Chapter 707: Jay, the Time Traveler!
Back when Ryuunosuke first met Jay [the first generation], Jay had told him something important.
Among those things, one detail stood out in particular.
Jay had asked Ryuunosuke to go beneath the Red Line.
Of course, Ryuunosuke had not ignored the information Jay [the first generation] gave him.
And if he wanted to investigate what lay beneath the Red Line, the best candidate was naturally Shirahoshi.
After all, as the Sea King Princess, Shirahoshi was the most suitable person for a task like that.
With Kun assisting her, such an investigation could be completed even faster.
It did not take long before news came back from Shirahoshi.
Beneath the Red Line, there were countless Sea Kings supporting it from below.
In other words, if those Sea Kings no longer held it up, the Red Line would sink.
And once that happened, there would definitely be a huge problem.
Then there was the second connection.
Jay [the first generation] had said that the Red Line and the Calm Belt were both seals.
And the thing being sealed was naturally the Seed of God.
So if the Red Line sank, then the seal would be broken as well.
Under those circumstances, Ryuunosuke would not need to search for some separate Path of God at all.
The moment the seal was broken, the Path of God would naturally reveal itself.
And when that time came, all he had to do was obtain the Seed of God.
That was why, after reaching that conclusion, Ryuunosuke had directly instructed Shirahoshi to order the Sea Kings to stop supporting the Red Line.
That was also the true reason the Red Line had begun sinking slowly.
As for why Ryuunosuke had not told the Navy when they went to investigate earlier, the answer was simple.
He had been afraid the matter would be exposed in advance.
After all, forcibly opening the Path of God would definitely attract the attention of Lilith and Adam.
And if those two acted before the Dragon Hunter Pirates were fully prepared, it would become a huge problem for Ryuunosuke.
Very soon, Ryuunosuke explained all of this to everyone present.
"Madman!"
"You are completely insane!"
"Forcing open the Path of God... if God is reborn, we will all die!"
Lilith's voice trembled as she shouted.
After all, in her current way of existence, once God appeared, she would be seen instantly.
There was no doubt about it.
In the eyes of God, she was a direct provocation.
And when faced with such provocation, most gods would only do one thing.
Destroy her.
Even Lilith, who had already stepped into the level of a false god, did not believe she could survive against the hand of a real god.
And this entire world would very likely be destroyed by the birth of God.
The Ryuunosuke before her was truly playing with fire.
"Insane?"
Ryuunosuke gave a faint smile.
"Open... the Gate of Eternity."
The moment those words fell, he chose to activate it without hesitation.
As the Gate of Eternity slowly opened, a corpse appeared within it.
"Jay [the first generation], is this your body?"
Ryuunosuke looked at the corpse before him and casually tossed it toward Jay.
"This means... you already know everything, right?"
Jay [the first generation] showed a bitter smile.
"It is not that I know everything."
"I only made some guesses."
"But when the Gate of Eternity appeared, there was light in your eyes."
"You could not hide that."
"In other words, your body was never on the Path of God at all, but inside the Gate of Eternity."
"And you do not belong to this world either, do you?"
Ryuunosuke said with a smile.
Hearing that, Jay [the first generation] revealed a helpless expression.
"When did you start suspecting me?"
He did not refute Ryuunosuke's words.
Instead, he asked directly.
That meant he had already admitted that he did not belong to this world.
"A person who does not exist anywhere in the history of the One Piece world, yet possesses such terrifying strength."
"And when you speak to me, some of your words come from our world, not this one."
"Honestly, I never expected I would actually meet another transmigrator."
Ryuunosuke let out a wry smile.
As for the people around them, they were completely confused.
After all, the concept of a transmigrator was still far too unfamiliar to them.
"So when you opened the Gate of Eternity, were you planning to return to your original world?"
Jay [the first generation] asked directly.
"Not for now."
"But if you need help, I can send you back first."
Ryuunosuke replied with a smile.
After all, he had already promised the members of his crew.
Once the matters of this world were finished, he would take them back to their own worlds.
In the name of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, he would help them fulfill their dreams.
"Then I will trouble you."
"I really do need that."
"I do not even know what things will look like when I return."
Jay [the first generation] stared at the Gate of Eternity in front of him and spoke with emotion.
That was right.
Jay [the first generation] was also a transmigrator.
And like Ryuunosuke, he too came from Blue Star.
The difference was that Jay had arrived far earlier.
Far too early.
He had transmigrated directly into the One Piece world one thousand years in the past.
At that point, the world could not even truly be called the One Piece world yet.
Because the concept of the Pirate King did not even exist.
It took Jay [the first generation] ten years to finally confirm that this world was the One Piece world from one thousand years before the current era.
But as a transmigrator, he had his own cheat as well.
At the same time, although he could not see Luffy and the others, Jay [the first generation] personally witnessed the birth of the three ancient kings.
Pluton.
Poseidon.
And Uranus.
So under those circumstances, Jay [the first generation] began his own path of cultivation.
By the time the three kings were born, Jay had already been involved with all of them.
And by the time he was one hundred years old, he had already reached the summit of the world.
That was the era when the Void Century was beginning.
Then came Lilith.
Then Adam.
Then the implantation of the Seed of God.
Then the creation of the Calm Belt.
Then the birth of the Red Line.
Jay [the first generation] had personally participated in all of those events.
And at that time, the mission he obtained was to open the Gate of Eternity.
Only by doing that could he return to his original world through the Gate of Eternity.
But when he finally opened it, he failed.
Because he had not prepared the Eternal Hearts.
At the instant the Gate of Eternity began to close, Jay [the first generation] abandoned his physical body and escaped with only his soul.
That was how he had ended up in his current state.
And to prevent the world from being destroyed before the Gate of Eternity could appear again, Jay [the first generation] had to go to God Valley once every ten years to clear away the energy gathering there.
His purpose was to delay the hatching of the Seed of God.
And every time he did that, he lost a portion of his origin, along with the body he had finally managed to adapt to.
That cycle continued until he met Ryuunosuke.
The moment he sensed the system on Ryuunosuke, he noticed it immediately.
And in that instant, he also understood that Ryuunosuke was a transmigrator just like him.
So Jay [the first generation] directly placed all his bets on Ryuunosuke.
Because at the very least, Ryuunosuke still had his own body.
And most importantly, Ryuunosuke's growth speed was even more absurd than Jay's had been in the past.
Under those circumstances, Jay felt that Ryuunosuke had far greater hope of accomplishing what he himself had failed to achieve.
And the facts proved exactly that.
Very soon, Ryuunosuke obtained his first Eternal Heart.
And after that, he began searching for the others.
On top of that, Ryuunosuke's ship possessed the power of devouring and assimilation, meaning it could directly absorb and integrate the power contained inside the Eternal Hearts.
All of that convinced Jay [the first generation] even more that Ryuunosuke was the one who could bring him hope.
That was why so many of Jay's later suggestions and guidance had all been aimed at steering Ryuunosuke down this path.
And looking at the situation now, it seemed he had chosen correctly.
At least from everything before him, his gamble had not been wrong.