At War with the World
"God... the God's Temple has collapsed..." The crowd outside the God's Temple seemed to have lost their faith, their eyes unfocused.
"Could it have been those brats who broke into the God's Temple before? Damn it, I have committed such a terrible mistake, I should atone with my death!" Wyper knelt down and pounded the ground in anguish.
Just as everyone was wailing in despair, a dazzling light appeared in the God's Temple, as if time had reversed, and it gradually returned to its original state, completely restored in the next moment.
"This is... a miracle! The gods have not abandoned us and have once again bestowed their glory upon us." The crowd watched this scene, which could only be described as a miracle, with fervent cheers that seemed to reach the heavens.
Inside the God's Temple.
"My Lord, I have failed. Please punish me." Lucifer knelt on one knee, his face full of shame. As a creation of the dream, his loyalty to Roy was beyond doubt.
"It's not your fault. What defeated you wasn't Luffy, but this world." Roy waved his hand. It was one thing for those guys to use invincibility cheats normally, but this time they went too far by using an invincible cheat.
"The world?" A hint of confusion appeared on Lucifer's eerie face.
"Hehe, all my painstaking efforts have paid off. I deliberately had you push them to the brink step by step, and now my previous guess has been confirmed: the World Will truly exists!" Roy took a deep breath, and his usually calm face began to show various expressions.
Roy's gaze drifted into the distance, as scenes from when he first arrived in the Pirate World fifteen years ago flashed through his mind.
"Deception, betrayal, pursuit, and even death. Countless failures, countless torments, countless moments of despair have ultimately shaped me into who I am today. If you possessed your own wisdom, you would surely regret it, world!"
Roy now finally understands why he has suffered countless calamities and despairs in the ten years since he came to the Pirate World, as if he were possessed by a jinx. The culprit is the World Will, which is like a mechanical program.
As an illegal immigrant, he naturally attracted a lot of attention from this world. Although the World Will itself had no intelligence, its unconscious targeting had already caused him great suffering. If he hadn't eaten that Devil Fruit, he would probably still be struggling in the North Blue.
When fortune smiles, heaven and earth lend their strength; when fortune turns, even heroes are powerless.
True powerhouses may be able to ignore the influence of fate, but for Roy, who was still a nobody at the time, the targeting of the World Will did indeed cause him great suffering.
Fortunately, as the original manifestation of the World Will, anyone who eats Devil Fruit is essentially branded with the mark of this world.
After that, no longer targeted by the World Will, he was finally able to unleash his full potential and transform into a dragon. His past hardships became valuable assets and the foundation for his rise.
A golden carp is no ordinary fish; it transforms into a dragon when it encounters wind and clouds!
Now, the offensive has reversed. If the World Will has any intelligence, it would never have imagined that the little bug that was struggling in its hands five years ago would turn around and devour it.
However, it is by no means easy to devour the world with human power. It is a long process. In Roy's opinion, even if his Dream Web Project is successfully launched, it will take at least fifty years, or even longer, to accelerate the process of assimilating the world with the power of the "world".
This is a tug-of-war between him and the World Will. Only by accumulating small victories, bit by bit, can he ultimately win this war without gunpowder.
However, the World Will was unwilling to sit idly by and wait for its demise; it also worried that variables might emerge that could affect its plans during the long passage of time.
The World Will has chosen to bet on the so-called "World Child," Luffy, who possesses the power to change the future.
For Roy, killing Luffy wouldn't be difficult. No matter how much Luffy gains power or turns on his own, it's useless against absolute power. After all, the World Will that gave Luffy power was already at a disadvantage when facing Roy.
But Roy didn't intend to do that. If Luffy died, there might be other Luffy-like situations like Luffy jumping, Luffy running away, or Luffy swimming away. For the World Will, it would just be a matter of finding another representative. It would be better to put the enemy out in the open.
Moreover, if the World Will were to despair too early, it might fight him to the death, which would not be in his interest.
Roy's plan was to use the "boiling frog" method, waiting until the World Will was unable to extricate itself and had placed all its bets on Luffy before killing Luffy once more, thus weakening the World Will to the greatest extent possible.
The World Will is now like the Lich King in a game Roy played in his previous life... He is restricted and can only choose a "Death Knight" to help him break free from his shackles. While helping the "Death Knight" to gradually become stronger, he inevitably weakens himself, which gives Roy an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
This is like this: Roy and the World Will both have a combat power of 100, while Luffy's combat power is 10. With the help of external power-ups and his own growth, when Luffy's combat power increases to 70, the World Will's combat power gradually declines to 70. This is the best time for Roy to make his move, and he can achieve the effect of "100 > 70 + 70".
Therefore, Roy will not only not suppress Luffy, but will also help him grow as much as possible. The way he helps is naturally through hatred. Although hatred itself is not a power, it is the best catalyst for power. A person with a strong heart can completely transform their inner strength into actual power under the stimulation of hatred.
As for whether things might go too far, Roy wasn't worried. For someone as emotional and passionate as Luffy, emotions are both the source of his power and a major obstacle. If he had a few more trump cards up his sleeve, he could even reduce Luffy's fighting power to negative values.
This is also one of the main reasons why he didn't intend to kill Luffy. If Luffy died, where would he find such an easy-to-control "World Child"?
Time passed quietly, and there was no sound in the room, as if it were completely silent.
"Lucifer, have the seeds been planted?" Roy asked with a sigh, taking in the vast starry sky.
"Yes, Your Majesty, the moment they made contact with Red Hair, you were able to learn of Red Hair location," Lucifer said, bowing his head in utter awe.
"Well done! I'm already looking forward to their meeting. If Straw Hat knew he was the one who brought Red Hair me, he'd be devastated. This way, he can grow up faster. Sigh, it's so rare to see someone as kind as me, wholeheartedly helping the enemy grow!" Roy shook his head and sighed, a playful smile immediately appearing on his lips. "How about we have Red-Haired Shanks and Luffy this fateful, life-or-death battle as their farewell performance?"