Ceruledge is originally a Pokémon formed from old armor steeped in resentment. The resentment of a sword wielder who died before accomplishing their goal is even more nourishing to its power. Misu’s compatibility with Ceruledge also comes from that resentment buried deep in her heart.
Even though her Ceruledge was created through the power of the Flame Plate, the resentment in her heart still made her Bitter Blade immensely powerful. This is also a common trait among Ghost-type Pokémon: those with the Ghost type can all be described as having rather nasty personalities.
Among Ghost-types, those who only enjoy playing pranks can be considered the good guys.
If we take the condition of a sword wielder who died before accomplishing their goal, then Kuina’s compatibility can be said to be a full 100%. Especially the fact that she died falling down the stairs; it’s enough for her to turn into a vengeful spirit.
Even without armor as a medium, Kuina was sufficient to meet Ceruledge’s requirements. The reason it was the underworld form is that, compared to resentment, what filled her heart was more obsession.
Her appearance did not change, but her current state is somewhat different from resurrection.
Compared to her previous undead state, she has indeed come back to life now, but what supports her existence is the sword in her hand.
To a certain extent, the sword condensed from obsession is her new true body.
That said, it is fundamentally different from her former soul-like state. Now she can sleep, eat normal human food, and come into contact with the living.
“Darkrai, she’ll wake up soon. What exactly happened, and the rules of the underworld from here on out, you explain them to her.”
“Understood.”
“Tesoro, go on and continue handling your matters.”
“Understood.”
After giving the people around him some brief instructions and making sure they knew what to do, Arceus also formed his next plan.
“All right, make your preparations. It’s time for you to leave this place as well. Unless there’s something special, this is still not somewhere the living should set foot in.”
As he spoke, Arceus activated his power and sent Tesoro and his group out of the underworld. Not only Tesoro, Zeraora and the others, but even Genesis was expelled from the underworld.
However, Zeraora and the others reappeared at the very center of the previous tea party, while Genesis fell into the surrounding sea.
Shayna and Arceus did not leave the underworld with eh., so the one temporarily in charge aboard Genesis automatically became Amalee, who took over the ship’s affairs for the time being.
“Stop the ship! Lord Arceus and the others should be coming out soon. Let’s wait here.”
At Amalee’s command, a crisp clanking sound rang out between the chains. Driven by gravity, the massive anchor sank into the sea, and Genesis gradually came to a halt.
However, it took time for the anchor to reach the bottom, and a vessel as massive as Genesis also needed some buffer to slow down. At that moment, an unfortunate small boat nearby was struck and overturned by Genesis, and the person aboard it fell into the water.
“Help…help! I can’t swim, glug glug…”
The person in the water struggled desperately, but still couldn’t stop themselves from sinking. The winds and waves near Whole Cake Island were not strong, and anyone who could stay on Genesis had at least some level of ability. Even a mere deckhand from the ship would be a serious threat if placed in the Four Seas.
This was the fault-line-like gap across these seas: people on the Grand Line could generally crush those from the Four Seas; people from the New World could easily crush those from the first half of the Grand Line; and the elite subordinates of the Emperors of the Sea were the best of the best even within the New World.
By comparison, the Four Seas, where picking up a weapon already counted as Marine or Pirate level, would indeed appear utterly overmatched.
“Boss Amalee! It looks like we ran into some kind of birdman!”
By the time the people on the ship noticed what was happening in the sea, the unlucky soul in the water was already in the process of sinking. All they could see was a struggling wing.
“Birdman? A Devil Fruit User? Fish him out first.”
“Yes!”
Several pirates jumped into the water at the command and hauled the unidentified figure up before he could sink to the bottom.
“Isn’t this Morgans? How did he end up in the water?”
“Who knows? He’s clearly a bird yet can’t fly. Still, a Devil Fruit User falling into the sea makes things convenient; at least we don’t need to knock him out.”
Looking at the birdman they had rescued, the pirates quickly recognized him. It was Morgans from the World Economy News Paper. He looked somewhat dazed, yet one hand was still gripping his camera tightly, as if it contained some priceless treasure.
With help from those on board, Morgans was brought onto the ship.
As for the earlier remark about knocking him out, it wasn’t because they intended to rob him, but rather a basic principle of rescuing people at sea.
These people far exceeded normal human standards, possessing much stronger physiques, but they couldn’t be sure what level the drowning person was at.
Sometimes drowning people are like water ghosts; if you’re not careful, you’ll get dragged down with them. Either you wait until they’ve struggled themselves nearly to exhaustion before rescuing them, or you knock them out from the side or behind. Otherwise, they wouldn’t rashly attempt a rescue.
These were lessons learned through blood. By comparison, Devil Fruit Users who lose all strength the moment they fall into the sea were actually easier to save.
After a bout of a rather rough rescue, Morgans came to his senses, and the first thing he did upon waking was check his camera.
“How could this be?! I clearly took the shots, why is there nothing here?!”
At first, Morgans was thrilled, but when he saw the contents of his photos, his mind completely collapsed. The images were entirely blank, as if overexposed, leaving not a single picture behind.
In a few of the photos, however, he could still make out figures, such as Du Feld and Drug Peclo. These two were the living who had died in the underworld this time.
If one were to ask who had offended the most people, these emperors of the Underworld would certainly rank at the top. To rise to such a position in the Underworld, none of them had clean hands.
Among this group, Stussy was the strongest. Although she couldn’t hit the ghosts, she could at least escape, and comparatively fewer of the people she had offended had become vengeful ghosts.
Du Feld and Peclo—one a loan shark, the other an assassin. No one has any idea how many ghosts harbored resentment toward them. They didn’t even manage to hold out until the living were sent out of the underworld.
As for Morgans, he was the professional escape artist among this group of Underworld figures. Even while fleeing, he hadn’t forgotten to take photos, intending to record this grand spectacle.
Once the paper was published, it would absolutely explode in popularity.
That said, Morgans himself didn’t really know where that place was. Without anyone explaining it, no ordinary person would ever guess it was the land of the dead.
Those ghosts had introduced themselves, but Morgans felt it was more like some kind of illusion. Now, looking at his blank camera, even he felt confused.
Only after realizing how few photos he had left did Morgans look around at his surroundings.
“This is… Genesis? Are you really going to ally with Big Mom?”
The appearance of Zeraora and Tesoro alone couldn’t confirm a full alliance; they might just be guests. But Genesis carried a completely different symbolic meaning.
Even though Arceus didn’t appear frequently, everyone on the seas knew that this ship was bound to Arceus’s identity.
Either a war was about to break out, or some other major move was underway; otherwise, this ship would never appear for no reason in another Emperor of the Sea’s territory.
As he spoke, he pressed the shutter twice, clearly capturing the Thousand Arms flag.
“You’ve really got some nerve. Still thinking about taking pictures at a time like this?”
“Hahahaha! This is big news! If you wanted this alliance to remain unknown, you shouldn’t have let Charlotte Linlin hold this tea party. I’ll report it properly.
But could I trouble you to have a few people escort me over to the Sweet City? I ran for too long earlier, and I’m a bit out of strength.”
Hearing Morgans’s request, Amalee waved her hand, signaling a few burly men to send him over.
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!