For giant Sea Kings like the anglerfish, Conqueror's Haki isn't exactly useless—but it definitely won't be as simple as scaring off a Sea King near the shore.
This anglerfish, whose body could hold several islands, wasn't as massive as Zunesha, but it had already developed a resistance to the intimidation of Conqueror's Haki.
At this moment, what it felt more than anything was dread... and rage.
"This size..."
Cold sweat ran down Crocodile's face. If it weren't for Orin's ability stabilizing the Oro Jackson, just the water pressure from the creature opening its mouth would have been enough to swallow the ship whole!
Orin controlled the ship as it soared into the sky, his crimson eyes locked firmly on the enormous Sea King below.
He had no interest in taking a stroll through its gullet.
His massive Observation Haki swept over the giant golden lantern on the anglerfish's head—and he frowned with disappointment...
So huge, yet not pure gold.
Makes sense, though.
Pure gold, a divine substance born of rare coincidence, wouldn't logically exist in island-sized quantities. That would be what's truly strange.
"Even Lord Bonbori... shows an expression like this?"
The blonde loli clung to the side of the ship, staring wide-eyed at the massive anglerfish raging below.
"Still haven't found it?"
Mihawk drew the black blade Yoru from his back, his sharp hawk eyes surveying the sea from the skies like a predator eyeing its prey.
"No luck yet. This guy's internal space is too massive. It's a real pain trying to search through it."
Orin furrowed his brow. Inside the anglerfish, three islands, its organs, and blood vessels were all exposed to his Observation Haki.
In this state, finding the pure gold was no different from finding a needle in a haystack.
"Just stall for time."
"...Got it."
The young hawk cast Orin a glance, then leapt onto the bow of the Oro Jackson, fixing his gaze on the beast below.
"You guys... Don't tell me..."
Olga couldn't quite figure out what they were doing, but she understood that it had something to do with pure gold. She tried to move forward—
Suddenly, a golden hook pierced the collar of her shirt from behind.
Suspended in midair, she flailed and struggled, but it was useless.
"Hey, quiet down, brat. Otherwise, I'll toss you overboard."
Crocodile, frowning as she removed the cigar from her mouth, reached out with her other hand to stop Olga's interference. Orin stood silent, Mihawk readying his blade.
The young hawk ignored the frigid wind howling through the sky. His open white shirt and short black hair danced in the air.
Slowly raising Yoru, he unleashed a massive green slash crackling with black and red lightning, as though it could cleave the world in two.
With a thunderous sound, the anglerfish sensed the danger—but due to its massive body, dodging was impossible.
Clang—
Splat—
A massive gash appeared on the lantern atop its head, and a torrent of golden-yellow fluid gushed out like a waterfall!
The anglerfish was enraged!!!
And in its rage... it threw a fit for a moment,
Then opened its mouth wide, trying to swallow as much of the falling gold as it could. It spun in place, giving them time—preventing it from diving straight down into the abyss.
Stomach acid, bones, beasts...
God knows how many years this thing has lived or how many islands it has devoured!
As Orin's Observation Haki swept through the scene, he spotted an unusual figure among a horde of dinosaurs.
It was a scientist disguised as a dinosaur.
Orin didn't react much. If it were a typical ambitious schemer, they'd probably capture this person to manufacture endless pure gold.
But to Orin, it was just a hassle. That scientist's greatest value was their ability to make pure gold—but Orin didn't need the whole world to be immortal. Just enough was fine.
Keeping someone like that around would just draw unwanted attention from the World Government.
That said—
Faced with the ultimate temptation of immortality, Orin didn't outright reject the idea either.
His Observation Haki swept across a stretch of land—finally discovering an unusual ruin.
"Finally found it."
Ignoring the many traps, his Haki saw through everything. Deep within the mechanisms, a lump of gold radiating divine light sat quietly.
Found it~
"Super Warp: Command Baton!!!"
In a flash, a gold object the size of a fist materialized in Orin's hand.
As soon as it touched him, a strange sensation surged through his entire body.
This...
His ultra-fine Observation Haki scanned his own body—something felt odd, as if his metabolism had suddenly halted.
While his body could still digest and produce energy, there was a lingering sense of stasis—of freezing.
"So this is pure gold..."
The one most affected by the pure gold wasn't just Orin. Olga's eyes went wide with shock.
"This... this is..."
"It's pure gold."
You could hang it in your house and use it as a perpetual energy lamp.
With the objective achieved, Orin didn't linger. He quickly reunited Olga with her scientist father in dino disguise. Then, as a thank-you for creating pure gold, he used teleportation to remove the heads of every other creature on the island—
Sending them to reunite too, and giving them a safe environment to live in.
...
"This... is pure gold?"
Orin handed each person a small piece. Mihawk and Crocodile looked at the tiny "golden bean" in their hands—barely bigger than a sesame seed—and gave Orin a dumbfounded look.
"What's with that look? This tiny bit is more than enough."
According to their preferences, Orin melted the tiny gold bead into each of their personal accessories.
Mihawk chose the small blade hanging around his neck. Crocodile picked a ring.
"A word of warning—don't wear it on you just yet. This stuff will halt your physical growth and change... In other words, it can make you immortal, but it'll also freeze your development. That 200-year-old little girl earlier is a perfect example."
"Nani!?"
At that, both of them immediately put the gold away.
Especially Mihawk. He hadn't reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship yet—how could he accept never progressing again?
The group soon returned to the Sabaody Archipelago. Orin distributed pieces to his most trusted allies, including Doflamingo.
It was said that when Doflamingo received his piece, he sat alone in a room chuckling "fufufu" for a long while. Immediately afterward, he gave the order to expand their Devil Fruit acquisition plan.
Unavoidably, the World Government caught wind of the news—but that was all. After all, in this world, only a select few even qualified to access such intel.
As for pure gold, Imu didn't need it. The Elders didn't need it. Only some of the Celestial Dragons might.
That's why, in the original timeline, the ship searching for pure gold was just a CP0 vessel and a few Marine warships.
There was no full Admiral mobilization, no God's Knights backing them.
The true power-holders were already immortal. No matter how much noise the underlings made, it was meaningless.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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