Chapter 101: I Haven't Forgotten the Promise, I Hope You Haven't Either
The colossal figure shot upward at an exaggerated speed, covering thousands of meters in mere moments.
Under the Bird Mask, Roy felt the immense power within this body, his heart filled with amazement.
"The effect of the Fusion Fruit... definitely worth the difficulty of obtaining it."
He muttered, glancing at the information of the special fruit in his system.
[Tyrant Pteranodon Fruit LV3]
[Fusion Materials: Quetzalcoatlus Fruit + Tyrannosaurus Fruit]
[Fruit Effect: Combines the abilities of the "Ancient Sky King" Quetzalcoatlus and the "Ancient Ground King" Tyrannosaurus. Grants the stacked physical stats and vitality of both Ancient Zoans. Allows for three-stage Zoan transformation.]
[Fusion does not alter the fruit's 'Lineage Factor'.]
Yes, this was the effect of the "Fusion Fruit Slot" he unlocked recently.
Simply put—this slot could fuse all fruits of the same type or with strong correlation. There was no limit to the number of fusion materials.
The fused effect was a perfect stacking of all material effects.
Like this fruit on Yuji right now.
It essentially contained all the abilities of the Quetzalcoatlus Fruit LV4 and the Tyrannosaurus Fruit LV3.
As mentioned before, combining fruit abilities wasn't just simple addition.
For example, the Quetzalcoatlus Fruit excelled in flight and high-speed movement using wind, but its pure muscle strength wasn't the top tier among its kind.
The Tyrannosaurus Fruit was unmatched in strength and vitality but lacked mobility.
The fusion of the two complemented each other perfectly, creating a qualitative change.
"Compared to equipping these two fruits independently, my overall speed and strength are at least 30% higher."
Simply put, the base stat boost from the Fusion Fruit alone was worth the ticket price.
But that wasn't the most special part of the Fusion Slot.
The most special part was...
[Extra Fusion Fruit Effect — King of the Ancients]
[As a fusion of two ancient kings, the Tyrant Pteranodon's aura can suppress other creatures of sea, land, and air. Suppression effect increases with fruit level and physical strength.]
[Can consume massive stamina to activate 'Ancient Bloodline' for a short time, entering 'Ancient Form', unleashing even greater strength and vitality.]
[This effect strengthens with fruit level.]
Yes.
Fruits created by the Fusion Slot gained additional special effects.
For Yuji's Tyrant Pteranodon Fruit, the effects were what Robin witnessed earlier.
First, a group suppression effect very close to Conqueror's Haki.
Second, a special short-term combat state called "Ancient Form."
"Equivalent to an unwrappable Conqueror's Haki and a brief 'Fruit Awakening'?"
Yuji made a simple judgment.
In the moment he pondered...
BOOM!
He broke through the clouds again, reaching the White-White Sea, 3,000 meters above the White Sea.
At a glance, Yuji saw the massive island floating in the distance.
"That is... Skypiea!?"
On Yuji's back, Robin also looked at the distant island. Although she had guessed the destination, seeing it with her own eyes was different.
But...
"..." (x2)
Both Robin and Yuji fell silent in the next moment.
They could see the appearance of the sky island.
It was divided into two parts: a smaller part made of island clouds, and a massive part made of earth, similar to islands in the Blue Sea. They were connected by a giant cloud river.
Up to this point, everything seemed consistent with Yuji's knowledge.
But the only difference was...
"Lord Yuji, this island... seems to have suffered some kind of natural disaster?"
Robin said hesitantly.
Indeed.
She could see many buildings on the island, but all were covered in moss and vines. The entire island was devoid of human presence.
Most shockingly, the island was scarred.
Deep, massive ravines crisscrossed the island as far as Yuji could see, slicing the massive sky island into pieces.
"..."
Yuji didn't answer Robin.
He flapped his wings again, flying toward the earthen island nearby.
Unlike the white sky island, this earthen island was covered in giant trees, teeming with life.
Yuji wasn't surprised.
He knew this island wasn't originally from the White-White Sea. It was part of Jaya, launched into the sky by the Knock Up Stream 400 years ago.
According to the original plot, the ancient Golden City Shandora he sought was on this island.
And indeed, Yuji soon found "Shandora."
Or rather... the place where Shandora used to be.
Here too, deep ravines existed.
Inside these ravines, Yuji saw traces—collapsed shrines, massive stone foundations, even some scattered gold fragments.
But...
The magnificent Golden City itself was gone.
"No wonder Enel chose to go to the Blue Sea..."
Landing and reverting to human form, Yuji muttered internally.
The fact was clear.
He was too late. Everything here had been taken.
And...
"Not just a little late."
Yuji looked at the traces. Even as a non-expert, judging by the thickness of the moss and the soil coverage, he could estimate... the things here had been taken at least decades ago.
"Judging by those massive ravines, did Skypiea suffer a natural disaster decades ago? So the people left?"
"And they took the gold with them when they left?"
Looking at the ravines covering the entire island, Yuji guessed.
But compared to him.
Robin's mindset was clearly different.
"Very ancient architecture... extremely ancient, at least 1,100 years old."
She stood by the ruins of a shrine. A ravine cut through it, destroying part of it but leaving the general shape.
As an archaeologist, Robin's judgment of time was more precise, and she grew anxious.
"Such precious artifacts, actually... Hm?"
She leaned in to look for valuable traces but soon voiced her confusion.
"Lord Yuji, this... this mark is..."
Her voice trembled with gravity.
"Mark?"
Hearing her, Yuji, still pondering, frowned.
He walked to the shrine and saw what Robin noticed.
Indeed, part of the shrine by the ravine was destroyed.
But the edge of the destroyed part... was extremely smooth.
It was clearly not a natural mark.
"No... not just this..."
Yuji instantly looked down at the deep ravine below.
Yes—at first glance from the sky, one would think these massive ravines were caused by a natural disaster.
But looking closely... the edges of these ravines were also extremely smooth.
"They were cut. By some unimaginable, sharp slash."
Yuji realized immediately.
But then, a stronger sense of dissonance struck him.
"A slash sharp enough to do this... did a powerful swordsman fight here?"
"No, that's not right... if it was a battle, the traces wouldn't be just this."
Yuji keenly grasped the problem.
Judging by the cut and the scale of the slash, he had no doubt the owner of the slash was a swordsman beyond his current understanding. He was certain that neither Shimotsuki Koushirou nor 'Momousagi' Gion could create such smooth marks on this scale.
If such a powerhouse fought here, the battle traces wouldn't be just these monotonous slash marks.
referencing his fight with Zephyr on Duel Island—the entire sky island would be, if not leveled, at least half-destroyed, leaving much more chaotic scars.
So...
"No battle occurred. These marks were left by the swordsman alone."
Thinking of this, Yuji realized something.
"Could it be..."
Wings sprouted from his back.
[Tyrant Pteranodon Fruit · Hybrid Form]
The next moment, he shot into the sky again.
Under Robin's puzzled gaze, he flew higher and higher... finally reaching a point almost devoid of clouds, then looked down.
Then...
"!!!"
Even Yuji, who had a guess, felt his pupils constrict under the mask.
Because from this height, he could see the entire sky island.
It was an incredible sight.
The vast "White-White Sea" seemed to become a giant easel.
The massive sky island below became the canvas.
On the canvas, the countless massive ravines cutting through the island's ground became brushstrokes.
They recorded a "message" from the past.
[PARTNER, I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN THE PROMISE]
[I HOPE YOU HAVEN'T EITHER]
[—— DAVY · D · XEBEC]
☆☆☆
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