In the past, as a pirate fan, Creed had always yearned for the legendary Laugh Tale, wanting to know what kind of place it truly was—and what secrets were hidden within that blank day of world history.
Now that he had a chance to uncover those mysteries, he was full of motivation.
Of course, if he could also gather every Poneglyph and obtain the world treasure chest, that would be even better.
A checkpoint leading into the Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Because Creed had been winning battle after battle, many more guards had been stationed here. Inspections for sailors and merchants trying to pass through the Holy Land region into the latter half of the Grand Line had also become extremely strict.
You could even faintly hear merchants wailing and crying.
They'd been told they weren't qualified to pass. All their hard work, travel, and investment had turned into nothing in an instant—and with bankruptcy looming, how could they possibly hold it in?
"You! Stop! Show your pass!"
"Take your hand off the cane-sword, then raise both hands, or we'll open fire!"
"He looks kind of familiar!"
At one of the checkpoint gates, the guards suddenly stirred into a commotion, growing tense.
"Officers, please don't misunderstand. I'm just a blind man. This cane-sword is an ordinary self-defense weapon and my walking stick. It won't pose any danger."
A middle-aged man with black hair, dressed in purple, and a large X-shaped scar on his forehead raised both hands as he defended himself.
It was probably that huge scar that made the guards nervous.
After all, what normal person would have such an intentionally conspicuous scar? Only pirates who lived with their heads on the line, killing and fighting at sea every day, would look like that.
On the other side, an older white-haired man wearing rimless glasses quietly said to the guard inspecting him, "I know this guy. He's a pirate who kills without blinking. He once cut down over a hundred Marine vice admirals all by himself with a single blade. You'd better be careful!"
"What?!" The guard trembled at the warning.
"I'm not lying. If he's passing through Mary Geoise, he definitely has some other scheme. Maybe he was sent by Creed—the Pirate King—to the Holy Land to scout information."
The white-haired older man kept piling on, making the guard panic so hard he immediately ran off to find his superior.
"Hah…" Only then did the older man let out a breath of relief. Good—now they wouldn't notice his travel pass was fake.
Using the chaos, he quietly slipped in from the side.
After all, that guy was a Marine. He didn't think he could actually frame him.
Of course, he didn't know that "Xiao" had already resigned from the Marines.
In the far western sea of Totto Land, there was a perilous region spanning over ten thousand miles.
There, it was either raging storms or blizzards and lightning all year round… geomagnetism, weather, currents, and airflow were chaotic to the extreme. This sea was also known as the Death Sea. Ordinary pirate ships didn't dare sail through it at all.
Deep within the Death Sea, on an island.
"Sit upon the frozen heavens… Hyōrinmaru (Ice Ring)!"
Creed gripped a snow-white longsword with a chain attached to its pommel and began reciting the release command.
Clang!
As the crescent-shaped blade at the end of the chain trembled lightly, the snow-white sword erupted with silver-white frost, swirling around Creed and forming a massive coiling ice dragon!
The ice dragon's eyes were crimson. Cold air surged outward, instantly freezing the entire island.
And that wasn't all—the freezing aura continued spreading in all directions, turning the nearby sea into a vast sheet of ice…
This was only the power of Shikai (Initial Release)! What about Bankai (Final Release)?!
Thinking of Ryūjin Jakka (Flowing Blade-Like Flame) and its terrifying Bankai (Final Release), he couldn't help but yearn for it.
At the very least, Hyōrinmaru (Ice Ring) shouldn't be too far behind!
"So this is Hyōrinmaru's (Ice Ring) power?!"
Sensing just how fierce that frigid aura was, even Creed felt moved.
There was no doubt—zanpakuto stood above even the Supreme Grade Blades.
Hyōrinmaru (Ice Ring) in Shikai (Initial Release) could serve as his main weapon. Rinne would have to step back to the second line, acting as a supporting blade in a dual-sword style.
"I wonder what kind of power it'll have when paired with my Hyōshoku Ken'i (Ice-Erosion Sword Intent)?!"
With a thought, Creed poured his sword intent into Hyōrinmaru (Ice Ring), amplifying its freezing might.
Clang!
Empowered by his sword intent, Hyōrinmaru (Ice Ring) let out a humming resonance, almost like it was cheering in excitement!
"Heh!"
Creed immediately swung a slash forward!
Boom!
Crack!
A snow-white sword beam flew out like a white dragon, carving a long passage across the sea—while both sides of that passage condensed into ice at terrifying speed.
In an instant, an ocean spanning over a thousand miles was completely frozen by Creed.
And the freezing continued, stretching far beyond just a thousand miles.
That single strike halted the raging storms, scattered the dark clouds, and turned a thousand miles into a silent frozen kingdom.
But Creed still seemed unsatisfied. His left hand reached into the void.
Crack!
The power of the Gura Gura no Mi (Tremor-Tremor Fruit) activated, shattering that section of space—hundreds of meters of the void fractured into a web of broken space.
Then he slashed out again—frost roaring!
He wanted to use Hyōshoku Ken'i (Ice-Erosion Sword Intent) with Hyōrinmaru (Ice Ring) to freeze that shattered space itself.
(End of Chapter)
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