As the Straw Hat Pirates grew stronger and stronger, Red's gaze had long since stopped being limited to the native planet of the pirate world.
Just as Luffy, after seeing the vastness of the starry sky, had begun to yearn for it—
how could Red not also wish to explore the truths of the universe?
After all, in the One Piece cover stories, there had once been space pirates.
And with the habitable living environments that existed out in space, it was easy to imagine...
That beyond the world of pirates, there had to be an even larger cosmic society.
As for whether that society was orderly like planetary civilizations, or chaotic like some dark forest, Red had no way of knowing.
And if one wanted to explore the mysteries of the universe, the greatest obstacle was not just strength and technology...
More importantly, it was lifespan!!!
In the world of pirates, time was a shackle no one could escape.
Even someone as powerful as Whitebeard or Garp would one day suffer a massive decline in strength because of age, until the day came when they could no longer lift their fists.
Trying to use a mere twenty or thirty years of one's prime to explore the mysterious starry heavens was nothing more than a fool's dream.
So before taking any real action, what Red wanted most... was to extend his companions' lifespans, so they would not collapse into the empty void before they had even managed to uncover anything.
Even Red, with a system, could not avoid this problem.
And now, with the appearance of Redfield before his eyes, Red suddenly felt as though he had found the final missing piece of the puzzle!
Could the power of the Op-Op Fruit be replicated through Vegapunk's technology? Could clones use the Perennial Youth Operation through Green Blood technology? And after receiving the Perennial Youth Operation, would there be any side effects...?
Before these questions were fully answered, Red did not dare casually use the Op-Op Fruit's abilities to extend his companions' lifespans.
But now... he had another brand-new method!
The Soul-Soul Fruit + the Vampire Fruit!!!
One of these Fruits could seize the souls of others and prolong the lifespan of the soul; the other could absorb the power of blood and prolong the lifespan of the body.
If the two were combined, wouldn't that create a unique path to immortality?!
Though both abilities strengthened oneself by harming the interests of others, in the pirate world, it might be hard to find good people—but finding a bunch of scum? That was as easy as scooping them up by the handful!
The only problem now was...
Both of those Fruit abilities already had their own owners.
Either Red and the others would have to kill Big Mom and Redfield, then wander the seas in search of those two Devil Fruits again—
or they would have to replicate those Fruit abilities through Vegapunk's technology.
But no matter what, the gateway to immortality had already opened before them.
Swish!
Red's figure flashed abruptly, appearing beside Luffy as he said with a smile:
"Luffy, that big guy is yours in a bit!"
"As for the other one, I'll deal with him myself!"
"Huh? Red, you're joining in too?!"
Not far away, Zoro heard the exchange between Red and Luffy and immediately felt a great sense of disappointment.
Because he could feel it—those two who had suddenly appeared were terrifyingly powerful!
Even the current him would very likely be no match for either of them.
But!
At Zoro's current stage, the chance to fight opponents like that was exactly what he wanted more than anything!
Yet Red only laughed lightly and waved his hand.
"Don't forget—you've still got something even more important to do!"
"Remember what we said before setting sail?!"
"If nothing unexpected happens, it won't be long before the man you've been thinking about shows up!"
"Don't phrase it so weirdly, oi!"
Zoro grumbled in dissatisfaction, but when he thought of the battle that might happen next, he immediately put away his three swords and quietly waited.
At the same time, upon seeing the two who had appeared, some knowledgeable pirates cried out in fear:
"Th-those two... they... aren't they the legendary Heir to the Demon, Bullet, and the Lone Red, Redfield?!"
"Why would the two of them appear here!?"
Beside Cavendish, a burly man shouted in alarm.
And when Cavendish heard those words, his expression froze before his teeth clenched viciously.
"Damn it! We've all been played!"
Two top-tier powerhouses from the previous era had suddenly appeared here together. If there was no trick behind this, not even a ghost would believe it!
Just as Cavendish was thinking that, the host's shocked scream suddenly rang out from the still-undamaged speakers:
"My god!!! How is this possible!?"
"Why... why is the Navy fleet here!?"
"Festa, you bastard! Didn't you say you'd already handled things on the Navy's side?!"
Clearly, this pirate-born host was only in a cooperative relationship with Festa.
Seeing the Navy fleet gradually surrounding the island, he cursed loudly, then immediately threw down the microphone in panic and prepared to run.
A piercing burst of static rang out from the speakers, yet it sounded like the signal that war had begun.
Fear and panic instantly descended over every pirate's head.
And hearing the host curse him before fleeing, Festa, far away in the operations room, revealed a crafty smile.
"Hehehe... I did indeed make arrangements with the Navy."
"It's just that the purpose of those arrangements... wasn't to keep them away from this island~"
"Hahahahaha..."
"The plan has begun!!!"
As he watched the Navy fleet on the screen gradually sealing off the island, the smile on his face became increasingly frenzied.
...
...
Meanwhile, on the distant outer sea.
Aboard the lead Navy battleship.
"Admiral Fujitora, the target island Festa provided is just ahead."
Smoker, the smoke man whose face looked fiercer than many pirates despite being a Marine, had finally lived to see his old friend Aokiji rise to power after being forced to lie low for over a year due to his murky entanglements with pirates.
And along with that, public opinion toward him had shifted. Thanks to his outstanding strength, he had earned the rank of Vice Admiral and was currently serving under Navy Admiral Issho, Fujitora.
"Mm."
Though blind in both eyes, Issho seemed to see farther than Smoker ever could. He nodded, the corners of his lips lifting into a mysterious smile.
"They really are always at the very center of the world, aren't they, Lord Luffy and the others..."
In front of Smoker, Issho had never hidden his relationship with the Straw Hat Pirates.
After all, the Pokémon power within them allowed them to recognize, the very first moment they met, how different the other was from everyone else in the pirate world.
Those things simply could not be concealed.
"..."
Only... listening to Issho speak so openly about such matters, Smoker—who had already lost count of how many times he had wanted to report him to Aokiji—instinctively glanced around.
Once he confirmed that only he could hear it, Smoker silently let out a long sigh.
What he didn't know... was that aside from him, who could still count as a genuine Marine, every other accompanying member on this ship came from the Revolutionary Army.
Smoker, who fancied himself an undercover operative, might never understand in this lifetime...
What it felt like to be surrounded by undercover operatives.
...
...
"To dare spout such arrogant nonsense!"
"What a laughable brat!"
On the other side—
hearing Red and the others openly discuss how to divide up their opponents, Bullet and Redfield, who had just made their entrance, immediately revealed disdainful expressions.
"I remember you!"
Bullet suddenly lifted his head, his fierce eyes locking onto Luffy.
"You're that captain of the Emperor-level Straw Hat Pirates who's been stirring up the seas lately, aren't you?!"
"How pitiful~"
"Looks like Whitebeard isn't nearly as hale and hearty in his old age as the newspapers claim, if trash like you can stand on equal footing with him."
In Bullet's eyes, Luffy and the others were nothing more than a bunch of lucky fools who had no idea what true power really was.
It was the era that had saved them.
Yet when Luffy heard Bullet's mockery, he abruptly latched onto the least important point as though a screw were loose in his head:
"You know Whitebeard-oji-san?"
"Hm!?"
Bullet was momentarily stunned by the question.
But a moment later, he sneered.
"Of course!"
"He was one of my old rivals!"
"Once I deal with things here, the first thing I'll do is take his head as my banner, so the world will know..."
"Who the true [World's Strongest Man] really is!"
"Oh?! So that means you're as strong as Whitebeard-oji-san?!"
For some reason suddenly excited, Luffy broke into a radiant grin as he clenched his fists and asked Bullet.
Bullet answered at once:
"No!"
"I'm even stronger than him!!!"
"Then that's great!!!"
Luffy burst into laughter.
"I've wanted to have a match with Whitebeard-oji-san for a long time!"
"But he's Ace's sworn father, and he's already so old, so I never felt right bringing it up..."
"If you're even stronger than Whitebeard-oji-san, then if I beat you, doesn't that mean I can beat Whitebeard-oji-san too?!"
The excited Luffy leaped straight in front of Bullet.
White energy suddenly spread from his body like flames.
At the same time, a dazzling white light exploded from within him.
"Gear Fifth! And also..."
"Mega... Evolution!!!"
Swish—
Under the enveloping glow, Luffy's body rapidly expanded.
In the blink of an eye, he had reached nearly ten meters in height.
Though there was still quite a gap between him and a giant like Hajrudin, the energy fluctuations naturally radiating from him with that evolution made everyone present involuntarily gape in shock.
"Th-that... is the true power of an Emperor!?"
Feeling that overwhelming aura—despite Luffy's not-so-huge frame, it was still enough to make him not dare step forward—Hajrudin suddenly gave a bitter smile.
Earlier, after trading a few punches with Luffy and though he had been at a disadvantage, he had thought the gap between himself and an Emperor wasn't all that large.
At this moment, he had completely recognized reality.
Luckily, he hadn't said anything too arrogant just now.
Otherwise, with a body this big, he truly had no idea where he could have found a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Pa.
The light dissipated.
Facing Bullet, whom even Red acknowledged as a true powerhouse, Luffy entered his strongest combat form right away.
"Hm!?"
Sensing the abrupt change in Luffy's aura, both Bullet and Redfield were stunned.
Especially Redfield...
Since childhood, he had possessed a powerful talent for Observation Haki, able to use it almost like Aura to see through the hearts of others.
And it was precisely because he had seen too much darkness in people's hearts from a young age that he had developed the habit of living apart from others.
And at this moment, seeing Luffy—whose strength had originally only been around the level of a Warlord—suddenly releasing an aura so terrifying that even he felt fear...
Redfield's heart trembled, and a bad premonition arose.
Their plan... wasn't about to go wrong, was it?!
Before he could even react—
Boom!!!
A tremendous explosion suddenly rang out from beside him.
Luffy had clearly done nothing, yet Bullet, who was facing him, looked as though someone had ambushed him from behind. His entire body shot into the sky like a cannonball, as if someone had landed a heavy punch on him from underground.
"What?!"
Bullet was startled inwardly. He hurriedly raised both arms in front of him and coated his whole body with Armament Haki.
And in the next second, Luffy—already prepared—clenched both fists and copied the technique Hajrudin had used against him earlier—
"Gum-Gum... White Heavy Hammer!!!"
Boom!!!
Bullet had only just been launched before Luffy smashed him back down with a single punch.
Under that terrifying force, Bullet's body directly shattered the floating island beneath Red and the others once more, splitting it into several pieces that drifted off in all directions.
"Th-this... how is this possible!?"
Redfield's eyes shook.
The power to easily split apart an island...
Though it was only a floating island with no foundation, such horrifying strength was something Redfield had only ever seen from people like Roger and Whitebeard.
"Impossible!"
His figure flashed, and he transformed directly into his vampire form, looking strikingly similar to Myotismon from Digimon.
Using his wings, he flew into the air, intending to observe Luffy from a distance.
But just then...
"There's nothing impossible about it, Senior Redfield!"
Swish!
A figure suddenly appeared behind him, radiating an aura Redfield did not dare underestimate.
"This era no longer has a stage capable of carrying people like you!"
"Or rather..."
"You've already been abandoned by the times!!!"
"Roar of Time!!!"
Boom!!!
A surging burst of energy suddenly erupted from Red's palm. As though time itself had been twisted, it bypassed Redfield's Observation Haki and appeared directly behind him.
Roar of Time possessed the power to distort time itself, striking the enemy with an attack of an unknown level.
Though the damage it dealt would vary depending on the overall strength of the one using it,
one thing was certain...
Roar of Time truly could distort time. Even Katakuri, with his future-seeing Observation Haki, had no way of predicting its appearance.
It was as though, in the river of time, someone had abruptly inserted a tiny point—something that could not be foreseen from the past, nor traced back from the future!
To put it simply...
it was the perfect ultimate move for dealing with masters of Observation Haki!
"Urghhh~"
Struck by the Roar of Time, Redfield let out a miserable scream.
It seemed the power that twisted time dealt extra damage to an old relic like him, already rotten and decayed.
Very quickly, just like Bullet before him, he was blasted down by the force of Roar of Time.
It was just that Red, after all, was not Luffy, and did not possess that terrifying island-destroying power.
So he only barely smashed Redfield dozens of meters into the ground.
That was all...
(End of Chapter)