"This is rather wonderful... the miraculous nature of the system! It's simply inexplicable!"
One consciousness, two bodies... no, to be precise, one body. The Hero-King was a part of Rex's main body, and Rex could receive all the information the Hero-King received.
With that, Rex had another thought.
Rex's main body and the Hero-King merged into one, becoming just Rex. Then, they separated again.
"They can separate and merge. It's quite convenient... As expected, the Hero-King is just a part of my main body."
This also meant that even if the Hero-King died, the main body would not die, though it might be harmed. As for the extent of the harm, it should be negligible.
Because the Hero-King was just a very, very small part of the main body.
At the same time, the main body possessed all of the Hero-King's abilities and could use them with ease.
"This character template is amazing... Since he's independent now, the Hero-King persona can go collect Devil Fruits, while my main body goes to check in."
Rex didn't know if the character template could check in. After all, the system was in his main body, so to be on the safe side, it was better for the main body to go.
The next moment, Rex leaped, opened the King's Treasure, took out Vimana, and after sitting on the throne, quickly disappeared into the night sky.
"Since the Development Level has reached 80%, there's no point in staying in this Drum Kingdom any longer!" the Hero-King muttered to himself.
However, he had just made a grand declaration of becoming king. To leave so abruptly would damage the Hero-King's image.
"Well, I'll wait a while. In any case, I have no leads on collecting Devil Fruits right now."
Just as the Hero-King made this decision, a massive pirate ship slowly sailed in from the distant sea.
On the pirate ship flew a flag that everyone knew: a skull with three scars over its right eye. That was its symbol.
An Emperor of the New World, one of the Four Emperors, the Red Hair Pirates of Red-Haired Shanks.
Behind the Red Hair Pirates, a warship was quietly following.
A man in a yellow striped suit stood at the bow of the warship, wearing a "Justice" coat, his expression calm. At this moment, a Marine ran up, saluted the man, and spoke.
"Admiral Kizaru! Ahead is Drum Kingdom. The Red Hair Pirates will probably be landing on the island soon. According to their course, they should be resupplying with food and water in Drum Kingdom!"
"Well, I see."
Kizaru waved his hand dismissively. Seeing this, the Marine withdrew.
"The Red Hair Pirates... as one of the Four Emperors, why would he come to the East Blue of all places... and lose an arm? How terrifying. Who did he lose that arm to?"
Red-Hair's lost arm.
It was big news. No one knew what had happened to Red-Hair's arm. In the East Blue of all places, what kind of existence could have taken Red-Hair's arm?
Kizaru didn't understand, and the entire World Government didn't understand!
Originally, when Red-Hair left the New World several years ago, it caused a huge uproar. To control his influence, the Marines had to dispatch a large number of personnel to track him, afraid he would cause trouble.
After all, he was one of the Four Emperors. A single misstep could destroy a country. The World Government did not dare to be careless.
However, after several warships were sunk by Red-Hair, the Marines had to back off, only daring to watch from a distance, not getting close.
After that, Red-Hair entered the East Blue.
When Garp learned of this, he rushed to the East Blue in a rage. Because Garp had gone, the Marines withdrew their surveillance.
But not long after Garp's arrival, Red-Hair left the East Blue, missing an arm.
No one knew what had happened in between. Now, Red-Hair had re-entered the Grand Line, heading towards the New World, with Kizaru following him.
Of course, Red-Hair and Kizaru would basically not have any friction. Both sides knew that a fight would have no winner and would only wear them both down. As long as Red-Hair didn't cause trouble, Kizaru wouldn't act. As long as Kizaru didn't attack first, Red-Hair couldn't be bothered with him.
A stalemate of overt powers.
"Well, I'll just go through the motions. After all, Red-Hair isn't Kaido or Big Mom. He won't cause any trouble!"
Therefore, as long as he clocked in for work every day, Kizaru was happy to be idle.
Meanwhile.
A few days ago, a major event occurred in Impel Down.
Because the Hero-King released the major criminals from the Infinite Hell, it led to a riot in Impel Down, causing the most vicious prison break in history.
Although Marine Headquarters dispatched Admiral-level forces, the effect was not significant.
The final result—
Impel Down was in a state of semi-destruction, Shiryu was injured, Magellan was unconscious, and a large number of prisoners escaped. Although Admiral Aokiji was suppressing them at sea, he was still outnumbered, and several legendary figures were released.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Sengoku sat in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose with his right hand, his face troubled.
Below, a Marine was reporting on the situation in Impel Down. However, the more he listened, the more alarmed he became. Waving his hand, Sengoku spoke.
"You may leave. Call Kuzan and Sakazuki to me!"