As the waves of Conqueror's Haki clashed in the skies above God Valley—
the next instant, a shockwave erupted from their convergence, expanding outward in all directions.
The earth was carved open by bottomless ravines.
The sea recoiled, throwing up waves hundreds of meters high.
Countless pirates and marines locked in battle were instantly overwhelmed by the clash of pure willpower.
Most didn't even have time to scream—
eyes rolled back, mouths foaming, they fell like wheat under a scythe.
This was the warfare of legends.
This was the battlefield of kings.
The collision of such overwhelming auras wasn't just a battle—it was a natural disaster.
And yet, standing in the eye of the storm—
Lucian Thorn's smile only grew wider.
"What a… lively God Valley this is."
He murmured, eyes glowing gold—not a hint of tension in them.
Only the exhilaration of a top-tier player entering a historical epic dungeon.
This place was hell.
But it was also the cradle of legends.
And he—would be the temporary observer of this legendary clash.
"Now then…"
Lucian's smirk curled lazily.
"An audience should behave like an audience."
The moment those words fell—
he moved without hesitation.
He didn't give a single warrior on the battlefield even the slightest chance to sense him.
Not even with their Kenbunshoku Haki.
With a single thought—
the divine solar force granted to him by the Sun God Apollo surged through his body.
In defiance of all logic, that power concealed him completely.
Lucian vanished.
His presence—his breath, life force, even his Haki—
erased.
Gone from the perception of this world.
He had become a phantom, an observer untethered from the current of time.
Even the Conqueror's Haki storms of Rocks and Roger swept past him without stirring a thread of his cloak.
"Perfect. VIP viewing seat secured."
Lucian's form flickered, appearing like a wraith atop the summit of a shattered mountain.
From here, he could overlook the entire God Valley battlefield.
This—was the ultimate vantage point.
Boom! Boom!
Looking down, all he saw was hell.
Dozens of Marine warships, once glorious and proud, now smoldered like crushed toys—
half submerged in the bay, half stranded on the burning beaches.
Corpses of giant soldiers, the size of mountains, lay scattered.
Their massive weapons littered the ground.
Sword auras flew wild.
Cannon fire roared.
With every passing second, lives were being lost.
The monsters of the Rocks Pirates clashed with elite Marines and Roger's crew—
in the most primal, bloody brawl imaginable.
There was no good or evil here.
Only sides.
Only interests.
A stage of chaos where only fists and Haki spoke.
Lucian's gaze swept over this grand canvas painted in blood and fire.
And in his heart—there was no pity.
Only anticipation.
"System."
He whispered.
Buzz.
A semi-transparent system interface unfolded before him—only visible to his eyes.
"System, activate bulk lock-on. Target: all legend-tier combatants."
[Ding. Command accepted.]
[Bulk locking onto legendary templates...]
In the next instant, a torrent of legendary names—the kind that would shake the seas in the future—began to light up on Lucian's interface.
[Locked Target: King-Class Combat Power—Rocks D. Xebec]
[Template binding... Binding successful. Acquired SSR Legendary Template: "Rocks"]
[Divine Analysis initiated. Current Analysis Rate: 0.01%... 0.02%...]
[Locked Target: Emperor-Class Combat Power—Gol D. Roger]
[Template already partially owned by Host (Incomplete). Beginning enhancement and deep parsing.]
[Divine Analysis: 75.3%... 75.4%...]
[Locked Target: Quasi-Emperor-Class Combat Power—Shiki]
[Divine Analysis: 0.01%...]
System prompts echoed in his mind as the parsing rates ticked upward, slow but steady.
Lucian's smile deepened, watching each legendary name flash golden across his interface.
This was one of the real reasons he'd come to God Valley.
His eyes lingered on the center of the battlefield, where titanic forces clashed—
A younger Whitebeard, wielding his bisento, shattered a mountain with one blow.
Garp's iron fists pounded through pirate ranks—
He wasn't here for treasure, or politics.
He was here for the thrill of battle.
The scene was incredible—
but not unexpected.
Lucian's eyes moved on.
He'd seen all this in the timeline.
He wanted something unplanned. Something fun.
And soon enough—
His gaze caught on a quiet corner near the battlefield's edge.
The fighting there was far less intense—only scattered pirates and Marines.
But in that chaotic edge zone…
A faint, flickering life force refused to die.
Like a candle resisting the wind, stubborn and unyielding.
That caught Lucian's attention.
He focused.
Through the smoke and blood and chaos—he saw her.
A blood-soaked woman, utterly out of place on this battlefield, clutching two newborns in her arms.
The babies cried, terrified.
Her life force was dangerously weak.
Clearly fatally wounded.
Before her stood a young Marine, eyes blazing with rage that didn't match his uniform.
He shielded her, fighting off incoming pirates with desperate fury.
A tiny, forgotten corner of God Valley… where a "passing of the torch" was unfolding.
Lucian's brow twitched.
Interesting.
He could feel it—
those two babies in her arms, though weak, held within them a solar-level force—
Bold. Radiant. Born for greatness.
A force he was very familiar with.
But even more telling—
His golden eyes locked onto the faint tufts of hair atop their heads.
Just the barest bit of hair, but—
It was red.
"Oh?"
Lucian's grin curled with mischief.
Those golden eyes sparkled with the light of one thing:
Entertainment.
"Well, well…"
"A familiar face from the future?"
His smirk deepened—
a wicked idea forming in his mind.
"Heheheh… this could be fun."