Uchiha Puppet Master, Starting from One Piece

Chapter 231 Test

The outskirts of Elbaf.

The towering trees that used to block out the sky have become sparser here, not because the land is barren, but because the land is more fertile and supports other plants.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, which had been piled up for hundreds of years. The bottom layers had been compressed into black humus, and stepping on them produced a dull, soft sound, as if stepping on the skin of some huge creature.

There was a smell in the air that was different from that at the seaside.

It's not salty, not fishy, ​​but a flavor closer to "ancient".

Damp wood, rotting leaves, and the sweet scent of some unknown flower emanating from afar, like honey diluted many times over.

Bai Yu walked in the middle of the group, slightly towards the back.

Shanks walked at the front, with Griffin hanging at his waist, the longsword swaying gently with each step he took.

Mihawk walked to Shanks' left, maintaining a precise and constant distance—one step.

Not too much, not too little, not following behind, not walking side by side, but a wonderful distance between companionship and independence, close enough to offer support at any time, far enough that one would not feel that he is deliberately following.

Jabba walked to Shanks' right.

His pace was completely out of character for his age.

It's not the kind of speed that old people push themselves to the limit, but a speed that's closer to saving energy. Every step is taken in the most energy-efficient position, and every muscle is used only when necessary, without wasting any energy.

Bai Yu watched Jaba's steps, the light moving back and forth between his ankles, knees, and hip joints.

That kind of footwork is not that of a swordsman.

A swordsman's footwork is linear, taking the shortest distance from point A to point B, with each step preparing for the next strike. Jabba's footwork, however, is circuitous. It's not that he's actually going in circles, but rather that his body's center of gravity is constantly making an extremely slight, lateral sway.

Left, right, left, right, each swing perfectly synchronized with the frequency of my heartbeat.

That was the pace of a dual-wielder.

People who use two weapons for a long time, because they hold a knife in each hand, need to maintain completely independent and non-interfering center of gravity control on both sides of their body. This control will slowly and irreversibly change the way a person walks, making each step seem to create space for both hands to swing and cut simultaneously.

Bai Yu withdrew his gaze.

Artoria walked to his right, her breathing even and deep, each inhalation creating a stable, perceptible core of power beneath her ribs.

Rangiku walked at the very back of the group.

They walked for about half an hour.

The road suddenly opened up at an inconspicuous bend.

It wasn't a gradual opening, but a sudden, almost violent one. The gap between the two giant trees widened dozens of times after a certain step, as if a giant hand had forcefully pried the two trees apart to the left and right, revealing the empty space that had been hidden for a long time.

The open space was large enough to accommodate dozens of giant warriors in formation at the same time.

However, everyone's attention was drawn to it.

That was a giant.

They weren't the giants from the Navy Headquarters; those giants were only about twenty meters tall, which was already quite tall.

The person before me is a being that is closer to a mountain range.

Just by sitting there, he was taller than the first branch of all the giant trees around him.

His back was slightly hunched, and his two incredibly long arms hung down at his sides, his fingers buried in the pile of fallen leaves, each finger resembling a fallen sapling that had not yet rotted.

He was at least sixty meters tall, and you could tell he seemed quite bored.

boring.

It is a genuine, thorough, and deep-seated boredom, like a wild beast that has been caged for too long, filled with boredom.

He wore a dark coat whose original color was indistinguishable. The fabric seemed exceptionally heavy for the giant's size, as if it were sewn from a single piece of canvas. The coat was covered with holes of various sizes.

There was something at his feet.

A weapon.

Iron Thunder.

The divine weapon, Iron Thunder.

The supreme weapon passed down through generations of giants, which only true kings can wield.

Bai Yu stared at Tie Lei for a while, then looked away.

Because the giant moved.

He raised his head.

He revealed an incredibly young face.

That face was completely different from the rugged and savage image of the giants.

His eyes seemed quite bright.

Those eyes were looking at Shanks.

Looking at Jabba.

Looking at Mihawk.

Looking at Bai Yu.

Looking at Artoria.

Looking at everyone.

He looked at each person one by one, his gaze lingering on each one for exactly half a second, no more, no less.

Then he laughed.

The smile appeared in the same way he opened his eyes—without warning, without transition.

It was the kind of genuine, heartfelt, undisguised joy of seeing an old friend.

"oh?"

His voice came down from above, loud and deep, like thunder rumbling across the sky.

But in that enormous volume, every word was pronounced exceptionally clearly, without any ambiguity or hoarseness, like the sound of a giant bell being struck—loud, yet clean.

"Isn't that Shanks?!"

He raised one hand, which, like a moving dark cloud, drew a huge arc in the air, and then "snap."

It landed with a thud about five steps away from Shanks.

Five fingers sank deeply into the fallen leaves and soil.

"Long time no see! It's been several years since then. Have you thought things through?"

Loki said.

Shanks tilted his head back, looked at that face, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Loki.

He said.

Two words.

There were no small talk, no greetings, no superfluous "Are you alright?"

You still look the same as always.

Shanks said.

"The usual?"

Loki's laughter rang out again, this time even louder than before, causing the leaves nearby to rustle from the sound waves.

"Hahaha, you look quite different, Shanks! And you've even lost an arm!"

Shanks remained silent.

He raised his hand to touch the three scars on his left cheek and the missing arm.

"yes."

He said.

Time has been unkind to you.

Loki said.

His gaze shifted from Shanks to Jabba.

That smile underwent a very subtle change in that instant.

"Yo, Jabba."

Loki's voice became a little lower than before.

"You old codger, you're still alive?"

Jabba looked up at that delicate, young face.

His expression didn't change much, but something warm flickered in his black, bronze-colored eyes.

"You've grown up quite a bit since that incident."

Jabba said.

"But you haven't changed much."

Loki's smile widened even further.

"Then you'll age much faster than me."

He looked at Jabba's gray hair, at every wrinkle on his face, and at the gleaming leather sheaths of the two axes at his waist.

"Were your years of seclusion in the land of giants difficult?"

"Is life easy or not?"

Jabba said, "It has nothing to do with hair color."

Loki stared at him for two seconds.

Then he withdrew his hand.

The enormous hand rose from the ground, its fingers covered in fallen leaves and black mud, with a few broken stems of small ferns stuck between its fingers.

He casually flicked his hand, and the soil and broken stems fell off his skin, dispersing into a cloud of brown mist in mid-air.

"so."

Loki's voice suddenly changed.

It's not that the volume or the tone has changed, but rather the tone of voice.

That undisguised joy of seeing old friends vanished the moment the word "so" was uttered, as if a power source had been unplugged.

Instead, there was something colder, deeper, and more like the golden halo deep within his pupils.

"What are you doing here?"

he asks.

It wasn't a questioning tone, but an interrogative one.

Shanks remained silent for a moment.

Then he spoke.

Loki.

He said.

This was the second time he had called Loki by his name.

But this time the tone was completely different from the last time.

The last time was a greeting.

I still have the same thoughts as last time.

1

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Don't go out to sea to cause trouble for the World Government."

Shanks said.

Loki's smile vanished.

It didn't disappear slowly, nor did it disappear gradually; rather, it vanished completely from her face in an instant, like a light being suddenly turned off.

That delicate, youthful, sculpted face took on a completely different texture after the smile faded.

It wasn't anger, sadness, or fear, but something closer to a vacuum—a complete, absolute emptiness devoid of any emotion.

The blank space lasted for about three seconds.

Then it was filled with something that Bai Yu had never seen before, something that could not be defined by any known vocabulary of emotions.

It was something more primal, more instinctive, like some dark liquid that had been sealed away for a long time, suddenly gushing out from a crack in the earth's crust.

"What did you say? Are you kidding me?!"

Loki's chest began to heave violently.

Each inhalation was like a giant bellows being pulled open, and each exhalation was like hot air being exhaled from the nostrils of an enraged bull.

He lifted his fingers from the pile of fallen leaves, clenched them into a fist in mid-air, and the knuckles of his five fingers protruded like the ridges of five small mountains.

"You'll stop me from getting my revenge!!"

Loki's voice began to tremble.

It's not the trembling of fear, nor the trembling of sadness, but the kind of trembling that occurs when you try to suppress an extremely intense emotion that's about to erupt, and your vocal cords can't withstand that suppression.

"Avenging one's father is a matter of course!!"

Shanks remained silent.

He stood there, his red hair gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the tree canopy.

Loki looked at him, his anger evident.

"so."

Loki said.

His voice suddenly returned to normal.

It's not the angry, somber, trembling normality, but a truly, almost callous, normality.

"You really came here to stop me."

It is not a question.

It is a declarative sentence.

Shanks looked at him, and something flickered deep within his unfocused eyes.

"Yes."

He said.

One word.

Loki's lips twitched.

That wasn't a laugh.

It was an expression a hundred times more complex than a smile, one that could not be accurately described by any known language.

"Jabbar, and you?"

Loki's gaze fell on Jabba.

"The same to you?"

Jabba remained silent for a moment.

"Your father's matter needs to wait for the right opportunity; those guys aren't as simple as you think."

"Stop talking."

Loki's voice suddenly exploded.

Fallen leaves rose from the ground.

It wasn't blown up by the wind, but rather vibrated by the sound waves.

The thick layer of fallen leaves, accumulated over many years, simultaneously left the ground, hovered in mid-air for less than half a second, and then fell back down, making a continuous, soft rustling sound.

"That person, those who harmed my father, and those guys from the World Government."

Loki's voice dropped from its explosive peak to a low, almost whispered tone.

"I can't stand it anymore."

Loki shifted his gaze from Jabba to the distant horizon, to the direction of the Elbaf Palace—a direction hidden by giant trees, yet one he knew existed.

Shanks remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"No matter what, I will stop you from self-destruction."

Loki looked down at him.

"You think you can stop me?"

"It's not what I thought."

Shanks said.

He pulled Griffin out.

"I know."

Loki's gaze lingered on the sword for a second.

Then his gaze shifted to Mihawk.

Those eyes lingered on Mihawk for about a second.

"Who are you?"

Mihawk did not answer.

He just stood there, like a knife stuck in the ground.

Loki's gaze then shifted to Bai Yu.

It paused for half a second.

"And who are you?"

"I came to see you."

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What are you looking at?"

"Let's see if you're strong enough."

Loki stared at Bai Yu for about two seconds.

Then the corners of his mouth curved up.

This time, he genuinely laughed.

It's not the joyful laugh of seeing an old friend, nor the mocking laugh of facing an enemy, but a purer, simpler laugh, purely because something is interesting.

"interesting."

Loki said.

"Redhead brought helpers to capture me, and one of them is an arrogant brat who doesn't know his own limitations."

His gaze shifted from Bai Yu back to Shanks.

"Is he one of yours?"

Shanks glanced at Bai Yu.

"no."

"Then why did you bring it?"

"Bai Yu, I didn't expect you to have other plans."

Loki glanced at Bai Yu again.

"It's very simple. It's only right to avenge my father. I also have my own things to do. If he's strong enough, it's not impossible to take him along."

"Is your goal also the world government?"

Shanks sensed that things were getting complicated. Shiraha must not be aware of how terrifying the World Government was. Was this era about to erupt into chaos?