In the forest, Arboliva spread out every one of its leaves, welcoming the blessing that belonged to the Pokémon.
This power even passed through the barrier of dimensions. Within the Reverse World, the Bulbasaur family welcomed the rainfall, while the Tinkaton who had been planning to ambush Bisharp abandoned their intentions, opening their arms toward the sky.
Led by Vespiquen, Combee danced joyfully in a buzzing rhythm, and even the normally daytime-sleeping Dustox were drawn in, awakening to circle the skies together with Beautifly.
Corviknight and Altaria experienced everything from the highest altitude, while the Squirtle set up their inflatable pools, lying inside and enjoying the special rain bath.
The cries of Mareep rose one after another, their wool shining with a healthy luster, and even Carkol, who disliked rain, stepped out from under shelter to feel everything with its body.
Emboar sat sprawled on the ground in enjoyment, Tyranitar and Hydrachton lay flat on the ground, and only Nereus maintained a standing posture.
Pokémon in the inland sea leapt from the water, Ludicolo chanted cheerful rhythms, and across the sky, sea, and land, the Pokémon of Wano Country welcomed their own carnival.
Not only them, every Pokémon was enjoying this rare grand event. Even the people of Wano Country discovered the opportunity within it; those bathed in the rain felt revitalized, their fatigue completely swept away.
Some even saw a green dragon coiling among the clouds.
“Lord Ame-no-Minakanushi!”
“Lord Ame-no-Minakanushi!”
It was unknown where it began, but suddenly people in the streets knelt toward the direction of Onigashima, loudly proclaiming the divine name in their hearts. What followed ignited their emotions even further.
The sky above Onigashima seemed to split open like a gate, and beyond it lay a golden cosmos. Black feathers drifted down from the sky, and Lunarians holding flaming spears flew out one after another.
Including King, eight of them formed the final guard, their flaming spears carving out a path through the sky.
At present, including King and Shayna, there were exactly nine Lunarians here. Due to her height, Shayna did not fit the symmetry required, so she did not participate in the ceremonial formation. Instead, their older cousin Avnisha took her place.
As for Shayna herself, she assumed a more important role. Holding a scepter formed from the Red Chain, she had already descended below.
“Those bathing in the divine blessing, welcome the supreme blessing of the god!”
The Lunarians knelt on one knee in the sky, and Arceus stepped forward slowly, appearing from the cosmic expanse. Though distant, everyone who saw him felt as if he stood right before them.
“OH!!”
A thunderous cheer erupted across Onigashima, waves of sound like tsunami crashing endlessly. The pirates’ moment of revelry had arrived. They knew this was the god who could grant them power, the invincible faith behind them.
Though the kings were not as wild as the pirates, under the influence of the crowd they still stood up, and even the Merfolk straightened their upper bodies and part of their tails.
Among the many spectators below, however, some were deep in thought. For example, Sasaki. While the other officers were filled with excitement, a trace of regret and lingering fear flashed through his mind.
Back then, it seemed he had made a wrong decision, giving away something that had already been in his hands.
Thinking about how, after joining, he had only undergone two years of training under the officers, and aside from the initial hardships in rising through the ranks, he had never suffered any discrimination. Sasaki even felt a bit fortunate now.
But that feeling was quickly transformed into fervor, and he became part of the cheering crowd.
【They actually said my style isn’t suited for such a solemn occasion and only fits the first half; there must be something wrong with these people’s taste.】
This was Queen’s inner thought. He had originally wanted to host the entire Divine Blessing Ritual, but was rejected for the later stages.
Because as long as he stepped on stage, the ceremony would somehow drift in the direction of a concert.
Although this was Queen’s inner thought, it could still be seen.
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf all possessed the ability to read hearts. During this time, they observed the people before them, and among the many emotions, they even read some rather unusual thoughts.
【Lord Arceus above, please bless me so I don’t come up empty-handed tonight…】
This was just one example. Under heightened emotions, people’s most primal desires surfaced, and there were many even stranger than this.
Amid the cheers, Arceus arrived on the stage.
In front of Shayna, three more figures appeared. The chosen ones of this Divine Blessing Ritual.
Carrot was the calmest inside. Although her heartbeat was accelerating, it was merely excitement. Despite her special status as the “attendant to the crown prince,” she was still a Mink who had not seen much of the world.
As a rabbit Mink filled with curiosity about the outside world, this kind of event only stimulated Carrot’s desire to explore. During the earlier assessment, she had also received more attention from Azelf.
Bepo, on the other hand, was trembling all over. If one used mind-reading, it would reveal that he was constantly replaying the previous procedures in his mind, afraid of making any mistake.
But beyond that, an even larger portion of his thoughts consisted of scenes where he realized he had messed up and was apologizing. Bepo had even begun repeatedly simulating new scenarios of apologizing.
Aside from the two Minks, the third was Drake.
As everyone knows, before an undercover agent is activated, they are the most loyal one.
They work diligently, strive to gain the trust of their superiors, and resist all kinds of temptations.
Drake had spent half a year mining in prison before being assigned to Jack.
For the past year and a half, he had taken on the hardest, most exhausting, and most dangerous tasks.
By now, he was already a full-fledged member. Jack was one of the officers with the highest combat frequency, and being able to work under him at near-suicide squad intensity for a year and a half and survive meant Drake had already accumulated enough contributions.
There was no reason to exclude him. This was a rule established by the Beasts Pirates. Once contributions reached the required level, one could obtain power. It would be clearly inappropriate to break a rule that had stood for over thirty years just because of Drake.
Now that the Divine Blessing Ritual was open to the public, there was no longer any concern about exposure, so Drake was naturally selected.
As for his attitude afterward—
That didn’t matter.
Over all these years, there had never been a traitor among the Blessed Ones. Arceus didn’t mind using this known unstable factor to tell the world what “Auswählen” truly meant. [TN: It is a unique technique used by Yhwach. As an extension of his ability to distribute pieces of his soul to others, Yhwach can forcibly take the power of other Quincy. ]
The power was granted by Arceus, and naturally, Arceus also had the ability to take it back.
If there is blessing, then there is also thunder. At this moment, he was showing kindness, but given the opportunity, he wouldn’t mind showing anger in a special way.
Of course, Drake knew none of this. To the Beasts Pirates, his undercover operation was nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard—manipulating him was simply a way of observing the moves of another puppeteer.
【The opportunity has been given to you. Don’t disappoint me.】
Drake’s process was different from Carrot and Bepo’s. He was already a Devil Fruit user and did not follow the same path as them.
These words had just been Jack’s instruction to him, though Drake felt it sounded more like a threat.
【Do they actually know…?】
If they knew, they shouldn’t have continued granting him ability as an undercover agent. If they didn’t know, then their behavior shouldn’t be this strange.
Drake overestimated the impact of his role as a spy and thus fell into a mental loop of his own making.
Regardless of his thoughts, the process continued. Following Bepo and Carrot, Drake knelt on one knee before Arceus.
“Open your hearts and accept the power that belongs to you.”
There were no excessive words. Everything that needed to be said had already been said before. Arceus didn’t need to give them a long speech; demonstrating power through action was enough.
Three streams of light emerged from the Thousand Arms. The differently colored radiance shattered into particles in the sky before flying into the bodies of Carrot and the others. This was also the only key step that hadn’t appeared in the rehearsal.
The fragmented light enveloped their entire bodies. Arceus’s power passed through their skin, permeating every cell, and the ability mutation manifested in each of them.
The first to change was Carrot. Her body seemed to have stronger receptivity, absorbing the power bestowed by Arceus in the shortest time.
Her fur began to lengthen, brown fur emerging from her originally pure white coat. Her ears expanded and elongated, a pair of long ears drooping behind her.
The Rabbit Pokémon, Lopunny—a Normal-type Pokémon and one capable of Mega Evolution. Due to her type, Carrot’s enhancements were more physical and were not immediately obvious.
But Bepo was different.
“Roar!”
Due to individual differences, Bepo let out an uncontrollable roar.
Crack..
His fur color didn’t change, but his jaw seemed to freeze, forming three icicle-like whiskers.
Seeing that the ritual had proceeded without issue, Bepo let out a sigh of relief, but the breath he exhaled covered his hands in a layer of icy gloves.
Beartic, the Freezing Pokémon, known for living in the frigid northern lands with a fierce temperament. Its sharp claws allowed it to easily tear through steel.
Having just received this ability, he had yet to adapt to it, and his Ice Breath created numerous ice crystals around him.
However, the most striking contrast was Drake. As a Devil Fruit User, his ability had already been passively activated, transforming his entire body into that of an Allosaurus.
The green dinosaur form was already eye-catching, and now reddish-brown scales were replacing his original appearance.
The muscles across Drake’s body became even more developed, orange rock-like structures appeared around his eyes and tail, white fur grew along his jaw and back, and bits of rock materialized out of nowhere.
But unlike Bepo and Carrot, Drake felt little joy at gaining power. He didn’t even notice that amid the cheers of the pirates below, an indescribable sense of dread had arisen in his heart.
The situation that the World Government and the Marines were most reluctant to accept has finally become a reality.
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