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Buzz!
A crisp hum rang through the air.
Soon, the illusions surrounding them rapidly crumbled away.
Whitebeard and the others had no time to think and quickly withdrew from the Island Eater's encirclement.
Once they left that oppressive space, Laugh Tale—the final island that had appeared at the end of the sea within the illusion—was now located in an entirely different direction.
Many people froze slightly at the sight.
If everything before them was real, then the pirates who had arrived in these waters first and encountered no danger probably still had not reached Laugh Tale.
That meant the island's secrets had likely yet to be uncovered.
"Red-Haired Shanks, the illusion shrouding these waters has been broken. Our temporary cooperation agreement ends here as well. From here on, whoever uncovers Laugh Tale's secrets will have to prove themselves with their fists," Whitebeard said, recovering first.
The moment those words fell, everyone who had been lost in thought tensed up.
Before they could respond, however, a series of urgent Transponder Snails began ringing without warning.
"Pops, something terrible has happened—no, this is incredible news! After the enormous waves caused by the aftermath of that attack, a huge number of Devil Fruits appeared! A rough estimate puts it at no fewer than several hundred!"
"Momma, we found several hundred Devil Fruits!"
"Captain, what should we do?!"
Urgent reports poured from the Transponder Snails.
Faced with the sudden appearance of hundreds of Devil Fruits, like an unexpected gift from the sea itself, even Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin, and Shanks—the Four Emperors—could not help changing expression.
On their way here, they had received quite a bit of intelligence regarding Devil Fruits.
However, those reports had only mentioned a dozen or so, perhaps twenty or thirty at most.
Now, several hundred Devil Fruits had