Chapter 352: Only Battle Remains
Above, iridescence lingered in the sky.
Wisps of seven-colored immortal light drifted over strange rocks and ancient trees, casting a bright, otherworldly glow across everything beneath.
Waterfalls plunged straight down, and through the mist behind the curtain of falling water, scenery lay faintly visible.
Within Mount Huaguo.
"Munch, munch."
"Munch, munch."
Accompanied by the sound of vigorous chewing, a small monkey with a straw hat on its back was working steadily through the fruits on the mountain, stuffing itself until it had gone entirely round.
Nearby, a group of the mountain's monkeys watched in hushed whispers.
"Those belong to the Great King."
"Is this newcomer out of his mind with hunger?"
They muttered among themselves.
Luffy, busy devouring everything in reach, noticed none of this.
"Ahh~ These fruits are really something. Not far off from the meat Sanji makes."
He sighed with deep satisfaction and kept eating.
"But come to think of it... my body feels a bit strange — Eh!? I have fur!?"
He raised a hand without thinking — and went wide-eyed at the monkey fur covering it.
"What are you going on about, you idiot?"
A voice came from beside him.
He turned — and found another monkey making its way over from the group.
"You didn't grow fur. You're a monkey on Mount Huaguo now."
This monkey was clearly a Challenger like Luffy, and was keeping its voice down.
Whether or not Luffy registered any of that was unclear.
He just looked at the top of the other monkey's head — and his face gradually went pink from the effort of holding something back.
"Hahahaha — what happened to your fur? Why is it like that!?"
He couldn't keep it in.
Yes — the Challenger who had come over to explain things was also in monkey form, but the fur on top of its head was, to put it plainly, something else entirely. The tufts curved and folded like lightning bolts, and had somehow ended up multicolored. It looked absolutely ridiculous.
The other monkey stared at him, flushed red beneath its fur.
Why was this guy's attention going there of all places.
"I didn't choose it either. Big Sis Sharna got some kind of idea in the 'Pyramid of Illusion Gods' that only people with this kind of hairstyle have good luck in the trials... anyway. My name is Ross. Come with me."
He was speechless, but he didn't hesitate — he grabbed Luffy and pulled him into the group.
"Come on. We're going to the fruit forest to pick more."
"Huh?"
Luffy blinked. "But I'm already full. The fruits were good, but I still want meat."
Ross: "Who told you to eat them!?"
He stared at Luffy. "You walked straight into this Place of Trial without any preparation at all, didn't you... yeah, of course you did."
He cut himself off halfway when he saw Luffy's guileless expression.
He sighed.
"This is Mount Huaguo — home to the deity known as the 'Handsome Monkey King'. Barring any surprises, the Handsome Monkey King — called the 'Great Sage Equaling Heaven' — should be the source of the fruit ability belonging to Lord 'Monkey', one of The Zodiac."
"Right now, we're all playing the roles of the mountain's monkeys. Before long, gods from the 'Heavenly Court' will come to attack, and Mount Huaguo will be destroyed in the battle. Everyone is currently stuck at that point — no one has managed to push the trial any further."
He laid out the situation briefly.
"Heavenly Court? Great Sage Equaling Heaven?"
The question marks all but visible above Luffy's head made it clear he hadn't absorbed a word.
He had caught one thing, though.
"Monkey — you mean Uncle Monkey?"
"...There's no 'Uncle Monkey.'"
Ross rubbed his face. He had come over to help a newcomer get their footing. This one did not appear to have footing to get.
But he had started, so he kept going. "Anyway — the current working theory is that the next stage of the trial probably involves finding out why Mount Huaguo was destroyed and helping the Handsome Monkey King defeat the Heavenly Court. That's likely what clears this phase. Someone has already compiled what we know about the Heavenly Court's gods — I'll show you later."
"The problem is that the Handsome Monkey King disappears at the start of the great war and hasn't shown up since. So right now everyone is trying to figure out how to get close to him..."
He glanced back at the bare branches where the fruits had been.
"Those were top-grade immortal fruits everyone pooled together to offer to the Handsome Monkey King. I was going to bring them to the Water Curtain Cave today and try to get some information out of the visit. You ate all of them."
He gave Luffy a flat look. "So we have to replace them before the Great King comes around today. You're helping."
"I see..."
Luffy stroked his chin. "I don't really get it, but I guess that was my fault."
Then he grinned. "But forget all that — you want to get close to this Handsome Monkey King, right? Why not just go find him directly?"
"Didn't I just tell you? He's a deity. We haven't seen his full power yet, but just from watching the aftermath of the great war that plays out over Mount Huaguo — that guy is a genuine monster..."
Ross felt something behind his eye starting to twitch.
"God or not, he's just a stronger guy, right?"
Luffy tilted his head. "If anything, if he's really that strong, I want to meet him even more."
And right as the two of them were going back and forth like this —
"Oh?"
A voice came from above.
Ross went rigid.
He looked up — so did every other monkey on the mountain, almost in unison.
And there he was.
Also a monkey — but standing atop a golden Somersault Cloud, his chain-mail golden armor catching the light, a bright red cape stirring in the wind, a purple-gold crown on his head. His identity required no announcement.
The moment they saw him, every small demon present — Ross included — instinctively bowed low.
"We pay our respects to the Great King!" [in unison]
As Ross had said, the Challengers who had been in Mount Huaguo long enough had grown used to how the monkeys of the mountain were supposed to behave around the Handsome Monkey King.
Luffy had not.
So he stood in the middle of the kneeling crowd, entirely conspicuous, staring up at the figure above with wide, curious eyes.
Ross cursed inwardly.
But before he could do anything, Luffy had already opened his mouth.
"Oh — are you the Handsome Monkey King that Lightning-Hair Ross was talking about?"
He grinned broadly. "The others seem to want to ask a favor of you."
Every Challenger in the area turned to look at Ross simultaneously.
Ross lowered his head and stared at the ground, pretending he'd heard nothing.
He was deeply regretting ever getting involved. This guy's head was genuinely not wired right. Saying something that blunt and casual to this figure — there was going to be trouble.
Sweat was already forming on Ross's brow.
But against all expectation, the Handsome Monkey King didn't show the slightest sign of anger.
Instead, he looked at Luffy with something like interest, and grinned back.
"You've got some nerve, little monkey."
He dug a finger in his ear. "By the rules of the troop, I ought to teach you a lesson for that."
"But I heard every word you just said."
His golden eyes settled on Luffy. "So-called gods are just slightly stronger guys. I like that. Though it's not quite complete."
His expression shifted — a flicker of contempt, and something sharper beneath it. "Let me tell you — so-called gods don't necessarily all have outstanding power."
"A handful of them can actually fight. But most are just bullies — lording it over others because they were born above the clouds, convinced that gives them the right to rule over everything beneath them."
The moment those words landed, the Challengers — Ross included — went completely still.
This was the first time, in all their time in this Place of Trial, that the Handsome Monkey King had spoken openly about the gods of the Heavenly Court.
"Is this a new trigger?"
The excitement was immediate. Several of the more scholarly Challengers who had devoted themselves to researching the background lore of the trial began rapidly turning over how best to respond — what answer might advance the scene further.
But before any of them could act —
"Ah."
Luffy had already made a sound.
"Huh? Rule over all living beings?"
He tilted his head. He looked genuinely puzzled. "What's even the point of that?"
Silence.
Even the Handsome Monkey King seemed momentarily caught off guard.
Then —
"Hahahahaha!"
He threw his head back and laughed. "That's exactly it — exactly right!"
"There's no point. It's boring to the very core."
"That's why I, Old Sun, handed back that divine post and came home to Mount Huaguo."
"The trouble is they couldn't stand it — they want to come and disturb my freedom because of it."
He pointed a finger at Luffy. "You've got spirit, little monkey. Later — will you come up to the heavens with me and watch me deal with the Heavenly Court?"
The Challengers erupted.
"We did it!"
"The Handsome Monkey King just invited him!"
"Under these circumstances — the plot actually moved forward!"
"What comes next? What do we do next?"
"No idea, but agree first — we finally got somewhere, maybe we can put together a proper strategy guide after this!"
"Hey, does anyone know that guy? I'll pay any price for his guide!"
The crowd buzzed.
But —
"Going up to the heavens? That sounds interesting... like a Sky Island?"
Luffy's eyes lit up.
Then he grabbed his stomach.
"But... I can't. My stomach is going again. I really need meat."
"He — he refused?"
"Hungry? He wants meat!?"
"What is wrong with this person!?"
The whispers curdled into barely-suppressed groans of anguish.
The Handsome Monkey King also looked briefly taken aback.
Then he shook his head.
"Truly something else, this one."
He paused. "If you come up with Old Sun and we drive back the Heavenly Court, there will be more than enough wine and meat waiting in the Water Curtain Cave. I brought down a fair share of dragon liver, phoenix marrow, and fine immortal wine from the Queen Mother's Peach Banquet."
"Oh!?"
Luffy's entire bearing changed.
"There's meat? And wine?"
He swallowed. Then he yanked up his non-existent sleeves and balled his fists.
"Say no more — whatever this Heavenly Court is, I'll send every last one of them flying."
The moment those words left his mouth —
"Wooo~" "Wooo~"
Horns sounded from above.
"Thud." "Thud."
War drums rolled like thunder.
VMMM!
Crimson-gold light broke across Mount Huaguo from the sky.
Luffy looked up.
And saw the clouds tear open.
Above the gap, an enormous formation stretched across the sky — soldiers packed so densely that the sight of them seemed to press down on the mountain. Their ranks were neater than any army Luffy had ever seen in any country, banners snapping in a wind that didn't reach the ground. Every banner bore a single character: [Heaven].
At the front of that vast host stood four figures. A youth on Wind and Fire Wheels, holding a fire-tipped spear. A young man with three glaring eyes and a three-pointed double-edged sword. A titan gripping a war hammer, larger even than anyone from the Giant race. A Marshal in full general's dress, holding a golden pagoda.
Higher still, barely visible through cloud and haze, the rooftops and towers of the Heavenly Palace itself.
Something settled deep in Luffy's chest as he took all of it in.
The identity of what stood before him —
Just as Ross had said. Just as the Challengers had said.
These were... deities.
"There they are."
"The gods of the Heavenly Court."
"No matter how many times I see it, that pressure..."
"Is clearing this trial really supposed to mean defeating them? I've never believed it. You haven't seen the Giant Spirit God move — last time, one hammer strike flattened an entire mountain range, along with me. I couldn't think straight for a good while after I came back out."
Other Challengers nearby were thinking the same.
But —
"Well then, little monkey."
The Handsome Monkey King glanced at Luffy with a smile. "Scared?"
Luffy let out a slow breath.
He didn't answer the question. He just looked up at the figures in the sky.
"As long as I send them flying, there's meat — right?"
He had never learned the feeling of fear.
The Handsome Monkey King's eyebrow rose.
"Right."
He didn't say anything else either. He just reached up and pulled something from his ear.
The next moment, a golden cudgel was in his hand.
He rolled his neck. Rolled his shoulders. Looked up.
Fear was useless. The gods stood above the clouds precisely because everything beneath them was afraid.
Retreat was useless. They would only grow bolder for it.
So —
"Only battle remains."
"Only by sending them flying — can all living beings in the world have enough to eat."
(End of Chapter)
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