"Red, all the Poneglyphs have already been copied!"
"Red, we searched all around the north side of the Room of Flowers. There was nothing unusual."
"Same on the south side. Other than flowers, trees, and woodland paths, we didn't find anything special."
"It seems that aside from those Poneglyphs, this really is just a giant indoor garden."
"There is a huge gate on the east side, though. It looks large enough that even giants could pass through it freely. That should be the main entrance to the Room of Flowers. I didn't dare get too close, in case it caused unnecessary trouble."
As time passed, the scattered Straw Hat crew gradually returned one after another, but every last one of them had come back empty-handed.
In the end, Red could only shake his head regretfully.
"It looks like this Room of Flowers really is just one of Imu's flower-viewing sanctuaries. There's nothing else special about it."
"So the so-called Celestial Dragons' national treasure probably isn't here either."
"In that case, before the World Government notices us, let's hurry and explore the other areas!"
"Right!"
The Straw Hats all nodded in unison.
But just as they were about to gather around Red and head for the next area, a surging aura suddenly came from the east side of the Room of Flowers and instantly swept across their bodies like raging waves.
"Pirates, your time of death has arrived!!!"
Bang!!!
The great doors of the Room of Flowers suddenly swung open, and a large group of figures clad in black cloaks rushed inside.
And the one at their head was none other than the new Supreme Commander of God's Knights—the man who looked exactly like Shanks, the one who had just been below investigating the World Government's situation!
"We've been discovered!?"
Although they had expected something like this might happen, the fact that they were about to enter battle before even figuring out what the Celestial Dragons' national treasure was still left the Straw Hats looking somewhat disappointed.
But in the very next second, they cast aside all dissatisfaction and fixed their gazes on the entrance to the Room of Flowers.
At the same time, under the new commander's lead, the members of God's Knights also advanced aggressively toward the Straw Hats' position.
Just moments ago, they had reported everything that had happened in Pangaea Castle and Mary Geoise to Lord Imu in full detail.
As expected, their report had filled Lord Imu with extreme fury, and they were ordered to immediately eliminate every intruder within the Holy Land.
The new commander wasted no time. He immediately gathered all the combat strength of God's Knights and rushed over.
It wasn't that they had sensed the Straw Hats' movements. Rather, through analysis of the Straw Hats' previous infiltration and the intelligence the World Government possessed on them, the new commander had deduced the place where the Straw Hat Pirates were most likely to be.
And the facts proved his analysis completely correct!
When he saw that the Room of Flowers, Lord Imu's place of repose, had actually been tainted by the presence of a group of lowly creatures, the fury in his heart could only be described as berserk.
Without another word, he raised the sharp sword in his hand and smashed it down madly toward the Straw Hat Pirates.
Jet-black lightning seemed to tear through space itself as it appeared abruptly above that quiet and peaceful garden.
It was the visual spectacle brought about by Conqueror's Haki infusion.
To infuse Conqueror's Haki to such a degree in an instant was enough to show that this man's strength was already no weaker than an Emperor of the Sea, perhaps even greater!
Yet upon seeing this scene, smiles spread across the Straw Hats' faces.
"A Haki-based powerhouse!?"
"Leave this to me!"
Watching Zoro and Sanji brimming with battle intent at his side, Luffy suddenly entered Gear Fourth. Pitch-black Haki wrapped around his body as well, leaving behind flame-like markings.
In the next instant, his body shot into the sky like a cannonball, charging toward the sudden enemy.
Terrifying black lightning coiled around him sharply—he was clearly using powerful Conqueror's Haki infusion as well.
At this moment, even without using Nika's power, Luffy still possessed the strength to fight a true Emperor of the Sea-level powerhouse.
Perhaps this was the moment when he finally became a real Emperor-level fighter.
Not by cheating with broken power—
but through his own genuine might.
This was also the result of Luffy constantly seeking out battles against physical and Haki-based powerhouses.
Boom!!!
The swift giant fist and the razor-sharp blade collided in midair, instantly unleashing a tidal wave of pressure that swept across the entire Room of Flowers, snapping every last blade of grass and every branch within it.
There was no helping it. At their level, casually destroying an island was nothing unusual.
For this little Room of Flowers to barely endure the aftershocks of their power was already proof that this eight-hundred-year-old structure had not been cheaply built.
And yet, just as the Straw Hats thought Luffy was about to engage this World Government powerhouse in a fierce battle...
the boiling, surging aura around Luffy in the sky suddenly seemed to be extinguished by a bucket of cold water and sharply declined.
In the next moment, the black-robed powerhouse erupted with another savage strike, smashing Luffy out of the sky and sending him crashing hard into the earth of the Room of Flowers.
"Luffy!?"
Seeing this, the Straw Hats cried out in shock.
Red reacted even faster, suddenly waving a hand to Teleport Luffy from the distance to his side, while his other hand pulled out a Super Potion from his backpack interface in preparation.
But when he lifted Luffy with one hand, he found no obvious wounds on him.
Instead, what drew Red's attention even more were Luffy's incomparably shocked eyes.
Hm?
What's wrong?
Red froze for a moment.
Then immediately after, he heard Uta cry out in alarm behind him:
"Th-This... how is this possible!?"
"Sh-Shanks, why are you here!?"
Shanks!?
The moment he heard Uta's voice, Red raised his head at once, only to see that the figure floating in the sky had at some point removed his black hood, revealing his true face.
And that face was unmistakably the one Uta had been searching for all this time—
the face of her adoptive father, Red-Haired Shanks!
So it really appeared!
The legendary Shanks who had shown up in the Holy Land.
Finally having reached the end of this plotline, Red's eyes widened as he stared at the figure in the sky with pure investigative excitement.
A Devil Fruit power that can imitate others?!
No!
Thinking rapidly, Red soon noticed that this "Shanks" had no trace of the scars left by Blackbeard's attack.
Which meant...
"This is Shanks's twin brother, or maybe his clone!?"
"A clone seems less likely, though. After all, Shanks was already picked up by Roger's crew when he was still a baby."
"But no matter what, this basically confirms that Shanks has Celestial Dragon blood!"
"No wonder his talent is so monstrous—enough to make even Buggy, blessed with supreme Conqueror's Haki luck, willingly admit defeat."
"In the end, the pirate world really is still a world that values bloodlines above all else, huh~"
Some of his long-held thoughts had now been confirmed one by one.
Some of them brought Red a sense of satisfaction.
Others only made him feel helpless.
"Don't worry. That's not the Shanks you know."
Knowing exactly what had shocked Luffy and Uta, Red grinned and explained:
"Look closely at his face. He doesn't have the same scars Shanks does."
"If I'm not mistaken, this guy should be something like Shanks's twin brother."
"Shanks's... brother!?"
Red's words made huge question marks flash across both Luffy and Uta's faces again.
Still, at least that result was a lot easier for them to accept than the idea that the man in front of them was actually Shanks.
"Wait, Red!"
At that moment, Nami suddenly stopped him in shock and asked:
"You mean... Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, is actually a Celestial Dragon!?"
"Hmph! That filthy wretch who sullied the bloodline has no qualifications to be called a Celestial Dragon!"
At that moment, the fake Shanks—Figarland Shamrock—landed on the ground. The aura around him hadn't weakened in the slightest as he stared coldly toward the Straw Hats.
"Don't confuse me with that piece of trash!"
"Shanks is not trash!!!"
Now that he knew the truth, Luffy finally snapped back to his senses.
Once he understood that this person was not Shanks, his fighting spirit reignited instantly.
"I still don't get what's going on, but this guy who looks exactly like Shanks is our enemy, right!?"
"That's right!"
Red nodded with a smile, reaching out to dust the dirt off Luffy's body.
"Then that's all I need to know!" Luffy pulled the Straw Hat down onto his head. "If he's an enemy, then I just have to send him flying!!!"
Pshhh~
A wave of air burst upward.
Luffy entered Gear Fourth once again.
And across from him, Figarland Shamrock sneered and said:
"Heh heh, what an arrogant fool."
"Monkey D. Luffy, remember this well..."
"My name is Figarland Shamrock! I am not that idiot who defiled the sacred bloodline!!!"[1]
Boom!!!
An overwhelming aura burst out from Figarland Shamrock once again.
And this time, Luffy was equally unwilling to yield, releasing his own terrifying Conqueror's Haki.
The two waves of pressure collided violently, causing even the space at the center of the battlefield to distort.
Though he spoke with disdain for lower creatures, when Figarland Shamrock felt the Haki erupting from Luffy's body, his heart involuntarily tightened.
So this is the power of the Pirate Emperor Sovereign who surpassed the Four Emperors?
It really is terrifying!
In truth, Figarland Shamrock had never once underestimated the strength of the Straw Hat Pirates. Otherwise, he would never have called over a group of reserve members who had only recently joined God's Knights to aid in surrounding them.
He knew very well that Luffy was the one who had defeated the former Supreme Commander of God's Knights—his own father, Figarland Garling Saint.
And although he possessed strength no weaker than his father's, he might not necessarily be a match for Straw Hat Luffy either.
But...
now, he was different!!!
Because after much hesitation, he had finally chosen to eat that Devil Fruit!
Though Devil Fruits could grant powerful abilities, Celestial Dragons rarely chose to eat them.
Because they knew that one day, this world would inevitably be completely swallowed by the sea.
And in a world consumed by endless ocean, those cursed by the sea would become the easiest prey in existence.
But times had changed.
The appearance of the Straw Hat Pirates had completely thrown the World Government's predictions about the sea into chaos.
Combined with the consecutive deaths and disappearances of God's Knights members, in order to secure his seat as Supreme Commander of God's Knights, Figarland Shamrock had ultimately made his choice.
And the Devil Fruit he had coveted was not some entirely new power.
It was the one that had returned to the sea after the death of its previous user—
the Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit!!!
Whoosh!!!
An invisible gale burst violently from Figarland Shamrock's body.
In the next second, deep and terrifying darkness surged out from him, forming a gigantic black fog skull behind him that radiated a sinister aura.
"Th-This is!?"
Looking at this familiar sight, even Red could not help but reveal a stunned expression.
"The Dark-Dark Fruit!?"
Red recognized the identity of the fruit's power at once.
And in that instant, he also understood why they hadn't been able to find this Devil Fruit even after mobilizing the entire Straw Hat crew's strength, and why the World Government had suddenly become so obsessed with Devil Fruit users.
So that's what it was...
Just like Blackbeard, they wanted to use this fruit's power to create an army of ability users!
"How interesting~"
The corners of Red's mouth rose as he chuckled softly.
He was beginning to get curious—what would the Dark-Dark Fruit look like in the hands of a Celestial Dragon who knew all the relevant intelligence?
The strange black mist invaded the ground and rapidly spread toward Luffy's position.
And seeing this, Luffy's face immediately became wary.
He abruptly recalled what it had been like the last time he encountered this black mist.
"This thing... can suppress Devil Fruit powers, right!?"
Sure enough, the moment the black mist spread beneath Luffy's feet, an extremely strange sensation passed through his body.
It felt as though...
some kind of instinct within his body had vanished.
And his form regressed from Gear Fourth back to normal.
"So my Devil Fruit power has disappeared, huh?" Luffy murmured softly as he looked at his own hands.
Clearly, under the influence of the darkness, the power of his Nika Fruit could no longer be used normally.
Yet at this moment, there was no sign of panic on Luffy's face.
Because he could feel that if he wanted to, he could still enter Gear Fifth at any time.
The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit might be able to seal ordinary Devil Fruit abilities, but when faced with the uniquely special Nika Fruit, it was still somewhat lacking.
But Luffy did not choose to enter the Nika state.
Instead, a relieved smile appeared on his face.
"Forget it!"
"I wanted to train my power outside of my fruit more anyway, so if that's the case..."
"Then I'll fight in this state!!!"
Although he could no longer use his Devil Fruit powers, that actually seemed to suit Luffy just fine.
Of course, Luffy wasn't a Saiyan. No matter how strong he became, he would never make the mistake of underestimating an opponent.
Not being able to use his Devil Fruit didn't mean he couldn't still cheat, though!!!
Whoosh—
The light of evolution suddenly shone forth, dazzling beyond compare amidst this black sea of darkness!!!
Faced with Figarland Shamrock, the man with the exact same face as Shanks, Luffy chose...
to charge forward in Pokémon form!!!
TL Note: Because this Fic is earlier than the information about Shanks Brother. his name and abilities are different from the manga. so...let it go xD
[1] because this fic is earlier that the release of information about shanks brother his name in this fic was Saint Zekalos.