.
"Rumble!"
In the next second, Shinryu's figure transformed into a streak of thunderlight and shot explosively towards a certain spot in the forest.
He reached his destination almost instantly, at the speed of lightning.
Then...
Within the forest below, moving continuously through the mist, he saw that figure.
It was a tall, powerfully built man.
His hair was a mixture of blue and white, and a purple lightning-shaped marking covered the left side of his face. A mostache covered his chin and cheeks.
He wore golden earrings in both ears and had a black coat draped over his shoulders with a sword hanging casually at his waist.
Just as Brook had described, he appeared to be injured, the upper half of the left side of his body was wrapped tightly in thick bandages.
But without a doubt, whether it was his posture or that utterly unique domineering aura, Shinryu knew he had not mistaken him.
The man before him was the very "Sea Overlord" who had ruled before the Pirate King, the one Shinryu had been investigating all this time.
Rocks D. Xebec
(End of Chapter)