Compared to Katakuri's complicated feelings when he saw Creed, Smoothie's emotions were much simpler. Toward Creed, she felt more curiosity and admiration.
Killing Admiral Akainu, wiping out the Blood Shadow Twin Blades, and erasing two major CP0 giants—those achievements were enough to call him the strongest under Heaven without exaggeration!
Before that, she had always been resentful about Creed defeating her mother. But today, she finally felt relieved.
If even a Marine Admiral and World Government giants had been crushed this badly, then her mother being inferior to Creed was only natural.
"Thank you for your hard work, Smoothie," Creed replied gently, returning the greeting.
"Creed-sama!"
Not long after entering the water park, Princess Shirahoshi came "running" over with red eyes.
In the original setting, she was a crybaby. Even after following Creed to Whole Cake Island and seeing so many people and so many things, she still hadn't become strong.
If Creed's body were not so small compared to hers, she probably would've hugged him and cried.
"Don't cry. King Neptune is fine for now. After a while, I'll go with you to the Holy Land Mary Geoise to find him. Believe me—before long, he'll be fine!"
Creed comforted her.
"Mm!"
Shirahoshi, who was completely at a loss, had practically begun to treat Creed as her spiritual pillar. Whatever he said, she believed unconditionally.
After stabilizing Shirahoshi's emotions, Creed prepared to set out.
In an open area outside Shirahoshi's park, Creed released the Ark Maxim from the System's temporary storage space.
"T-This…!"
Even Redfield—always calm, always unmoved—was stunned when the Ark Maxim appeared out of thin air.
Conjuring such a gigantic flying ship from nowhere completely exceeded his understanding!
Could it be… their captain had copied someone's spatial ability again?
That was the only guess he could make.
"Waa! What a gorgeous ship!"
Ain, on the other hand, stared at the golden splendor on the ship and became excited.
Girls really couldn't resist gold and glittering things.
Of course, what truly made Ain happy was the two huge words "Creed" emblazoned on the bow.
"God…"
Redfield's eyes fixed on the massive character (God) on the Ark Maxim's cabin.
Iron-hook, silver-stroke—elegant and transcendent, yet carrying an overbearing intent. It was incredibly imposing.
But Redfield didn't find it jarring at all.
The current Creed deserved that word.
"Everyone, get on. We're heading to Wano now."
Creed jumped aboard and spoke with a smile.
"What?!"
That sentence made Redfield and Ain both gasp.
Just a moment ago in the council hall, Creed had said they were going to subjugate Kaido—yet they were leaving this fast?
They'd thought there would be preparations, at least half a day before departure.
Honestly, they were caught off guard.
Ain had no objections and immediately jumped onto the Ark.
"Going to see them again is fine… and I can settle the debt from last time, too."
Redfield also leapt aboard.
But Ain looked puzzled.
"Wait… this is a plaza. How are we going to the harbor…?"
If Ain hadn't said it, Redfield might've forgotten—right, it was a ship. How could it travel on land?
Was the captain going to use a spatial movement ability to shift it to the harbor?
The harbor was more than a thousand meters away.
Very quickly, his doubts were dispelled.
The next instant, Creed struck a certain part of the ship with a bolt of lightning. The Ark Maxim began to hum and vibrate. The two rows of oars along the outer hull began rowing—and then the entire ship lifted into the air.
"Wah…"
Ain lightly covered her mouth.
So it was a flying ship driven by lightning power.
That meant she could help too.
"Iyo."
Even Komurasaki on her shoulder opened its big round eyes wide. Curious, it floated up, darting around the Ark Maxim, touching and looking everywhere.
A moment later, it flew over and rubbed against Creed. After getting his permission, it raised a tiny paw and fired a bolt of lightning at the lightning-receiving mechanism.
Boom!
Whoosh!
Because the lightning it output was unusually surging, the ship's ascent speed instantly doubled.
"Ying ying ying!"
Seeing that it seemed even more impressive than its master, it happily spun in circles overhead, chirping loudly.
Creed and Ain couldn't help laughing at its simple, carefree happiness.
But at the same time, a trace of worry rose in Creed's heart.
According to what Shiki and Big Mom had said—and the top-secret intel Dragon had brought—Imu's Empty Throne was guarded by something.
…
And what was Uranus?
It seemed to be a gigantic dragon. In legend, it possessed terrifying power of lightning and flames!
If Creed wasn't mistaken, then the reason Komurasaki had been sealed inside that stone egg was very likely because it had fought the current Uranus for the title of the one true Uranus… and lost, thus being sealed.
Could every generation of Uranus be born as twins?
Winner takes the throne, loser becomes the captive?
If his guess was correct, then the colossal dragon he'd seen flying across the sky that day… was probably Uranus.
Only Uranus could possess such supreme aura—dragon might that crushed all!
And if the legend of Wano Country's Ryuma slaying a dragon was real…
Had Ryuma once slain Uranus?
Countless thoughts flashed through Creed's mind, and his interest surged.
After the battle with Imu, every truth would be revealed!
And then there was the legendary island-shattering Pluton—was it still hidden in Alabasta?
But Creed was worried.
It was very likely that Pluton had already fallen into the World Government's hands.
After all, he had caused a huge incident there before and ruined Crocodile's scheme, and the Marines already knew Pluton's location.
With the World Government's power, turning Alabasta upside down wasn't difficult at all.
"This is a very important factor… I need to add it in…"
Creed thought silently.
After defeating Kaido, he would likely head to the Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Of course, that was also why Neptune had been escorted to the Holy Land Mary Geoise—forcing Creed's original plan to advance significantly.
Under Creed's control, the Ark Maxim quickly ascended, then flew toward Wano Country.
"The construction of this ship is simply unbelievable… using lightning as the driving force is pure insanity. It's incredible."
Even after quite some time, Redfield was still marveling.
But he was also worried.
"If we're flying in the sky… what if we run into storms?"
He pointed into the distant front.
There, it was already a pitch-black mass—thunderclouds surging, hurricanes raging.
In the New World, the weather changed at every moment. Storms could come without warning.
(End of Chapter)
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