The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Xin Luo sat at ease in his study, leafing through a family heirloom book that recorded the family's secrets. After an unknown stretch of time, the sky outside darkened. He glanced out the window, then went to the door and switched on the light.
Click!
Thud!
The instant he pressed the switch, a figure fell out of thin air. A black circle vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving only a dying old man whose body was missing its lower half.
The smell of blood startled Xin Luo. "Uncle You, what happened?!"
Half the old man's face was charred black, without a scrap of flesh left on it. His carbonized eyeball and teeth, bare without lips to cover them, were exposed to the air. He looked as hideous as a demon.
Hearing the shout, You opened his one remaining eye that could still barely see. He moved his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Wait here. I'll get you some water!"
Xin Luo hurried to the desk and poured some lukewarm Black Tea from the pot. Taking the cup, he propped You up and fed it to him bit by bit.
With something to soothe his throat, You let out a long breath and finally managed to speak. "Vegapunk blew himself up. That bomb injured me. I doubt... Cough, cough! I doubt I'll be able to fight for more than a decade... Cough, cough!"
"What?! What happened?!"
Xin Luo was stunned. He knew You's abilities well; otherwise, he would never have sent him out as his final trump card. Since obtaining the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, You had become just like his codename: he came and went without a trace, as elusive and uncanny as a ghost!
Atalante had been a decoy from the start, meant