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Chapter 587: Shattering Universal Laws
Vormir had no oceans. As Shanks touched down, his first sensation was a deep, pervasive unease. Ridges of gray and black rock stretched endlessly toward the horizon, and cold winds howled up from the deep valleys, carrying the dry, suffocating scent of ancient dust. The sky was permanently weighed down by a dark haze, refusing to let even a sliver of sunlight through.
He wore his black cloak, the Supreme Grade Sword Gryphon hanging casually at his hip. His empty left sleeve flapped gently in the harsh wind. Beside him stood Benn Beckman, a cigarette dangling from his lips. A rifle was slung over his back, his expression as cold as the landscape.
As soon as they stepped out of the spatial rift, a ring of faint orange runes lit up on the stone steps beneath their feet. Beckman exhaled a plume of smoke. "This place doesn't look like a vault for a cosmic stone."
"The less it looks like one, the more trouble it usually is," Shanks noted, looking up toward the mountain's peak.
The two men ascended the stone steps, the wind growing fiercer the higher they climbed. When they reached the altar at the summit, a figure draped in a tattered black robe drifted out from the shadows. The entity didn't look entirely alive. Its skin was dry and shriveled, clinging tightly to its skull, and its eye sockets were sunken pools of darkness.
"Welcome," the wraith greeted, its voice grating and hoarse. "Shanks, Captain of the Red-Haired Pirates. And Benn Beckman, Vice-Captain of the Red-Haired Pirates."
Beckman stopped in his tracks, the cigarette twitching in the corner of his mouth. "You know us?"
The cloaked figure turned slowly. "It is my curse to know all who journey here seeking the Soul Stone. I am Johann Schmidt. Once the leader of Hydra, now the Stonekeeper and guide for the Soul Stone. In your world, I have no bounty. Your government does not have the reach to extend its hand this far."
Shanks didn't smile. The introduction sounded arrogant, but he could tell the figure wasn't trying to provoke them. This 'Red Skull' felt more like a piece of cosmic residue, chained to this place by strict laws.
Beckman unslung his rifle, leveling the barrel directly at Red Skull's head. "Let's keep this simple, then."
Bang! The first shot tore right through Red Skull's forehead, impacting the stone pillar behind him and sending a spray of rock dust into the air.
Bang! The second shot went through his chest.
Bang! The third pierced his throat.
Beckman didn't even bother racking the bolt to reload. This rifle was a conceptual weapon pulled from another dungeon. As long as he held the trigger, the chamber would never run dry.
Red Skull slowly looked down at the holes the bullets had passed through. There wasn't a single mark or trace of damage. He shook his head. "Violence cannot harm me. I am merely a servant of the Soul Stone. You may slaughter armies. You may overthrow kingdoms. You may even stand against gods. But here, you are faced with an exchange."
Beckman lowered the muzzle slightly. "What kind of exchange?"
Red Skull raised a skeletal hand, pointing toward the sheer drop at the edge of the altar. "The Soul Stone possesses a unique wisdom. To claim it, you must pay a price of equal value. A soul for a soul."
Shanks rested his hand on Gryphon's hilt. "Speak plainly."
Red Skull locked eyes with him. "If you desire the Soul Stone, you must lose that which you love. A soul of someone dear to you. You must push them over the precipice with your own hands. You must prove you understand the true value of a soul through irreversible death."
The cigarette in Beckman's mouth had burned halfway down. He said nothing. Shanks remained silent as well. From the abyss below, the howling wind sounded like the desperate weeping of countless lost souls.
After a long pause, Beckman pulled the cigarette from his mouth and crushed the ember against a stone pillar. "What a disgusting rule."
Shanks kept his head bowed, his hand still resting on his sword. He pushed Gryphon half an inch out of its scabbard, revealing a sliver of cold steel.
"Boss. You're making a hell of a racket." Beckman glanced over at him.
Shanks didn't look back. His mind flashed through the faces of his past and present. Captain Roger. Mr. Rayleigh. Buggy's loud, obnoxious shouting. Luffy, crying as he declared he would become the Pirate King. And every bastard currently on his ship. Yasopp drinking and bragging. Lucky Roux fighting over meat. Hongo cursing while bandaging someone up. And Beckman, always lighting a cigarette when things got too loud, telling them that was enough.
Those people were not bargaining chips. They never had been.
Shanks raised his head, the carefree smile completely wiped from his face. "You said I must sacrifice a loved one?"
Red Skull nodded. "It is an unalterable universal law."
Shanks slowly clenched his right hand into a fist. "I have never relied on sacrificing my crew to gain power!"
His voice slammed into the altar like a physical weight. The next instant, black and red lightning erupted from his body, piercing the gloomy sky. A violent wave of Conqueror's Haki swept over the mountain peak. The stone steps exploded layer by layer. The distant rock faces were forcibly crushed, creating massive, jagged fissures. Red Skull's black cloak whipped violently backward in the gale, but while he didn't retreat, his voice faltered for the first time.
"You are attempting to challenge the laws of the Soul Stone."
Shanks drew Gryphon. The blade was completely unsheathed. Frantic black and red lightning coiled around the steel. He pushed his Dragon-Level Monster Physique to its absolute limit. A searing pain radiated from the old scar of his missing arm, and his ribs groaned under the strain of holding back such monstrous power. But he didn't stop. He stepped forward.
"Rules?" Shanks growled. "Who decided that?"
"The universe," Red Skull answered.
Shanks raised his sword, the Haki violently thrashing around the blade. "Then tell the universe to come out here and talk to me!"
He swung the sword down. The slash, imbued with devastating Conqueror's Haki, cleaved directly into the center of the altar. Boom! The entire mountain peak sank. The orange runes etched into the altar glowed blindingly bright before snapping one by one. Rubble shot into the air, only to be forced back down by the suffocating weight of the Haki. The wailing from the abyss grew deafening.
Beckman tossed aside his crushed cigarette and looked around. "Captain. You're making a bit too much noise."
Shanks grinned fiercely. "Scared?"
Beckman rested the rifle back on his shoulder. "I just think that bastard Blake should've charged us more for this. Don't tell him when we get back, or he'll raise the prices."
Red Skull raised both arms. "Cease this. If you continue, the defense mechanism will activate."
Shanks ignored him completely. Gryphon slashed down again, this time aiming directly into the bottomless abyss. An intense orange light surged upward from the depths, and for half a breath, the silhouette of a tiny gem materialized within the glow. Shanks saw it. Beckman saw it. That was the Soul Stone. But it refused to manifest fully, hiding behind an invisible, impenetrable barrier, coldly observing them through the fabric of reality itself.
Shanks pushed his Conqueror's Haki even heavier. "Come out!"
The mountain violently cracked. The dark, cloudy sky over Vormir shifted to a blood-red hue. A colossal, eye-shaped orange rune formed in the clouds.
Red Skull's voice turned guttural. "You have awakened it. The souls of past sacrifices will stop any desecrator."
The abyss boiled over. It wasn't magma that surged upward, but an endless sea of trapped souls. Twisted, agonizing faces crawled out of the darkness. Alien warriors. Armored soldiers. Children. Women. Forgotten kings. Their bodies were as ethereal as smoke, yet they carried a power capable of tearing life apart. Their cries filled the summit.
"Give it back..."
"Why me..."
"I don't want to die..."
"Save me..."
The vengeful spirits erupted from the abyss, blotting out the sky as they swarmed toward Shanks and Beckman. Beckman raised his rifle and fired rapidly. The bullets pierced precisely through several spirits, but to no effect. The ethereal bodies simply dissipated and instantly reformed, rushing forward even faster.
"Just as I thought. Firepower doesn't work on ghosts," Beckman cursed. He tossed the rifle aside and coated both hands in dense Armament Haki. Stepping forward, he threw a devastating punch, shattering the closest spirit. The wraith exploded into fragments of orange light, but an endless tide of more souls poured in behind it.
Beckman stared at the overwhelming sea of spirits, his voice softening slightly. "These people aren't our enemies."
Shanks saw it too. These souls hadn't willingly chosen to guard the stone. They were trapped here, forced to act as a meat shield for this twisted rule even in death. Shanks sheathed Gryphon.
Beckman glanced at him. "Captain?"
Shanks released his grip on the hilt and spread his feet, adopting a martial arts stance. "Cutting them down with a sword would be a damn dirty move."
He raised his right arm and formed a fist. It was the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, a technique he had comprehended in the martial arts tournament dungeon. The essence of the technique wasn't slaughter. It was deflection. Guidance. It was a martial art designed to shatter the invisible shackles oppressing the weak.
Shanks lowered his shoulders, rapidly compressing his violent Conqueror's Haki. The black and red lightning coiled tightly around his arm, no longer exploding chaotically, but flowing smoothly along the trajectory of his stance.
Beckman looked at his captain's back and suddenly chuckled. "You're really going to dismantle universal laws with your bare hands?"
Shanks stared down the endless sea of souls pouring out of the abyss. "If a stone insists on trading a comrade's life for its power, then it isn't worthy of being on my ship."
As the first wave of spirits rushed him, Shanks threw a punch. The gust of the strike didn't tear the soul apart; instead, it precisely shattered the glowing orange chains binding the spirit. The crying face froze in shock, staring blankly at Shanks before dissolving into pure light and drifting peacefully into the sky.
Beckman paused in surprise. Shanks's lips curled upward. "Found it."
He solidified his stance, the black and red lightning surging into the sky behind him. Facing the endless tide of souls pouring from the abyss, Shanks took a firm step forward.
"Bring it on!"
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