Red Line Continent.
This was a strange geographical feature as renowned as the Calm Belt.
Together with its height of over ten thousand meters, it divided the entire Pirate World into four separate seas.
"As expected, no matter how many times I see the Red Line Continent, it's always this breathtaking!"
A massive red rock wall that stretched beyond sight, soaring ten thousand meters into the clouds.
This was the pinnacle of the world, a vast and strange landform that split the world in two.
The closer the pirate ship drew to the Red Line Continent, the more they could feel its enormity.
The wind whipped the pirates' flag about violently.
And as Roy and the others sped toward Mount Levius, the undersea currents grew increasingly fierce.
Standing at the bow of the pirate ship, Roy watched the red cliffs draw closer through the darkness.
Suddenly, a streak of orange-yellow light appeared across the black sea.
"It's Mount Levius's lighthouse, sir. We're almost at Twin Capes now."
Edwards could not be blamed for his excitement. Roy and Bruno had promised that if he got them to Mount Levius, they would spare Edwards and his crew.
Roy paid little attention to the shouting waiter beside him.
He merely watched the lighthouse draw nearer.
"Echo Map!"
Everything within a radius of ten kilometers bounced back into Roy's ears through sound, forming a map.
What caught Roy's attention most was the enormous whale hidden beneath the sea, as well as the old man resting inside the lighthouse.
The ability of sound was one of Roy's greatest weapons in his search for the treasure.
Twin Capes was simply too vast. If they relied solely on Bruno's Devil Fruit ability and searched bit by bit, who knew how long it would take?
But with sound bouncing back to him, things were different.
Based on the positions shown on the map, Roy could easily locate the treasure.
The sudden approach of a pirate ship in the middle of the night naturally caught the old man in the lighthouse's attention.
After all, at this exit where the Grand Line connected to the Four Seas, pirate ships had only ever sailed out from here. Never had one arrived here voluntarily from outside.
"Well, this is a rare sight! A ship actually came here in the middle of the night.
But you're out of luck. Laboon happens to be having another episode lately!"
The old man with feathers stuck in his hair cast a pitying glance at the approaching pirate ship.
Then he turned and shut the window, as though he did not want to witness the gruesome scene that was about to unfold.
Rooooar!
A faint whale cry rose from beneath the sea, making Bruno, standing beside Roy, jolt violently.
A bone-deep chill shot from his tailbone straight to the top of his head.
Roy placed a hand on his shoulder, signaling that it was time to go.
A pitch-black spatial door abruptly appeared before them. Just as Roy and Bruno were about to step through it—
"Hey, your name is Edwards, right? Since you served us so enthusiastically along the way, here's some life-saving advice: if you want to live, hurry toward that lighthouse."
With that, Roy and Bruno stepped into the spatial door.
Edwards and his men were clearly dumbfounded by Roy's final words.
As for the whale that suddenly leaped up behind them, Roy and Bruno showed no concern.
Roy looked at the treasure map in his hand.
When Roy and Bruno reappeared, they were already halfway up a cliff face beside Twin Capes's stepped waterfall.
Bang!
His Armament Haki-coated arm smashed a water-vat-sized crater into the hard rock wall.
After gaining a foothold there, Roy spread out the map in his hand. As the Echo Map unfolded once more—
The forms of everything around them instantly reappeared in Roy's mind.
They checked bit by bit, searched bit by bit.
After Bruno shifted directions three more times—
He was drenched in sweat, already on the verge of collapse.
Using the Door-Door Fruit ability also required a great deal of stamina.
Exploring over ten times in such a short period—
Had clearly made Bruno feel his strength draining away rapidly.
"Found it!"
Roy suddenly rolled up the scroll. Following the location shown by the Echo Map in his mind—
He finally found their destination more than seven hundred meters above the lighthouse.
Though that spot had been scoured by seawater for over a century, the shape of that hollow was exactly the same as the symbol on the map.
"No wonder it was so hard to find!
Over a hundred years of erosion had long since smoothed away the solid ridges and dips.
And I should have realized it sooner. How could places higher up Mount Levius be so easily reached by anyone?
This neither-too-near-nor-too-far distance was where ordinary strong fighters could set foot!"
Their preconceived assumptions had caused Roy and Bruno to suffer for nothing.
Bruno gritted his teeth and stepped onto the final location indicated on the treasure map.
There was an obvious uneven patch.
Roy could tell there were signs of something fitted together here.
Bang!
His Armament Haki-coated arm threw a blow containing all of Roy's strength.
An explosion-like force slammed directly into the hard Red Line Continent.
Shattered rocks flew everywhere.
Bruno barely managed to steady himself by using Geppo.
Even as he marveled at Roy's strength—
A dark cave entrance appeared before them.
Sound had already told Roy exactly what lay inside.
When he and Bruno stepped into the dark hole, barely over ten meters in diameter—
Drip, drip!
Water droplets fell from the rocks above onto the ground.
The treasure cave was dark and damp. Deep within lay some ordinary gold, silver, and jewels, and atop the corroded treasure sat a small chest made of gold.
"Heh, gold. I didn't expect an unexpected bonus here!
But if we hadn't come—
I suppose another decade or so of seawater erosion would have collapsed this entrance, right?"
Bending down to pick up the not-so-clean chest, Roy knew this was the purpose of his journey.
"What could it be?
A Devil Fruit sealed away for over a century... I wonder if it had expired?"
Roy roughly tore apart the golden chain lock on the chest.
Bruno, holding a torch, came to Roy's side.
As the contents of the chest revealed themselves—
A Devil Fruit as pure white as clouds entered Roy and Bruno's sight.
Gulp!
"This Devil Fruit..."
There was almost no hesitation.
Roy, who had once seen the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, shoved it into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
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