Chapter 238: His Highness Katakuri, Slayer of Big Mom's Men
Aboard the Penguin
Luo Han opened his eyes but didn't rush to find Ellis and the others.
Instead, he took out the Pure Gold again, falling into thought. He was considering whether or not to give Tucker a ring made of Pure Gold.
To be honest, Tucker had been disappointing. His willpower had a ceiling, and his strength barely reached standard Admiral level. It was unlikely he'd ever become Yonko-tier.
"Pure Gold isn't something you can just hand out freely. Everyone has someone they wish to share eternity with."
Luo Han thought: if he gave one to Tucker, what about his crew? Some of them had been with him since childhood.
"If someone gave me Pure Gold but not Cole, what would I do?"
The answer was obvious—he'd probably steal the guy's Pure Gold and split it with Cole.
Tucker wouldn't dare steal from Luo Han, nor did he have the strength—but even so, the seed of resentment could be planted. And once planted, such things rarely go away.
"Sigh… In the end, he was the first pirate crew I personally recruited. Let them live out their lives happily."
With that, Luo Han decided not to give Tucker Pure Gold, to avoid future complications.
If he wasn't going to kill or control him, better to let him live freely.
Then, Luo Han made Pure Gold rings for Ellis, Sora, Cole, and Aishi .
After that, he crafted rings for Ochoku (Wang Zhi), Kyo (Silver Axe) , and Sanlong—each having Admiral-level strength and already under Bie Tianshen's control.
It would be a waste to let powerhouses like that wither with age.
However… to avoid attracting the World Government's attention, he'd change their identities every 30 years. Or just give them number-coded masks and let them "retire" on Ark Island as guardians—his future secret weapons.
After all, this sea was constantly birthing new powerful individuals. Luo Han could harvest them wave after wave.
"Decision made."
He stored the rest of the Pure Gold at the bottom of the lake and flew toward the mountain-top plaza.
...
Evening
Under the bright moonlight—
After dinner, a small meeting was held.
Luo Han, Ellis, Cole, Sora, Aishi , Akatsuki, and Tucker—seven people in total.
They sat casually under the night sky. Luo Han tossed five rings toward everyone except Akatsuki.
The others received Pure Gold rings; Tucker's ring contained only the "psychic armor mode" ability.
Luo Han didn't explain. Only Ellis, Akatsuki, Sora, and Cole knew about the Pure Gold. Aishi and Tucker had no clue.
Even Cole didn't know what it really was. He simply thought it was another use of Luo Han's fruit ability.
Everyone put on the rings silently. They were used to Luo Han unveiling new powers now and then—especially with his fruit awakening.
Once they were all wearing them—
Luo Han smiled. "Each ring contains my psychic armor mode. Just think the phrase 'Armament Mode,' and you'll activate it."
"Give it a try."
Everyone except Cole brightened with curiosity.
They all closed their eyes and muttered:
"Armament Mode!"
Whoosh! All five were instantly wrapped in Luo Han's signature psychic armor.
Zoom, zoom… Four of them couldn't help but fly up, experimenting with the sensation of moving by thought.
Cole didn't join. He deactivated the armor immediately—just wanted the meeting to end so he could go eat supper.
In the sky
Sora exclaimed in awe, "It really feels like part of me—my body moves with the armor!"
It wasn't just wearing a shell; their bodies were merged with it, making flight seamless and comfortable.
For Sora, this was huge. Everyone else could fly—she couldn't. But now she could.
She soared in circles with joy before returning to the plaza.
Ellis and the others had already come back. While the flight was nice, what impressed them more was the defense this armor offered.
With these rings, their safety had jumped another tier.
Seeing everyone was familiar with the ability—
Luo Han said, "Now onto the meeting."
He glanced at Cole, whose drowsy expression made Luo Han sigh. "Cole, you can go. Nothing here concerns you."
"Thanks, Han-ge!" Cole instantly perked up, rolled like a ball, and vanished into a spatial pocket.
"…"
Luo Han suspected that kid was faking the whole time. Could it be… Cole had learned to act?
Shaking his head, Luo Han refocused.
"You've seen glimpses of Eternal Night City's future through my projections. I'll now explain how to realize what you didn't understand."
Before he could continue, Ellis raised her hand. "I want to know how the waterfall from the black holes worked. Can you actually do that?"
Everyone looked up at him—still adjusting to his 15-meter stature.
"Cole…"
Oops. Luo Han smiled stiffly. Should've kept him around.
With a sheepish laugh, he said, "Back in God Valley, aside from Ellis's Nature Spirit Fruit, there was also a Paramecia fruit—now it's with Cole. Its power creates those 'black hole waterfalls.'"
"A Paramecia fruit?" Ellis asked. "What kind?"
"The Door-Door Fruit. It lets you open doors on any surface."
Luo Han continued, "My plan is to open underwater doors in the Four Seas and the Grand Line. Water will flow into Eternal Night City, bringing fish from everywhere."
"ALL BLUE!" Aishi shouted, her eyes glowing. "You're doing this for me, right?!"
"I…" Luo Han began—but Ellis interrupted, "What's All Blue?"
"That's every chef's ultimate dream!" Aishi explained excitedly. "A mythical sea where fish from all four seas gather. Chefs can use every ingredient in the world!"
Ellis understood. The waterfall was for Aishi 's dream.
Her heart ached a little. She looked at Luo Han with a trace of resentment.
"…"
What could he say?
Luo Han had thought about All Blue—but not for sentimental reasons.
He just wanted to host a global cooking contest. That way, he and Cole could enjoy the world's best cuisine.
That was his original, honest motive—not for Aishi 's dreams.
But he couldn't say that now!
Changing topics, he said, "Aside from waterfalls, I'll work on the floating islands, thunderclouds, and sun orbs."
"As for islands…"
"Ellis," he turned to her, "Eternal Night City needs ten more islands. I'll need you to grow them."
"Sure! No problem. But…" she sighed, "can you figure out how to let ships pass through the sea ring? I can't keep teleporting them forever."
She'd had enough. If not for Luo Han's condition last year, she would've protested long ago.
Now that he was fine, she wasn't doing this anymore.
"She's right," Akatsuki agreed. "That's the most urgent issue."
"Hmm…"
Luo Han thought hard—no good solutions came to mind.
He decided to go with the simple route. "I'll summon some of the Sea Kings I've controlled. We'll chain ships to them, and they'll pull vessels past the current."
"What do you think?"
"Will they do it forever?" Akatsuki asked skeptically. "For years, maybe decades?"
"Relax," Ellis grinned. "They'll do whatever Luo Han says."
She guessed his power had evolved beyond just illusions—maybe now it created permanent deceptions.
If so, using Sea Kings to pull ships was viable—at least for now.
"Fine," Akatsuki said. "We'll go with that."
Aishi , Tucker, and Sora nodded—they rarely objected anyway.
With consensus reached, Luo Han summoned Niu Niu and five Sea Kings into the mind world, instructing them to come to Eternal Night City as transporters.
Now, it was time to find Charlotte Linlin.
He turned to Sora. "How's the intel department coming along?"
She shot him a knowing look.
"…Not going well?"
"Quite the opposite!" she said. "It's going so well I'm scared. Most of them are spies from the World Government, but they've helped map nearly the entire New World."
"Any news on Charlotte Linlin?"
"Why are you looking for her?" Ellis cut in, eyes narrowing.
That woman had a bad reputation—rumor had it she was kidnapping men.
And those men… never came back.
"…"
Luo Han was speechless. He was just asking!
"She's in a place called Totto Land," Sora answered. "Having babies like crazy. Pirates who visit rarely return."
"No way…" Luo Han frowned. "She's just one woman—maybe with a chef or two. How could she hold everyone?"
At this point, she shouldn't have that many strong subordinates.
"She has a few grown children now," Sora said. "One in particular—Katakuri. Around twenty, has all three types of Haki. Very strong."
"Apparently, he's the one who kills all her lovers."
"Oh? Now that's juicy." Luo Han's eyes lit up. So the future softie Katakuri used to be a mother-obsessed executioner?
Was it jealousy? Resentment?
Luo Han was intrigued.
"Anyway, Totto Land is now a significant power. I've stationed some spies there for updates."
"Why are you interested?" she asked.
"She owes me a favor. I'm going to collect."
"You're not after those two pets of hers, are you?" Akatsuki guessed. She remembered the talking sun and thundercloud from Luo Han's projections.
That made everyone realize—it must be that.
Luo Han wanted to steal them from Big Mom.
Not that anyone doubted he could.
"If that's the plan," Sora said, "I have a Vivre Card for one of our agents inside Totto Land."
She handed him a torn piece.
Luo Han tucked it away.
Ellis then guessed, "If you're collecting cloud pets… those floating islands—are you planning to go after Golden Lion next?"
"You think he's going to help you?"
Of course not. But I'll make him, Luo Han thought.
Once Eternal Night City's foundation was complete, it'd be time to collect top-tier talent.
Red Count, World Breaker, Golden Lion… all would become his.
But aloud, he simply said, "I'll handle it."
Ellis didn't press.
"I have something to report," Tucker said, standing.
Luo Han nodded.
"Recently, major underworld players contacted me. They want to open the New World's largest black market in Eternal Night City."
"They asked for protection and approval."
"If they're left alone for four years, they'll move all black market business here—and offer us 10% of the profits."
Only 10%? Probably a test, Luo Han thought.
Still… once they were in his territory, they were already his.
Even they would eventually belong to him.
"No problem," Luo Han agreed. "It's yours to handle, Tucker."
"I only have one rule—no slave trading in Eternal Night City. Everything else is fair game."
"Understood, Boss," Tucker said seriously.
Looks like he's matured, Luo Han thought.
The goofy man from before was now more grounded.
"You've made me realize something—Eternal Night City still needs a chief administrator."
Luo Han didn't want to be bothered with every little thing. Someone else should run day-to-day operations.
He turned to the group. "Anyone interested in being chief administrator?"
Silence.
Even Tucker, who once volunteered to design an entire island, said nothing.
Clearly, running one island and running an entire city were very different things.
Luo Han sighed. He wasn't the right guy. Neither were his companions.
They'd need someone from the outside.
"Sora," he said. "Use the intel network to spread word globally—Eternal Night City needs a chief administrator."
"Also, tell the World News—post an ad. Say the New World's strongest force is hiring."
"…"
The five stared at him.
A pirate… advertising in a newspaper… for a city manager.
What a wild move.
But they couldn't refute it.
More importantly, they didn't want the job.
"Well?" Luo Han asked. "Any objections?"
"Nope," Sora replied. "I'll handle it."
She already knew the real plan: lure people in, then convert them with Bie Tianshen if needed.
She also now knew Luo Han could alter people's hearts and minds.
When he first told her, she was stunned.
But she never once doubted that she'd willingly betrayed the World Government for love—not because she'd been manipulated.
That was the terror of Bie Tianshen.
"Then it's settled." Luo Han stood. "Meeting adjourned."
He turned to Akatsuki. "Come with me."
She blinked—then blushed and followed.
Tucker instantly vanished. He saw the atmosphere and knew to flee.
"Pervert," Ellis and Aishi muttered—but said nothing more.
Aishi didn't know, but Ellis did: Luo Han wouldn't shrink down to 3 meters anytime soon.
Pure Gold had solved his aging—but reverting size cost lifespan.
"Looks like Akatsuki's the only lucky one for now," Ellis thought.
(END CHAPTER)
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