CHAPTER 165 — Emperor
The place was quiet.
Not the kind of quiet that felt safe, but the kind that came after something big had already happened. The air still smelled faintly of smoke and metal, even though the sounds of shouting and panic were long gone.
Crates were stacked in uneven rows across the clearing. Some were broken open, others still sealed. Inside them were the spoils taken from various auctions.
Now they simply lay there.
Tony, Mindy, Saeko, and Naruto remained somewhere in Sabaody, continuing to loot anything that looked valuable. There were fewer people around, but the island wasn't empty. They avoided destroying property or harming civilians, focusing only on places that clearly resembled auction houses or storage tied to them.
And Gaius stood alone.
He was facing the crates, his posture calm, his breathing slow. His eyes moved over the contents without hurry.
There were blades with curved edges and strange metal. Firearms that looked like antiques in his eyes. Jewelry that shimmered faintly even in low light. Objects that gave off a quiet pressure, like they didn't belong in normal hands.
And then there were the fruits.
They sat inside padded containers, each one shaped differently. Some were round, others long, twisted, or uneven. Their colors were unnatural, deep purples, bright reds, dull blues with swirling patterns that seemed to move when you stared too long.
Gaius could feel them.
Not like heat or cold. More like a presence.
He reached out.
His fingers wrapped around one of the fruits.
The moment he touched it, the world disappeared.
Sound faded first. Then color. Then weight. It felt like falling inward, not down, but deeper.
Golden light filled his vision.
The clearing, the team, the crates, all gone.
He stood alone within his own mind.
The space was vast, endless, filled with warm, radiant light. It pressed in from all directions, not suffocating, but heavy with meaning.
A presence stood before him.
It was not a shape, not truly. More like a will given form. Ancient. Powerful. Familiar.
A voice echoed through the space, calm and deep.
"Gaius," it said.
"These devil fruits carry daemon souls within them."
Gaius was not surprised to hear the Emperor's voice. A month ago, the Emperor had entered his body once more. After all, he had been watching Gaius closely.
Observing his preparations, the hoarding of massive explosives, and other supplies, the Emperor had grown curious.
He descended into Gaius' mind, and the two had spoken. The Emperor had even learned of the new feature of the group chat.
Concerned for Gaius' safety, and aware of the unfathomable strength of the multiversal group chat, the Emperor had sent this incarnation far stronger than the one before.
Only awareness remained.
Gaius tightened his grip on the fruit in the real world without realizing it. The skin creaked softly under pressure.
The golden presence shifted.
"Do not destroy it yet," the Emperor said.
The pressure in Gaius' hand eased slightly.
"It is not truly a daemon," the Emperor continued.
"It is something else."
Gaius' voice echoed through the light, steady and controlled.
"Then what is it?"
"It is born from human dreams and wishes," the Emperor said.
The golden light expanded, showing fragments of thought. Images without form. Feelings without words.
"Longing," the Emperor said.
"Fear. Hope. Greed. The wish to become more than what one is."
Gaius listened carefully.
"These fruits," the Emperor continued, "are not born of the warp. I cannot feel the immaterium here. It does not exist in this world."
The light shifted again, darker at the edges.
"But I can sense an underworld. Something old. Something deep. Like the myths of ancient Terra."
Gaius nodded once.
"I see," he said.
The Emperor's attention moved beyond the fruit now, stretching outward, far past the clearing, past the island, past the sea itself.
"This world," the Emperor said, "is remarkable."
Images flickered, vast oceans, massive shapes moving beneath the waves, creatures so large they made ships look like toys.
"The energy here is immense," he continued. "The sea creatures contain tremendous vitality, as do many other forms of life."
Then the focus shifted to land.
"To the people," the Emperor said.
"Humans here are strong. Not just in body, but in spirit. Their growth is fast. Their limits are wide."
The light grew heavier.
"A Primarch," the Emperor said slowly, "would not be able to conquer this world by force alone."
That made Gaius' expression change.
A Primarch was not a small thing. Alone, they were weapons made flesh. For one to be unable to dominate this world by force meant only one thing.
This place was dangerous.
More than it looked.
The golden light began to fade.
The presence withdrew, not gone, but resting.
Gaius felt the world return.
Sound came back first.
The wind through the trees.
He looked down at his hand.
The fruit was still there.
Unbroken.
Carefully, he moved it into the Parcel System. The space swallowed it instantly, stored safely away.
Knowledge came before power.
He turned back to the crates.
Elsewhere, the war was far from over.
Marineford shook.
Smoke rolled across the battlefield, thick and dark. The ground was cracked, broken by shockwaves and force that no normal land could endure.
Whitebeard stood tall, his massive frame unmoved by the chaos around him. His eyes were sharp as he looked across the battlefield.
And then he saw him.
Blackbeard.
"Teach!" Whitebeard roared.
The name carried weight. Anger. Betrayal.
But Whitebeard did not move.
His sons were still running. Ships were still pulling away. Retreat was not yet complete.
Family came first.
Not far away, Akainu stood with a sword embedded deep in his body. Lightning crawled along the blade, disrupting his form, preventing him from fully turning into magma.
Slowly, he reached up.
His hand wrapped around the hilt.
With a sharp pull, he ripped it free.
Blood spilled down his side.
He did not shout.
He did not curse.
Magma surged, sealing the wound shut, burning flesh closed.
His face was calm.
Too calm.
"Ace must still die," he said quietly.
His eyes turned.
They locked onto Diana.
She felt it instantly.
Kuzan stepped forward.
"No," he said.
It was the first time he had ever opposed Akainu openly.
"Ace has escaped," Kuzan continued.
"Continuing this fight will only cost more Marine lives."
Akainu's jaw tightened.
Kizaru watched from a distance, hands in his pockets, eyes hidden behind his glasses. He said nothing.
Above them, Sengoku had seen everything.
Sengoku stood above the fractured ground, the echo of battle still ringing in his ears.
Ace had escaped.
And the world had seen it.
His jaw tightened until it ached. Not in anger, but in something worse.
Shame.
Not for losing a battle, but for losing control. For watching the symbol of Marine justice crack in front of the world. For realizing that, for all his planning and authority, the age he was meant to end had slipped through his fingers.
For the first time in years, Sengoku felt his age.
But he wasn't ready to give up yet.
He jumped down.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he landed.
Garp followed.
Luffy and Ace were safe. His grandsons had escaped. With that settled, there was nothing left that could trouble him.
For the first time, neither of them held back.
Whitebeard looked at them, then turned to Ace and Luffy.
"Go back to the ship," he said.
"Get ready to sail."
"No," Ace replied immediately. He could see they would continue fighting, and the man who caused all of this was here. He was also worried about Whitebeard…
"I'll stay."
Whitebeard laughed.
"I didn't say I would stay," he said.
Ace understood.
He grabbed Luffy.
They ran.
~~~
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