Emmet was knocked into the sea, while Luffy and the others were already preparing to leave.
Roy came out just in time to see both Luffy and Bonney in their Nika forms.
"Roy!!!"
Luffy spotted Roy and shouted happily at him. However, as Roy's lips curled into a smirk and his gaze locked onto him, the smile on Luffy's face instantly faded.
Bonney, who had also transformed into Nika, was startled, and suddenly her Nika form vanished.
"Roy!!"
Luffy felt something and looked at him in disbelief.
"Your evil… is with me now." Roy waved his hand at Luffy.
"Why… why do I feel this way…"
In an instant, Luffy's strength vanished, and he transformed into an old man, completely drained.
But in his fading vision, he still saw Roy's silhouette, and behind him, a terrifying shadow. On that shadow was a massive mouth, gaping wide toward him, as if it would devour him whole.
Zoro and the others gathered together. Like Luffy, those with sharp instincts sensed something unusual.
This strange feeling emanated from Roy. They saw him and realized he was even more sinister than the Five Elders.
The evil aura radiating from him now far surpassed that of the Five Elders.
"Why… why do I feel scared of him?" Yamato muttered.
"You felt it too?" Robin asked.
"Yohohoho! I felt it as well… My heart's racing, even though I don't have a heart, yohohoho!" Brook laughed nervously.
"Eh? You all felt it? Why don't I?" Chopper looked at them in confusion. They were all Devil Fruit users, so why did they feel it while he didn't?
"He's changed. It's completely different from when we saw him in Wano," Zoro remarked.
"I definitely feel it too. It's very uncomfortable, like being stared at by something disgusting," Sanji lit a cigarette and said.
"It's Roy… seems like he's changed," Dorry said.
"You know Roy?" Usopp asked in shock.
"Of course! We met him thirty years ago. He was just a kid back then, and seemed more cheerful than now. But Whitebeard, that guy was truly powerful, hahaha!!" Dorry laughed heartily.
"Yeah, we met him on Little Garden back then. He predicted the Sun God for us, saying we'd meet a straw-hat-wearing brat in the future. At first, we thought it was Shanks because he had a straw hat too. But when we saw Shanks again, he didn't have the hat anymore… Then we met you guys. That's when we realized we'd found the real Sun God," Brogy explained.
"Roy prophesied that you'd meet Luffy?" Nami asked in disbelief.
"Who is he really? Why does it feel like he knows everything?" Franky wondered.
"A mysterious, powerful man… But just now, I think I heard he killed one of the Gorosei," Robin said.
"What?! He killed an Elder?!" everyone exclaimed in shock.
"Yes." Robin nodded. She hadn't expected it herself, only overheard it by chance.
Meanwhile, the robot Emet was trying to untie a knot.
It was something Joy Boy had left behind, a technology once seen on Weatheria in Sky Island. Once untied, it would release a burst of wind.
It seemed useless, but in truth, it was advanced propulsion technology, used even in sky islands.
In essence, these knots could store air, and even store Haki.
During his travels, Roy had once visited Weatheria and obtained some knots. But without exception, none could store his Conqueror's Haki.
His Haki was too strong. If infused into the knots, they would collapse instantly, let alone ones that had lasted eight hundred years.
"Hey… don't ruin my plans."
Roy suddenly attacked Emet, firing a shot that broke off one of its arms.
"The big robot!!!"
The Straw Hats shouted in shock. They knew Emet was trying to help them, but they hadn't expected Roy to attack him just like the Elders did.
"What is he doing?" Even the Elders froze at this sight.
"He knows what the robot is trying to do; he's deliberately stopping it," Saturn muttered.
"There must be something about that knot!" Nusjuro, in his horse form, dashed forward and grabbed one end of the rope.
Emet still clutched the other end.
And then, Roy heard a voice in his mind.
"Who are you really?"
Snap!
The rope was pulled apart by Nusjuro's reckless strength. The Haki stored within, left behind by Joy Boy eight hundred years ago, burst free.
BOOM!!!
The surge of Conqueror's Haki instantly knocked out everyone below the rank of Admiral.
It even pressed toward Roy.
"Hmph!"
Roy snorted coldly, pushing back with his own overwhelming Haki, one that rivaled the ancient power itself. The clash of these two supreme Conqueror's Hakis shook the battlefield in an unprecedented collision.
But the stored Haki lasted only a moment. Still, in that instant, every Marine except Admiral Kizaru foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
"With my current body, I can finally unleash this kind of Haki," Roy smirked. His newly enhanced body allowed him to withstand the full force of his own Conqueror's Haki.
"You are not Joy Boy. You should not exist…" Emet's voice echoed in Roy's mind.
The Elders were also caught in the blast. Aside from Saturn, the other three dissolved into black smoke.
Far away in Mary Geoise, amidst the Flowers, Imu felt the surge of Haki through the link with the four remaining Elders.
The same power that had nearly destroyed them eight hundred years ago, Joy Boy's.
Imu fell to her knees on the lawn, eyes wide with fear.
"Joy Boy..."
"You ruined my plans. I wanted to kill them all, but you sent them back," Roy said to Emet.
"So that's how it is. I apologize. To protect Luffy, I had to do this," Emet replied.
"Do you know he is Joy Boy?" Roy asked.
"No, he is not Joy Boy. He is merely someone who has obtained the Sun God's power, just like Joy Boy. He is a new hope, but he is not Joy Boy. Joy Boy died long ago, but his spirit lives on. He will bring joy to the world and to many people," Emet explained.
"I don't feel joy at all. In fact, I feel like killing him," Roy replied flatly.
"You are the source of sorrow. Someone like you should not exist. It's a pity... I have no strength left. Otherwise... I would have... eliminated you... for Luffy..." Emet lost its final source of power. It was unclear what had fueled it all these years, allowing it to activate after eight centuries.
"Saturn… you're not escaping this time."
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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