At night, in the secret base of the four, Luffy, Sabo, and Ace were already sound asleep. Only Hera remained awake, struggling to recall the plot of Pirate King.
"I'm seven years old now too. If I remember correctly, Sabo should be picked up by Dragon this year. But what exactly happened? Why can't I remember?"
Because Hera was just a tiny thing when Garp picked her up, just like Luffy, she didn't know how old she was supposed to be. Garp simply waved his hand and set Hera's birthday and age to be the same as Luffy's.
Although Hera still remembered the memories of her past life, by the time she transmigrated, Pirate King had already been serialized for over a thousand chapters. She could only recall a general outline of such early plot points.
"Sigh, why did I subconsciously think of Pirate King that night? Couldn't I have thought of a utopian world like Pokémon? And what's with this incomplete Zafkiel? It even turned me into a girl. Can I still have friendly interactions with the Empress and Nami? And what on earth am I going to do about Sabo's situation?"
"How is it that the moment I look over, I find you complaining? Isn't this the world you wanted to go to? I even thoughtfully gave you a Zafkiel." A pleasant voice rang out in Hera's heart.
Hearing this, Hera subconsciously complained, "But I turned into a girl, and I can only use the First Bullet." Then she suddenly woke up: "Who is it? Who's talking in my head? Could it be... an Observation Haki attack!"
"Stop playing with memes at a time like this. I'm the girl you saved that night. I just came by to see how you're doing." After a pause, the voice rang out again.
"Forget it, since I'm already here, I'll give you another hand. I originally thought I'd follow the local customs and set your Zafkiel to gradually unlock abilities with development, just like a devil fruit. I didn't expect you to be so weak; after training for so long, you can only use the First Bullet."
"I've unlocked the City of Devouring Time for you directly. As a transmigrator, you didn't even know to absorb time when you saw Zafkiel. No wonder your ability development is so slow. I'll add a setting for your other abilities to unlock by absorbing time as well."
Meeting that mysterious girl again, Hera's heart was filled with confusion, and she couldn't help but ask in her mind: "Who exactly are you? Why did you send me here?"
The girl's voice rang out again: "These questions aren't important. However, if you want to know the answer, then do what you want to do. When you sit upon that throne, you will know the truth of everything."
"The throne? Is it the one belonging to Imu? Why should I sit on it? And what is the 'truth of everything'? Didn't I just ask why you sent me here?"
"By the way, how can you come to the world of Pirate King and not wield a sword? When you come into contact with a sword, there will be another surprise waiting for you."
Hearing the girl's words, Hera had even more questions. However, this time, the voice in her head did not ring out again. Just as the girl had said, she had only taken a casual look and had now departed.
Hera muttered in her heart, "Damn riddler, still chasing me even in Pirate King." Suddenly, her head felt heavy, and she involuntarily lay down on the ground and fell asleep.
When Hera opened her eyes again, she found that Sabo, Luffy, and Ace were no longer in the secret base. Behind her, a dark red sky appeared, and the ground was covered with black patterns resembling blood vessels. A giant golden clock had appeared where she was lying, and a layer of black shadow covered Hera like a blanket.
As Hera got up, the entire space returned into her shadow. Hera felt that with just a thought, she could release the barrier again.
As the City of Devouring Time dissipated, Hera noticed a group of people gathered in the distance. Led by Dadan, the other Bandits saw Hera retract the barrier and ran toward her.
Luffy said as he ran over, "I knew Hera would be fine! I knew it when I saw that clock. It must be a new ability developed from Hera's devil fruit."
Ace retorted, "Then I wonder who it was last night who found Hera wrapped in a dark blob and went crying to Dadan, saying Hera was dying and asking if she could save her."
Dadan reached Hera and said, "It's good that you're okay. After you were wrapped in that barrier yesterday, these two brats ran to my place and called me over. That Sabo kid insisted on going home, saying he wanted to see if there were any solutions in the books at home. After I brought people here, I found that as soon as we entered the barrier, our bodies would become weak, and the closer we got to you, the weaker we became. It was likely protecting you, so I had everyone wait outside the barrier for you to wake up."
Seeing the worried expressions of her companions and Dadan, Hera quickly explained, "I'm sorry for making everyone worry. This should be a new ability awakened from my devil fruit."
Dadan said, "No need to talk about the ability. Just make sure to stay safe next time. Everyone was very worried about you."
Seeing that Hera was safe and sound, Luffy said while crying, "Yeah, I thought you were going to sleep forever and never wake up."
Hera was a bit speechless seeing the wailing Luffy: "Idot Luffy, I'm perfectly fine. Besides, I've become even stronger. Now, instead of being able to beat 10 of you, I can beat 100."
Ace said, "As long as you're okay. Now we just have to wait for Sabo to come back and tell him the news that you're fine."
Upon hearing Ace and Dadan mention that Sabo had gone home, Hera suddenly remembered: "Oh no, Sabo might be in danger!"
At this moment, on the sea not far away, a pirate ship was slowly approaching.