Deep Within the Mist

After capturing Brook, Lucifer sank the Wooden Coffin into the Shadow World. No matter how strange Brook's Revive-Revive Fruit was, once inside the Shadow World, there was no way for him to escape.

Lucifer continued moving in one direction. With the misty environment of the Devil's Triangle, he was completely at home.

A moment later.

He appeared atop a towering mountain that pierced the clouds. The surrounding fog was even denser, making it feel as though one could not see their own hand before their face.

If Lucifer had not possessed Observation Haki second only to Wang Gao's, he truly would not have discovered the secret here.

The mountain beneath his feet rose 5,273 meters above Sea Level. Even more terrifyingly, beneath Sea Level, the average seawater depth of the Devil's Triangle was roughly 7,000 to 9,000 meters.

In other words, the "mountain" beneath his feet stood over 12,000 meters tall.

It looked like an island, but the "mountain" beneath his feet actually possessed the aura of life. Lucifer was not particularly surprised by this.

After all, among the giant Sea Kings in the Calm Belt, there was no shortage of colossal creatures over ten thousand meters in Body Size. And the legendary Zunesha was even 35,000 meters tall.

He was simply very curious as to why the enormous creature beneath his feet had remained in the Devil's Triangle all this time. Such a colossal organism required an immense amount of nutrients, after all, and usually only the Calm Belt had enough food to sustain their survival.

Lucifer continued probing the creature and soon learned the reason.

The enormous creature beneath his feet was not an animal, but a plant—a peculiar plant that had evolved animal-like traits.

Its roots had plunged deep into the Earth's crust, drawing thermal energy from underground magma. Counting its underground root system, its height exceeded 22,000 meters.

Since it survived on geothermal energy, it did not need photosynthesis. It had even chosen to grow far from the Calm Belt in order to avoid being targeted by giant Sea Kings.

The Devil's Triangle's strange currents and year-round mist were also related to this giant tree. To absorb geothermal energy, the giant tree needed to use a water cycle to send seawater deep underground through its roots.

This process generated enormous amounts of Water Vapor. It continuously vented Water Vapor day and night, causing thick mist that was difficult to disperse to linger in the surrounding area.

This method of water circulation further disturbed the nearby currents, creating the Devil's Triangle's bizarre characteristics.

Furthermore, there was more than one such giant tree beneath his feet. There were three in total throughout the Devil's Triangle. Judging by their sizes, the one beneath him was the tallest; the other two were 19,000 and 17,000 meters tall respectively.

Their animal-like traits were mainly evident in the portions exposed above the sea. They looked like towering mountains reaching into the clouds, but those parts could apparently move, resembling octopus heads.

Perhaps due to their plant characteristics, their surfaces consisted of a layer of woody, mineralized hard skin several hundred meters thick, making them look much like barren stone mountains.

Just as Lucifer was examining the giant tree, many unwelcome guests suddenly emerged around him.

More than a dozen slashes surrounded him, about to hack Lucifer into pieces in the next instant, only for him to vanish from his previous position.

Within the mist, more than a dozen giant crabs standing four or five meters tall hid in the fog, seemingly confused by their enemy's disappearance.

In truth, Lucifer had discovered these giant crabs long ago. They were one of the giant tree's symbiotic organisms. Not only could they release slashes, they also possessed Armament Haki.

Lucifer had only just emerged from a shadow elsewhere when he felt the ground shake violently.

The next moment.

The cavities atop the giant tree that released mist suddenly spewed forth massive torrents of water, cascading down from the treetop like a flash flood.

Such an immense volume of water—and seawater at that—was simply the nightmare of Devil Fruit users.

It seemed this tree had an extremely effective method for countering Devil Fruit users.

After the flood passed, Lucifer returned to reality from the Shadow World.

The instant he returned to reality, the giant tree seemed to sense him, and those Mist Great Claw Crabs swiftly surrounded him again.

These Mist Great Claw Crabs were the cleaners on the giant tree's surface. During the flash floods, they could use their six legs to cling tightly to the outer layer of the tree's hard skin, preventing themselves from being washed into the sea.

Lucifer had no intention of fighting these giant crabs. With a flicker of shadow, he entered the giant tree's core.

Inside a hollow connected to countless pipes was a grayish-white "fleshy tumor" with a radius of over ten meters. It should have been the giant tree's core.

As if sensing the threat, the giant tree's core continuously trembled, transmitting threatening brainwaves to Lucifer:

"Get out, human..."

"I've already diverted seawater here..."

"You damned failed products..."

Lucifer calmly glanced at the tree core and flicked a Parasitic Mecha into it. The Parasitic Mecha immediately took root and began rapidly sprouting from the tree core.

"What is this..."

"Damned human..."

However, Lucifer did not continue chatting with it. Instead, he used the Shadow World to Instant Transmission into the cores of the other two giant trees and planted Parasitic Mecha within them as well.

At once, the currents and Sea Mist throughout the Devil's Triangle became even more unpredictable. Especially around the giant trees, the waves surged violently and the air currents became chaotic.

If an ordinary Devil Fruit user had to deal with such colossal creatures, it truly would have been fraught with difficulties.

However, the giant trees had encountered Lucifer, their natural nemesis, and had their cores directly invaded.

Three Days Later, the giant trees that had been struggling continuously finally began to calm down. Clearly, the Parasitic Mecha had completed the initial stage of parasitization and begun forcibly controlling the giant trees.

Within the core chamber of the tallest giant tree.

Lucifer and Wang Gao appeared there together.

"Father God, I found some interesting things in the Mist Sea Tree's memories," Lucifer said, sharing the information in his mind with Wang Gao.

After receiving the information, Wang Gao revealed a hint of surprise. "Moon People... God's Country... genetically modified humans... an interesting history."

This Mist Sea Tree was one of God's Country's genetically modified organisms back then. More precisely, it was a descendant of the First Generation Mist Sea Tree.

Although it was an immature genetically modified organism, the Mist Sea Tree possessed a very peculiar means of survival.

The First Generation Mist Sea Tree had been destroyed by the Sea King army controlled by the Sea King, but one of its offspring had managed to barely survive the great war of the Void Century by rooting itself deep within the earth's crust.

This Mist Sea Tree had existed in the Devil's Triangle for 982 years. It had been destroyed once during the Void Century, then recovered 736 years ago.

Then, 424 years ago, it split off its first offspring; 112 years ago, it split off its second.

This formed the vast Devil's Triangle of today. Although some of the memories inherited by the Mist Sea Tree had been lost due to the damage from that great war, some of the remaining information still allowed Wang Gao to learn certain truths about the Void Century.

Wang Gao looked at the tree core before him and sighed softly.

"Who was right and who was wrong? In the end, it's nothing more than the victor becoming king and the loser being vilified. History is important, yet it isn't important either. I am who I am, and I will never become Joy Boy."

Lucifer, standing nearby, understood Wang Gao as well. After all, he was the "child" Wang Gao had created, and naturally inherited Wang Gao's thoughts and will.

Thank you all for your support (ω｀)