Chapter 905 - 905: Good Luck on the Journey Ahead~

"Heh, what a piece of bad news..."

Crocodile's expression was complicated. He first glanced at Shanks, who was kneeling on the ground and shouting in grief and anger, yet ultimately did not continue pursuing them.

Then he looked toward Gan Fall's back as it gradually disappeared into the rain.

He was silent for a moment and thought for a long while.

In the end, he still took a step forward and followed.

At worst, it was just death.

If he lost his freedom, then what difference was being alive from being dead?

And so, Crocodile and Robin, one after the other, followed Gan Fall deeper into Upper Yard.

And Yasopp, who was at the very back, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and quickly caught up with the two of them.

Shanks was extremely unstable at this moment, nearly out of control.

But compared to staying behind to take care of his captain, keeping a close eye on these two people who could not yet be completely trusted was the duty he, as the vice captain, should fulfill more.

The captain's former vice captain, Rayleigh, was already dead. And the captain's recent vice captain, Beckman, had defected.

Now, in the Red-Haired Pirates, he, Yasopp, was the only left and right hand the captain could rely on.

He felt that he had to shoulder this responsibility.

As for Luffy, although his injuries were not light and there was a bloody hole through his abdomen, judging from his condition, he should not die.

Leaving him here for the time being, he should not run into any major trouble.

Thus, this group gradually went farther away.

And when their figures completely disappeared into the curtain of rain, the beach paved with cloud sand once again fell into deathly silence.

Only the pattering rain and Shanks's suppressed, intermittent sobbing remained.

"Following this group of vermin, can you really reach the other shore?"

A gentle and soft voice suddenly rang out behind Shanks.

The light of day passed through the heavy rain clouds, casting down a ray of sacred radiance.

A figure resembling an angel, accompanied by that ray of light, slowly descended onto the cloud sand.

"Tsk!"

Shanks slowly stood up, suppressing the grief and hatred surging in his heart. His voice was low, his gaze cold as a blade as he stared fixedly at the person who had arrived, "You're the Princess Gan Fall was talking about? Rosse's third daughter, Jaygarcia Conis!"

A spotless white dress, long and smooth golden hair, a pair of small white wings gently spread behind her, combined with the sacred and ethereal aura naturally flowing from her entire body.

From any angle, she looked extremely much like a pure and flawless angel.

However, Shanks knew better than anyone.

If this person's chest were cut open, that heart would probably be black.

Not a single one of Rosse's children was any good.

"You still haven't answered my question."

Conis paid no attention to Shanks's cold hostility. She merely slowly floated a few meters forward.

Beneath her spotless skirt lay Luffy, unconscious in a pool of blood.

She slightly lowered her eyes and looked at Luffy beneath her feet, the corners of her lips curling into a faint smile, "Right now, I only need to raise my hand and bring the blade down. Then all of your hopes will end here. If you're not strong enough, why take such a risk for nothing?"

"Hahaha!"

Upon hearing this, Shanks actually laughed self-deprecatingly, that laughter full of bitterness and resolve, "There's no such thing as being fully prepared in this world. If you really had to make everything fully prepared before doing anything, where would there be even the slightest bit of freedom left?"

"A Luffy who is bound and arranged like that could never awaken the power of Nika."

Shanks no longer pretended either.

Since the World Government already knew everything about them like the back of its hand, deliberately hiding anything was meaningless.

However, deep down, he did not agree with what Conis had said.

The essence of their predicament this time was simply that they were not strong enough, and absolutely not that they had taken too great a risk as Conis claimed.

How strong the World Government was, perhaps others did not know, but how could he, Shanks, not know?

No matter how thoroughly this group of theirs prepared, no matter how powerful they became, the World Government could always arrange opponents strong enough to crush them.

Since that was the case, what meaning was there in whether they became stronger or not, or whether they were fully prepared or not?

Precisely because he had seen through this point, he chose to stop clinging to complete preparation and instead seize every opportunity to fight to the death.

"Have you ever thought about it?"

Conis studied Shanks with interest. Her clear eyes seemed capable of seeing through every bit of his forced calm, "When did you yourself start throwing caution to the wind like this?"

"Was it when most of your companions died in Cocoyasi Village? Or when you met Beckman again in Loguetown? Or perhaps when you personally watched Juste get captured in Arabasta?"

"Just as I thought," Shanks smiled self-deprecatingly, his smile full of helplessness, "Even the fact that Beckman and I met, you know all about it."

He knew it.

Before the World Government's omnipresent eyes, he had no secrets at all.

Everything was under the gaze of those eyes.

Everything was within the other side's careful calculations.

And the other side's strength was far above his own.

This feeling of being completely wrapped in despair made him not even know what he should do, or how he could win this seemingly hopeless war.

"Mm, don't be so discouraged."

Conis instead smiled sweetly and tilted her head. Her appearance actually carried a hint of childlike innocence, "You can make full use of our arrogance. Maybe in the end, you really can jump out of this box."

Her Devil Fruit was the Fate-Fate Fruit.

A fruit capable of peering into and even altering other people's fates.

However, during Luffy's journey this time, there was actually very little she could see.

Whenever an event involved a powerhouse above SS-class, she could not see the course of that person's fate.

Because those existences had already transcended the range her ability could reach.

And throughout this entire journey, her father had been secretly involved in almost everything from beginning to end.

So to her, the outcome of this journey had instead become a truly unknown thing that even she found novel.

Of course, she could still easily make some small, temporary alterations to fate.

For example, right now.

"I bet that if you bring the blade in your hand down right now, what it cuts won't be my body, but Luffy's neck."

Conis looked at Gryphon, hanging high in the air and almost about to fall, and giggled, without the slightest intention of dodging on her face, "Do you dare to bet?"

Shanks's pupils suddenly contracted.

And Gryphon, which he had raised high and which contained overwhelming anger, ultimately stopped two centimeters in front of Conis and did not fall any further.

He had noticed that bizarre scene when he had slashed at Gan Fall just now.

It was not that his attack had lost its accuracy. It was that he simply could not attack the other party.

Even though the other party's position was within his Observation Haki's perception, he simply could not hit him.

Now, facing Conis, he even less believed that his slash could truly hit her.

Moreover, Conis's casually stated wager sent a chill through his entire body.

What if, once that blade came down, it really struck the unconscious Luffy beneath his feet, just as she said?

He could not afford to bet.

Luffy was already their last hope.

Perhaps... yes.

The blade suspended in midair trembled slightly.

Shanks stood where he was, rain mixed with the traces of tears that had not yet dried sliding down his resolute cheeks, reflecting his pair of crimson eyes.

What should he do now?

And what should he do...

"You don't dare to bet. Then it's my turn."

Conis spoke with a smile, a trace of teasing mischief flashing through her clear eyes.

She slowly reached out her hand. That fair, jade-like palm gently covered the hilt of Shanks's Gryphon, which was suspended in midair and trembling slightly.

Now!

Feeling the unmistakably real sensation transmitted through his palm, a cold glint suddenly flashed through Shanks's eyes.

This was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity!

Since she dared to take the initiative to touch his blade, then she could not blame him for showing no mercy.

Two-colored Haki, Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki, the two burst out completely at this instant, surging toward the blade like a raging tide.

The terrifying power interwoven with black and dark red made the entire Gryphon emit a hum as if it could no longer bear the burden.

Without hesitation, he directly brought it down viciously toward Conis's neck.

In his expectation, even if this sudden sneak attack could not kill her in one blow, it would at least be enough to make this extremely arrogant brat pay a heavy price.

However, unfortunately.

"So, you still don't understand."

Conis's voice remained as light and leisurely as ever, as though in her eyes, Shanks's slash containing destructive power was nothing more than a harmless joke.

"I really like the way Father described Aizen-sensei."

She tilted her head slightly, her smile growing broader, "Is it possible that when you focus all your attention on the other party's special ability, that special ability is actually their least noticeable trait?"

"And when did I ever give you the illusion that if you caught me, you could hurt me?"

Her slender fingers gently grasped Gryphon's hilt.

That slash capable of splitting mountains and breaking peaks was actually held firmly in her hand just like that, unable to fall even a fraction further.

The entire world seemed to have stopped at this moment.

"You... you didn't use Haki?"

Shanks's eyes widened in shock as he stared fixedly at Conis's hand gripping the hilt.

There was no trace of Armament Haki attached to those hands.

They were simply the hands of a girl that looked soft and boneless.

Yet this hand had effortlessly blocked his full-strength attack.

"Your body, how could it possibly..."

This had already exceeded the bounds of common sense he could understand.

No matter how powerful a human body was, without Haki, it absolutely could not directly take a full-strength attack containing two kinds of Haki from an S-class powerhouse.

"It's reishi."

Conis explained with a smile, her tone carrying a hint of teasing:

"Beckman should have told you about it, right? About reishi. Although my spiritual pressure isn't particularly strong, blocking one of your attacks is still no problem."

As she spoke, her gaze swept over Shanks with interest. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, as though she had thought of some interesting idea:

"Oh, right! There should be a punishment for losing."

She rested her chin on her hand, putting on a thoughtful expression:

"Before, I hadn't figured out what kind of punishment would make Father find it interesting. But now..."

She raised her head, a bright light blooming in her clear eyes:

"I've thought of one."

Srrk!

A tearing sound suddenly rang out.

"Ugh!"

Shanks groaned, his entire body jolted as if struck by lightning, his figure suddenly retreated backward.

However, the only right arm he had, which was tightly gripping Gryphon, remained where it was.

That arm had been severed cleanly at the root and fell limply, heavily striking the cloud sand and raising a small patch of dust.

Blood gushed from Shanks's shoulder like a spring.

"What does it feel like without an arm?"

Conis looked at the staggering Shanks with a smile. There was not the slightest bit of guilt in her tone; instead, it carried a hint of innocent curiosity, "But don't worry. I won't just leave you like this."

She paused, her smile growing wider, "If you completely lose your arm and your strength is greatly reduced, it will have quite an impact on the later part of the show."

The moment she finished speaking, Shanks suddenly felt darkness before his eyes, and his consciousness sank into endless darkness.

His body collapsed helplessly onto the cloud sand.

Conis looked at the unconscious Shanks, then at Rayleigh's body, which had long since grown cold in the distance, and nodded in satisfaction.

Immediately afterward, she raised her head and, toward the heavy rain clouds above, toward that unseen yet omnipresent gaze, waved her hand with a smile, "Thank you for Father's help! If little Conis had to do it herself, it would have taken quite a bit of effort!"

There was no response from Rosse in the sky.

Only the rain continued to fall.

Only Conis knew that Rosse had indeed intervened just now.

Otherwise, with her strength, cutting off Shanks's arm and making him unconscious would still have required quite a bit of effort.

Immediately afterward, a sacred ray of light suddenly tore through the heavy dark clouds, pouring straight down like a divine miracle.

This ray of light simultaneously fell upon Shanks's unconscious body and Rayleigh's cold corpse.

The light was warm and gentle.

Under the cover of that light, an unbelievable scene slowly unfolded.

Rayleigh's two arms actually broke cleanly from the shoulders under the effect of the light and silently separated from that body.

Immediately afterward, the two arms seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, slowly floating toward Shanks before finally landing steadily on his empty shoulders.

Click! Click!

The faint sounds of flesh reconnecting rang out.

The two arms actually merged perfectly with his body as if they had originally grown there.

Although, because of the difference in the builds of Rayleigh and Shanks, the places where they were joined looked somewhat strange.

But no matter what, Shanks had at least turned misfortune into fortune and once again become a person with all four limbs intact.

"Goodbye! I hope you have good luck on your journey from here on!"

Conis waved with a smile at the two people lying on the ground. Her figure flashed, and with a whoosh, she disappeared without a trace.

At the same time, a cluster of golden flames suddenly ignited on Shanks's arm that had just been severed, burning fiercely.

The flames were intense and pure. In an instant, they burned that severed arm, along with all the vitality contained within it, completely to ashes, turning it into a handful of gray-white dust scattered by the wind.

Leaving Shanks no possibility of reattaching the severed arm.

The rain continued to fall.

The light of day slowly faded away.

Only two figures lying on the cloud sand remained, appearing especially lonely and desolate beneath this gloomy sky.

[T/N: New Novel guys. It's an original. Super good kinda. Here's the synopsis:

Title: Transmigrated Into an Eldritch World, I Am the Strongest?

Synopsis:

Transmigrated into another world where Eldritch run rampant, Lynn finds he's become a knockoff pseudo-god whose divine power has run dry and who's about to fade away.

Outside the church, indescribable horrors are pounding on the door, and the despairing countdown begins.

To save himself, Lynn grits his teeth and fabricates a full-dive VR online game called [Old Gods Awaken], summoning a batch of hardcore players from Blue Star to be his believers.

He figured this bunch would tremble in fear under the Eldritch's torment, but things spiraled completely out of control...

Player A (fanatical): "Guys, this headless wraith's physical hitbox is bugged! Block it with a door and take turns chipping at it for the first kill!"

Player B (excited): "This Great Old One's tentacle has a drop check! Eat it raw for +5 poison resistance, come bite!"

Player C (pensive): "If we tie up all the NPCs in this town, the cultists won't find anyone to sacrifice. That's what you call a logic clear!"

Watching the Eldritch monsters outside the door literally scared shitless by the players, and the local natives staring at him with awestruck, crazed eyes and worshiping him as the "Supreme Lord of Chaos", Lynn, sitting on the divine throne, looks majestic and unmatched on the surface, but inside he's panicking like an old dog: 'Stop filling in the blanks! I really am not some indescribable source of horror, I just couldn't hold back this Fourth Calamity bunch!']

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