Chapter 239: Breath Reconstruction – The Possibility of Restoring Youth
Ark Island – Central Lake
The Penguin floated peacefully on the water. As soon as Luo Han returned, he went straight to Akatsuki's room.
Lying on the bed, he smiled faintly. With a thought, his psychic cloak dissolved, and he sprawled out in a star shape—waiting for his queen's arrival.
Moments later, Akatsuki entered her room and froze at the sight.
"You're that eager?" she said, annoyed. "Ellis and the others still don't know how to look me in the face after this."
"I can't help it," Luo Han sighed. "I can't shrink back yet, and after over a year of no movement, my body is stiff. I need you to help me… loosen up."
"How do I do that?" Akatsuki asked awkwardly. She'd never done that sort of thing before.
"Your crew calls you Queen Akatsuki, right?" Luo Han teased. "So show me your queenly side—I'll lie here. You do whatever you want."
"…Fine!"
Since it had come to this, Akatsuki was surprisingly open. After all, this had been her decision from the start.
Under Luo Han's glowing gaze, Akatsuki slowly slipped off her clothes and climbed on top.
Under the moonlight, the Penguin rocked gently across the lake, as if ridden by an invisible beast.
Silver ripples spread under the moon, glimmering softly with each wave.
...
Three days later
The rocking finally stopped.
Under the bright moonlight, Luo Han flew out of Akatsuki's room and stood on the deck.
"Whew… finally relieved."
He stretched out his arms and took a deep breath. A year of frustration had been completely released. Mind and body were relaxed.
He sat cross-legged and dove into his internal world.
With the awakening of his Mind Fruit, beyond recording and implanting aura, he had developed a new power:
Breath Reconstruction.
A god-like ability.
While recording and implanting aura made people evolve toward preset traits, breath reconstruction allowed actual modification and creation of aura itself.
He had previously wondered if Sea Kings could be turned into humanoid forms like those who consumed the Human-Human Fruit.
Now, he could.
He had successfully extracted the "human" aura—or rather, reconstructed it.
Because "human" is an abstract concept, it couldn't be sensed directly with mind powers.
But over the last three days—while receiving Akatsuki's services—he had been meditating on how to develop the "human" breath.
Finally, he used Charlotte Linlin's natural talent aura like a mother nurturing a child, gradually reshaping it into a humanoid aura.
This was termed a "form aura"—it gave Sea Kings the ability to take on a human shape, like Zoan hybrid forms. However, the original aura's talents were lost.
But that didn't matter—he could always implant them again.
Aura, once recorded, would never disappear.
With the humanoid form issue solved, Luo Han turned to his next challenge: his own body.
Human lifespan was limited—barely 100 years. Sea Kings and certain plants lived hundreds or thousands of years.
So why not reconstruct his own aura to have a body that could last centuries?
With a mental command, Luo Han gave himself a mind suggestion: to evolve into a being with millennia of lifespan.
With mind-guided evolution, his body would instinctively begin adapting.
This was an upgraded version of his original "mind guidance" ability—no longer requiring aura implants. Evolution happened naturally now.
Of course, he would need time to verify the results.
Still, Luo Han was now completely at peace—no more fears, no more burdens.
...
Meanwhile
While Luo Han was "training" for three days on the Penguin—
The entire world had exploded with gossip over Eternal Night City's public job posting, especially because it appeared in the World News.
A pirate publicly hiring a government administrator through the media?
Unheard of.
People were stunned.
Yet many were tempted.
The job posting described the position as second-in-command of Eternal Night City, responsible for managing and developing it.
It was the territory of the Blue Demon, whose subordinate fleets—Red Queen, Beast King, and Green Demon—were now known as the strongest pirate alliance in the world.
This alliance now operated under Eternal Night City.
For the past year, the city had rapidly developed while the World Government and navy turned a blind eye.
This made underworld tycoons ecstatic.
A stable black market hub in the New World was priceless.
Thus, they had already begun reaching out to Tucker about founding a global black market center in the city.
Now, with the public hiring of a city administrator, even more eyes turned toward the Blue Demon—with admiration, awe, and fear.
...
Meanwhile – Mary Geoise
Inside the Five Elders' office, a meeting was underway concerning Eternal Night City's recruitment.
"I thought ever since Viper joined the Red Queen Pirates, we wouldn't have many opportunities to get close to the Blue Demon again," one said.
"But later, when we contacted Viper, we found out she's not only his woman—she's also deeply trusted."
"She's running his entire intel department. He doesn't even oversee it himself."
"And now he's letting her pick the city administrator?"
The curved-saber elder frowned. "Could Viper have turned?"
The sword-bearing elder chuckled, "Or maybe the Blue Demon just trusts her too much."
"It was so easy for us to help her set up the intel division—it makes us suspicious. But think: all the staff are ours. As long as they stay in place, she hasn't turned."
"After all, if Blue Demon finds out his entire intel network is run by outsiders, he'd wipe them out instantly."
"Hahaha, true."
The five laughed briefly.
Then the blond elder asked, "Should we go after the administrator role?"
He explained, "Blue Demon seems overly confident now. He probably doesn't care who runs the city—as long as they do a good job."
"If they don't, he'll 'correct' it with brute force."
The others agreed. They decided to send someone to monitor Viper while also managing the city.
But who to send was tricky.
It couldn't be too obvious.
"We could use Stussy," the long-bearded elder suggested. "She has experience running the underworld's Pleasure District."
"Plus, with the black market about to move into Eternal Night City, it wouldn't be strange for her to show up."
"And later, we'll assign her support with real administrative experience. That way, we'll control intel, government—and even the future economy."
His eyes gleamed. "In twenty years, Eternal Night City might be ours entirely."
"No—will be ours," the others echoed.
The meeting concluded: Stussy and Viper would coordinate plans to infiltrate the city's leadership.
But one lingering question remained:
"Did Blue Demon really go through all that… just to sleep with the Red Queen?"
Apparently, he sacrificed ten years of life just to… do that.
That was what Viper had reported, and only Akatsuki knew until now.
The sword elder frowned. "Could he have solved his aging problem?"
"No," the saber elder said. "Viper confirmed—he doesn't look any younger."
"But…" he added, "I'm more curious about his fruit awakening. All those bizarre projections during the event…"
"We still don't know what fruit he ate."
"If he did solve aging, I'd bet it was his fruit—or someone else's ability he used."
The others fell silent.
If Blue Demon solved the aging issue, he could rule the New World for decades.
But then—
They all smiled.
"Let him," said the cane-bearing elder. "Viper says he has no ambition for world conquest—he just wants to run the city."
"Let him keep working for us. A few decades later, the city will fall into our hands."
"And maybe even that fruit Lord Imu desires will land in our lap."
To them, Blue Demon was just a glorified temp.
...
Meanwhile, the "temp" in question was back on Ark Island, gorging himself after three days of exhausting "exercise."
After finishing, Akatsuki, Ellis, and Aishi surrounded him.
"What's wrong?" Luo Han asked, confused.
"You're leaving again, aren't you?" Ellis asked.
"Yeah, so?"
"How many people are going with you?"
"I want to go alone."
"Absolutely not!" Ellis snapped.
He'd disappeared for a whole year last time, and they'd been worried sick.
Luo Han smiled gently—he understood their concern.
But this time was different.
"I have my powers. I can teleport back instantly."
"And I'm not going far. Just visiting Charlotte Linlin to collect a favor."
"...Alright," they relented.
The group chatted aboard the Penguin afterward.
...
One Month Later
Niu Niu and five Sea Kings arrived outside the sea ring.
Luo Han stood underwater, shielded by psychic energy.
"Alright, Niu Niu—try turning into me."
He had implanted the humanoid form aura into them all.
"Got it!" Niu Niu replied eagerly.
A miraculous transformation occurred—the 10,000-meter Sea King shrunk down...
...into a 25-meter boy with bull horns. He looked like a little kid—albeit with terrifying eyes.
"Niu Niu, try swimming like that."
Whoosh! He shot forward like a torpedo and circled back.
Perfect. No speed loss.
Luo Han then had the others transform. They ranged from 15 to 20 meters and looked more like fishmen.
Only Sea Kings over 10,000 meters seemed to fully transform into human-like shapes.
"Alright, Niu Niu. See those chains under the ships? Pull them across the ring—but be gentle."
"Understood!"
Niu Niu swam up, grabbed the chains, and began towing five ships through the sea ring.
Boom! Luo Han flew from the water, landing on deck.
Ellis and Akatsuki rushed up.
"Well? Did it work?"
Luo Han smiled.
Then the ship jolted forward—clearly moving fast.
"It worked. See for yourselves."
"It really does!" Ellis exhaled. "Now I don't have to manually lift ships anymore!"
Soon, Niu Niu pulled all five ships through the sea ring.
Then he pulled them back again.
"You and your team will manage ship traffic through this passage," Luo Han instructed.
"Only this spot. Nowhere else."
Sensing Niu Niu's confirmation, Luo Han turned to Ellis and Akatsuki.
"All set. I'm heading to Totto Land. Be right back."
And with that, he flew off at top speed—toward Charlotte Linlin.
(END CHAPTER)
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