"Haa..."
Aiden let out a long breath and looked away from the seven moons hanging above him.
No matter where this was, or what damn era this was, standing here staring at the sky would not solve anything.
"I need to find someone first."
Aiden steadied his breathing.
"If there are people here, I can find out what happened. And if I'm alive, there's still a way back."
From 5,000 meters up, all he had seen was ancient forest.
No villages. No smoke. No roads. Not even a break in the trees.
Bzzzt—
Aiden moved.
His body broke into lightning and shot forward, low over the forest floor, toward the distant mountain ridge.
He did not move at full speed. Not here. He kept his speed low enough to watch the ground below, ready to move if anything attacked.
Ten minutes.
Half an hour.
An hour.
As time passed, Aiden's frown deepened.
The land was too large. The forest still stretched past the horizon. Huge creatures moved through the trees, but he still could not see any villages, roads, smoke, or cleared land.
He flew for nearly two hours before finally crossing the towering mountain range ahead.
At that moment, the land opened before him.
Aiden stopped in midair.
"This is..."
What appeared before him was no longer a forest, nor a wasteland.
It was the ruins of a city, so large that Aiden stopped moving.
But it was definitely not the kind of ancient ruin with collapsed bricks and rotting wood that Aiden had in mind.
The entire city was silver-gray, dull under the sunlight.
The architecture here was nothing like anything Aiden knew.
Those collapsed tall buildings were not made of bricks or stone. They had been built from materials Aiden could not recognize at all.
Even though most of the buildings had already collapsed, he could still see how high they had once stood.
Those strangely shaped high towers had smooth, sharp designs. They looked more advanced than anything he had seen before, even in his old world.
The streets were wide and flat. Although they were covered in thick dust and debris, he could still see how organized the city had once been.
Aiden slowly landed. His boots tapped against the road.
The sound echoed through the empty ruins. It sounded harsh in the silence.
Aiden walked down the street. He looked around, and his pace slowed.
Strange vehicles lay overturned by the roadside. They had no wheels and smooth, narrow bodies. Even though they were only piles of scrap metal now, he could still tell they had once moved without touching the ground.
A giant translucent crystal board had fallen on the side of the road. It looked like some kind of billboard. It was broken, but the clean cuts and complex crystal lines inside were cleaner than anything he had seen on Egghead.
"What era is this...?"
Aiden looked at the wreckage of those devices he had never seen before. He reached out and touched a broken metal pillar by the road. A cold, smooth texture pressed against his fingertips.
His chest tightened.
"Even Egghead Island, said to be 500 years ahead of the world, isn't like this."
"Vegapunk is still struggling with energy transmission, but this place looks like it already solved it."
"Is this really still the same world?"
"Or... did that damn Time-Time Fruit bring me hundreds of years into the future?"
While he was thinking, his foot struck something.
"Crack."
Something cracked under his boot.
Aiden looked down and froze.
It was a skeleton.
Half of the skeleton was buried in the rubble, but the broken ribs, twisted spine, and weapon still clenched in its hand told Aiden it had died fighting.
It was larger than an ordinary human, about three meters tall. Its hand still gripped a broken weapon.
Aiden crouched down and picked up the broken weapon.
It was not a sword, nor was it a flintlock. It was a metal tube. Thin circuit boards and a ring-shaped part near the broken end were exposed at the break.
"A beam weapon..."
He then looked at the scraps of clothing left on the skeleton. It was some kind of thin but tough fiber, the remains of some kind of combat suit.
Not far away, even more skeletons were scattered.
Some were huge, clearly Giants. Some were as small as children, likely Tontattas. They seemed to have fought side by side, then died together.
Aiden stopped moving.
This was the future.
This was far after the end of the Great Pirate Era, a future where civilization had grown far beyond Egghead and was then completely destroyed by some force he did not understand.
...
Aiden kept walking until he reached the very center of the city.
A giant tower stood there, larger than every building around it. Although its top had been sliced off, he could still tell that it had once been the city's center.
The main doors were long gone. Aiden stepped inside.
The inside was a mess. The wide hall was covered with broken crystal screens, burned debris, and ash. The walls were full of charred marks.
People had fought here.
Stepping on the dust-covered floor, Aiden walked step by step toward the giant, shattered main screen in the center of the hall.
Each step stirred more dust.
There was dust everywhere. In the corners, plants had grown through the cracks.
No one had been here in a long time.
"Ten years? Or twenty years?"
Aiden stopped. He reached out and wiped the dust off a console. Looking at the dust on his fingertips, which was not too thick, he noticed something.
"Could it be that the disaster that destroyed this city happened just over ten years ago?"
That should have been good news.
It wasn't.
Because the technology here was far beyond Egghead.
Even if these ruins had only been abandoned for a little over a decade, how many years would it take to develop technology that far surpassed Egghead Island? Five hundred years? A thousand years?
That meant he still had to be far from his own era.
If that was the case...
What about Gion?
Even if she was strong, she could not possibly live that long.
He had only given her a pill that kept her young.
It kept her young. It did not make her immortal.
By now, she would be gone.
And he, because of that damn Time-Time Fruit, had skipped straight past those long years and arrived in this empty future.
It was not just Gion.
That old smoker Smoker was probably long gone too.
Issho would be gone.
And Robin, Hancock, Vice Admiral Tsuru, Kane...
Everyone he knew, everyone he cared about—even their graves might be impossible to find after so many years.
"I risked my life to get stronger... for what?"
Aiden lowered his head. His body trembled slightly.
He thought he could control where his life went.
But in the end, one fruit had dropped him in a place where everything was already gone.
All that strength, and for what?
To stand alone in an empty future?
"Are you kidding me!!"
His breathing turned rough. His fingers clenched until his knuckles cracked.
"If this is the future... I refuse to accept it!!!"
Bang!!!
Aiden let out a low roar and smashed his fist into the pitch-black metal wall in front of him.
It was just anger.
But even though he held back, as a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, the lightning inside his body still burst out with the punch.
Electricity ran down his fist and into the dead wires inside the wall.
Aiden panted heavily. His fist pressed hard against the wall, his head hanging low.
However.
"Bzzzt... Bzzzt..."
Electricity crackled through the hall.
The electrical energy released by Aiden's punch had not faded. Instead, it fed into the building's dead system. A monitor that was not too badly damaged flickered back on.
Even though the screen jumped with static, and the image was twisted and broken, a damaged recording appeared.
"...?"
Aiden noticed the light. He raised his head and turned toward the corner.
Even though the screen kept shaking, and the sound was mixed with harsh electrical noise, people were running across the screen.
The image was blurry, but Aiden could still make out their features—there were Minks covered in fur, Fish-Men with obvious traits, members of the Three-Eye Tribe with a third eye on their foreheads, and tiny Tontattas.
They wore matching uniforms and were rushing to destroy documents and equipment.
"Bzzzt... We can't hold them! ... East Sector... defense towers completely wiped out! Bzzzt..."
The woman yelled into the communicator in her hand, her voice breaking.
"The armies of the twenty kingdoms... they're completely insane! ... Don't they care about the civilians?! Bzzzt..."
"We can't stop them!!"
"Retreat!!"
Right behind her, a blood-covered Giant commander stumbled into the frame. Blood covered half his body. He shoved aside a machine blocking his way and shouted at everyone in the hall:
"Everyone! Abandon this place immediately!!"
"Since... bzzzt... if the Donquixote bastards want it... bzzzt... then let them have an empty city!"
Donquixote?
Aiden went still.
He was far too familiar with that surname.
Just then, someone in the background of the screen cried out and asked:
"Where is Joy Boy?!"
"When can he help us?! ... If he's here... bzzzt..."
"Don't count on it..."
The Giant interrupted him. His voice dropped.
"Joy Boy has his own battlefield too... bzzzt... He is somewhere else... bzzzt... fighting for our final hope..."
"Boom!!"
A violent explosion seemed to occur on the screen. The camera shook hard. Finally, the woman looked straight into the camera, her face pale, as if she wanted to say more.
"Crack!"
The monitor cracked.
The dying screen burned out completely. It released a wisp of black smoke, and the screen returned to darkness.
The hall went silent again.
But at this moment, Aiden stood there, replaying the words.
He stood with his fist against the wall and did not move for several seconds.
Then he understood.
"Joy Boy?"
"Donquixote?"
Aiden slowly pulled his fist back.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he laughed once.
"Hah..."
Then another.
"Hahaha..."
And finally, he threw his head back and laughed loudly.
"Hahahaha! Hahahahahaha!!"
Aiden's laughter shook the ceiling so hard that dust began to fall.
"So that's it!"
"This isn't some bullshit future at all!"
"This is the past! This is the erased 'Void Century'!"
"These ruins aren't future technology, but the legendary Great Kingdom that was destroyed!"
Aiden laughed until his breath broke.
He still did not know why he had been sent to the past. The Time-Time Fruit was only supposed to send people into the future. It should have been impossible to travel backward into the past.
For a second, doubt crossed his mind.
Then he pushed it aside.
"Who cares!"
Aiden clenched his fist.
The contradiction could wait.
The chance of going home mattered more than anything else.
Because this was the past, the future had not happened yet.
If he could go back, everything was still there.
Gion was still there. Smoker was still there. Everyone was still there.
If he found a way back, he could return before losing them.
"Huu..."
Aiden took a few deep breaths until his breathing steadied.
Now that he knew he was in the past, and likely in the Void Century, he had a clear goal.
After all, from what he knew, Kozuki Toki, the woman who originally ate the Time-Time Fruit, had been active in this era. For a reason he did not know, she used her fruit ability to keep traveling to the future.
As long as he could find her, he would have a chance to hitch a ride through time until he returned to his own era.
But right after that, he thought of another problem.
This continent was vast, and he did not know one very important thing.
Where was Kozuki Toki right now?
More importantly, was she even still in this time period? What if she had already eaten the fruit and traveled away? Then he would be trapped in this era alone.
"I have to find a way to check!"
Aiden took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm.
Trying to find one person in this world was almost impossible. But finding a fruit... he had the system.
He immediately opened the system shop. He found an item he had once ignored because it was too expensive.
"Exchange for [Devil Fruit Compass]!"
Aiden still had more than ten million saved. The cost was nothing compared to what he had, so he bought it at once.
Light flashed in his hand.
A device that looked like a Log Pose appeared in Aiden's hand.
Its structure was much more complex than a normal Log Pose. A special black needle floated inside the glass case. Its casing looked older than a normal Log Pose, but the mechanism inside was far more complex.
[Devil Fruit Compass: Can designate a Devil Fruit, and the compass will point toward the fruit's direction.]
[Target: Paramecia, Time-Time Fruit]
Aiden silently said the name of the Time-Time Fruit in his mind.
Buzz—!!
The black needle inside the compass slowly started to spin.
At this moment, Aiden held his breath.
If it could not be located in the end, that would mean the Time-Time Fruit had already been eaten by Kozuki Toki. In that case, whether she had started traveling through time or not, he might have no way back.
But luckily...
A few seconds later.
"Click!"
The needle suddenly stopped, pointing steadily toward the southeast.
Holding the compass, Aiden turned around in a full circle.
No matter how he turned his body, the needle stayed fixed in that direction.
"Found it!!"
Aiden clenched his fist.
The only thing the compass could locate was the fruit itself.
This meant the Time-Time Fruit had not been eaten yet.
That meant he still had plenty of time.
Aiden made his decision.
From what he had seen in the recording, the Great Kingdom was clearly losing ground and on the verge of destruction.
That meant it would not be long until Kozuki Toki's time travel, the event he remembered. He was still young. He could afford to wait.
Aiden also knew what he wanted to do.
He had no intention of changing history, nor did he want to interfere in the war of the Void Century.
Whether it was the Great Kingdom about to perish, or the alliance of twenty kingdoms that would later become the World Government, he did not want to help either side.
His only goal was to avoid changing history more than necessary.
He just wanted to safely hitch a ride and go back to his own era.
Since the fruit was still unclaimed...
Aiden put the compass away and looked toward the southeast.
"I'll head over there first and guard near the fruit."
"As long as I wait patiently, Kozuki Toki will eventually show up and eat that fruit."
Aiden knew very well that as an outsider in a dangerous point in history, the more he did, the greater the risk of affecting the future.
If snatching the fruit or interfering too deeply caused Kozuki Toki to fail to travel through time, or caused a chain reaction that changed the future, he might lose his way home.
"Do less, make fewer mistakes. Try not to change history."
"I'll just be an invisible observer and hitch a ride."
But he also knew that staying hidden safely in this era until Kozuki Toki appeared would not be easy.
Even though he had not directly faced the strongest people of this era yet, Aiden remembered what Joy Boy's Haki had done in the future.
On Egghead Island, Joy Boy's stored Conqueror's Haki had still shaken the Five Elders after 800 years. It had forced them out of their transformed states and sent them back to Mary Geoise.
That was enough to tell Aiden what kind of man Joy Boy had been.
And yet...
Even someone as strong as Joy Boy, backed by the technologically advanced Great Kingdom, ended up losing.
That meant the enemies who defeated him—the armies of the twenty kingdoms and Imu behind them—were not enemies Aiden could judge from a distance.
And right now, these two sides were fighting their final battle on this continent.
Although he was strong right now, in this war, it probably was not enough.
Thinking of this, Aiden opened the system panel again.
The rewards from Kaido had been waiting for a long time.
Even though he only had a 41% participation rate in the execution, Aiden still saw the option he needed.
[Haki Upgrade: Armament Haki (SSS)]: Upgrade Armament Haki using Kaido's comprehension of Armament Haki trained to its limit.
Looking at the option before him, Aiden did not hesitate at all.
This was the last piece he needed to push his Armament Haki into the Transcendent level.
The moment he made his choice.
Boom!
Kaido's experience with Armament Haki poured into Aiden's mind.
It carried decades of battle and killing. Every clash, every blow, every lesson Kaido had learned about hardening, impact, and breaking through defenses settled into Aiden's body.
But this was not enough.
Aiden looked at the system panel.
After absorbing the peak Armament Haki experience of Ochoku, Silver Axe, and Kaido—three brutal fighters from the old era—the final requirement was met.
The previously unavailable [Armament Haki: Transcendent Level (Breakthrough Available)] option finally lit up in gold.
The prerequisite to break through to the Transcendent level had been met.
"System, begin the breakthrough."
Buzz—
The air grew heavy.
Dust lifted from the floor, then froze for a moment around Aiden. Thin cracks spread under his feet. The broken metal supports inside the hall creaked one after another.
Aiden slowly raised his right hand.
Bzzzt...
Deep black Haki coated his palm.
It darkened his hand until no light reflected from it. The air around his fingers bent slightly, and the floor beneath him split with tiny cracks even though he had not touched it.
Aiden gently clenched his fist.
Muffled popping sounds came from the air. Thin black sparks cracked around his knuckles.
This was not Conqueror's Haki. It came from Armament Haki pushed past its old limit.
"Is this... the Transcendent level?"
Aiden stared at his palm.
This was his first Transcendent power he could feel directly in a fight. The change it brought was greater than he had expected.
Even though his Observation Haki had also reached the Transcendent level earlier, that was not something he could feel directly in his body during a fight, so the physical sensation had not been as obvious.
But this Transcendent-level Armament Haki was different.
Aiden's grip tightened.
This hardness and force.
Aiden looked at his hand and slowly clenched his fingers.
If someone swung Enma at him now, he felt he could catch the blade with his bare hand and snap it in half with his Haki.
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