Ruins of the Great Kingdom

"Have I gotten stronger?"

After retorting at the illusion, Ling Donglai realized it instinctively.

Surging currents burst forth with his will. They were so scorching and violent that they far exceeded his previous limit—300,000 volts.

"This feeling..." Ling Donglai's body split into countless flashes of lightning. This was... the elementalization he had dreamed of.

"How is this possible? I actually achieved elementalization. Even in the Current Drive I envisioned, this should count as a transformation of an extremely high level!"

Ling Donglai instinctively doubted everything. He had no memory at all of this map. Granted, One Piece had been serialized for too long, and he had forgotten many details, but he should have retained some impression. A map as bizarre as the Navel of the Sea, along with a treasure said to grant any wish.

How could he have no recollection of such a special map?!

The only explanation was that this thing was fake—or that he had missed an issue.

"Am I... still inside an illusion?"

Observation Haki!

Ling Donglai closed his eyes and tried his best to use Observation Haki to sense his surroundings.

But his heart was pounding violently. The harder he tried to calm down, the more clearly he could hear it thundering in his chest.

"Captain, what's wrong?"

The moment the blinding purple light flashed, Nami instinctively shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she found that her captain, Ling Donglai, was standing motionless where he was, one hand still extended forward.

The purple light had already vanished. What struck Nami as strange was that several stone statues of monsters had appeared in the recesses along the surrounding walls at some unknown point.

Those monsters looked exactly like the giant sea beasts Ling Donglai had defeated so casually.

Just looking at those sea beasts for a few moments filled one with terror from the depths of one's heart, as though they were evil gods.

Nami had a strange feeling—they were watching her, or perhaps watching the captain.

"Captain, Captain... what's wrong?"

Nami lowered her voice and slowly moved closer to Ling Donglai.

As she moved, the monsters that looked like stone carvings twisted their heads.

They... looked at Nami, then at Ling Donglai.

They rose to their feet, red light glowing in their eyes, utterly different from the gaze of ordinary sea beasts.

"C-Captain, if you don't snap out of it soon, we're all going to die here!"

Nami shook Ling Donglai's body. The next moment, surging lightning erupted across his skin.

If Nami had not been able to sense the current beforehand, those violent bolts would have already injured her.

"This power is truly intoxicating. It's true that I most desire the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's elementalization, but is this all the strength you can give me?" Ling Donglai clenched his fists.

After realizing that his heart was burning so fiercely that he could not use Observation Haki at all, Ling Donglai clenched his fists again and savored the power of growing stronger.

"Not enough, not enough, not enough—elementalization is nowhere near enough for the future I seek. Ten million volts? One hundred million volts?" Ling Donglai sneered.

"The strength you offer me is not worth mentioning. The strength I desire is to push Current Drive to its limit—use electricity to generate magnetism, achieve Magnetic Field Rotation, and ultimately connect to the planet's magnetic field, you bastard!"

"Your enhancement is far too weak!" Ling Donglai discharged electricity according to his instincts.

There was no target. He merely released the current accumulated in his body, letting it flow across his skin.

Ling Donglai did not know whether such simple discharges would work, but it was the only thing he could do, so he did it.

If possible, he would have chosen to bombard everything around him with electricity without restraint. But Nami should have been nearby, and it would be bad if an indiscriminate attack hit one of his own.

I grant you power...

Like an ancient whisper, a will spoke beside Ling Donglai's ear.

Submit to me...

"Get the hell out of here!" Ling Donglai roared. The violent thunderbolts caused the scenery before him to overlap, and one of his eyes was finally able to see the real scene.

Several defeated foes had appeared again for some reason and were slowly approaching.

They were the three monsters guarding this place. He had clearly killed them...

But it did not matter. He had defeated them once, and he would definitely defeat them again!

Ling Donglai flung out an Azure Thunder, instantly blasting the three monsters into scraps!

At the same time, he used the remaining lightning to shatter the platform in front of him.

As though a program had malfunctioned, Ling Donglai's illusion rapidly collapsed. A purple light appeared once more before the ruined platform.

"Indeed, using illusions to fulfill the desires buried in someone's heart can indeed be called a treasure that grants any wish."

"But this kind of fake is not what I seek!" Ling Donglai's hand, coated in Armament Haki, viciously seized that cluster of purple light.

The illusion appeared again, but this time it was no longer an illusionary attack aimed at Ling Donglai. Instead, it resembled a virtual projection.

It was reenacting a story in the form of an illusion.

Even Nami could see it.

A Great Kingdom slowly sank beneath the sea, its silence filled with tragedy.

"This place is... part of an underwater ruin of the Great Kingdom?"

Ling Donglai could not help crying out in astonishment.

If there was a One Piece secret even he did not know, it was the historical period hidden by the World Government—the Void Century. From only scattered fragments, he knew that a Great Kingdom had existed during those hundred years.

That kingdom was taboo. Anyone who tried to investigate the Void Century would be erased by the World Government.

At the same time, investigating that blank century required the ability to understand ancient writing, a strange script entirely different from modern text.

"Is this really a ruin of the ancient kingdom?" Ling Donglai's expression shifted.

The image continued. The Great Kingdom slowly sank into the sea. It was a kingdom with a highly advanced civilization. Before it sank beneath the ocean, smiles filled the faces of its people, completely unlike the Celestial Dragons' oppressive rule.

"What kingdom is this? Why have I never heard of it? An ancient civilization that sank beneath the sea?" Nami asked in confusion.

As someone who loved reading, she even knew obscure weather secrets of the Grand Line, yet she had never heard of any kingdom falling into the sea.

Furthermore, the clothing and races of the Great Kingdom's people were also quite unusual.

This should have been earth-shattering news.

"I never thought I'd get to see something this magnificent in East Blue."

The three monsters guarding this place appeared once more, as though they had been respawned.

"This is a place where one cannot truly die. Souls are imprisoned here, which is why these things cannot be killed for real."

Holding that strange source of light, Ling Donglai naturally understood the function of this place as well.

Ababa, there were another hundred recommendation votes today. Another day of three updates.