Gloriosa, as the former-former-former Empress of the Kuja, had not originally been a member of the Kuja in her youth. Instead, she had been one of Rocks’ crew, with even greater seniority than Kaido.
Precisely because she had once sailed the seas, Gloriosa was able to offer more insight within the Kuja.
“Gloriosa? I vaguely remember someone by that name on the ship. So you didn’t die at God Valley.”
Kaido’s memory was fine; he simply never paid much attention to things he considered unimportant. On top of that, Gloriosa’s appearance had changed dramatically. The only person who could probably still recognize her was the former Miss Buckin.
As women and rivals, they always seemed to possess certain special abilities.
“You really haven’t changed at all…”
“Haven’t changed? No. I’m far stronger than I was back then. Even if God Valley happened again, I’d be the victor. I’ve already learned the lesson from Rocks’ failure, so I won’t fail.”
“Kaido… do you really intend to recreate the events of God Valley?”
“Recreate them? No, no, no. I’m not interested in something like that. The scale of God Valley was child’s play. It wasn’t grand enough. At best, it could only serve as an opening act.
“Now that I think about it, quite a few old-timers have gathered together without anyone noticing. Looks like this era hasn’t completely passed yet. Worororo.”
Gloriosa had no idea what Kaido was laughing about. She only knew that the Kuja could no longer stay out of what was coming.
Ever since the World Government abolished the Shichibukai and sent the Seraphim to attack Amazon Lily, she had understood that.
The world’s authority still rested in the hands of the World Government, and they are also its planner of interests. If anyone wanted to break this situation, the only way was to reshuffle the deck and start over.
“War…”
Gloriosa disliked war. Not everyone was like Kaido, harboring an almost fanatical passion for it.
Yet she could not avoid the great conflict that was drawing near. The only thing she could do was make the Kuja stronger before the war began.
At that moment, Gloriosa’s gaze settled on Hancock.
Kaido could still make the Marines wary under the title of the World’s Strongest Creature, but she herself was already just an old woman. Although Hancock had significant flaws in her personality, she was still the hope upon which the Kuja could rely.
Pheromosa was not a rare Pokémon. Although it was classified as dangerous in the Pokémon main world, in its own world, Pheromosa was actually a very common species.
In terms of compatibility, it could also enhance Hancock’s abilities. This applied both to her physical capabilities and to her Devil Fruit powers.
The most obvious aspect of this Zoan-like ability was the changes to the body. The insect-like compound eyes and antennae enhanced perception. The claws that appeared on her fingers did not greatly increase Hancock’s combat power, but they were still not to be overlooked. The greatest change was still her legs.
Although Pheromosa’s body appeared slender and delicate, it actually contained tremendous strength.
Its slim, flexible legs could accelerate explosively. Its sprinting speed could even surpass the flight speed of ordinary birds, while its specialized leg joints granted it even greater offensive power.
At the same time, Pheromosa possessed the ability to confuse its enemies. Though beautiful in appearance, Pheromosa was actually genderless. During battle, it released an invisible pheromone.
Regardless of sex, anyone exposed to this pheromone would be affected, becoming infatuated with it. Normally, the pheromone’s effects were limited, but when combined with the Love-Love Fruit, Hancock’s petrification ability would undergo a qualitative transformation.
Without the target even realizing it, their inner beliefs would be shaken, making the petrification process far easier.
“I see… so that’s how it works…”
Arceus’s power was not difficult to understand. The strengths of each Pokémon and the areas in which they possessed the greatest talents would naturally appear in the recipient’s mind. However, how far those abilities could be developed depended on the user’s own talent.
The enhancement to Hancock’s physique was beyond question. Yet at that moment, what occupied her thoughts was Pheromosa’s pheromone ability.
“I will remember your warning.”
The pressure at close range and the changes to her body made it even clearer to Hancock that Arceus had not been joking earlier. A person’s nature was difficult to change, but it could still be restrained.
“You may leave now. After the ritual is over, you can find someone yourself and test how your abilities have changed.”
“Yes.”
To be precise, not long after leaving Arceus, Hancock had already begun testing her new power. A stream of pheromones flowed from her fingertips, and a passing flying insect became her target.
As the ability took effect, the insect enveloped by her pheromones gradually became stiff. In the end, it dropped to the ground like a pebble. However, this immediately caught Queen’s attention, and he hurried over.
“That ability you just used, can you do it again?”
What interested Queen was not Hancock herself, but the petrifying pheromones she had just displayed. Although it had only been a tiny amount, Queen sensed the presence of biology and chemistry within it, fields in which he excelled.
If things went well, he felt he might be able to develop a new version of his Plague Bullets that could petrify enemies.
“No, just watching isn’t enough to be certain… I’d better experience it myself. I’ve decided, I’ll be your test subject!”
With that, Queen tried to lead Hancock toward the training grounds. However, Queen’s unusual behavior immediately struck both Kaido and Yamato as suspicious.
Volunteering himself for research and personally experiencing the power of another person’s moves was absolutely not something Queen would normally do, even if it genuinely benefited his experiments.
“Idiot father, this is all your fault! You must have broken Uncle Queen’s mind last night, or there’s no way he’d make a decision like this!”
“Hmph. That just means you don’t understand Queen well enough. That brat definitely has some ulterior motive. It just hasn’t been exposed yet. Let’s see what he’s really planning.”
Resting Hassaikai on his shoulder, Kaido once again fixed his gaze on the slightly overexcited Queen. Still, he wasn’t in a hurry. At the very least, he could wait until ability bestowal was finished before taking action.
Aside from Hancock, the only one left was Kuzan.
“Ara, ara. Never thought I’d be using a weapon one day. This thing is certainly unusual. And this is divine power, huh?”
Simply observing Arceus’s power allowed one to sense how extraordinary it was, but only those who had actually received it understood just how outrageous it truly was.
Looking at the spherical weapon in his hand, Kuzan had already grasped its function. With a turn of his arm, a mass of water gathered within the sphere. When an icy blue glow completely enveloped the orb, the sea current inside also turned into ice.
His body now displayed a classic red-and-white color scheme with a distinctly metallic aesthetic. The hardness of his mechanized body meant little to Kuzan; he was a Logia user and did not particularly care about such things.
Instead, the ability to control water provided a much greater enhancement.
Iron Bundle, like Barro’s Iron Moth, was a future Paradox Pokémon. Iron Bundle was the future form of Delibird.
The item in his hand functioned both as an item pouch and a weapon, capable of continuously releasing blizzards, ice spikes, and streams of water. Combined with Kuzan’s own abilities, Iron Bundle essentially gave him an extra Funnel out of nowhere. [TN: Funnels are floating weapons around Gundam.]
Moreover, being able to use Water-type attacks was an enormous boost. It meant Kuzan could create an environment favorable to himself without expending much stamina.
In addition, he had gained an extra item: Booster Energy.
As future Paradox Pokémon, all the Iron-series Pokémon shared a common Ability: Quark Drive.
When Booster Energy powered their bodies, Quark Drive would activate, enhancing the aspect in which the user excelled most. If the user’s greatest strength was speed, they would surpass their own limits while in that state.
For people like them, items were not merely things they carried; they became fixed components of their bodies. When Barro and Kuzan received their abilities, the Booster Energy had already fused into them.
As long as they entered their transformed state, this special effect would automatically trigger.
“Come to think of it, this ability is pretty convenient.”
Kuzan stretched his legs. His Human-Beast Form was actually much closer to his old nickname, since Iron Bundle, the future Paradox form of Delibird, had once earned the nickname “Iron Chicken.” [TN: Aokiji means blue pheasant.]
What was even more remarkable was that the metal composing Iron Bundle’s body automatically replaced Kuzan’s missing left leg. Compared to the ice leg he had fashioned in the past, the limb restored through this ability felt even more natural, to the point that Kuzan could not detect the slightest difference.
Though it was made of cold metal, it had somehow restored his sense of touch.
“Your actions at Egghead and with Garp were enough to prove your resolve, so you’ve been granted new power. Don’t disappoint me.”
“This isn’t really a matter of disappointing anyone or not. But I do have a question. Kaido worships war, while the sisters who spread your faith speak of a new world. The followers of your cult are all striving toward an ideal divine kingdom.
“But can that ideal really be achieved so easily?”
“It can’t. For me, destroying everything and starting over would actually be much easier than building an ideal nation.”
Destruction was always easier than creation. A tree’s life began as a seed. From taking root and sprouting to growing into a towering giant, who knew how many years it would take? Yet cutting it down required only a few minutes.
The World Government allowed pirates to roam the seas as a source of fear, exploited non-affiliated nations, and drove races across the sea to extinction. After so many years, the problem had long since rotted to its roots.
It wasn’t just the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. The logic by which this sea operated had already diverged from that of a peaceful world. The profession called pirates had become as commonplace as anything else.
Healing it was not something that could be accomplished by simply trimming away a few branches.
For Arceus, ruling through fear was easy. A “peaceful” nation founded upon its absolute military power was entirely possible, and far less difficult to achieve.
“But that would affect too many people. Precisely because so many have experienced everything the World Government has done, there are so many who oppose and resent it.
It’s a difficult process, but one worth waiting for.
If you want to build an ideal world, then you should work for it yourselves rather than placing all your hopes in someone else. The power has already been given to you. If you wish to see the world you desire, then you must fight for it yourselves.”
“I see… Thank you for the answer. It seems that before the great war arrives, I should conserve my strength as well.”
Kuzan suddenly recalled something. Ever since joining the Beasts Pirates, he had never witnessed Arceus’s tyrannical side.
Yet his past accomplishments served as a constant reminder that this was a being capable of destroying entire nations with a wave of his hand. He remained calm only because nothing so far had crossed Arceus’s bottom line.
The twin dragons of Dressrosa, the King of the Legendary Giants that moved the island, Regice freezing Enies Lobby. If it ever came to that…
This was a monster capable of destroying the world.
“I really wonder what the future will become. Under a new order… what form will justice take?”
40% Discounted Patreon Membership for T5-T7 tier. Code- 0A547. Available till 21/08
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!