"Captain York! We caught a suspicious person snooping around the perimeter!"
A group of heavily armed pirates emerged from the prehistoric jungle of the first stomach, dragging a bizarre figure before York.
York stepped forward to examine the catch.
The captive was wearing a crude, full-body dinosaur costume. It was entirely pink, stitched together from a modified, worn-out quilt, and looked absolutely ridiculous. Inside the gaping mouth of the costume was a man with chubby cheeks, a disheveled beard, and a rotund body.
"Who are you? Why are you hiding here?" York asked, crossing his arms and pretending not to know the man's identity.
The man in the pink costume nervously darted his eyes around the massive pirate fleet anchored off the island's shore. He finally focused his gaze on York, deciding to play the part of a pathetic, down-and-out vagrant—which, given his current state, wasn't far from the truth.
"A-Are you the Captain of this crew?" the man squeaked.
"I ask the questions," York said coldly.
"Y-Yes..." The man feigned absolute submission and began to recount a tragic tale. He claimed he had been living a normal, peaceful life on a nearby island until one day, the landmass was suddenly swallowed by a giant Sea King. He claimed everyone else had died, and he had only managed to survive the apex predators of this stomach by disguising himself as a dinosaur.
"You're lying," York immediately interrupted, exposing the man's farce without a shred of hesitation.
York leaned in, looking the chubby man dead in the eyes. A playful, dangerous smile spread across his face. "Your real name is Myscina Asie! You are one of the world's top scientists in material science and metallurgy!"
Asie flinched, his pupils constricting in terror.
"And the reason you are trapped in here isn't an accident," York continued, his voice echoing across the shore. "It's because you created the legendary Pure Gold! The blinding light emitted by that metal attracted this colossal Bonbori Anglerfish! It ate the island of Alkemi right out from under you, which is exactly why you're here!"
York's words ruthlessly tore away the veil, leaving Asie completely speechless. Sweating profusely, the scientist could only desperately attempt to double down on his act.
"C-Captain, what are you talking about? I don't understand at all! Pure gold? My name is just Bob!"
However, his terrible acting had absolutely no effect. The surrounding Crimson Harvest pirates were naturally far more willing to believe their omniscient Captain over a sweating man in a pink quilt.
And as for the 'Pure Gold' York had just mentioned... while the recruits didn't fully understand the historical lore behind it, they were absolutely certain of one thing: a treasure that a 4.5 Billion Berry Emperor cared about could not possibly be an ordinary item!
"WAHAHAHA! Let's go treasure hunting, Captain York!!"
"We'll strip this fish's guts clean and find the Pure Gold for you!!"
Listening to the bloodthirsty cheers of the pirates, York straightened up. He looked down at Asie, who was still kneeling in the dirt, stubbornly playing dumb.
"Someone, throw him in the brig!" York waved his hand dismissively. "And feed him nothing but raw meat!"
"Wait! WAIT A MINUTE!!"
As soon as he heard the words 'raw meat', Asie instantly broke character, absolute panic overtaking his features.
"I... I don't want to eat raw meat! I don't want to eat meat at all!!" Asie begged, clawing at the dirt. Having been trapped inside a dinosaur-filled stomach for two hundred years, he had eaten nothing but tough, stringy reptile meat for two centuries. The mere thought of it made him want to vomit.
"Are there any vegetables?! Please, I hate vegetables the most! If you feed me vegetables and salad, I'll tell you everything!!" Asie bluffed desperately.
York chuckled, seeing right through the reverse-psychology.
"Now you want to negotiate? Too late!" York grinned wickedly. He casually pointed at a massive, freshly killed T-Rex the pirates had hunted earlier.
"Carve some thick slabs off that dinosaur and feed it to this liar! Oh, and before you force-feed him the raw meat... peel two fresh, juicy oranges right in front of him. Let him smell the sweet, citrus zest. Let him remember exactly what fresh fruit tastes like... and then shove the raw meat down his throat!!"
"NO!! DON'T! PLEASE DON'T DO THAT!!"
Upon realizing York was dead serious about the psychological torture of the oranges, Asie completely shattered. He knew exactly the kind of maddening torment that contrast would cause a man deprived of fruit for two hundred years. He didn't dare play dumb for another second.
"I admit it! I admit it! I am Myscina Asie! I forged the Pure Gold!!"
Hearing the desperate confession, York finally showed a satisfied smile.
"That's more like it. If you had just been honest from the start, you wouldn't have had to endure this anxiety." York gestured to the jungle. "Since you admit your identity, this is easy. Lead us to the Pure Gold."
Asie nodded dejectedly, slumping his shoulders. The man in front of him was a terrifying psychological manipulator. Furthermore, noticing the massive 360-meter flagship hovering in the air supported by dark purple clouds, Asie realized this crew possessed utterly monstrous Devil Fruit powers. Finding the hidden laboratory on his own would not be difficult for them.
"The Bonbori has three stomachs," Asie explained miserably. "We are currently in the first stomach. The Pure Gold I created is in the laboratory located in the third stomach. We need to navigate through the second stomach to get there..."
Under Asie's reluctant guidance, York's fleet successfully navigated the acidic currents and arrived in the second stomach.
Once again, York issued an absolute order to capture all living, humanoid creatures in the area alive.
As expected, the scouting pirates quickly flushed out two suspicious individuals from the dense foliage. They were a young girl with unkempt blonde hair and her bizarre companion—a green-skinned water lizard that walked upright on its hind legs.
"O... Olga... is that you? Olga?!"
The little girl and her lizard companion, Elizabeth, were roughly shoved before York. But before York could even open his mouth, Asie broke past the pirate guards, rushing forward with tears streaming down his face.
"Ah?! Dad?! You're still alive?!" Olga gasped, her tough facade cracking.
"Yes! And you're still alive! Oh, this is a miracle! You're still alive!!" Asie wept, reaching out to embrace his daughter.
Through their frantic, tearful conversation, the surrounding crew members quickly gathered the context of their relationship.
However, the touching scene of a father and daughter joyfully reuniting after two centuries apart didn't last long. Olga suddenly shoved her father away, her face contorting with anger.
"Don't hug me! I hate you the most!!" Olga shouted, turning her back on him.
The surrounding pirates, who had been on the verge of wiping away sentimental tears, were completely shocked by the sudden hostility.
Asie, as the person involved, naturally knew the exact reason for Olga's deep-seated hatred. He had forged the Pure Gold to halt the progression of her terminal South Blue Emperor Fever, but the resulting tragedy had destroyed their home and separated them. It was a long, tragic story, and with Olga in a fit of rage, it was impossible for him to explain himself.
York, of course, had absolutely no intention of playing family therapist and mediating their 200-year-old conflict.
'I just need the gold,' York thought pragmatically. 'Once we follow the plot, secure the laboratory, and coincidentally "find" Asie's old notebook detailing his true motives, this father-daughter drama will naturally resolve itself without my interference.'
"Alright, enough reunions," York ordered, waving his hand to silence the bickering. "Keep moving."
Following Asie and Olga's guidance, the Crimson Harvest Pirates successfully bypassed the remaining acidic hazards and breached the third stomach of the Bonbori Anglerfish.
Looking at the ruined remnants of Alkemi scattered within this deepest chamber, both Asie and Olga felt a profound surge of sorrow. Unfortunately, under York's strict urging, they didn't have the luxury of time for sentimentality. They continued leading the heavily armed crew deeper into the ruins.
Along the way, the vanguard encountered numerous traps—pitfalls, swinging blades, and poison darts—all painstakingly built by Asie over the centuries to deter any swallowed pirates from finding his ultimate creation.
These traps were deadly enough to slaughter ordinary pirates, but against a crew boasting New World veterans and core cadres with invincible Devil Fruit abilities, they were completely laughable.
Under Asie's despairing gaze, York and his officers walked unimpeded through the lethal gauntlet, finally arriving at the sealed laboratory located in the deepest bedrock of the island.
York stepped into the dusty, ancient room.
Resting on a central pedestal was a thick glass jar filled with a glowing, viscous green liquid. Suspended perfectly in the center of the liquid was a small, oval-shaped piece of metal, roughly the size of a goose egg.
Even through the thick, murky preservation fluid, the metal emitted an impossibly dazzling, hypnotic golden light. It was a radiance that irresistibly drew the gaze of every single pirate in the room, sparking an innate, primal greed in their hearts.
"This is it..." Dragon muttered, mesmerized. "The legendary Pure Gold."
York stepped up to the pedestal. He reached out, wrapping his hand around the cool glass of the jar, and lifted it.
Even though he had known of its exact existence and location from the anime in his past life, actually holding the mythical artifact in his own hands sent a massive thrill down his spine. The ambient light of the metal cast long, golden shadows across his face, making him feel as though he truly held the entire world, and time itself, in the palm of his hand.
'Immortality...' York thought, his eyes reflecting the blinding light. 'Truly a captivating temptation.'
.....
[AUTHOR NOTE: New fanfic Bleach: Echoes of the Soul is released today. Can you guys add it to your library if you like it and support and help in getting it to top spot in weekly collection list. You can find this fic in my profile or through search.]