Laugh Tale
Roy pondered to himself that if he remembered correctly, Big Mom's collection included a griffin from the South Blue. Unfortunately, after he took over Big Mom's treasures, the Charlotte Family members couldn't explain the specific process of how they obtained the griffin.
The history of Wano Country also records that the Master Swordsman Ryuma once used the Black Blade Shusui to cut off the head of a dragon, and was therefore known as the Dragon-Slaying Sword Master. After conquering Wano Country, he also specifically searched for relevant historical materials, but unfortunately there was no record of the origin of the flying dragon.
Moreover, he has been in the Pirate World for over a decade, traveling through most of the Grand Line, yet he has never seen any of those legendary mythical creatures. This led him to believe that the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit might truly have no prototype, but now it seems the answer might not be so simple...
Roy was still deep in thought, while the griffin lay quietly on the ground, its wings covering its head, its large, round eyes revealing a hint of anthropomorphic fear through the gaps in its feathers.
One moment it was soaring proudly through the sky with its prey in its grasp, and the next it was pinned down under the claws of the hairless Masira in front of it. In fact, it could vaguely smell a terrifying aura emanating from the Masira, an aura called "demon" that was engraved in their blood!
Therefore, it dared not resist at all and quietly awaited its fate.
Roy remained silent. He could actually see a fawning and ingratiating expression on the griffin's face, and its lion tail was wagging happily behind it, like a dog waiting for its master to feed it.
"A soul that was cast into the wrong body?" Roy shook his head with amusement. If it were in the past, he would have really been interested in raising an army of magical beasts. But with his current strength and status, these rare and exotic beasts could only be kept as private collections and for show if he were to take them out.
Seeing Roy leave without looking back, the griffin hesitated for a moment, glanced at the lifeless Cerberus, struggled for a moment, then suddenly pecked off a large piece of meat from Cerberus's body, held it in its beak, and followed after it.
Roy glanced back speechlessly, and the griffin immediately lay down, its lion tail swaying merrily behind it, making it almost impossible for him to look directly at this fantastical race.
"Fine, let it follow if it wants!" Roy was too lazy to forcibly drive it away. He chuckled to himself, thinking that if he kept this griffin, wouldn't that be a combination of keeping a cat, a dog, and a bird?
It's like three times the happiness!
Along the way, there were Mountain Giant with broken bodies and made entirely of rock galloping across the land; there were graceful mermaids with sweet voices and bare upper bodies playing in the lake; and there were Azure Flame Phoenix with wings outstretched and their bodies wrapped in scorching flames soaring in the sky.
The various bizarre creatures, existing only in myths and legends, almost made Roy think he had traveled to another Western fantasy world.
The griffin, on the other hand, walked briskly ahead, its tail held high, watching the creatures, each more powerful than itself, fall at its feet. It fully experienced the joy of being a sycophant.
Seeing the griffin eagerly carrying a dead Phoenix in its beak and placing it in front of him, Roy's lips twitched speechlessly. Shouldn't eagles and lions be proud creatures? How come the combination of the two is a negative? Is he really a dog that was born into the wrong family?
"You can handle it yourself!" Roy naturally had no interest in a firebird feast. After recruiting a chef, he rarely cooked for himself anymore, and his grilling skills had probably deteriorated to level 1.
The griffin flapped its wings merrily, offering its head for petting, and then eagerly tore into the Phoenix's flesh.
Phew!
The griffin that swallowed the Phoenix let out a clear and loud cry, its body, as tall as a person, expanded by a full circle, and flame patterns appeared on its wings, with blue flames flowing endlessly.
Roy raised an eyebrow. Had it evolved? Could it be that all the fantastical creatures on this island could devour each other and activate their latent genes? But that didn't quite make sense. This silly bird had looked down on the previous creatures. Was it because those creatures were at a lower level of life or because they weren't on the same evolutionary chain?
Phew!
The fully evolved griffin spreads its wings, appearing like an ancient mythical beast emerging from raging flames, majestic, fierce, and awe-inspiring.
However, the seemingly imposing fire griffin suddenly lay prostrate on the ground, a familiar fawning smile appearing on its face, its tail wreathed in flames swaying merrily.
Roy's lips twitched. An interesting soul is indeed one in a million!
Roy put his right hand into the indigo flames, but instead of being burned, a warm and healing life energy flowed into his body.
"So it really is a life-giving flame similar to Marco's?"
"It seems that the so-called mythical creatures may really have originated from this island of Laugh Tale. However, due to the extremely harsh environment outside the island, which acts as a barrier to block the eyes of outside invaders, these mythical creatures are also imprisoned on the island. Occasionally, one or two lucky ones may escape, but they are quickly killed by humans and turned into precious collectibles."
Roy pondered for a moment, then extended his right hand, which transformed into Dragon Claw in the griffin's horrified gaze. "I was wondering why I had this vague sense of familiarity. It seems Kaido is the king of Laugh Tale—a dragon!"
"Perhaps, he didn't eat the Mythical Zoan, Dragon form, as I imagined, but rather the Minotaur form of the Human-Human Fruit!"
"Even Fish-Man Race like Drought Jack, who ate Devil Fruit, could keep breathing and survive after falling into the sea. So it's not surprising that Kaido, whose true form is a dragon king of the sea, could still maintain his fighting ability after falling into the sea."
"Furthermore, this also explains why Kaido didn't destroy anything else, but instead set his sights on the peaceful Wano Country. The reason should be the dragon that Dragon-Slaying Sword Master Swordsman!"
"Furthermore, Kaido's creation of the Zoan army might also be a way to find a sense of home. Deep down, he still yearns for his own kind. That's why a monster like him, who is only interested in drinking and destruction, would have such a strong desire to become the Pirate Kings."
"Then I'll use Kaido's body to return to this Laugh Tale, which can be considered as fulfilling his last wish!" Roy smiled and shook his head, the Dragon Claw gradually reverting to its original form, leaving the silly bird completely bewildered.
Roy didn't linger and continued walking deeper into the area, only to find that his clothes were being tugged. When he turned around, he saw that it was the silly bird that had pulled him back.
Upon seeing Roy's gaze, the griffin first instinctively shrank its head, then raised one wing and pointed it forward, its face filled with terror, crying out anxiously.
Seeing that Roy didn't seem to understand, the stupid bird took a few big steps forward, then raised its head high, let out a shrill cry, raised its wings, stood on one leg, spun 720° on the spot, and then crashed down.
After a long while, the silly bird finally got up, blinked, and looked at Roy, as if to say, "Two-legged creature, do you understand now?"