Nika's Apology

However...

Yaen's pupils contracted slightly as he stared at Imu, who had effortlessly caught the blades of Zanka no Tachi and Great Crimson Lotus Hyōrinmaru between his fingers, his gaze filled with shock.

An extreme temperature of fifteen million degrees and the absolute zero of freezing cold had actually failed to affect him in the slightest?

"Your expression... You seem rather surprised?"

Imu spoke calmly. "You haven't reached Final Island, Laugh Tale, have you?"

Upon hearing the name Final Island, Laugh Tale again, Yaen's expression tightened.

"If you had reached Laugh Tale, you shouldn't be surprised by this result at all."

At the same time, before the stone stele covered in writing at Laugh Tale, as Kong deciphered and read its contents aloud, the expressions of the Straw Hat Crew were filled with unprecedented astonishment.

"Many, many years ago, I took root in this sea alongside another giant tree. We were respectively named 'Adam Tree' and 'Eve Tree' by the people of the world. We stabilized the two continents and provided land for countless living creatures to inhabit..."

"Until one day, I encountered Eve deep beneath the earth on the other side of this sea. It was as if fate had brought us together. Our meeting caused both Eve and me to develop consciousness, and the Devil Fruit Tree was born underground, where we met."

"From then on, Eve and I each took on a human form. My name was Nika, while Adam was called Imu. We told each other stories about the other side of the sea..."

"Finally, one day, I gave birth to the earliest desire for freedom in this world. I was no longer content to remain rooted in the soil forever..."

"To change all this, I absorbed the Devil Fruit known as the 'Zoan-Human Fruit