Chapter 161: Island Ship of the Red Line? Shadow of Rocks
Sunlight poured through the torn mist.
Before Ryuji, just as he expected.
The behemoth that had been hiding in the mist for long years appeared before him.
As the song mentioned by Moria and the intel provided by Brook said.
It was an incredibly massive island ship...
No, to be exact—calling it a 'Ship' was a stretch.
It was almost a Continent!
Even Ryuji's massive body in Red Dragon form looked tiny compared to the continent below.
Forests and trees grew on the entire continent. In the center, there were three massive 'Peaks'.
The middle peak was the tallest; the other two were much smaller.
At this moment...
WHOOSH!
Two huge holes on the central peak seemed like the eyes of this island.
From the entire peak, endless gray mist spewed out like substance.
The thick mist spread constantly, seemingly condensing into its 'Sails' at this moment.
RUMBLE!
With the sound of massive waves, it began to move.
Even Ryuji was shocked by this scene.
Continent as the ship, peaks as the masts, mirage qi as the sails—this giant ship existing since ancient times was completely beyond his cognition.
"As expected..."
After a brief shock, Ryuji confirmed his guess.
"The mist of the Florian Triangle is indeed created by this thing..."
"The Abyss."
Ryuji muttered.
The facts were clearly before him.
The continent-like behemoth before him was the giant ship named 'The Abyss' mentioned in the Kozuki Clan prophecy song.
And similar to the Giant Warrior's Hand, this giant ship from at least 800 years ago was an 'Ability User Object'.
Ryuji wasn't surprised by this.
Although in the current era, the ability to make objects consume Devil Fruits was developed by Vegapunk using Lineage Factor research.
But according to Vegapunk, the technology of the Ancient Kingdom from 800 years ago far exceeded his cognition—in fact, the core of Vegapunk's research on Egghead was an Ancient Kingdom robot named 'Emeth'.
Whether technology or Lineage Factor research, the Kingdom from 800 years ago clearly reached the peak.
With such technological levels, making a ship eat a 'Devil Fruit' wasn't strange at all.
It consumed the Mythical Zoan 'Shell-Shell Fruit · Model: Shen (Mirage)', so it was alive.
And its every breath, every exhalation, eventually created this 'Florian Triangle'.
"Disappearing again..."
At this moment, as the surrounding mist gathered again.
The sound of massive waves disappeared strangely, as if the surrounding 'Mirage Qi' could swallow even sound.
Seeing the ship about to vanish into the mist again, Ryuji descended quickly.
BOOM!
His figure transformed back into the half-human, half-dragon form, appearing instantly in the forest below with flashing thunder.
The moment he stepped into the forest, Ryuji noticed the surrounding mist seemed thinner.
More importantly...
"..."
He saw the surrounding trees changing constantly.
Sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes lush green, sometimes withered yellow.
Ryuji summoned a gust of wind to disperse the mist ahead slightly.
Then he saw—the trees before him turned into withered branches instantly.
"Mirage..."
Recalling the characteristics of the 'Mythical Zoan · Shen Fruit' from the encyclopedia, Ryuji understood.
In the nearly sunless Florian Triangle, how could a forest exist for so long?
The forest on this giant ship was likely a 'Mirage' created by the fruit.
"Judging by Mr. 4's dog-gun Lassoo, non-living objects eating Zoan fruits (except Human-Human Fruit) might display fruit abilities but likely won't possess high intelligence."
"At most basic, beast-level intelligence."
Ryuji guessed.
"This giant ship should be the same. Low intelligence, so it instinctively uses mirages to maintain the island's appearance from the 'Past'?"
Thinking this, Ryuji soon discovered another issue.
Only after stepping into the forest did he see the ground of this island.
"Red..."
He bent down to grab soil and the rock beneath, seeing the dazzling red color.
Although long years had passed, due to the 'Mirage', things here maintained their original appearance.
This immediately reminded Ryuji where he had seen the exact same red.
"Yes, isn't it?"
"A 'Landmass' of this size cannot be compared even to large islands—if asked where it came from, there's almost no second answer..."
The fact was clearly before him.
"Red Line."
Yes.
The color of the soil and rocks on this island was almost identical to the massive continent dividing the world he saw in the Sabaody Archipelago!
"This ship was once part of the 'Red Line'!"
Realizing this fact, Ryuji could even pinpoint instantly which part of the 'Red Line' this ship was.
Because in fact, the entire Red Line had almost no 'Scars'.
The only exception was deep under the sea at 10,000 meters, above Fish-Man Island.
The entire Red Line had a massive hollow only there.
That was also the gate to the 'New World' for all pirates rushing to the Grand Line.
Almost no one in the world knew how that hollow appeared or where the original 'Land' went.
But now...
Ryuji seemed to find the answer—that piece of land was made into this massive island ship beneath his feet, named 'The Abyss'.
"Explosive intel right upon boarding..."
Ryuji muttered, trying to suppress his shock.
But just moments later, he couldn't suppress it anymore.
Because now...
"Hm!?"
His 'Wind & Thunder Mantra', maintained constantly after boarding, sensed something incredible.
BOOM!
The next second, Ryuji turned into a bolt of lightning, rushing toward a direction in the forest.
With lightning speed, he arrived at his destination almost instantly.
Then, he saw the figure moving constantly in the mist within the forest below.
It was a tall and burly figure.
He had blue-white interspersed hair, a purple lightning-shaped mark on the left side of his face, and a beard on his chin and cheeks.
He wore golden earrings on both ears, a black coat draped over his shoulders, and a sword casually hanging at his waist.
As Brook described, he seemed injured—his upper left body was wrapped in thick bandages.
But undoubtedly.
Whether that posture or that unique domineering aura, Ryuji was sure he wasn't mistaken.
The guy in front of him was the 'Hegemon of the Sea' before the Pirate King, whom he had been investigating recently.
Rocks D. Xebec.
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