Belial, Tregear, new members of the Straw Hat Pirates

Asakura Ryūya rushed to the vicinity of the execution platform, but a series of gunshots made him stop in his tracks.

Asakura Ryūya looked up at the sky, then at the execution platform in the distance, "Could it be..."

Asakura Ryūya leaped to the vicinity of the execution platform.

The execution platform was completely silent, as if nothing had happened.

Only the bloodstains on the stage tell people that everything had happened.

Asakura Ryūya looked down from the execution platform and saw a man lying in a pool of blood on the ground, already lifeless.

The people of Ebisu Village, and Toko, were leaning against the fence, as if frozen in time.

At this moment, the Straw Hat crew also arrived. Seeing the dead Tono Yasushi, Shinobu and Kanjuro wept bitterly.

"Kang family!"

"I'm sorry, we're still late..."

Asakura Ryuya looked at the dead Tono Yasushi, then looked at Toko, the child who had lost her father.

At this moment, Asakura Ryūya realized that something was wrong.

The people around were trembling, as if they were enduring something.

Suddenly, Toko burst into laughter: "Hahahaha!"

Hu Zi's laughter caused a huge ripple effect, and everyone around him burst into laughter as well, "Hahahaha!"

Seeing this, Hiyori stood there with a dazed look in her eyes.

"Hey...hey hey..." Asakura Ryuya couldn't believe what he was seeing. Those who had received favors from Tono Yasushi were laughing heartily after Tono Yasushi's death.

Even during my darkest times, I never did anything like this.

"Hey!" Asakura Ryuya shouted, his chest heaving with anger. "What's so funny, you lot..."

"Mr. Asakura..."

Asakura Ryuya turned her head, and Hiyori was already in tears. She hugged Asakura Ryuya and cried bitterly, saying:

"This isn't their fault, it's a curse, a cursed mask they can't remove."

"What did you say?"

On Onigashima, Kaido watched this scene and laughed disdainfully, "This Orochi has a truly twisted sense of humor."

"Master Kaido!"

"what happened?"

"Lord Grimd has gone out."

Upon hearing this, Kaido's hand trembled as he held the sake bottle. "What's this guy up to now?"

Kaido took a sip of his drink. "I hope he can play it safe."

On the other side, the Straw Hat crew looked at the laughing crowd, both shocked and puzzled.

At this moment, filled with grief and indignation, Shinobu recounted the beginning of it all:

These stories begin with Kaido.

Many years ago, Kaido planned to create a pirate crew composed entirely of Zoan-type Devil Fruit users.

But how could there possibly be so many Zoan-type Devil Fruits in the world?

Therefore, Kaido focused his attention on artificial Devil Fruits.

The mad scientist Caesar used raw materials to create artificial Devil Fruits, and Kaido's underground intermediary, Doflamingo, was in charge of selling them.

This is how a huge and complex sales chain was formed.

However, artificial Devil Fruits have one drawback: the chance of gaining powers after consuming them is only ten percent.

Once the ability is lost, the side effects of artificial Devil Fruits will become apparent.

Not only will it make people unable to swim, but it will also cause the consumer to lose all facial expressions except for a smile.

Therefore, artificial Devil Fruits are also known as SMILE.

Those who fail to gain the ability are called pleasure seekers.

“I see,” Robin said.

Nami said, "That's where the name comes from. No wonder I felt it was so strange back then."

"That's not the worst part."

Shinobu said painfully, "The artificial Devil Fruits that have been bitten still have side effects, and Orochi has his eye on these remaining failed products."

"Use these to create more people who experience pleasure."

"Could it be that……"

Hearing Shinobu's words, everyone had a terrifying thought.

"In the village of scavengers, people cry every day because of death. The giant snake is extremely disgusted with them, and then..."

"In order to create more pleasure seekers, the giant snake mixed the failed products into the garbage being transported out of the city."

"The people of the impoverished village who rely on scavenging for a living..."

Even if people knew what kind of fruit it was, they still succumbed to hunger.

Hearing Shinobu's words, the Straw Hat crew felt as if they had experienced a mental earthquake, and their scalps tingled.

……

As Zoro watched this scene, his expression grew even more solemn as he recalled the time when he first met Tonoyasu and Tonoyasu explained the meaning behind the name of Ebisu Village.

Meanwhile, Hiyori wept bitterly, venting her emotions to Asakura Ryūya.

"The great serpent causes people to suffer, yet prevents them from being sad."

"People suffer but cannot grieve; beneath their smiles lies only lamentation. What is this if not hell?!"

"Yes, I have done many bad things, but I have never done anything like this."

Asakura Ryūya's voice was calm, eerily calm.

Zoro turned his head and saw a cold and terrifying face.

……

"This bastard!"

When Hong Kai learned of these things, he was furious.

He took out the Belial card, ready to dismember Orochi.

"wait!"

"Jugglus, what do you mean? You can tolerate this?" Gai said. "Even if you can tolerate it for the sake of the bigger picture, I can't!"

“I can’t stand it either,” Jugglus Juggler said coldly. “However, I have a feeling that it’s not our turn to make a move yet.”

"what?"

……

Rabbit don...

"That Kurozumi Orochi guy is really boring."

Quinn, puffing on his cigar, chuckled, "But that's pretty much in line with his style, you worm in the mud, haha."

“The Kang family…” Bing Wulang’s eyes were filled with tears.

"Why is this happening?" Luffy said. "It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this."

"No one should be mocked after they die." Luffy clenched his fists.

Since Tregear was in his Ultraman form, it was impossible to tell what his expression was.

At that moment, Torregia suddenly sensed something and looked in the direction of the Flower City.

"Oh no, something big is about to happen."

……

At that moment, beside the execution ground, Toko, with a smile on her face and tears streaming down her cheeks, passed through the fence and ran to Tono Yasushi's side.

Toko took out something that looked like an ointment, which she had gotten from Usopp.

At the time, Usopp boasted that his bag could cure all diseases...

"Dad, put this on and it will stop hurting."

Seeing this, Usopp felt a pang of regret and clutched his head, saying, "I'm sorry, Toko, that was useless."

Meanwhile, Kurozumi Orochi, who was watching this scene with great satisfaction, laughed heartily, "This is exactly what you deserve, Kang family."

At that moment, the giant snake suddenly saw the door.

He gritted his teeth in anger, "Damn it, if it weren't for you, Xiao Zi wouldn't have..."

As he spoke, the giant snake raised its gun and aimed it at the child.

"Household!"

Hiyori was about to rush over when she saw this, but the grieving crowd blocked her way.

"boom!"

A gunshot rang out, and a bullet flew toward the weeping house.

Just then, a dark red bolt of lightning, like a vine, shattered the bullet.

Then, Asakura Ryuya, clad in the robes of Shura, walked toward the execution platform.

His steps were light, but the ground seemed to bear the weight of ten thousand pounds; with each step, the ground cracked.

Dark red lightning crackled around Asakura Ryuya, and his dark red aura made him seem like a god of death.

Asakura Ryuya approached Toko without her noticing; the terrifying Conqueror's Haki seemed to be nonexistent.

Hiyori looked at Asakura Ryuya's profile, her eyes filled with emotion and joy.

"Mr. Asakura..."

Asakura Ryuya gently patted Toko's back and said in a tender tone, "Sleep, child. Sleep well, and everything will be alright."

A soft golden light surrounded Toko, and she fell into a deep sleep. Then, Asakura Ryuya tossed Toko to Zoro, who was not far away.

The giant snake recognized Asakura Ryuya, "It's you again! You..."

Before the giant snake could finish speaking, Asakura Ryuya put on his mask and suddenly turned around. An aura mixed with dark red lightning was released, and a strong aura swept over.

People nearby were either blown away or stunned. The surrounding buildings crumbled one after another due to the pressure of the energy field, then scattered.

Only the people of Ebisu Village survived.

Looking at this familiar scene, Hiyori recalled her father, Kozuki Oden, and the scene when he used Conqueror's Haki. She murmured, "This is... just like my father's."

Robin, who was watching from a distance, said, "That's Conqueror's Haki."

“Oh right, I remember now,” Nami said. “Before, on Whole Cake Island, Belial awakened Conqueror’s Haki, but at the time we were focused on Belial’s dark powers.”

“But this Conqueror’s Haki is far too strong,” Franky said. “I’ve never seen such terrifying Conqueror’s Haki before.”

“Of course, it’s not entirely because of Conqueror’s Haki,” Jugglus Juggler said as he walked over.

"What do you mean?"

"From my understanding, Conqueror's Haki is like a kind of oppressive aura, and this kind of thing should be enhanced based on the user's mental strength."

"And Belial's power, whether dark or light, has been enhanced or evolved into Conqueror's Haki."

"The current situation is a combination of Conqueror's Haki and Belial's spiritual power."

"Therefore, this cannot be called ordinary Conqueror's Haki."

Jugglus looked up at the sky, and influenced by Ryūya Asakura's Conqueror's Haki, the sky began to change.

On the distant Onigashima, Kaido watched this scene with a grave expression. "Is that guy?"

Asakura Ryūya walked towards Kurozumi Orochi, "Are you ready to die, Kurozumi Orochi?"

"You, what did you say?"

"No, I shouldn't have asked for your opinion!" Asakura Ryuya's hand was wrapped in dark red light, and with a swift chop, a crescent-shaped blade of light flew towards the giant serpent.

Kyoshiro hurriedly took Orochi away, his light blade gliding along the ground, slicing through piece after piece. Orochi cried out in terror, "Help! Help! Kill him!"

As the enemies surrounded him, Asakura Ryuya walked over gracefully, and those guys were stunned as soon as they got close to him.

The rest were slammed to the ground by Asakura Ryuya's Desium Punch, sending them flying.

Asakura Ryuya's attack destroyed everything around her, and flames burned. Against the backdrop of the firelight, a pair of scarlet demonic eyes gleamed with bloodlust beneath her mask.