After Caesar left, Lucien looked up at the clear blue sky.
With a violent burst from the ground, his entire body erupted into white flames. Thunder cracked around him, golden lightning tearing through the air as he shot upward like a cannonball. A deafening boom echoed across the heavens, proof that his speed was still climbing.
In just two or three breaths, Lucien pierced through the clouds and vanished from sight.
He continued ascending.
One thousand meters. Two thousand. Three thousand. Four thousand. Five thousand.
A thin layer of frost began forming across his body, but Thunder Breathing circulated within him, heat surging through his veins and dispersing the chill instantly.
At this altitude, the air had already grown thin. An ordinary person would suffocate quickly, but Lucien was far from ordinary. He hovered between heaven and earth, surrounded by an endless sea of white clouds. The scenery was vast and magnificent, refreshing in a way that almost felt serene.
Seven thousand meters. Eight thousand.
The air was nearly gone.
Nine thousand. Ten thousand.
Lucien's body glowed red from the internal heat, yet there was no sign of discomfort. His breathing remained steady and calm, even though there should have been no air left to breathe. It did not matter. Any Breath allowed him to inhale as if he stood on solid ground.
The wind at this height was merciless, sharp as blades scraping across his skin. He welcomed the sting.
He kept rising.
Twenty thousand meters.
Twenty three thousand. Twenty eight thousand. Forty thousand. Fifty thousand.
The cold intensified, but the temperature of his body increased even more violently, counteracting it. At some point, the freezing air abruptly shifted to a searing heat. Lucien's expression sharpened as he coated himself in Armament Haki.
He was facing the blazing sun directly now. The thin edge of the atmosphere was within reach. Beyond that invisible membrane lay outer space.
Lucien extended one hand beyond it. Instantly, he felt an overwhelming mixture of freezing void and scorching radiation. Without hesitation, he pushed through.
He stepped into space.
For a brief moment, chaotic pressures assaulted him from every direction. The planet's gravity dragged at his body, while solar radiation burned fiercely against his skin. Lucien fully activated his Armament Haki, his amethyst eyes narrowing as he endured the crushing forces.
The atmosphere beneath him burst apart in a violent ripple as he propelled himself outward, escaping the planet's pull. He floated in the endless void, with no true sense of up or down. Around him, distant stars shimmered, and fragments of meteorites drifted silently.
Breathing was not an issue. He could truly survive in space.
However, the harsh environment steadily drained his physical strength. Even for someone at his level, the vacuum and radiation were not insignificant. Still, his body was adapting at an alarming rate. Given a few hours, he suspected the strain would diminish entirely.
"The scenery is pleasant."
Lucien gazed at the magnified Moon in the distance, its pale surface hanging silently in the darkness. A thought crossed his mind.
There were said to be ancient ruins on the Moon in this world.
He pinched his chin, considering.
After only a moment of hesitation, he made his decision.
A thunderous explosion erupted beneath his feet. White flames and golden lightning trailed behind him as he accelerated, breaking past the speed of sound and climbing even faster.
The starry sky was mostly cold and dark, yet faint halos of light shimmered where sunlight reflected off distant bodies. At Lucien's speed, reaching the Moon would not even require a full day.
While Lucien sped toward the Moon, the entire pirate world plunged into chaos.
Newspapers flooded every ocean.
"Extra! Extra! The Whitebeard Pirates, Beasts Pirates, Big Mom Pirates, Revolutionary Army, Blackbeard Pirates, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and even Impel Down have all submitted to one man!"
"Who is the Savior?"
"The New World is now ruled by the Savior!"
"The Whitebeard Pirates and Revolutionary Army are now collectively known as the Savior Group!"
"The man standing at the pinnacle of the world is the Savior!"
"Only the World Government can contend with the Savior Group!"
"Marine Hero Garp and Admiral Kizaru have defected from the Marines and joined the Savior!"
"The Savior and the Gorosei have reached an agreement, the New World belongs to the Savior!"
"The Savior Group attacks Red Hair's territory, but the Red Hair Pirates had already vanished!"
"Some have begun calling the Savior the Pirate King!"
The world trembled.
There might still be islands where people did not know Whitebeard's face, but there was no one left who had not heard of the Savior.
On a remote island in the New World, Emma and Ethan had finally reunited. However, their situation was dire.
A translucent mission screen hovered before them.
Emma stared at it, her face pale. Suddenly, she coughed violently, a mouthful of blood spilling from her lips.
"Mission Two: Assist the Straw Hat Pirates in becoming one of the Four Emperors forces. Mission failed. Deduct 20,000 exchange points."
"Mission Three: Assist the Son of Destiny, Monkey D. Luffy, in becoming Pirate King. Mission failed. Deduct 40,000 exchange points."
"Mission Four: Assist the Son of Destiny, Monkey D. Luffy, in overthrowing the World Government. Mission failed. Deduct 100,000 exchange points."
"Insufficient exchange points. Deducting original lifespan. Remaining lifespan, 16 months."
Emma's hands trembled.
The second, third, and fourth missions had all failed with the annihilation of the Straw Hat Pirates.
All of her exchange points were gone. When they proved insufficient, the system deducted lifespan directly.
Under normal circumstances, she would have lived to seventy or eighty years old. Now she had only sixteen months remaining.
Beside her, Ethan looked even worse.
He had fifteen months left.
They had to complete the fifth mission, to hunt the Darkness, within fifteen months. Only then would they survive. Otherwise, they would die in this world.
If they failed to complete all missions, they could not return to the Main God Space.
Even if she could leave, Emma would not.
She would never swallow this humiliation without killing that man.
As for who the Darkness was, there was no longer any doubt.
Lucien.
He was now at the peak of his power, nearly ruling the entire pirate world. Killing him was almost impossible.
Worse, he specialized in hunting Sons of Destiny, reincarnators, and transmigrators. He was likely searching for them even now.
Emma forced herself to calm down. Charging at him directly would be suicide. They were isolated and weak.
There was only one path left.
Allies.
The only force that could still oppose Lucien was the World Government.
"Brother, get ready."
Emma gripped the newspaper tightly. It was filled with reports about the Savior, the Savior Group, and the Marines' new headquarters at Marineford.
"Okay."
Ethan nodded. He would follow her decision.
Three days later, a streak of blazing light tore across space.
Like a falling star, a burning mass pierced through the atmosphere, flames roaring around it as it descended toward Whole Cake Island in the New World.
A violent sonic boom shook the sky.
At the last moment, the fireball stabilized. The flames and golden lightning dissipated, revealing a figure encased in black and red crystalline patterns before slowly landing.
"Master!"
Lucien's body returned to normal. His amethyst eyes flickered as he stepped into the castle.
"Prepare food."
He had been starving for three days.
He had stayed on the Moon for one day, the remaining two spent traveling. The journey had not been pointless. There truly was a massive ancient city on the Moon. Deep underground, he discovered technologically advanced factories and dormant robots sealed within nutrient pods.
There had once been a civilization there.
Now it was nothing but desolation.
No living beings. No activity.
Lucien had lingered for a single day before returning. To him, those discoveries held little value.
He could survive in space, at least in terms of breathing, but he still required food.
Perhaps next time he would draw an ability that allowed him to abstain from eating entirely.
When that day came, he would truly be unstoppable, free to soar through the heavens and burrow into the earth without limitation.
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