"Ding! Host has defeated Gecko Moria and obtained the Shadow Shadow Fruit as a reward!"
The moment Gecko Moria fell, the Sign-in System's notification echoed through Ryūjin's mind.
Before this, Ryūjin had already obtained the Clear Clear Fruit, the Hollow Hollow Fruit, and the Paw Paw Fruit. Those were already secured.
Now, only Brook's Revive Revive Fruit remained.
Ryūjin spread his Observation Haki across the entirety of Thriller Bark, instantly locating Brook's position.
"Wait here for a minute."
He spoke casually to Crocodile and the others before vanishing with the Body Flicker Technique.
Whoosh!
In almost less than a second, Ryūjin returned.
During that brief moment, he had already defeated Brook and taken the Revive Revive Fruit.
"Alright, let's leave."
Now that he had collected all the Devil Fruits he wanted, Ryūjin had no interest in wasting more time on Thriller Bark. He casually waved at Crocodile and the others before heading back to the ship.
After returning, Ryūjin greeted the crew and entered the Kamui dimension.
He could not wait any longer to absorb the newly acquired Devil Fruits.
As expected, the Shadow Shadow Fruit, Hollow Hollow Fruit, and Revive Revive Fruit were all heavily aligned with Yin Release chakra. Their compatibility with Ryūjin's chakra was extremely high.
After absorbing the three fruits, the Yin Release chakra within his body underwent a massive transformation.
The improvement was even greater than the evolution his Earth Release chakra had experienced previously.
As for the Paw Paw Fruit and the Clear Clear Fruit, their compatibility with his chakra was much lower, so the boost they provided was not particularly significant.
Even so, Ryūjin remained satisfied.
At the very least, his Yin Release had advanced tremendously.
Buzz!
A spatial vortex twisted open.
Ryūjin stepped out from the Kamui dimension and returned to the deck.
Nami and Nico Robin had already seen enough of Ryūjin's strange abilities that they no longer reacted much to them.
"Ryūjin-san, where are we heading next?" Nami asked lazily while leaning against the railing.
"Skypiea."
Ryūjin answered without hesitation.
Skypiea contained Enel's Rumble Rumble Fruit and a Poneglyph. There was no way he would ignore a place like that.
"Skypiea?" Nami turned toward him with obvious interest. "You mean that island in the sky actually exists?"
"Of course it does."
Ryūjin smiled faintly.
Although they currently lacked the Log Pose needed to reach Skypiea, that problem meant very little to him.
This was the advantage of having subordinates.
With Baroque Works under his command, Ryūjin barely needed to concern himself with information gathering or navigation.
As long as he gave the order, Crocodile would handle everything properly.
...
Marine Headquarters.
Fleet Admiral's Office.
"What did you just say? You and Gecko Moria worked together and still lost to Ryūjin?"
Sengoku stared at Bartholomew Kuma with visible shock.
This outcome had completely exceeded his expectations.
Kuma was one of the strongest members of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Combined with the abilities of the Paw Paw Fruit, defeating him was incredibly difficult.
Not only could he repel physical attacks, but he could also repel energy itself. Combined with his terrifying mobility, Kuma was an extremely troublesome opponent.
Yet despite that, both he and Gecko Moria had lost together.
"Tell me everything that happened during the battle."
Sengoku's expression darkened as he spoke.
Kuma remained silent for a moment before calmly recounting the entire fight in detail.
The more Sengoku listened, the uglier his expression became.
"He can shift between tangible and intangible states? What kind of ability is that?"
"And he can manipulate wood? That sounds similar to a Devil Fruit ability, but there shouldn't be any Wood Wood Fruit recorded anywhere."
"On top of that, he can control lightning powerful enough to instantly defeat Gecko Moria in his strongest state. That sounds almost identical to the Rumble Rumble Fruit."
Sengoku felt increasingly unsettled.
How could one person possess so many abilities at once?
It completely violated common sense.
"I understand. You may leave."
After a long silence, Sengoku dismissed Kuma with a wave of his hand.
Not long after Kuma departed, Sengoku picked up a Den Den Mushi and contacted one of the Marine Admirals.
Aokiji.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, what is it?"
Aokiji sounded relaxed, though he already had a rough idea of the situation.
He had crossed paths with Kuma earlier while entering headquarters.
"Aokiji, we have a serious problem."
Sengoku adjusted his glasses before explaining everything, including Kuma's defeat and the information regarding Ryūjin's abilities.
Even Aokiji was stunned after hearing it all.
Intangibility, wood manipulation, lightning control, and swordsmanship capable of defeating Mihawk.
Was that really the power of a single individual?
"Mihawk, Crocodile, Gecko Moria, and Kuma have all fallen one after another to Ryūjin."
"I've temporarily suppressed the news, but it won't stay hidden forever. Once it spreads, the Marines' reputation will suffer a severe blow."
"We cannot allow Ryūjin to continue acting freely."
Sengoku looked directly at Aokiji.
"You will personally handle this matter."
"You want me to capture him?" Aokiji asked.
"Capture is only the second option."
Sengoku's gaze sharpened.
"Your primary mission is to recruit Ryūjin into the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"If he accepts, Crocodile will be stripped of his title. A man who became another pirate's subordinate no longer deserves to remain a Warlord."
"And if Ryūjin refuses..."
Sengoku's voice grew colder.
"Then he will spend the rest of his life inside Impel Down."
A man who repeatedly humiliated the Marines could only be dealt with in two ways.
Either he became useful to the Marines.
Or he was eliminated.
"I understand, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
Aokiji casually pushed the office door open and left.
Not long afterward, he rode away across the sea on his bicycle.
...
"Have you heard? Demon Eye Ryūjin caused another huge incident!"
"You're talking about Crocodile's defeat? That's old news. He defeated Bartholomew Kuma and Gecko Moria too!"
"And they fought him together!"
"Demon Eye Ryūjin is insane. He's already taken down four Warlords."
"Hahaha, he's basically the Shichibukai Terminator!"
"The Marines got slapped in the face so hard this time."
"At this point, only the Admirals might be capable of stopping him."
"I heard Admiral Kuzan was spotted at sea recently. He's probably hunting Ryūjin."
As Ryūjin's ship continued toward Skypiea and Aokiji searched the sea on his bicycle, Ryūjin's reputation exploded across the Grand Line once again.
The entire world was shaken.
To ordinary people, the Seven Warlords of the Sea were already monsters standing at the top of piracy.
Yet Ryūjin had crushed four of them consecutively.
His reputation now stood just below the Yonko.
Flap! Flap!
A bald eagle wearing sunglasses descended from the sky and landed near Crocodile.
It was Miss Friday, one of Baroque Works' agents.
"Master, this is the information you requested."
Miss Friday handed over an envelope with one wing.
Crocodile opened it briefly before speaking casually.
"Continue gathering information."
Miss Friday nodded and immediately flew away.
"Lord Ryūjin."
Crocodile handed the document over respectfully.
"Baroque Works has gathered information on nearby Marine Devil Fruit users."
"Oh?"
Ryūjin instantly became interested.
He grabbed the papers and quickly skimmed through them.
There were more Devil Fruit users nearby than he had expected, though most of them were insignificant.
Which honestly made sense.
Anyone truly powerful would already possess fame across the seas.
Then one particular name caught his attention.
Fire Fist Ace.
The report stated that Ace had appeared on Drum Island half a month ago before disappearing again.
Ryūjin immediately understood.
Ace was searching for Blackbeard.
According to the original timeline, Ace would eventually reunite with Luffy in Alabasta.
However, this world's events had already changed significantly.
Without Nami joining the Straw Hats and Zoro refusing Igaram's request, their route had become completely different.
Still, Ace remaining nearby was an opportunity Ryūjin could not ignore.
"Crocodile, prioritize tracking Fire Fist Ace from now on."
Ryūjin looked toward him calmly.
"The moment Ace finds Blackbeard, inform me immediately."
Ace's Flame Flame Fruit had extremely high compatibility with his Fire Release chakra.
As for Blackbeard's Dark Dark Fruit, its black hole-like abilities were still difficult to categorize, but Ryūjin had no reason to ignore it.
"Understood, Lord Ryūjin."
Crocodile nodded respectfully.
"Ryūjin-san, look over there!"
Nami suddenly pointed toward the sea ahead.
"There's someone riding on the ocean!"
Nico Robin's expression immediately changed.
"That man..."
Her emotions instantly became complicated.
Back during the Ohara incident, Aokiji had been present during the Buster Call.
Although he had ultimately spared her life, Robin's feelings toward him remained conflicted.
Fear, resentment, gratitude, all tangled together.
"Lord Ryūjin, that's Kuzan, one of the Marine Admirals," Crocodile said seriously.
"Codename Aokiji. One of Marine Headquarters' greatest military powers."
"It seems the rumors were true. The Marines sent an Admiral after you."
Ryūjin had already noticed Aokiji long before Crocodile spoke.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"He came at the perfect time."
Based on previous experience, Aokiji's Ice Ice Fruit would almost certainly possess extremely high compatibility with his Water Release chakra.
Nami nearly burst into tears.
"Ryūjin-san, you're not seriously planning to fight a Marine Admiral, right?"
Defeating Warlords was already outrageous enough.
But an Admiral?
That was the true peak combat power of the Marines.
Attacking one meant openly declaring war against the World Government.
"It's just a Marine Admiral."
Ryūjin sounded completely unconcerned.
Nami covered her face helplessly.
"Just a Marine Admiral...?"
Still, she knew arguing was pointless.
Ryūjin was the captain.
As the distance between both sides closed, Aokiji finally stopped moving.
He calmly parked his bicycle on the ice before standing upright.
Then he plunged both hands into the sea.
"Ice Age."
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The ocean instantly froze.
An enormous layer of ice rapidly spread across the sea at terrifying speed.
Within moments, the entire area between Aokiji and Ryūjin's ship had transformed into a frozen wasteland.
Even Ryūjin's ship became trapped in the ice.
Aokiji then began walking forward slowly, step by step across the frozen sea.
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