Chapter 16
One Piece: Legacy of the Pirate King
The clouds above Ecliptoris parted like curtains revealing a lost stage.
The sky shimmered with celestial coordinates known only to the world before the Void Century. Cymos extended a golden compass carved from sea prism stone and ancient clockwork. Seven dots glowed on its face—each one a Time Pillar, resonating with pulses across space and time.
Lian stepped forward, still reeling from the Mirror World.
"These Time Pillars… what do they do?"
Cymos replied, "Each is anchored to an era Joy Boy sealed with his Haki. They keep the timeline balanced. If they collapse, the Sky Collapse will consume the world."
Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Then we start fixing 'em."
The compass pointed skyward—toward the heavens.
To Skypiea.
But not the one they knew.
A second, hidden island floated higher—so far above the clouds, even Enel hadn't reached it.
A place that whispered in the wind…
"Birkan: The Sleeping Sky."
With a modified version of the Thousand Sunny—now equipped with sky-sailing engines made by Franky and Cymos—the crew soared upward.
Luffy stood at the bow with Lian and Hancock, the boy's golden eyes reflecting the swirling clouds.
"Mom, do you think angels really lived in the sky?"
Hancock smiled. "If they did… they weren't more divine than you."
Robin stepped beside them. "Birkan was one of the three sky kingdoms. Long before Enel's reign, it was sealed by Joy Boy himself—locked in eternal stillness."
"Why?" Lian asked.
Robin's voice dropped.
"Because one of the gods refused to die."
They breached the upper atmosphere.
And saw it.
A second Skypiea, frozen in time.
Birkan floated like a ghost world. Its buildings were spiraled towers carved from moonstone and feather-shaped quartz. Statues of forgotten deities lined the edge, all of them weeping—tears petrified mid-drop.
In the center, buried in a crystal spire, pulsed a glowing tower: The First Time Pillar.
But it wasn't unguarded.
A circle of winged warriors—fused with ancient tech—floated around it, their eyes dim and hollow.
And at their center…
A massive figure on a throne of clouds, encased in vines of lightning and obsidian.
Rael-Va, the God of Silence.
He opened his eyes as the ship arrived.
"You returned, Sun God."
Luffy blinked. "Huh?"
Rael-Va stood, wings unfurling—longer than any dragon's.
"Joy Boy… I knew you'd come back to kill me again."
The battle erupted instantly.
Rael-Va's voice summoned soundwaves that shattered the clouds. His warriors moved in staccato motion—bending like broken puppets between moments.
Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Luffy leapt into combat.
Lian and Cymos stayed behind, watching the First Pillar begin to flicker.
"He's not just a god," Cymos muttered. "He's a lock. Joy Boy sealed part of the Sky Collapse's source inside him. If we kill him without anchoring time… the whole sky could fall."
Lian stepped forward. "Then we stabilize it."
He placed his hand on the edge of the First Pillar.
A surge of memory washed over him.
He saw Joy Boy, bleeding, laughing.
He saw Rael-Va scream, "You betrayed the pact!"
And he saw the moment the sky fractured—when the Time Core split into seven shards, each flung to a different corner of existence.
Meanwhile, Luffy clashed with Rael-Va midair.
Gear Fifth spiraled against lightning-infused strikes, each blow echoing across dimensions.
"You're not Joy Boy," Rael-Va snarled, grabbing Luffy's arm.
"I never said I was!" Luffy roared, wrapping his legs around Rael's neck and flinging him toward the temple floor.
Zoro sliced through the winged guardians with precision, while Sanji protected Hancock and Lian from shrapnel, fire dancing across his feet like comets.
But then—
Rael-Va turned to Lian.
"There he is. The true one. The heir to the Skybreaker."
He extended a hand.
Lian flinched.
In that instant, every version of himself from the Mirror World screamed inside his head.
Then Cymos yelled, "NOW!"
Lian slammed both hands into the Pillar.
His Chrono Haki surged.
Rael-Va stumbled, growling.
"No… not yet… not again…"
Lian's pulse synced with the Pillar, stabilizing it.
And in that moment—
Rael-Va saw something.
A version of himself, laughing.
Free.
He lowered his arms.
And smiled.
"Thank you… Sun Child."
He crumbled into light.
The first Time Pillar solidified—glowing gold, no longer flickering.
The sky roared.
And peace returned to Birkan.
Later that night, aboard the Sunny anchored in the sky, the crew gathered to rest.
Lian sat between his parents, exhausted but smiling.
"I heard him," he whispered.
"Rael-Va?"
"No… Joy Boy."
Luffy leaned in. "What did he say?"
Lian looked at the stars.
"He said... I'm already better than he ever was."
Far below…
In a hidden chamber beneath Mariejois, a massive heart made of crystal pulsed.
It glowed with seven flickering lights.
And one of them had just solidified.
Imu—eyes glowing in the darkness—watched in silence.
"They've begun."
A second voice echoed in the chamber.
"I'll go greet them at the next Pillar," it said.
Out of the shadows stepped a familiar figure.
A long blue cloak.
A wing on one side.
A mechanical arm.
Enel.
Alive.
Awake.
And angry.
End of Chapter 16
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The journey leads to the second Time Pillar: deep within the tomb of a Celestial Dragon who died before the Void Century. But the tomb has new inhabitants—Enel has made a pact with forbidden beings that feed on stolen time. And at its center lies a prophecy: Only one D. shall survive the Collapse.