Like a ghost, he appeared suddenly behind him. Dragon turned around quickly and saw Kuchiki Byakuya's cold face.
It was like a dead person's face, with no sign of emotion.
But soul reapers are descendants of the dead, so maybe they were never really alive?
A strange thought popped into Dragon's mind.
"Those paintings on the walls, what are they?" Dragon asked without thinking.
"...That has nothing to do with you." Kuchiki Byakuya said calmly. "You're here again, but I doubt it's to build a tomb for your father, right?"
He said this to Cobra.
He didn't shy away from words like that. To him, life and death were no different, so building a tomb was the same as building a house.
[To be honest, lately I've been using Yeguoyuedu to read books and keep up with updates. It lets you switch sources, has many voice options for audio reading. Available on Android and iOS.]
"Yes, I'm here for another request this time."
Cobra said, sounding a bit nervous. He explained everything about Aatrox.
In front of Kuchiki Byakuya, even a prince felt uneasy. Kuchiki Byakuya gave off an air of nobility that made even a king feel small.
"Sealing the demon lord..."
When he heard they wanted to seal Aatrox, Kuchiki Byakuya showed a flicker of emotion. Then his figure vanished.
"If you can pull that off, I'll step in at the end."
He came and went like a shadow, moving at incredible speed. This time, Dragon watched closely, but he still couldn't see how Kuchiki Byakuya left.
Right after, the ground under their feet seemed to shift and move. Cobra started to say something, but in the next moment, they were outside the pyramid.
The whole pyramid was made of homunculi created from souls by Makima. Moving them away on the ground was basic for her.
Kuchiki Byakuya floated above. Once they were gone, a green pyramid appeared in his hand.
Kuchiki Byakuya was very strong, but killing Dragon in one blow would still be tough. With this pyramid, though, he could do it easily.
It was one of the million-level items he drew before—a portable pyramid that could unlock a person's hidden potential. Kuchiki Byakuya absorbed it into his soul, pushing him to a very high level of power.
The potential this portable pyramid unlocked varied by person. Clearly, Kuchiki Byakuya had great potential as a soul reaper. After a trip to the Soul King Palace, he got a big boost, but this pyramid's upgrade was even bigger than that.
No wonder it was a million-level draw upgraded through high-end shopping. Among items of the same level, tools were much stronger than characters. This portable pyramid having such great effects was within Genichi's expectations.
His natural talent plus the pyramid's power could even reach the limits of this world. That means he might be stronger than Aatrox, since Aatrox was still within those limits.
The issue was the pyramid only boosted one thing at a time—what was needed right then—not overall or all the time. Even so, he was happy with it.
He stayed inside the dark pyramid, waiting quietly for the battle to come.
Genichi had grown enough now. After this, he wouldn't need to rush for emotion points anymore. He could just take things step by step.
Outside the pyramid, the two men moved by the ground saw light again. Compared to the dim, heavy world inside, the outside was where people should live.
But Dragon's mind was stuck on those wall paintings. For some reason, he found everything they showed interesting, especially the changes in society. It felt like a real truth to him!
Yes, the world shouldn't be like this. It wore a mask of civilization, but deep down, it was still raw survival of the fittest. Especially those Celestial Dragons...
After coming out, Dragon was quiet. He kept thinking about the Celestial Dragons.
"But... we can call this a successful talk, right?"
Cobra said, looking at the silent Dragon.
"Yeah, maybe." Dragon nodded. Only then did he pull himself out of his thoughts. He looked ahead and suddenly felt motivated.
He turned to Cobra. "This place is about to become a battlefield. You should leave."
Cobra was a prince, but his strength was like any normal person's. Aatrox wouldn't care if you were a king or not.
"Yeah, good luck to you all."
Cobra knew his place. Staying would do no good. Besides, the people of Yutan had already been evacuated.
With that in mind, Cobra ran quickly toward the south.
"? Where are you going?!"
Dragon frowned. "Alabasta isn't that way!"
"I want to be with the common people!"
Cobra said loudly. "They are the true heart of this country. How can I, as a prince, run off to safety alone?"
He rode on Alabasta's special fast-running duck, waved to Dragon, and sped south.
His words gave Dragon a strange feeling. Back at Marine Headquarters with Garp, he'd seen plenty of Celestial Dragons. But they always treated others like dirt and never cared about common people's lives.
An idea that most people in the world didn't have stirred in Dragon's heart...
The world shouldn't be like this!
He shook his head quickly to clear out the random thoughts. Now wasn't the time. First, they needed to seal Aatrox and remove the demon threat from the world.
When facing demons, no matter the differences among humans, they were still all human.
Just like his dad Garp, teaming up with pirates now to fight Aatrox.
Though that was supposed to be The Black Order's job...
Everyone knew Aatrox was a threat to humanity. It would be stupid to leave it only to The Black Order. Humans shouldn't waste energy fighting each other when demons were the real enemy.
Of course, that was just his view.
In truth, some people still thought they could use the demons to their own advantage.
While Dragon was lost in thought, time passed slowly.
The Marines' reinforcements arrived...
There was only one Admiral, Ah Xing. With him came The Black Order's Makima and Thor. Most of the World Government's forces gathered here.
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