Plaza of Fate.
William stood before his own statue, a colossal and lifelike monument that matched the previous figures in the plaza. The statue captured him in his most fearsome aspect—eyes wide with intensity, expression commanding and formidable—as he unleashed Overheat.
The stone pedestal beneath had expanded dramatically, and William's character profile displayed notable changes.
Under the special traits section, a new entry had appeared: Supporting Character's Halo.
Nearby, on the stone table where special traits could be exchanged, eight small statues were arranged. Besides the original three—Gin, Kuro, and Yasopp, who had been used to acquire Robust and Heroic Aura—there were four new figures. These represented individuals connected to William's path: Captain Buggyam of the Blue Sapphire Pirates, Aramis who had replaced Arlong's destiny, Golden Lion Shiki, and Captain Nezumi. These four statues were positioned in the slots beneath the Supporting Character's Halo, activating the trait.
Only the statue of Edmond, who had slain the gorilla Skaretto during the aerial battle against Shiki, remained isolated at the edge of the stone table.
Supporting Character's Halo: You are an indispensable element of a story. Your luck, presence, and the influence of your actions far exceed those of ordinary individuals. In the hands of a merciful creator, you may fail, but you are unlikely to die. However, as time passes and the story unfolds, the halo of a supporting character gradually weakens.
William had acquired this trait after the aerial battle with Golden Lion Shiki. Curiously, the text describing this trait seemed to shimmer with an inherent luminescence. When first obtained, the glow had been almost blinding, but since his capture and imprisonment, the radiance had diminished considerably.
Initially, William had interpreted the Marine Headquarters' subsequent actions as evidence of this trait's influence, granting him the kind of providential outcomes typically reserved for protagonists in fiction. Now he understood that the Marines' movements had merely been calculated deception to lull him into complacency.
The Supporting Character's Halo, after all, paled in comparison to a true Protagonist's Halo.
After contemplating the statue for several moments, William approached a newly manifested rectangular stone table nearby. On its left side stood busts of individuals with special Threads of Fate connecting them to William: Gin, Yasopp, Kuro, Captain Nezumi, Aramis, and Edmond. Beneath each bust was a rectangular slot, evidently designed to hold some form of identifier.
On the table's right side, directly opposite the busts, were seven identical slots. Unlike their counterparts, these contained silver plaques inscribed with William's own special traits: Lightning Reflexes, Zen Sword Arts, Robust, Heightened Alertness, Conqueror, Heart of Iron, and Supporting Character's Halo.
This new feature of the Plaza of Fate apparently allowed William to bestow one of his existing traits upon a chosen companion.
After careful consideration, William first removed the silver plaques for Zen Sword Arts and Robust. He positioned Zen Sword Arts beneath Edmond's bust and Robust beneath Gin's.
The moment these plaques were placed, the corresponding slots on the table began to bubble like natural springs, exuding a mercury-like liquid. Within moments, this silvery substance filled each slot before solidifying into perfect replicas of the original plaques.
William raised an eyebrow at this phenomenon but quickly noticed the illumination overhead had diminished. Looking upward, he observed that the silver Threads of Fate that had once blanketed the plaza's sky had been drastically reduced.
A chill of realization coursed through him. He hadn't anticipated that replicating a single trait would consume thousands of ordinary Threads of Fate—far more than the few special threads required when acquiring a trait for himself.
Proceeding with greater caution, he removed another Zen Sword Arts plaque and positioned it beneath Aramis's bust. Once the slot generated a new plaque, he placed Lightning Reflexes beneath Kuro's bust and Heightened Alertness beneath Yasopp's.
By this point, the remaining Threads of Fate were insufficient to generate new plaques for Lightning Reflexes and Heightened Alertness. The silvery liquid in these slots merely shimmered with faint luminescence, unable to solidify.
Only Captain Nezumi's bust remained without a plaque, its slot empty. Meanwhile, William had already moved toward the Gate of Fate at the plaza's periphery, examining a newly manifested path. Since his capture by Garp and the others, several new routes had appeared in the Plaza of Fate, but only this most recent one aligned with William's strategic vision. He recognized this path as the consequence of Dampier, Sherlock, and his other agents following his contingency plans in the outside world.
[Reversing Heaven and Earth]: The arrangements you made before imprisonment are beginning to take effect. Escape this place, regain your freedom, and fundamentally change the entire situation.
Mission Reward: Special Trait Sword of Miracles
William had barely returned to consciousness from the Plaza of Fate when he detected footsteps echoing down the corridor outside his cell.
The sound grew steadily closer until the cell door unlocked with a metallic clang. A tall, dark-skinned Marine officer stepped into view. His face, crisscrossed with battle scars and framed by a handlebar mustache, wore a perpetual scowl that made him appear more like a pirate than a Marine officer.
This was Vice Admiral Doberman, one of the final commanders dispatched by Marine Headquarters to the East Blue. As a hardline hawk within the Marines, Doberman represented a growing faction that had become increasingly militant during the decade-long Great Pirate Era. In the original timeline, Doberman's unyielding stance had been evident during the Summit War, where even Red-Haired Shanks' personal intervention failed to dissuade him from pursuing pirates—a testament to his inflexible dedication to eradicating piracy.
Doberman was accompanied by two other Marine officers, each with a distinctive appearance. One possessed a deathly pale, skeletal countenance, while the other was dark-skinned and gaunt, resembling someone afflicted with consumption.
While the skeletal officer was unfamiliar to William, he immediately recognized the emaciated figure: Gin.
William's gaze passed over Gin without the slightest hesitation, his expression betraying nothing. Likewise, Gin maintained perfect composure, as though they were complete strangers.
"Morgan William," Doberman intoned, looming over the prisoner. "Are you aware of what's happening outside?"
William remained silent. Instead, he tugged demonstratively at his shackles before offering a dismissive shrug and a sardonic smile.
Doberman's face darkened as he seized William by the collar, effortlessly lifting him from the ground with one hand. His eyes blazed with barely contained fury as he growled, "What have you done? Why are pirate crews across the East Blue suddenly acting like madmen, launching coordinated attacks against Marine bases everywhere?"
"I've been imprisoned here the entire time," William replied with icy composure. "How could I possibly know anything about that?"
Doberman's rage intensified visibly. "Then where are your people? Your accomplices, your subordinates, the laboratory personnel, the shipyard workers, and all those armed forces—where have they disappeared to?"
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