"Human… you've offended me!"
The sea dragon's words echoed across the water, its voice thunderous and wrathful. The once-calm sea churned violently, huge waves battering the two ships until they rocked wildly with each surge.
Everyone onboard paled, faces full of fear and disbelief at the sight before them.
"A dragon?!"
"A talking dragon?!"
"There's a monster like this hidden in the Calm Belt?!"
Yato felt a bit awkward. Being called a monster didn't exactly sit well with him, even if, looking at his current form, he couldn't argue that he appeared anything but threatening.
That magma hand just now had slammed into the sea and grazed his body. To him, it was like having scalding water dumped over a human head, an unpleasant surprise. Instinctively, his fury had triggered a wave of Dragon's Might.
Although the heat itself wasn't truly harmful to him, it had still provoked him.
Fixing his gaze on the attacker, Yato suddenly found the man's face familiar.
A white cap, a Justice cloak over broad shoulders, a harsh, unforgiving expression.
"You… Admiral Akainu, Sakazuki?"
Yato's draconic voice rumbled low, sweeping over to the other ship. Standing on the deck was a woman as beautiful as a painting, the only other person besides Sakazuki who remained calm under pressure.
She was none other than the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock.
A flicker of recognition sparked in Yato's eyes as memories of the One Piece world flooded his mind.
"You have intelligence?" Sakazuki said with surprise. "Not beast-level instinct… but advanced intelligence. What are you? You're no ordinary Sea King."
I'm human, damn it! Yato thought with exasperation.
But what he said aloud was:
"A Sea King? I see… to a Marine Admiral, Sea Kings are so insignificant that they're not even worth mentioning."
Akainu snorted coldly.
"Whatever you are, it doesn't matter. Since you dared appear here, I'll clean you up while I'm at it!"
As soon as he finished speaking, his right arm ignited, becoming a torrent of molten magma. The air temperature soared instantly.
A gigantic magma hand surged from his arm, lunging toward Yato.
"Straight to violence without a word of reason, typical pirate-world logic."
Yato sighed inwardly, but he wasn't worried.
With a sharp dragon's roar, his twin horns lit up with a faint, bluish glow. In that moment, the surface of the sea responded to his will. Four spiraling water tornadoes formed from both sides of his body, twisting toward the descending magma hand like living serpents.
BOOM!
Water and fire collided.
The blast was deafening. Steam exploded into the air, and thick fog spread across the ocean.
Hisss… hisss…
Visibility dropped drastically as the fog cloaked everything in a strange, dreamlike haze.
"What the-?!" Sakazuki's face twisted in disbelief. "It can control seawater?!"
Not only him, even Boa Hancock's expression showed visible shock.
Sea Kings were nothing special. To warriors of their level, creatures dozens of meters long were little more than oversized pests.
But this sea dragon… defied all logic.
"Is that the power of a Devil Fruit?" murmured a high-ranking Marine officer on the warship.
"A Devil Fruit?"
Inside the fog, Yato felt a sudden jolt of clarity.
This was the One Piece world. The supernatural powers that existed here included the Devil Fruits, just like the magma-wielding ability Akainu was using now. It came from the Logia-type Magma-Magma Fruit.
And the "mystic energy" he needed to unlock new transformations…
Maybe this was the answer.
He immediately asked in his mind:
"Hey, uh, you, you know, 'that thing.' The mystic energy you mentioned, does Devil Fruit energy count?"
A few seconds of silence passed before a mechanical voice finally replied:
[It counts.]
After another pause, the voice corrected stiffly:
[Please note: I am not 'that thing.' I am the Fantasy Gene.]
"I knew it."
Yato grinned inwardly. Mystic energy was vague, but the Devil Fruits gave him a concrete goal.
True, Devil Fruits weren't easy to come by in this world. But they were obtainable. If you had enough money, you could even buy one. Sure, the powerful Logia types cost hundreds of millions of Berries, but even the weakest Zoan or Paramecia types could be found on the black market.
Not that it mattered to Yato.
He wasn't planning to eat them himself anyway.
At that moment, someone aboard the Kuja Pirates' ship suddenly cried out:
"It's… it's the Guardian Deity! The Guardian Deity of Amazon Lily!"
The declaration startled everyone.
Even Boa Hancock, who had remained calm until now, frowned and turned toward the speaker in confusion.
It was Amanda, a historian and former assistant to a previous empress. She had studied the ancient records of the island for years.
Seeing Hancock's gaze, Amanda immediately spoke:
"Lady Hancock! There's a legend passed down on Amazon Lily… that a Guardian Deity once protected us. The Calm Belt around our island wasn't formed naturally, it was the result of the deity's power!"
Amazon Lily lay hidden deep within the Calm Belt, a region with no wind and no currents, where sailboats couldn't move. Because of this, the island had remained isolated from the outside world, protected by nature, or so most believed.
"Some may say that's exaggerated," Amanda added, "but the existence of the Guardian Deity is real. Ancient texts describe it clearly, and include illustrations. If you look into the fog right now, you can just barely make out the creature's outline. It matches the records perfectly!"
She had thought of the legend the moment she saw Yato manipulate seawater. Now, with the creature's silhouette visible through the mist, she was certain of it.
Amanda's deep knowledge of history had made her the first to recognize the truth.
Boa Hancock remained silent for a moment.
"It's only a legend…"
"No, Lady Hancock! There are written records, too. I can retrieve them when we return. Remember last year, when you defeated the great monster Gorgon in the Central Sea? That creature was mentioned in the same texts. If Gorgon was real, then the Guardian Deity must be as well!"
Her voice rose with passion.
"We must protect the Guardian Deity! We can't let the Marines harm it!"
The women on the ship stirred restlessly.
Many of them had heard the legends.
And a year ago, their ruler, Empress Boa Hancock, had personally claimed to slay the mythical beast known as Gorgon, a tale etched into their memories.
"Protect the Guardian Deity!"
"Is it really the one from the legends?"
"Lady Hancock?"
All eyes turned to Hancock.
She held her breath for a second.
The great monster Gorgon… yes, she had said she defeated it.
But in truth… it was a lie. A cover story to hide something else.
Gorgon had never existed. She had never seen it.
But the reason for the lie… could not be revealed.
So long as that secret remained hidden, she had no choice but to confirm the myth. She had to acknowledge it.
She drew a deep breath. Her expression turned frosty.
Those beautiful, regal eyes locked onto Sakazuki. She spoke coldly:
"Marine… that is the Guardian Deity of Amazon Lily.
To raise a hand against it, is to challenge me."
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters