I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

But he held out for a long time in his battle with Roger, and there was a tremendous vitality in his seemingly withered and old body that did not match his appearance and age.

"Is this anomaly due to the Devil Fruit?" Roger wondered.

"Just like Ain's Rewind Fruit, the World Government also has a similar fruit, but this mysterious power became ineffective after the Five Elders died."

The moment this guess crossed his mind, a sudden change occurred.

Rumble.

The ground beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble violently.

This was certainly not caused by the impact of seawater; the red earth continent is not that fragile, and the power of the flood was not that great.

Amid the violent tremors, the ground beneath the soldiers' feet seemed to begin to tilt, and the slope changed.

The crimson ground moved as if it were alive, and a small hill quickly rose up, protecting the city cluster of the holy land behind it. The surging flood was immediately blocked and crashed against the hill, making a loud noise.

The massive flood that had just swept in was now receding rapidly before the mountain peaks.

A bird's-eye view.

At that moment, the Red Earth continent in Sig’s eyes seemed to come alive. The ground was moving, causing the seawater that had accumulated on the land to tilt away from the Holy Land and pour back into the sea after a huge drop of thousands of meters.

Just as a colossal creature stretched its body slightly, the once relatively flat terrain of the sacred land was altered, and the floodwaters naturally receded.

"this...."

This moment was witnessed by countless people on the Dushan and the flying carpet, leaving them horrified.

On the Dushan ship inside the air portal's alternate dimension.

The hundred giants, led by the Giant King, had exhausted their strength after unleashing a hundred powerful attacks in their previous combined assault. Instead of continuing the battle, they hid in another dimension through Stussy's air portal to rest.

Right now.

The hundreds of giants who were resting quietly on the Dushan were suddenly standing up, their eyes wide open.

"What...what did I see?"

The giant king stared in disbelief at the earth beneath his feet.

At this moment, the Dushan had already taken off under the influence of Sig's telekinesis. The giants stood in the air, looking down at the earth and taking in the view of Mary Geoise, the highest peak of the Red Line.

After the endless flood receded, the red earth beneath their feet moved as if it were alive, resembling a giant, crimson serpent that stretched to the heavens and the earth.

"This is..."

"Even the strongest spear in Elbaf cannot pierce this!" The Giant King collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide with shock, uttering a single word:

"A blood-stained serpent!"

If the Red Earth was a giant serpent that circled the world, with its ends connected, then...

So, the giant snake has now awakened.

Mary Geoise, the highest peak on the continent, is the head of this giant serpent.

When the giant snake awoke and raised its head, the floodwaters that were originally above its head began to fall from the edge of its head, forming a giant waterfall with a drop of several thousand meters.

...............................

Beneath the red earth continent.

Just as Shanks' pirate ship, the Red Devil, was about to dock at a port on the Red Line, preparing to break through the remaining small number of marines guarding the port and enter the Holy Land to join the battle.

The entire red earth continent before them was trembling violently.

The Red Line is so vast; it's like a giant serpent that encircles the entire world.

This enormous creature had only just awakened; the slightest movement of its head caused the waves to roar, with waves several meters high crashing against the shore, throwing the Red-Haired Pirates into a flurry of activity amidst the sudden surge of wind and waves.

After barely escaping the sudden storm, the sight of the red earth continent moving as if it were alive nearly made the entire ship jump in fright.

"Shanks, what do we do now?" The fat Lucky Roux was completely flustered, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He quickly took a couple of bites of his big stick to calm his nerves.

"Are you kidding me? The Red Earth is alive? How are we supposed to land on the Holy Land under these circumstances?" First mate Beckman frowned, losing his usual composure.

The scene unfolding before their eyes gave even the Four Emperors, who had witnessed countless storms, a sense of absurdity, as if their worldview had been shattered.

Over the years, what kind of situation haven't they seen?

I've never seen anything like this before!

Only Hawkeye remained relatively calm. He pressed down on the brim of his hat, raised his head, and looked towards the top of the Red Line, towards the direction of the snake's head that disappeared into the clouds.

Just a moment ago he could see the white buildings of the Holy Land of Mary Geoise from here, but now he can't see anything at all.

"That's why I said earlier... arriving late might not be a bad thing," he said.

.......................................

Above the Holy Land Mary Geoise.

On the floating giant ship, Dushan.

Sig stood in the void with a grim face, looking down at the excessively large blood-red serpent at his feet, his heart skipped a beat.

"Gorbachev, what's going on?" he asked, turning his head.

"What husband? Me?" The man with the mustache straightened his collar and wiped the sweat from his bald head.

The head of the man with the mustache, Wu Laoxing, was completely bald, with only sparse hair on the sides. On his shiny forehead was a conspicuous graphic birthmark.

He saw Sieg's sharp gaze and his heart skipped a beat.

Before, when we needed him, we called him Comrade, but now Sig has finally shown his true colors?

He sighed inwardly and stepped forward.

Previously, when Sig confronted Im, he didn't dare to reveal her secrets in front of Im, but now that Sig has shown his fangs, he has no other choice.

The infamous reputation of the Mountain Bandit King Demon is no less intimidating than that of Im.

"This is Im's second Devil Fruit ability," the Five Elders with the mustache replied.

"Paramecia type, Life Fruit".

"This is a Devil Fruit corresponding to the Paramecia-type Soul-Soul Fruit," explained the Five Elders with the mustache.

“Since you have had a lot of contact with Big Mom, you must know about the Soul-Soul Fruit’s abilities, so it will be easy for you to understand.”

Sieg nodded.

The Soul-Soul Fruit grants the ability to manipulate souls and create Homies, giving souls to all things—it's practically the power of gods in mythology to enlighten all things.

"The Soul-Soul Fruit can steal the souls of others, while the Life Fruit can steal the life force of others."

"If a complete human being is affected by these two fruits, his soul will be incomplete, his vitality will be depleted, and his lifespan will naturally decline."

"One of the great abilities of the Soul-Soul Fruit is that it can create Homies by injecting souls into them, giving lifeless, inanimate objects a soul and individual consciousness."

"The Fruit of Life also possesses a similar ability to create Homies, giving life to all things and creating [living dolls]."

Give all things a soul, give all things life.

These are two symmetrical abilities. If these two abilities could be combined, a wonderful chemical reaction would surely occur.

"Of course, the two abilities are not exactly the same," said the Five Elders with the mustache.

"Users of the Soul-Soul Fruit cannot inject their soul power into living people; they can only inject it into Homies' bodies to enhance their power."

"But those who possess the power of the Fruit of Life can infuse life force into the bodies of others."

Upon hearing this, Roger, who was standing next to Sieg, suddenly realized.

The Five Elders who had just fought him for a long time probably possessed power that did not match their age and appearance because their life force was injected into them by the life force of the fruit user.

But now Sieg is more concerned about...

"This ability is simply too powerful to be real, isn't it? Even for Im, it's too exaggerated." Whitebeard held his naginata, Murakumogiri, his brows furrowed deeply.

Ability users like Whitebeard have already reached the pinnacle of the world.

His domineering presence and abilities are top-notch.

Even someone as powerful as Whitebeard could unleash a tsunami that could destroy an island, or alter the entire island's landscape through an earthquake.

But... what they're facing now is the Red Earth Continent, which is on a completely different level.

Even if the Red Line in front of him wasn't fully activated, and the snake's head just moved and lifted up, it was already far beyond Whitebeard's capabilities.

“No ordinary ability user, no matter how strong, could possibly be this strong.” The Five Elders with the mustache nodded in agreement.

"Although Im possesses strength that can be described as despairing, there are limits to human abilities. Even with her own strength, she cannot achieve this level."

"Let's use the Soul-Soul Fruit as an example to explain," the man with the mustache explained.

"As one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom's personal strength is enough to place her among the top Devil Fruit users."

"Back then, in the Kingdom of Totto Land, the islands within the entire kingdom were all filled with a vast number of Homies. Trees, houses, ground, flowers... almost everything was Homies."

"But in fact, even someone as powerful as Grandma couldn't possibly supply such a massive amount of Homies with her personal soul power."

"Then, where do the souls that drive these Homies come from?"

No explanation was needed from the Five Old Stars with the Eight-Character Mustache; Sieg knew the answer.

The answer is... the souls come from the inhabitants of Totto Land.

Every so often, Queen Charlotte Linlin of Tales of Tales would collect a "life tax" from the inhabitants of Tales of Tales, taking a portion of their souls in exchange for their lifespans, thus ensuring the continued existence of a vast number of Homies.

"The so-called Four Emperors sound noble, but in reality they are nothing more than local tyrants who live in a corner of the New World."

"And the Tottoland Kingdom is just a few islands; compared to the rest of the world, it seems very small." The man with the mustache paused, then said deeply:

"Imu is the true master of the World Government; she has been secretly controlling the World Government from behind the scenes."

"She holds the resources and wealth of most of the world in her hands."

"The old lady can maintain the existence of the Homies of the entire Totto Land by harvesting the lifespans of the inhabitants of Totto Land."

"And the manpower that Im can mobilize is naturally far beyond what Tottoland can offer."

“Sigurd, if you have done any research, you should know that since the Marineford War two years ago, the World Government has been in a state of war, and a huge number of laborers have entered the Red Line.”

"And where did these laborers go...?"

The Five Old Stars with the Eight-Character Mustache didn't continue.