n the Vast Expanse of Outer Space.
In the boundless expanse of outer space, countless stars flickered, illuminating the deep, dark universe, making the entire galaxy burst with bright, vibrant colors. Far below, the Blue World appeared to shrink.
The advanced warship, the Star Ark, whistled rapidly, heading straight for the Moon's surface, accelerating into the cosmic darkness.
On the foredeck of the Star Ark, Sephiroth, Boa Hancock, Boa Sandersonia, and Yamato stood. All four stared ahead at the Moon, which was rapidly approaching. Now, they could even clearly distinguish the silvery-gray plains and rolling craters on its surface.
"Hurry!"
A Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) image, along with Boa Marigold's voice, suddenly cut into Sephiroth's mind.
"My perception has picked up something! About 400 kilometers away, what appears to be a spacecraft is ascending from the Moon."
"Chase it and see!"
"Understood!"
In the control room of the Star Ark, Marigold—after filtering out the brainwave interference in Sephiroth's mind—quickly controlled the ship, adjusting its course, and chasing the vessel that appeared in her amplified sight, smell, and color perception.
The transmission of images and consciousness just now was a small trick Marigold performed by interfering with brain waves.
According to Sephiroth, human consciousness is closely related to brain waves, which are essentially electrical signals. If one can control their brain waves completely, they can control their consciousness and eliminate true judgment of external things.
Thanks to the high level of development of her Goro Goro no Mi (Lightning Devil Fruit, Logia type), Marigold was now capable of reading minds and real-time memories. However, the Ancient Haki Amplification Helmet installed on the Star Ark drastically strengthened Marigold's micro-control ability, allowing her to distort the consciousness of others at will.
Of course, this kind of trick was only effective against those who had not mastered Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) or Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki). Sephiroth himself, if he wanted, could coat his body with Armament Haki, ignoring such brainwave interference.
After the Star Ark flew for a moment, the sought-after ship appeared within Sephiroth's range of sight and hearing.
"A spacecraft has appeared in the distance. I will go and check the situation."
Sephiroth locked onto the spacecraft with his Haki and ignited his dominating Conqueror's Haki. He drew his long sword from his waist, swung it in the void, opened a Dimensional Tear, and stepped inside.
In front of him, a twenty-meter-long ship, made of metal and painted blue, resembled a shark-shaped spacecraft, activating its rocket ejector, escaping the Moon's gravity, and flying toward the endless outer space.
On the outside of the vessel, there was a white skull logo, highlighting that this was a Cosmic Pirate vehicle. Inside the cabin, six jacketed Humanoids huddled. They resembled the Mink Tribe of Zou: there was a Dog-Man, a Tiger-Man, a Crocodile-Man, a Rat-Man, a Crane-Man, and a Kangaroo-Man.
They stared down at a dwarf lying on the deck—he was about one meter tall, wearing a white robe and a yellow metal helmet, with a brown mustache. The dwarf looked plump and cheerful. Worryingly, his broken right arm exposed a series of mechanical components and wires. This white-robed dwarf was the Moon Mechanism (robot) they had found in the city ruins.
"Captain Nick, does the ancient civilization really have advanced technology to create a robot like that?" The Tiger-Man, Char, looked at the Moon Mechanism.
"Char, you don't need to doubt! This robot was created by the ancient civilization technology of the Birka Ruins (Moonlight City Birka)…"
Captain Nick, the Dog-Man, wearing a black jacket and a domed hat with a white skull logo, grinned. "After we return, we will immediately recruit troops, prepare excavation equipment, and dig up that ancient city. There must be a lot of treasure buried there, enough for us to spend the rest of our lives."
"Exactly!"
"Once that treasure is obtained, we won't have to be Cosmic Pirates anymore, roaming around and plundering!"
"Hahahaha!"
Just as this group of Humanoids was imagining how to spend their Berries, the spacecraft alarm suddenly went off.
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!…
Char hurried to the control panel. "Huh!? There's someone outside the ship!"
Captain Nick frowned. "Charles, how is that possible? Our ship is on the outskirts of the Moon! The oxygen concentration outside is very low. Ordinary people would have died from hypoxia long ago, right?"
However…
Swoosh!
A thin red line cut through the void, and a Dimensional Tear door suddenly opened inside the spacecraft.
The six Humanoids instinctively looked up, their eyes bulging in terror.
Sephiroth, a silver-haired young man in a black suit and armed with a long sword, stood there, at the top of the ship, opening the cabin door.
"What kind of power is this, really?"
"Haha! Greetings to you all!" Sephiroth welcomed them with a laugh.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!…
The six immediately grabbed their barbed spears and long barrels, aiming them at the silver-haired young man.
The next second.
"Ah!" "Ga!" "Wow!"
Intuitively, the six people only saw an after-image flash past their eyes. Then, they felt pain in their stomachs, spat out blood, and instantly "poof!" fell onto the spacecraft deck, their bodies twitching slightly.
"Truly weak!" Sephiroth sighed, disappointed.
Seeing bright red blood dripping onto the spacecraft deck, a wicked smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"How do you control this spacecraft?"
No one answered, but that didn't prevent Sephiroth from getting the information.
He posed the question not hoping they would answer honestly, but so that the relevant memory would be brought to the forefront of their minds!
Sephiroth immediately grabbed Char, the Tiger-Man closest to the ship's console. Blood-sucking fangs (from his Devil Fruit) quickly grew from his mouth, and he bit Char's neck, beginning to suck his blood.
Fragments of foreign memory were quickly read by Sephiroth.
At the same time, he also inversely injected his own blood, which induced the Tiger-Man's brain, created hallucinations, and hypnotized him to consciously recall things of interest to him.
Captain Nick, lying on the ship's deck, saw Sephiroth sucking Char's blood. He intended to take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. His hand quietly touched the long barrel.
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