Chapter 346
Those willing to risk everything, come with me.
Chapter 346 Those willing to risk everything, come with me.
"Nika!?"
Looking at the figure in the photo, Shamrock recognized the person almost instantly.
That free and pure white, sun-like appearance is undoubtedly the embodiment of 'Nika'.
But
"How is this possible? Hasn't Nika already been obtained by the 'Star Lord'?"
Shamrock's words were full of disbelief, but at the same time, they were also somewhat excited.
Yes.
As far as he knew, the Star Lord had sounded the drum of liberation more than once—which was enough to show that the 'Nica Fruit' should have already been obtained by the Star Lord.
But now, he sees the fruit appear on this person again.
"Could this young man be the 'Star Lord'?"
He said incredulously.
As far as he knew, the Star Lord was clearly a person who had existed for thirty years.
How could someone like that be a teenager?
Compared to Shamrock's surprise and disbelief, Im remained remarkably calm.
“‘Star Lord’ is not an ‘individual’ that can be thought of in the conventional sense.”
He said in a cold voice.
No one understood the level of the Star Lord better than Him—it was a 'new god' who had truly touched the realm of gods and only needed enough accumulation to challenge Him.
For such an existence.
Appearance, age, gender—everything can be 'shaped'.
"Even Mu cannot be certain of the relationship between this boy and the Star Lord."
Im does not deny this.
To this day, He knows nothing about how the Star Lord obtained his current power or how he intruded his authority into the realm of the gods.
However, Im can at least be certain of one thing.
“The straw hat on his back really displeased M.”
Im looked at the straw hat Luffy was carrying on his back in the photo.
That was something that displeased Him—almost a symbol of Nika and Joy Boy.
"."
As Shamrock looked at the straw hat, he couldn't help but think of someone.
That was his twin brother, a man who had betrayed the Holy Land and his own class.
"So, I need you to confirm this, Shamlock."
"Im said seriously."
"Mu has already investigated the boy's file within the government—the pirate 'Straw Hat Boy' Luffy, whose bounty is only 5000 million Berries."
"Go and verify his identity. Be careful and cautious; there's no need to be too hasty."
“If he were the Star Lord, Mu would personally ‘exterminalize’ him.”
“If he is not the Lord of the Stars, take him back to Mary Geoise.”
At this point, Im's words carried a hint of sneer.
How ridiculous!
The boy with the Nika Fruit ability, who wears that straw hat, only has a bounty of a mere 50 million Berries after completing the first half of the Grand Line.
This also convinced Im that it was the right choice for Him to personally take control of the secular power—the government and the Five Elders had been incompetent for too long and no longer held much value.
Of course, due to the contract with the original twenty kings, He could not truly exterminate the Celestial Dragons and find a new representative for Him.
But it doesn't matter.
Because, as He had previously told the Five Elders, they would have the opportunity to serve the world faithfully.
“'Straw Hat Boy' Luffy. I understand.”
Shamlock was unaware of Im's thoughts at that moment; he nodded solemnly, submitting to his God.
At the same time, he understood what Lord Im meant—regardless of whether the other party was the 'Star Lord' himself, he was of great value to Im.
It took place in Mary Geoise, a private conversation between God and His most faithful servant, and naturally no one knew about it.
But without a doubt, for the people of this sea, the current situation can only be described as bizarre.
because
"The 'Ester' has left the Sabaody Archipelago and is sailing eastward, possibly entering the Crescent Moon Sea or the Devil's Triangle!"
"Huh? Isn't that going against the flow on the Grand Line?"
"Are you an idiot? What retrograde? The twelve constellations aren't pirates; they never intended to sail the Grand Line!"
"Does this mean they really want to sail the whole world? The Crescent Sea is very close to the Calm Belt, so perhaps they'll enter the East China Sea from that area?"
"I have a feeling they might have other schemes—they are giants and fishmen, after all. If we let them pass through our country's waters and they have malicious intentions, wouldn't we be doomed?"
"Huh? When did you get this idea that even without the fishmen and giants, any one of the top executives of the twelve constellations would be enough to destroy your little country?"
"Where's the government? Where's the government? Help us!"
Within the Grand Line, the royal families and nobles of many kingdoms are going mad.
Especially those countries that seem to be on the Ester's route right now, their kings have been so anxious lately that they can't even sleep well.
No other reason than that—it's the twelve constellations!
The Rat is known as the "King Slayer," while the Pig is the creator of the Revolutionary Army's "Pluto Alloy Weapons." The entire organization has always been an "evil organization" that is absolutely anti-World Government.
With such an organization leading the entire race of giants and fishmen on a sea voyage, who could possibly eat?
What drove them even crazier was that, at this critical moment, neither the World Government nor the Navy, who should have been their protectors, made any move.
Their Den Den Mushi calls to the government and letters sent to the Navy Headquarters went unanswered—the government made no comment, as if to say, "We have no obligation to stop their voyages."
This almost made the kings curse aloud.
Damn it, all those years of investment have been wasted, and now this guy is so unreliable when it really matters.
Despite their complaints, the kings dared not sit idly by and await their doom.
The interesting part is this: after the 'King's Bounty' offered by the Rat, many kings actually made a set of 'preparatory measures' at that time, most of which involved abandoning their countries and running away with enough gold and silver treasures.
Ironically, this measure has now come in handy.
And so the people on the entire sea were astonished to discover it.
After the Esther began its voyage, even in some kingdoms it had not yet reached, members of the royal family and nobles fled, and the entire country was thus replaced by a new group of 'rulers'.
Regardless of their true intentions, these newly appointed rulers were forced to improve upon the policies of their predecessors in order to improve the lives of the people, given that the Esther was about to cruise to this area.
Of course, these changes are just a 'chain reaction' and are not noticed by most people in the world.
Whether it's major news agencies and newspapers, people from various countries, or pirates and naval personnel.
There is only one thing they are truly concerned about.
That is, what will happen if someone actually boards that giant starship? Will they survive? What will they experience on board? What exactly are the so-called 'Garden of Stars' and the 'Twelve Trials'?
And amid this attention.
The first to try it soon appeared.
The Moon Point Sea is a sea area adjacent to the Sabaody Arch, and is also very close to the dangerous 'Devil's Triangle'.
Therefore, this sea area also has fog that exists all year round, but it is not as foggy as the Devil's Triangle, which has reached the point of affecting navigation.
Because of this, the Moon Corner Sea developed a unique industry—slave transportation.
Before the slave auction house in the Sabaody Archipelago was disrupted by the Rooster, the slave ships, taking advantage of the fog in the sea, were able to evade pursuit and enter the vicinity of Sabaody, successfully transporting slaves to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Along the way, all the kingdoms within the Moon Corner Sea area would collect a certain amount of 'toll', and many kingdoms would even purchase slaves as citizens and laborers.
It is conceivable that even those who were bought to be citizens would not be treated well—they were called citizens, but in reality, they still did the lowest-level jobs and had limited freedom.
so.
"Sister Sharna, are we really going to board that ship? I've heard that many kingdoms in the Moonhorn Sea have changed hands, and the recent policies they've issued are quite good. It's said that we might have a chance to escape our slave status."
At this moment, on a solitary island at the westernmost edge of the Moon Cape Sea.
A group of slaves were gathered here, and a thin man was asking this question.
"Change the player?"
The woman he called Sister Sharna was dressed in similarly shabby clothes. What was most striking was her right leg, which was twisted into an abnormal arc instead of being straight and strong. She also had a hideous scar that ran across her entire face.
This made her already ordinary face appear even more terrifying.
At that moment, leaning on a makeshift cane, she sneered, "Ross, I told you that from the moment you became a slave, you should never gamble your future on someone else."
"Can't you see me? I'm the lesson."
Her eyes held a sharp, lioness-like glint.
"."
Upon hearing her words, the gaunt man named Ross fell silent.
He knew Sharna well.
As a woman, the reason why Sharna was able to become the recognized leader among her group of slaves was that she possessed decisiveness and courage far exceeding those of normal slaves, as well as intelligence beyond that of ordinary people.
However, Sharna was not like this from the beginning.
It is said that when she first became a slave, she was still very naive and mistakenly trusted an official who managed the slave village.
At that time, the slaves in Sharna's slave village were plotting a rebellion and escape.
The new official had sympathy for them, had been kind to the slaves, and had even developed feelings for Sharna.
So Sharna chose to trust him and told him the general plan of the rebellion.
But the person changed very quickly after being promoted.
His former compassion for the slaves seemed to have vanished under the nourishment of power—he ruthlessly suppressed the rebellion by relying on his understanding of the slaves and his familiarity with the plan, resulting in the deaths of many slaves.
Sharna, on the other hand, seemed to have been spared because of her 'meritorious service' and was even allowed by the official to be freed from her status as a slave.
But in the end, it was Sharna herself who chose to refuse.
She slashed her own face and smashed her own legs as repayment for the sacrifices of her comrades.
From then on, she became the leader of the slaves.
"Power corrupts the will—once you sit in that position, no one can be trusted anymore."
"The apparent mildness now is just an illusion."
"Sharina said in a cold voice."
"They've only made a temporary compromise."
"They have recently fed and clothed us and given us limited freedom, simply because the Twelve Zodiacs are coming."
"And for us, this is our only chance!"
As soon as she finished speaking, someone among the slaves couldn't help but ask, "But Sister Sharna, how can you be so sure that the twelve constellations are reliable?"
Clearly, some people share similar thoughts with Rose and want to back down.
"I can't confirm."
Upon hearing this, Sharna didn't bother to see who was speaking.
She simply sighed: "I don't know anything about the twelve constellations. My limited knowledge of them comes only from a few scraps of newspaper and rumors that I can find out. I have no way of knowing whether they are credible."
"but."
She took a deep breath as she said this.
"According to rumors, they helped Alabasta bring rain, freed the people of Dressrosa, killed many kings of the World Government member states, and saved many people through Neverland, including all the slaves on an exile island."
"The giants and merfolk allied with them and became the races they protected—I don't need to say more, you certainly know the value of the giants and merfolk as slaves."
Her eyes gleamed with sharpness, determination, and hope.
"Because of this, I'm willing to take the gamble!"
That was the result of her contemplation, and also the reason she was here.
It was precisely at this point in her speech that she spoke.
A sudden commotion arose from among the slaves.
"Buzz!"
Sharna instinctively turned around and saw the enormous creature emerging from the distant sea, along with the twinkling starlight that accompanied it.
"coming!"
"It's the vehicle of the Twelve Constellations, it's the 'Ester'!"
The screams of the slaves were enough to explain the origin of that giant ship.
At this point, Sharna stopped talking.
She simply took another deep breath—this time, a longer one than ever before.
Past memories instinctively surfaced in her mind.
The scene depicts them being forcibly taken from their hometown and put on slave ships.
The image of the man she once trusted and even considered entrusting her life to betraying her.
The image of her companions dying under the soldiers' swords and spears because of her, yet never blaming her.
"Sharina"
They were just mouthing it.
"If you feel sorry for us, then keep going—go and see the free world for us."
As soon as she thought of this, she looked up and saw the seven-colored starlight.
then
"If you're willing to risk everything with me, then come with me."
(End of this chapter)