Chapter 353: Not a Difficult Multiple-Choice Question
"Kill!"
On Mount Huaguo, the cries of battle already shook the heavens.
Amidst the sounds of slaughter, many monkeys and their grandchildren fought fiercely with the heavenly soldiers and generals.
And amidst the great battle.
A group of Challengers transformed into monkeys gathered together, fighting while looking up at the sky above the clouds, where flashing shadows of staves continuously shattered the clouds, and the flash of blades illuminated the sky in an instant.
If even a fraction of the power from it fell, it would cause a mountain range below to shatter or a lake to evaporate.
"No matter how many times I watch this, I can't help but sigh... truly terrifying."
Someone among the Challengers couldn't help but sigh out loud.
"Yeah, the first time I saw it, I fainted from fright on the spot, and when I woke up the trial was already over... If I wasn't lucky enough to be saved by a monkey, which barely counted as surviving the first round of the trial, I wouldn't even have gotten the visa."
"Speaking of which, although the Places of Trial are molded by the abilities of The Zodiac, there should be a prototype, right? Is the prototype of this Place of Trial some island or country on the sea? This is way too ridiculously strong!"
"Impossible. If an island like Mount Huaguo truly existed, it would definitely be heard of even in the corners of the Four Seas... If you think about it, every monkey here can be considered a rare beast."
"By the way, what does the Heavenly Court represent? The Celestial Dragons?"
"Hah? Stop joking, how could those pieces of trash possibly compare to the gods of the Heavenly Court?"
From the conversation of the crowd, it could be seen that most of the Challengers present were not participating in the trial for the first time, were quite familiar with the surrounding scenes, and weren't overly panicked.
They all knew that this battle wouldn't last too long... After a while, the process of this 'Battle of Mount Huaguo' would be fast-forwarded and skipped. They would see Mount Huaguo strewn with corpses and the Handsome Monkey King captured and taken to heaven. Subsequently, they would be prompted with 'Trial Failed' and teleported out of the Place of Trial.
To this end, they had tried more than one method—including attempting to escape Mount Huaguo, or hiding in certain corners, but all ultimately failed.
And the fact was indeed so.
VMMM!
Just as they were speaking.
The divine light above the sky and the sound of war drums grew increasingly impassioned.
Subsequently, the surrounding time began to accelerate instantly.
"In this trial, 89 challengers have failed and are about to be teleported out of the Place of Trial."
And within that accelerated time, they heard this voice just like always.
But immediately following...
"In this trial, 1 challenger has succeeded and is about to enter the next phase of the trial."
By their ears, a voice completely different from any previous time sounded.
"Someone succeeded?"
"Next phase of the trial?"
"It's that guy!" Thus, all the Challengers present instantly became collectively excited.
They had already realized... the 'successful challenger' mentioned in the prompt at this moment must definitely be Luffy, who had followed the Handsome Monkey King and been taken up to heaven not long ago!
"Hey hey! To think he's the only one who succeeded, what a lucky guy!"
"Finally, someone has entered the next phase... Hey, does anyone know that guy? After going out, I'm going to buy the intelligence for the second phase of the trial from him!"
"Big Brother Ross, you seemed to be quite familiar with him just now?"
Someone instinctively looked at Ross, their words quite familiar—as one of the first batch of people to come to the Aster, almost all Challengers who entered Mount Huaguo knew Ross.
They also knew this big brother seemingly used to be a slave, but...
No one cared about that kind of thing anymore. On the Aster, the concept of a slave didn't exist.
"No, I don't know him either, and I forgot to exchange names with him."
Ross shook his head: "But I saw he carried a straw hat on his back, that should be an item he always carries with him. You all can pay attention to it when you go out."
Speaking of this, Ross scratched his head again: "Also, although there's no proof... I feel that guy probably isn't a Marine or a civilian, highly likely a pirate."
He couldn't help but recall Luffy's appearance—that cheerful and free demeanor and bizarre behavior inexplicably made him feel this way. "Straw hat? Pirate?"
Hearing this, the Challengers silently committed these two pieces of information to memory.
While speaking, their bodies had also begun to slowly turn into scattering starlight.
Right at this time...
Bang!
An old monkey gripping a long staff appeared in front of them, covered in blood.
Upon seeing their bodies slowly turning into motes of light, the monkey seemed stunned at first.
But then...
"Is it a spell? Great King... did the Great King teach you spells?"
Clearly heavily injured, his thoughts were obviously no longer very clear.
But on that monkey face, a trace of relief was distinctly visible at this moment: "Good... good, if you can escape, then escape quickly, try your best to save your lives, try your best to survive..."
As the words fell, he fell to the ground with a bang, losing all signs of life.
At the same time...
VMMM!
The figures of the Challengers had also completely scattered.
The next moment, their consciousness respectively returned to the Aster.
The massive Gate of the Starry Dome still stood before them.
But their bodies were no longer the bodies of monkeys.
They looked at each other, their expressions complex.
This was not the first time.
In every round of the trial, sooner or later, it was always a reenactment of the plot.
And there were also quite a few times where, after the Handsome Monkey King was defeated in the final Battle of Mount Huaguo, they would encounter other native monkeys when being teleported away. They might suspect the Challengers of being "spies of the Heavenly Court", or they might be angry at their act of "escaping", or they might feel "glad" like the old monkey this time.
"I know that old monkey, he was the manager over at the mountain orchard. His grandson and I picked peaches together before, and he even told me he liked that white-furred female monkey over at the East Cliff."
"What a coincidence, I know the female monkey you're talking about... Next time you come find me, let's introduce her to that brother."
Yes.
They originally all participated in the trials for their own wishes or goals.
But during the process of the trial, every time they had to live as a monkey inside Mount Huaguo, just with the difference of the duration being short or long.
By now, many of them had spent more than several months living as a "monkey" inside.
They had already recognized many monkeys in Mount Huaguo, and even became friends with many monkeys in order to gather intelligence.
So no matter how many times they experienced it, the Challengers couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"Those monkeys, that Mount Huaguo... are they truly fake existences?"
Such thoughts, they almost never discussed.
But almost everyone had thought about it to some extent.
If that Place of Trial, if those guys inside were true existences... that actually didn't seem too bad.
Of course, the Challengers quickly reined in their thoughts.
"Anyway, let's just wait here—wait for that guy to come out."
"Mm, everyone pay attention to anyone wearing a straw hat."
"This is the first time the trial has been pushed into a new phase. It's impossible for him to clear it on his first try, he should be coming out very soon!"
But clearly, the teleported Challengers didn't know.
Luffy's experience at this time was far more bizarre than they imagined.
"Eh?"
Luffy was staring wide-eyed at the scene around him.
The endless heavenly soldiers, heavenly generals, and gods filling the sky were no longer visible in front of him, nor was the Handsome Monkey King wearing golden armor with an awe-inspiring presence.
"Where is he? Didn't we agree he'd treat me to meat after fighting?"
Luffy muttered somewhat.
"By the way, where is this, it looks so gorgeous... Eh? Wait, where are my eyes?"
He instinctively raised his head and saw an extremely magnificent palace, gorgeous to the extreme.
Surrounding pillars were carved with dragons and phoenixes, seven-colored immortal light lingered between the pillars, and all around were grand immortal clouds, revealing the towering phantom figures of gods within them.
But then, Luffy realized another problem.
He didn't have eyes—or to be more precise, he couldn't feel his own body.
It was as if right now he was hosted within a certain existence, using a special perspective akin to a "third party".
"Hm?"
Before Luffy could react.
"Demon monkey."
He heard a voice coming by his ear.
That voice was very strange—to Luffy, it sounded like Grandpa, like Shanks, and at the same time seemed like those nobles Sabo had once mentioned.
That voice carried a "majesty" that would make even someone as fearless as Luffy instinctively feel awe.
Then, Luffy discovered in shock that "his" hands actually seemed to be bound at this moment.
Immediately after, his figure was uncontrollably pressed to the ground.
Through the reflection of the floor tiles, Luffy finally saw his current appearance.
That blood-stained golden armor, that unruly posture—at this moment, he was strikingly that "Handsome Monkey King".
"Do you plead guilty?"
That majestic voice continued to come.
"Plead... guilty!?"
Hearing this, Luffy frowned.
At the same time, he also heard the answer of this body, that Handsome Monkey King: "Guilty?"
"Hahahaha! Old man Jade Emperor, you tell me, what crime am I guilty of?"
He laughed out loud like this, his words seemingly full of disdain.
"You are a spirit monkey born of heaven and earth, born with all seven apertures open and all three passages fully passable. You should have ascended to heaven, been conferred as a deity, attained the right fruit, and enjoyed heavenly blessings."
"But you do not know the times of heaven, destroying the Queen Mother's birthday banquet and rebelling down to the lower realm. This is a crime."
While he spoke.
Luffy heard the roaring answer of the Monkey King within this body.
"Wrong, wrong! Old man Jade Emperor, I am no spirit monkey born of heaven and earth with all seven apertures open—on the contrary, I am born stubborn and uncomprehending, unable to understand great principles."
"I only know how to look with my eyes."
He sneered: "I only know that you so-called gods of the Heavenly Court stand among the clouds yet do not know the suffering of the world. You send down punishments upon mortals because of your own personal likes and dislikes, and exterminate a country because they do not submit to your control."
"Summoning me to ascend to heaven, yet full of deceit, without showing sincerity."
"These kinds of heavenly blessings, I cannot enjoy, which is why I rebelled down to the lower realm. What crime is there in that?"
He said like this.
Luffy naturally couldn't understand most of it.
But inexplicably—at the moment the Monkey King roared in anger, Luffy's memories also seemed to be stirred by some kind of power. He inexplicably remembered some things.
For example, he remembered his first stop after setting sail—there he met his first friend after setting sail, "Coby", as well as the extortionate Marine Captain "Morgan".
"I am a Marine, the 'blade' of the World Government suppressing the sea. You bugs naturally ought to obey my commands." That's what the other party said.
Subsequently, Luffy remembered Nami's homeland, "Cocoyasi Village", the place that was similarly ruled by the Fish-Man pirate Arlong with the tacit consent of the Marines.
And then Alabasta, then Water 7... unknowingly he had already traveled to many places.
Thinking carefully, although he hadn't paid attention to it—in many places, he seemed to have encountered oppressed people.
Whether by Marines, or by pirates, or by something else... Luffy would get angry because of this, and even send the other party flying.
But...
"What is the source of this world's current state? Luffy?"
Luffy seemed to hear someone asking him.
He remembered—that seemed to be a question Shanks asked him while chatting casually when he was a child, or perhaps a question Rayleigh chatted with him about recently.
Luffy remembered, he didn't seem to have given an answer.
After all, just like those words the Handsome Monkey King roared at the gods just now, such questions were truly somewhat too profound for him. But exactly at this moment.
"Demon monkey, you still have a chance to choose."
By Luffy's ear, the voice of the existence named "Jade Emperor" sounded again.
As if the master of the gods, issuing his final ultimatum to him.
"Plead guilty, submit to the law, and return to the Heavenly Court."
"From now on, serve as the guardian deity of My Heavenly Court, and you shall not privately enter the mortal realm."
"If so, I can make the decision to preserve your monkeys and grandchildren, and let the lineage of your Mount Huaguo continue."
When that voice spoke to the end, it was almost like a thunderclap.
In Luffy's perception, he even felt as if countless massive mountains were pressing down on his spirit out of thin air, seemingly forcing him to submit and compromise. Similarly, at this moment as well.
"Nika / Joy Boy / Davy."
In his mind, memories surfaced out of thin air again.
That seemed to be in a very high place, where clouds could be seen.
A certain existence wearing a crown, whose face couldn't be seen clearly, was amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, issuing the final inquiry to him.
"The journey ends here."
He said this to the former hero who attempted to liberate the world.
Luffy seemed to be able to see figures all collapsing limply amidst the mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
He didn't recognize them.
But he also seemed to see in those figures Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Reiju, Brook, Chopper, Franky... he saw the shadows of his companions, and even more people.
They were all heavily injured, seemingly waiting for hope.
"Submit to Mu, and make a covenant with Mu."
"Abandon those bugs, abandon your foolish delusions."
"Mu can make you Celestial Dragons, ascend to the position of gods, dwell in the divine kingdom, and exist forever in the high heavens."
"Mu can preserve your companions, and give you endless wealth."
"Mu can grant you immortality, to exist eternally."
The seed of hope was held in Luffy's hands for him to choose.
Choose—let the journey end here, let the dream turn into flying light, and let it flow away.
You will gain wealth, power, status, and your companions can all survive.
Choose—choose that foolish resistance.
You will gain death, pain, the world will usher in disaster, and your companions will also fall into a perilous situation.
"This is not a difficult choice, right?"
A voice seemed to be by his ear, saying this to Luffy.
Thus, Luffy fell silent.
Falling silent along with him was also that Handsome Monkey King in the Heavenly Palace.
They collectively closed their eyes.
Then...
Opened them again.
Yeah—this is not a difficult choice.
"I refuse!"
☆☆☆
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