Chapter 66: The Sovereignty of the Key — Rewards and Resurrections
The purple sky didn't just fade; it shattered like glass. The red-rippled eyes that had briefly appeared on the screen vanished, leaving behind a cold, golden interface.
[TIMER: 00:00]
[JUDGMENT RENDERED: THE CORRECT ANSWER IS C]
> "The Holy Knights do not answer to the World Government as a political body, nor are they bound by mere laws. Their authority is tethered to the 'Celestial Key'—a metaphor for the direct will of the Sovereign of the World, Imu. Every 'Thorn' that manifests on a Great Power is a needle moved by the hand upon the throne."
>
The screen flashed three names in a pillar of blinding light.
[THE TRIUMPHANT (1 GOLD COIN EACH):]
1. Marine Commander Kong
2. Edward Newgate (Whitebeard)
3. Red-Haired Shanks
As the winners' names glowed, a chorus of terrified squawks and screams erupted globally.
In Impel Down, Buggy (the Duck) had guessed D. Suddenly, he lost his grip on the floor of Level 5.5. He didn't just jump; he ascended.
"SQUEAK! SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK!"
He shot upward like a yellow rocket, bouncing off the ceiling of the Great Prison. He was now a weightless, frantic duck drifting toward the ventilation shafts, his flippers flailing uselessly.
In Sabaody, Luffy (who had muttered 'Meat' earlier) suddenly felt the pull increase. If Sanji hadn't grabbed a nearby iron railing with one hand and Luffy's leg with the other, the future Pirate King would have been a speck in the clouds.
"Sanji! I feel like a soap bubble!" Luffy yelled, his body drifting horizontally.
"Shut up and stay heavy, you idiot!" Sanji roared, his muscle-straining under the 'Zero-Gravity' pull.
### The Ranker's Rewards: The Admiral and the Saint
The System shifted focus, presenting two massive chests wrapped in thorns and vines.
[RANK 44 REWARD: ADMIRAL RYOKUGYU (ARAMAKI)]
Item: The Verdant Core of the First Forest.
Effect: Grants the user the ability to synthesize 'Primordial Oxygen,' allowing his plants to grow and survive even in the vacuum of space or underwater. His regeneration speed is doubled as long as he is touching the planet's soil.
Current Status: Aramaki, currently in the New World who didn't yet a admiral, felt his heart pulse with a green fire. He grinned, feeling like he could turn the entire Red Line into a jungle in a single heartbeat.
[RANK 44 REWARD: SAINT SHEPHERD SOMMERS]
Item: The Sight of the Divine Hunter.
Effect: A permanent buff to Observation Haki. Sommers can now 'see' the pulse of any life-form within 1,000 miles, allowing his thorns to manifest in their very shadows regardless of visual contact.
Current Status: In the Holy Land, Sommers tightened his grip on the Ivory Star. His stone-cold eyes glowed with a new, predatory light.
As the world reeled from the power-ups of the "Gods," a blue flame flickered on the screen. **Marco the Phoenix**, sitting on the Moby Dick, looked at the Gold Coin he had won during his own ranking.
"Pop... you've been carrying the weight of the old era for too long," Marco whispered. "The screen just showed us that the Navy is getting younger, and the Gods are getting stronger. We need the Whitebeard that Roger feared."
Marco who was healing Whitebeard previously by his ranking reward Phoenix fire now ask him to use the coin which Whitebeard got from correct and for 50% age reduction. "It's very important you to be in you your prime to save Ace." Whitebeid.
[Whitebeard]: "System use the coin to reduce my age 50%."
TRANSACTION CONFIRMED: 1 GOLD COIN SPENT]
[WHITEBEARD USES 'CHRONOS-REVERSION' (Age Reduction: 50%)]
The Moby Dick shook. The sea itself began to tilt. The IV drips and medical equipment attached to the giant man shattered as his body underwent a violent transformation. The sagging skin tightened. The thinning hair returned to a golden mane. The scars of a thousand battles remained, but the muscles beneath them surged with the power of a supernova.
Edward Newgate (Age 36) stood up, his Murakumogiri cracking the wooden deck just from the weight of his presence.
> [Rocks D. Xebec]: "VOHAHARARA! LOOK AT YOU, NEWGATE! Now that's a man I can fight! Sengoku is young, Garp is young, and now the White Whale is back in his prime! This war... this war is going to tear the world in two! Don't worry I will come back to life. Without me the war will be no fun."
>[Sengoku]: "Whitebeard... you fool. I know you will come to Marineford no matter what's the situation. But now as you came back to your prime this should be more fun."
> [Shanks]: "Well, if Newgate-san is back in his prime, I guess I should start taking my own coin seriously. Marineford is looking more like a reunion of the Old Era every second." Captain Roger said in private chat to me there is no need to collect 10 coin to revive him. System offer him other way. Shanks thought.
"System use my one coin to recover my hand." One the next scene we see Shanks empty hand regrow.
> [Marine Commander Kong]: "The balance is gone. This sea... Why don't it stay silent?"
> [Blackbeard]: "ZEHAHAHA! Daddy... you old monster! You think a younger body changes the fate of the era?" But silently in great thought in Impel Down.
>
In the upper levels of Impel Down, Buggy (Duck Form) was currently floating through the air of Level 3, squeaking in terror as he drifted past a group of stunned guards.
"Is that... a floating rubber duck with a red nose?" one guard asked, rubbing his eyes.
"SQUEAK!" Buggy replied, his tiny wings flapping against the ceiling.
Far away in Wano, Yamato watched the screen with wide eyes, seeing Whitebeard's transformation. "Ace... your father Haki is terrifying as my father. It's really powerful."
[RANK 44 CONCLUDED.]
[NEXT CHAPTER: RANK 43 — THE SOUL THAT CHOSE THE WRONG PATH.]
📝 Author's Note:The game has officially changed! Whitebeard is in his prime, Sengoku is in his prime, and Garp is ready to throw hands. The Marineford war is no longer a rescue mission—it's a clash of legends that could literally sink the planet. And Sommers getting a 1,000-mile range? That makes him the ultimate sniper. Poor Buggy being a weightless duck is the only thing keeping the mood light right now! And why Rocks and Roger are so confident they will be revive in future?
Btw my football MC, Rimon, is about to have his own 'Prime' moment soon, but he won't need a system coin for it—just pure obsession. Thanks for reading!*