A Thousand Five Hundred Years

"What era is it?"

--Just that one sentence was enough to make the cold sweat on Crocodile and Caesar's foreheads grow heavier.

They were both well-traveled men, yet they had never seen anything like this!

And then an even more bizarre sight appeared before them.

The sculpture that called itself "Aiven Lindsey" actually began to move.

It started with his fingers, then the joints throughout his body began to tremble slightly, while cracks split across the stone surface.

Crack-crack-crack...

Chunks of stone fell away one after another, revealing the flesh-colored body beneath.

At the same time, an indescribable presence instantly filled the entire Laboratory!

Crocodile and Caesar were both stunned, because they recognized the true nature of that presence—

Conqueror's Haki!

Conqueror's Haki was bursting out through the cracks in the sculpture!

Could even a stone become king?!

The next instant—

Whoosh!

The sculpture sprang up, breaking free of the stone that had bound him, and landed steadily on the floor in a state of "complete nudity."

Stone fragments scattered all around, and the chaotic, mottled Conqueror's Haki gradually faded away.

As for the "sculpture," his physique was like that of the perfect human anatomy model, without a single flaw.

"..."

A sculpture carved into a Poneglyph had actually... come to life?!

Impossible to understand!

And more importantly, what kind of monster was this creation from "ancient times"?!

Crocodile raised a hand, ready to fight, while Caesar was already prepared to run.

The next second, the sculpture who called himself "Aiven Lindsey" moved his feet and began to walk.

His left foot tripped over his right.

Thud!

He fell heavily to the floor.

Crocodile: "?"

Caesar: "?"

Their puzzled gazes met Aiven Lindsey's.

Was this guy a child? How could he not even walk?

"Just a moment."

Lindsey spoke, then slowly got back to his feet and imitated the movements of the two men before him, adjusting his steps.

In the space of just a few breaths, Lindsey had found his footing. Then he looked at the two of them with calm confidence.

Unable to conceal his delight, he raised both hands high, bent his elbows, and turned sideways in excitement.

"Great, I've got it!"

Crocodile: "?"

Caesar: "?"

Why did this feel... off?

That was a sculpture from before the Void Century, made by the hands of ancient people, and it had even released Conqueror's Haki!

But why, after coming to life, did the sculpture seem so "normal" in his words and actions?

The two men studied "Aiven Lindsey."

"Aiven Lindsey" studied them in turn.

Hmm, he recognized them.

"Sand Crocodile" Crocodile, and Caesar Clown.

He had a rough idea of what year it was...

Lindsey, full name: Aiven Lindsey.

A transmigrator.

After observing for a while, he had confirmed that he had come to the world of One Piece.

But there were two tricky problems.

The first was that he had transmigrated a little too early.

The First Year of the Grand Line Calendar.

The era when the calendar had just been adopted.

The other was that he had transmigrated into a "stone."

He had stood atop some unknown mountain, overlooking an island, a village, and the sea.

Fortunately, being a stone had left Lindsey's sense of "time" rather hazy. He had simply endured the wind and sun, year after year.

Many, many years passed.

Then, one day, Lindsey realized that people had dug him out of the mountain.

What did they intend to do with him?

He didn't know, so Lindsey observed everything in a hazy, half-conscious state.

Year 550 of the Grand Line Calendar.

In that chaotic era, the nations across the seas waged war without end!

As a hard "boulder," Lindsey's memories were somewhat hazy, but he had still experienced many things.

He vaguely remembered—

The nobles of a kingdom had once used him as a foundation stone for a palace;

He had also been used as a weapon to smash a city wall;

Warriors had died upon him, their blood flowing over his surface;

Refugees, battered by the cold wind, had huddled beside him, shivering;

A brave warrior had used him as a landmark while rallying the people;

Bandits had buried treasure beneath him to hide their greed;

And there was more...

Until Year 620 of the Grand Line Calendar.

Another group of people took Lindsey away.

They called themselves the Kōzuki Clan. They had come from Wano Country and hoped to record the true history.

And so Lindsey, along with the other boulders, was forged and hammered until he became one of many indestructible Stone Tablets!

If all had gone as planned, Lindsey should have had the Poneglyph inscriptions carved into his surface as well.

But history was always full of surprises.

Lindsey couldn't remember the details.

In any case, some young man had asked the Kōzuki Clan for a Stone Tablet so he could use it for something else.

The young man took Lindsey somewhere, then carved him into a human-shaped sculpture on one side.

Somewhere, a group of people faced Lindsey and prayed earnestly.

They crushed a Devil Fruit into juice, smeared it over Lindsey, and sought a response.

Lindsey couldn't tell how long they prayed, but he gradually began to feel something.

Then, at that very moment, a tremendous rumble rang out. Towering waves surged in and swallowed everything around him. Nothing remained.

Lindsey sank to the bottom of the sea.

He slept in a daze until the seawater around him receded, and he finally regained consciousness.

Lindsey heard someone speaking.

"Shurorororo, this is an incredible discovery!"

"..."

"Who exactly is he?"

"..."

"Who are you?"

"..."

At last, Lindsey had fully woken up!

He refused to let this rare opportunity slip away. He desperately tried to grasp that faint "feeling," and finally loosened the rock around his body and broke free.

After living as a stone for more than a thousand five hundred years, Lindsey had forgotten how to stand.

Like a child, he imitated the movements of the two men before him until he finally found his footing.

His eyes were shining.

By his reckoning, he had been a "stone" for a thousand five hundred years.

Although he had spent most of that time in a daze, now that "freedom" was within reach, Lindsey yearned for it more than ever.

The Great Pirate Era, one thousand five hundred years later!

Lindsey was desperate to see this era he knew so well, yet had never truly experienced!

Lindsey was excited.

On a whim, he began moving his body, enjoying the sensation of air brushing against his skin.

To Crocodile, however, the sight was truly hard to describe.

A naked man with a near-perfect physique, a "living sculpture," had actually started doing stretching exercises?!

The sheer confusion left Crocodile's mind reeling for a moment.

But he quickly recovered and tried to learn more by asking Caesar.

"Hey, Caesar?"

"..."

"Caesar!"

When no one answered, Crocodile immediately turned around, only to find that Caesar was nowhere to be seen.

He glanced to the side and saw that Caesar had somehow already escaped the Laboratory and pressed a button, sealing the entire room.

Hummm—whir!

The ventilation ducts roared, and pale-purple gas drifted in, beginning to spread all around them.

"Shurorororo, I never expected to find so much today. Just let me study you properly!"

"I'll knock you both out first, then take my time studying you."

"Sand Crocodile, you'll have to take the blame for stealing the Poneglyph and get locked up in Impel Down in my place! Shurorororo..."

"..."

"Heh, he really is a piece of trash."

As the anesthetic gas slowly crept closer, Crocodile realized he couldn't stay in the Laboratory any longer.

He didn't intend to make a scene, and as a Logia Type Devil Fruit User, a mere Laboratory couldn't hold him.

But...

Caesar had just played him. Leaving like this didn't suit his nature.

You want to study that "Aiven Lindsey"? Then I'll take him with me!

Someone this unusual must be connected to all sorts of secrets. He might even have something to do with an Ancient Weapon.

"Hehehe..."

Crocodile gave a sinister laugh, then turned around—only to discover that Lindsey had disappeared too!

"Could it be?!"

He looked up at the ventilation opening in the ceiling, but it had a gap only as wide as a finger. No ordinary human could possibly fit through it.

That had been Crocodile's original route into the facility.

Crocodile exclaimed in shock, "He's already inside the ventilation duct?"

"No, I can't squeeze through there."

Lindsey's voice came from below Crocodile's feet.

Looking down, Crocodile saw that a huge hole had been torn open in the Laboratory floor.

Lindsey's body had sunk into it, leaving only his head aboveground. He looked perfectly at ease, as if he were swimming through the dirt.

Crocodile realized what was happening. "You're a... Devil Fruit User?"

Lindsey nodded. "Yes."

Crocodile wanted more information, so he pressed him. "What kind of fruit?"

"A Devil Fruit."

Crocodile furrowed his brow. "I know it's a Devil Fruit. I'm asking what kind of fruit it is."

Lindsey blinked, looking slightly innocent. "It's a Devil Fruit."

Crocodile's eye twitched. He was about to reprimand him when something suddenly occurred to him, and he froze in place.

"Devil... Fruit?"

"Mm-hm."

Lindsey smiled faintly and lay back in the soil, as though he were a tourist relaxing on the beach.

"Devil Fruit."

"—Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Oni."

Lindsey blinked.

Crocodile noticed that Lindsey's pupils had changed.

Six short lines arranged in two columns had replaced his formerly round pupils, giving them a very strange appearance.

Lindsey continued explaining, his pupils still looking unusual:

"The person who carved me covered my body with the juice of a Devil Fruit. The juice slowly seeped in, allowing me to gain the power of a Devil Fruit."

"Over the years, I've come up with quite a few ways to use it, but I've never had much chance to put them into practice, so I'm still not very skilled."

As he spoke, Lindsey's body began to change.

His limbs grew thicker, his skin turned deep red, and two dark green horns sprouted from his head.

This monstrous appearance certainly fit the traits of a Mythical Zoan!

Lindsey's voice grew low and hoarse as he grinned and said:

"The ability I'm using now is called 'Earth Fiend.'"

"Also known as—[Earth Demon]."

Chapter Two is here!

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