Someone like Trafalgar Law, once he truly submits, will be far more loyal than Enel ever could be.
Not only that—Law's talent and potential are anything but weak. Within two years at most, the Op-Op Fruit would inevitably awaken, granting him the ability to perform the Perennial Youth Operation.
Because of this, unless absolutely necessary, Luo Xing had no intention of killing Law.
First—if Law died, the Op-Op Fruit would reappear somewhere in the world, and locating it again would be troublesome.
Second—finding someone else who could eat the Op-Op Fruit and reliably awaken it in a short time would be even harder.
As for Law's request to revive Corazon—
To others, it might sound like an impossible dream.
But to Luo Xing, it was little more than a matter of spending some system points.
Gaining Law's genuine loyalty was absolutely worth that price.
That was the true reason Luo Xing had agreed—at least in principle—to Law's request.
While these thoughts were still turning in his mind, Queen came jogging over, panting slightly.
There was a look of barely concealed glee on his face.
"Boss! Big Mom is absolutely furious this time—damn near exploded! I almost laughed myself to death!"
Luo Xing already had a vague idea what had happened and smiled faintly.
"Did something go wrong? The King of Biceps should work. It does make people bigger."
Queen clutched his stomach, laughing loudly.
"Bigger? That thing turns people into absolute monsters!"
"One of Big Mom's officers drank it and instantly grew to five hundred meters tall—bigger than freaking Oars!"
"You should've seen Big Mom and her kids' faces! Their jaws practically hit the ground!"
Luo Xing raised an eyebrow.
"Then why was Big Mom so angry?"
Queen's grin turned downright malicious.
"Boss, don't tell me you really don't know? You made that drug yourself—how could you not know its side effects?"
Luo Xing replied with a perfectly serious expression:
"I've never taken it myself. How would I know?"
Queen looked unconvinced, but didn't press the issue and continued gleefully.
"That officer got so huge that just moving around wrecked half the island."
"Big Mom ordered him away from Totto Land—but he suddenly went berserk and charged straight back at Cake Island!"
"Hahahaha! The idiot rammed the entire island flat!"
"That's Big Mom's favorite place—her palace! She completely lost it!"
"That old hag's power is insane—she turned the sky into flames and burned that giant to ashes on the spot!"
"Right now, Totto Land is total chaos!"
Luo Xing silently noted this.
As expected, the King of Biceps was not something that could be used casually.
A mindless giant was far more dangerous to allies than enemies.
If it were ever used again, it would have to be on enemy territory—never his own.
"Oh, right," Queen added, calming down a little. "There's another piece of news—straight from the Marines."
He pulled a newspaper from his pocket.
"They've officially set Ace's execution date."
"Ten days from now."
Luo Xing's eyes flickered.
Ten days.
The war that would shake the entire world—the Paramount War—was finally approaching.
Luo Xing had no interest whatsoever in saving Portgas D. Ace.
What interested him were the hidden forces of the Marines and the World Government.
He hoped that Whitebeard—strengthened by the Senzu Bean—would unleash power far beyond the original timeline and force the Marines to reveal everything they had.
Of course—
Luo Xing himself already had plans.
He intended to use the chaos of Marineford to launch multiple large-scale operations.
Operations that would ultimately have an even greater impact on the world than the war itself.
As his thoughts unfolded, another name surfaced in his mind—
Monkey D. Luffy.
By the original timeline, Straw Hat Luffy should have been fighting Moria on Thriller Bark around now.
After that came Sabaody Archipelago, then being sent flying by Bartholomew Kuma to Amazon Lily.
Yet Luo Xing had received no report from Moria about intruders on Thriller Bark.
Which meant one thing—
Because of Luo Xing's presence, Luffy's trajectory had already diverged drastically from the original story.
And that was only natural.
After all—
Luffy's most important crewmate, Zoro, was now Luo Xing's subordinate.
His navigator, Nami, had been rescued by Luo Xing.
And Nico Robin, who had once slept in Luo Xing's arms for an entire night, would never return to the Straw Hats.
How Luffy's journey had changed now was impossible to predict.
Luo Xing found himself… curious.
After all, that was the Nika Fruit—
A power fated to change the world.
With a quiet chuckle, Luo Xing decided to head to East Blue.
Asking about Luffy was only secondary.
What he truly missed… was a certain mischievous orange-haired thief.
After parting ways with Queen and Carrot, Luo Xing opened an Anywhere Door and stepped through.
The next instant, he arrived at Cocoyasi Village.
When creating the Anywhere Door, the very first locations Luo Xing had input were the places where his women lived.
Cocoyasi Village was, of course, included.
He didn't go to Nami's house immediately.
Instead, he headed toward the former base of the Arlong Pirates—
Now under Alvida's control.
Recently, Alvida had been living the high life.
Ever since receiving a Monster Cell personally bestowed by the Fifth Emperor, her strength had skyrocketed.
She had become the strongest pirate in East Blue.
Even the notorious Fish-Man Arlong—once worth 20 million Beli—had been beaten to death by her in mere moments.
Alvida had taken over all of Arlong's territory.
Following Luo Xing's instructions, she colluded with Colonel Nezumi, expanding her power right under the Marines' noses.
She now commanded several hundred subordinates.
Every time she went out, it was with a grand escort—swaggering and imposing.
Even Buggy the Clown, who once had dealings with her, nearly popped his eyes out when he saw her current status.
Alvida was enjoying herself immensely.
That day, she lounged on a massive tiger-skin throne, eating meat and drinking freely.
Dozens of subordinates waited on her attentively.
"Pour me more wine!" she barked.
"Yes! Right away, Lady Alvida!"
But in the very next moment—
Her subordinates watched in utter shock as Alvida's expression twisted into pure terror.
She shot to her feet and dropped flat to the ground, prostrating herself.
They froze, dumbfounded.
Following her gaze, they saw a tall, handsome young man walking forward calmly.
"You're dismissed,"
the stranger said casually—like this place belonged to him.
The men hesitated only a second.
Seeing Alvida kneeling, they instantly understood.
This was their boss's boss.
They scrambled out without a word.
Alvida knelt, smiling obsequiously.
"F-Fifth Emperor, why didn't you let me know you were coming? I would've prepared a banquet!"
Luo Xing stood with his hands behind his back, glancing around.
"You've been developing well."
Alvida hurriedly replied, "All thanks to your blessings, my lord."
Luo Xing nodded and got straight to the point.
"Have you heard any news about someone called Straw Hat Luffy?"
Alvida looked up.
"Yes, my lord. I know Buggy the Clown—he was defeated by Straw Hat Luffy not long ago. He even tried to come beg me for help. I ignored him."
Luo Xing raised an eyebrow slightly.
Buggy—
The man said to share the same "luck-based Conqueror's Haki" as Shanks.
Alvida continued:
"After that, Straw Hat Luffy defeated Krieg and Kuro, then entered the Grand Line."
"I heard he's caused quite a stir there. His bounty's already over two hundred million."
She handed over a newspaper.
Luo Xing glanced at it.
Straw Hat Luffy.
God Usopp.
Black Leg Sanji.
Emergency Food Chopper.
Franky—whom Luo Xing had seen in Water 7.
And three others.
Clearly, Luffy had recruited replacements for Zoro, Nami, and Robin.
And yet—
He was still making waves.
As expected of the Nika Fruit.
The light of the Sun God truly could not be concealed—no matter how much the world changed.
Luo Xing smirked faintly.
He tossed the paper back to Alvida, told her to keep expanding, then turned toward Nami and Nojiko's home.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/ZoroTL442