Uchiha Puppet Master, Starting from One Piece.

"Immediately, you are no match for them right now, but why did they arrive so quickly..."

Shanks' tone left no room for negotiation. His eyes didn't even glance at Loki and Bai Yu; his gaze remained fixed on the approaching direction. "While they're still—"

"Return what?"

Loki's voice suddenly changed, no longer his usual nonchalant, seemingly unserious tone, but serious.

Is it still not too late?

Shanks finally looked at Loki.

He saw in Loki's eyes something he hadn't seen in anyone's eyes for a very, very long time.

That kind of thing is called enlightenment.

It's not the kind of fleeting emotional impulse that arises when you're hot-blooded and dissipates after you calm down. Rather, it's something that takes root in the deepest part of your soul after a long, painful process of self-examination and self-torture, becoming as hard as bones, as powerful as muscles, and as unstoppable as the beating of a heart.

"Loki—"

"Shanks."

Loki interrupted Shanks, his voice calm: "Do you know how my father died?"

Shanks remained silent.

"You know."

Loki laughed.

There was not a trace of warmth in that smile; only something chilling, something that had been repeatedly chewed over in the long darkness, a hatred that had transformed from an emotion into its "essence," from a feeling into a tangible reality.

"A giant king who has lived for over a hundred years, a warrior possessing the world's top-tier Observation Haki, top-tier Armament Haki, and top-tier Conqueror's Haki, has been controlled by someone else!!"

Loki's voice turned into a beastly roar at the last moment, but his body made no unnecessary movements. His body was as steady as a mountain. This steadiness was not because he was suppressing his emotions, but because his emotions had become so intense that no action could bear them, no expression could release them, and no venting could alleviate them.

Loki raised his head, his eyes piercing through the sky of Elbaf, through the fading blue and the spreading void, through everything, and landing on the approaching presence.

"That's them."

Shanks' lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

What was he trying to say?

He wanted to say, "Loki, you don't understand. Those people are beyond your capabilities." He wanted to say, "Loki, I will avenge your father, but not now." He wanted to say, "Loki, only by living can you take revenge."

But he didn't say a word, because his Observation Haki had already given him an answer before he could even open his mouth.

Loki won't leave.

It wasn't because Loki didn't know how terrifying those people were; on the contrary, Loki knew even more about how terrifying they were than Shanks, because he knew just how powerful his father was, and that such a powerful father was controlled by the enemy.

Loki understood their horror better than anyone else alive in the world.

And it is precisely because he understands that he will not leave.

Some hatreds may fade, be diluted, or be transformed into something else over time, but some hatreds will not. Some hatreds will ferment, condense, and become a force that is stronger, purer, and more unstoppable than the original.

Loki's hatred is the latter.

Shanks turned to look at Shiraha.

He wanted to find some rationality, some calmness, and some help from Bai Yu to bring Loki back to his senses from this suicidal impulse.

But he saw something in Bai Yu's eyes that was the same as Loki's.

No, it's not the same.

Loki's eyes were filled with hatred, the kind of hatred that had been suppressed for too long and finally found an outlet, like a volcanic eruption, scalding and burning everything it touched.

There was no hatred in Bai Yu's eyes.

In Bai Yu's eyes was a calmer, deeper, and more like a decision made after a long period of thought, a pure decision untainted by any emotional fluctuations.

"White Feather."

Shanks' voice carried an emotion he himself was unaware of: "You're young, you don't understand those people, you have no idea—"

"What do I not know?"

"I don't know how strong they are? I don't know what I'm facing?"

Bai Yu shook his head.

“I know better than you do, Shanks.”

For a fleeting moment, his eyes emitted a light that caused even Shanks's Observation Haki to momentarily become disordered.

"My eyes."

Bai Yu's voice was calm: "It allowed me to see many things, to see the truth of this world, to see what those sitting on the throne did not want anyone to see, to see the truth that was erased from history by the World Government, sealed in the Void Century, and buried in Laugh Tale."

His gaze passed over Shanks' shoulder and landed on the distant, void-colored light.

“I saw their fear.”

"The throne has been vacant for centuries."

Bai Yu's voice echoed across the land of Elbaf.

“Those scum who sit on Mary Geoise, who call themselves kings of the world, who enslave all the creatures of this world, think that the throne will always belong to them.”

Bai Yu's lips curled up slightly.

That smile wasn't the same one Shanks had ever seen on Shiraha in any battle. That smile contained no anger, no killing intent, no pre-battle tension or excitement; it contained only one thing.

Contempt.

A kind of absolute, thorough, unshakable contempt stemming from absolute confidence in one's own strength and absolute disdain for one's opponent.

"I'll be here today."

Bai Yu's voice changed from disdain to a more grand one, as if the entire sky was speaking for him, as if the whole world was resonating with him, making you feel that you were not listening to a person speaking, but rather to fate itself issuing a judgment upon you.

"Today I will shatter their arrogance, today I will shatter their shackles, today I will shatter the false order they have forged with hundreds of years of enslavement and oppression."

Bai Yu slowly raised his right hand, his palm facing the sky, his fingers slightly spread, as if he were grasping something—not a weapon, not power, but something more abstract yet more real, something like destiny itself that could be held in one's hands.

"That throne."

"Today is its first day waiting for its new owner."

Shanks stood there, his lips slightly parted, his eyes reflecting Bai Yu's back.

That figure stood out exceptionally clearly under the sky of Elbaf, not because of good lighting or angle, but because that figure itself was the brightest, most conspicuous, and most impossible to ignore thing in that space.

Chapter 239 A Flower in a Mirror, a Moon in the Water

Then, after a while, the whole world suddenly became quiet.

It's not that there's no sound; the wind is still there, the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs is still there, and the sound of giant birds flapping their wings as they take flight in the distant forest is still there.

But all these sounds, upon reaching the area where the void-colored light lingered, seemed to be swallowed up by something, unable to reach anyone's ears.

Im came out.

The five elders followed behind him, their steps perfectly synchronized.

The twelve members of the Knights of God walked at the very back.

Garin walked at the very front of the twelve, his right hand casually resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist. That casualness was not laxity, but an extreme relaxation, a kind of utter contempt for all potential threats that one is only entitled to after one's strength has reached a certain threshold.

Shanks' pupils contracted sharply the moment Garin appeared.

His Observation Haki finally caught the aura that he had been unable to locate.

It's not Garin Sei.

It's the person behind Garin Sei.

"Is that the man they're talking about, Lord Im...?"

Shanks frowned and spoke in a low voice, so low that only Hawkeye and Shiraha, who were standing next to him, could hear him.

Loki didn't look at Shanks; his eyes were fixed on Im, on the figure who was walking towards them, barely ten meters tall, and who looked like a child in front of the giants.

His father, the king of the giants who had lived for over a hundred years, possessed the most powerful aura in the world. He was a warrior who could make tsunamis retreat, sea monsters bow down, and volcanoes extinguish with a mere gesture. Yet, he was manipulated like a puppet towards his death.

And that person is standing right there now.

Loki reverted to his normal form and stood in front of Bai Yu and the others.

"Loki."

Bai Yu's voice came from the side, as calm as a stagnant pool.

"Wait a moment."

Loki's teeth were grinding, but he didn't move. He acknowledged this person who could withstand his attacks, and this guy seemed to be on his side.

Bai Yu's eyes never left Im.

His eyes were capturing every detail of Im.

Im's gait frequency, stride length, angle of weight shift, amplitude of arm swing, breathing rhythm, heart rate, pattern of body surface temperature distribution, sequence of muscle fiber contraction, speed of blood flow...

His eyes saw it all.

His brain processed all of this in an instant.

The strength Im is displaying now is probably less than half of his peak strength, because Bai Yu sensed that it was a transformation technique similar to the Rinnegan.

Bai Yu's eyes narrowed slightly.

Im stopped less than 100 meters away from Bai Yu and the others.

For an ordinary person, 100 meters takes ten seconds, but for the people present, 100 meters is a distance that can be covered in the blink of an eye.

But Im chose to stop here not out of caution, not because of a safe distance, but for some other reason.

100 meters.

This is the distance at which he is willing to show a stranger his full face.

A little closer, and it's a blessing.

Im's gaze swept over Bai Yu, over Loki, over Shanks, over Jabba, over Hawkeye, and over everyone present.