The volcano at the Flower Capital split apart amidst violent tremors.
Massive amounts of rubble tumbled down as dust and smoke filled the sky.
Residents living near the volcano cried out in terror, fleeing rapidly into the distance.
Luo Chen raised his hand, using gravity to suspend the gargantuan fragments of mountain rock that were falling.
Within the shroud of dust, a colossal dark shadow emerged.
Judging by the silhouette, it appeared to be a massive ship, shaped similarly to an aircraft carrier from his previous life.
Luo Chen exhaled a breath, conjuring a powerful gale.
The wind traveled hundreds of meters, sweeping away the dense smoke in the distance.
The massive shadow suspected to be a vessel was now fully revealed to everyone's eyes.
It was indeed a behemoth of a warship.
Pitch-black from stem to stern, it radiated the cold, hard luster of steel.
At the very front of the bow sat nearly a hundred small gun barrels; clustered together, they formed a single, bowl-shaped giant barrel.
The gargantuan ship spanned across the sky, casting a shadow that blanketed half of the Flower Capital.
The Straw Hat Pirates, Kozuki Hiyori, and the others wore expressions of pure shock.
None of them expected such a colossal entity to be hidden beneath the Flower Capital.
Franky's expression was solemn, yet it glimmered with a strange light.
Usopp noticed his unusual demeanor and asked if he knew something.
Franky licked his lips and explained, "That ship... it looks like the Ancient Weapon Pluton."
He had seen the blueprints for Pluton.
Though he couldn't understand the ancient scripts written upon them, it didn't stop him from understanding the diagrams.
The pitch-black giant ship above the Flower Capital matched the characteristics of the blueprints for Pluton perfectly.
Hearing his words, everyone's bodies shuddered.
Pluton?
Having been at sea for so long, the Straw Hat Pirates had learned many secrets.
Among them were the three Ancient Weapons.
The Ancient Weapon Pluton was a massive warship, rumored to be capable of destroying an entire island with a single shot.
"Wait, there are people on the ship!" Luffy suddenly shouted.
Everyone looked up, their expressions tightening.
Standing at the bow of Pluton were two dark figures.
One was entirely black with an elongated head, and its scarlet, multi-ringed pupils made one's very soul feel cold.
The Straw Hat Pirates were no strangers to this figure.
They had seen it many times in the newspapers published by the Jinghai Army.
It was the true ruler behind the scenes of the World Government—Imu!
Beside Imu was a mass of black mist.
At least, that was how it appeared in Luo Chen's vision.
But Luffy shouted, "It's Shanks! Why is he with Imu?"
"Where's Shanks? Isn't that Master Tom?" Franky's eyes widened as he stared at the black mist on the bow.
Chopper's bright, dark eyes shimmered with tears as he cried out in joy, "It's Dr. Hiriluk!"
Luo Chen turned his gaze and realized that, like Luffy and Franky, their eyes were all focused on the black mist.
Looking at the others, Brook, Sanji, and Kozuki Hiyori all looked somewhat emotional.
It was as if they were seeing long-lost friends or family.
Zoro frowned deeply and looked toward Luo Chen, saying in a low voice, "What I see is my childhood friend, Kuina."
Clearly, he had noticed something was wrong.
The scene in everyone's eyes was different.
Therefore, the Kuina in his vision had to be an illusion.
Luo Chen nodded slightly.
That mass of black mist was most likely the Dark God.
The opponent was actually capable of inducing hallucinations.
"Shanks, Tom, Dr. Hiriluk... some of these people are alive, and some are dead."
"The Dark God's visual misdirection has nothing to do with their state of life."
"Rather, it's the person Luffy and the others want to see most in their hearts."
"Is it related to longing?"
Luo Chen's thoughts spun rapidly.
The Dark God was by no means a good person.
Perhaps "longing" wasn't the right word—maybe "desire" was more appropriate?
Aboard the warship Pluton, Imu and the Dark God were likewise looking toward where they stood.
"I didn't expect to meet here," Imu spoke in a voice that was indistinguishable as male or female.
The scarlet eyes stared at Luo Chen, making no effort to conceal a bone-chilling killing intent.
The mass of black mist beside Imu also slowly shifted, finally transforming into the appearance of a rugged, middle-aged man.
Luo Chen's eyes flickered. The Dark God had turned into *this* man??
Beside him, Luffy, Chopper, and the others snapped out of it, looking at the Dark God with some daze.
"Shanks is gone?"
"Where is Dr. Hiriluk?"
"Who is he?"
After the Dark God transformed, the vision in their eyes returned to normal.
Brook asked in surprise and suspicion, "You guys don't recognize him?"
Clearly, he knew the identity of the middle-aged man the Dark God had manifested as.
"That's Rocks D. Xebec!" Brook explained.
Over forty years ago, Rocks was the most powerful and evil pirate on the sea.
He had killed Marine Admirals, recruited great pirates like Whitebeard and Kaido under his banner, and dueled with Roger and Garp...
His various exploits were like thunder to the ears.
The Straw Hat Pirates had obviously heard of Rocks' great name.
They looked over in astonishment.
Luo Chen's gaze swept across Imu and the Dark God as he said indifferently:
"What a coincidence. It saves me the trouble of looking for you."
On his way to Wano Country, he had been using his Observation Haki to search.
He had never once discovered the auras of Imu or the Dark God.
Who would have thought that the two of them were actually in Wano Country, plotting for the Ancient Weapon Pluton.
The only thing that surprised Luo Chen was that his Observation Haki hadn't detected them earlier.
It was possible that Imu and the Dark God had activated "Observation Killing."
Imu snorted coldly, and the void behind them shattered.
The spectral shadow of a building appeared.
The Phantom House fired a black laser that landed upon the warship Pluton.
In the next moment, the originally pitch-black warship rapidly turned translucent, as if it had become a phantom image.
The phantom-form Pluton warship charged into the Phantom House—which was only the size of an ordinary civilian house—and vanished.
The Dark God, in the form of Rocks, swept his gaze over Luffy and Luo Chen, laughing coldly:
"The Nika Fruit user and an anomaly like you... gathered together, you shall both become souls lost to my blade."
In two years, he had slaughtered millions of humans and devoured their souls.
The Dark God's injuries had already recovered by ninety percent.
He was confident in his ability to slay the Nika Fruit user and Luo Chen.
Originally, he had intended to seize Pluton, slaughter everyone in Wano Country to restore his strength to its peak, and then have the final battle with Luo Chen.
Now that they had met, he might as well solve the problem now.
The Dark God's figure dived down from high altitude, gripping a long sword identical to the one Rocks used.
Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki were entwined around the blade.
Wherever his figure passed, the light distorted, as if space itself could not resist his power.
The expressions of Luffy and the others changed drastically.
Especially for those with Observation Haki, like Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp.
They could clearly sense just how terrifying "Rocks'" strength was.
It was on a completely different dimension compared to Kaido or Charlotte Linlin.
As the enemy merely dove from the sky and approached the ground, that formidable pressure caused large sections of houses in the Flower Capital to begin collapsing.
The ground shook, and fissures began to spread.
It was as if it were not a man plummeting from the sky, but a colossal meteorite.
The sheer atmospheric pressure was crushing every structure on the surface.
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