Sanji fulfilled his promise, endured everything, and finally… obtained the Haki he had longed for!
The battlefield was filled with the heavy scent of blood and an eerie silence.
Kuma looked down, his eyes fixed on Sanji, who lay motionless on the ground—the man who had just endured all that pain without uttering a single cry.
"Black Leg Sanji, you endured pain enough to crush one's will, yet why did you not make a sound until the very end?" Kuma said, his gaze sweeping over Sanji's bitten lips and deeply embedded nail marks.
Sanji's chest rose and fell weakly; hearing the question, he turned his head with extreme difficulty, his blood-stained lips struggling to pull upwards, eventually forming a relieved sigh that almost dissipated in the wind:
"Heh... because... I am Sanji..."
His voice was hoarse as if sandpaper was rubbing, yet it conveyed an unwavering chivalry.
"The ladies... are still over there... they were startled... they need to rest... how could I... disturb the ladies..."
This reason, which sounded utterly absurd yet was spoken with utmost seriousness, made Zoro, who was nearby, suddenly freeze.
Immediately after, he let out a helpless yet inexpressibly bitter laugh:
"You bastard... in the end... you're still an incorrigible perverted chef..."
But his tightly clenched fingers, dug into the dirt, revealed the undeniable truth in his heart: this guy wasn't just doing it for some ladies!
He did it to prevent any possible scream from intensifying the fear and despair in the hearts of all his comrades!
He bore all the burdens in silence!
Kuma fell into a brief silence, seemingly conducting a complex logical assessment. A moment later, his massive body shifted slightly, as if preparing to fulfill his promise and leave the area.
However, just as he was about to lift his foot—
Boom!!!!
A dazzling, enormous pillar of light, seemingly made of liquid gold, erupted without warning from the deepest part of the Thriller Bark castle, shooting straight into the sky!
It instantly tore through the thick fog, illuminating the eerie island as if a divine realm had descended!
The light contained not just pure brightness, but also a majestic pressure that made one's soul tremble!
"This... what is this?!"
Zoro suddenly looked up at the golden pillar of light that pierced the heavens and earth. Amidst his shock, his face finally showed a near-exhausted relaxation, tinged with a hint of complaint,
"Captain... is the treasure hunt finally over?! Come back quickly; if you come back even a minute later... we'll truly be wiped out here..."
Kuma, who was about to leave, was also instantly fixated by this sudden anomaly.
He slowly lowered his raised foot, his massive body turning back around, analyzing with his eyes.
"Ron... is it?" Kuma's deep voice slowly sounded, seemingly not unfamiliar with the name, "'Captain' who defeated CP9, controls Pluton, and has a two-billion bounty... I've heard much about you."
He changed his mind, standing still like a mountain, no longer intending to leave, his gaze seemingly piercing through space, firmly locked on the direction from which the golden light erupted.
"A person who can command such a team to follow him to their deaths, and possesses such power... indeed... is worth seeing."
Then he waited silently in place... Meanwhile, on the other side,
Nami, guided by the treasure map in her hand, and Ron traversed the intricate corridors and ruins of Thriller Bark, finally reaching the island's core area.
"This is it!" Nami exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she compared it to the treasure map. The distant roar made her a little uneasy. "The final treasure point marked by the system!"
Then Nami stepped forward, and the treasure map in her hand transformed into a golden shovel—the Golden Shovel!
She dug fiercely at the treasure spot!
In an instant, the entire ground shook!
Boom!!!
An incredibly pure, enormous pillar of light, seemingly made of liquid gold, shot up from the center of the altar, instantly illuminating the entire gloomy core area as if it were daytime!
The powerful energy fluctuations even caused Ron and Nami to involuntarily retreat several steps.
The light lasted for several seconds before slowly dissipating. At the location where the light first erupted, a crystal test tube of extremely peculiar design floated.
The test tube itself seemed carved from the purest crystal, with a liquid swirling inside that was as brilliant as a galaxy, constantly flowing and changing colors, emitting an indescribable life energy and a soft glow.
"This... what is this?"
Nami cautiously reached out her hand. The crystal test tube, as if sentient, gently fell into her palm. The moment her fingertips touched the test tube, a massive stream of information surged directly into her mind!
"Ding! Treasure hunt successful!"
"Obtained: Divine Universal Potion!"
"Information: A miraculous potion containing the power of rules. No matter the fatal disease, no matter the abnormal state the body is in, no matter the degree of limb or organ deficiency... as long as there is a trace of life force remaining, this potion can completely restore it to its original state!"
"Effect: Can reverse life and death, reshape flesh and bone! Truly a divine creation!"
"Oh... my God!!!"
Nami processed the information in her mind, covering her mouth in shock, her eyes wide, and the hand holding the test tube trembling slightly from excitement.
"No matter what disease... what state... what deficiency... it can be restored? Reverse life and death?! This... this is simply..."
"This... this energy... is too astonishing! This really is... something only a God... a God could create!"
Hearing this, Ron was also shocked. Is there really a universal potion in the world? And a divine one at that!
"Can... can it revive the dead? Regrow flesh and bone? Doesn't that mean... as long as there's a breath left, one can't die?!"
Nami tightly clutched the warm and miraculous crystal test tube, feeling the power within it that seemed capable of changing the world, a colossal wave rising in her heart.
This sudden, unimaginably precious divine potion, while shocking her, also made her instantly think of many possibilities... Meanwhile,
Standing beside her, Ron's mind also heard a system prompt that only he could hear:
"Ding! Detected sub-system host Nami successfully excavated 'Divine Universal Potion'!"
"Triggering ten-fold return reward!"
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining: 'Divine Universal Potion' x 10!"
....
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