Alubarna, an abandoned temple outside the palace.
It was already three in the morning when the Flame Emperor Pirates emerged from the secret passage. The sky was still pitch-black, but the east had begun to pale.
"Is it safe here?" Isuka scanned their surroundings warily. The temple was dilapidated, more than half its walls collapsed, but its structure was still reasonably stable.
"Safe for now." Robin set the metal box on the altar. "This was where people worshipped the Sun God in ancient times. Crocodile's men won't dare approach lightly-they believe in the desert god and think entering the Sun God's temple will bring disaster."
Lin Yan leaned against a corner while Chopper treated his wounds. The laser burns weren't deep, but there were too many, covering his entire body. Ace was slightly better off; he was merely exhausted.
"Captain, you've used up too much stamina." With small tweezers, Chopper extracted particles of Seastone embedded in his flesh-residue from the lasers. "This Seastone powder will keep suppressing the recovery of your powers. We have to clean all of it out."
"Sorry for the trouble, Chopper." Lin Yan closed his eyes, enduring the excruciating pain of the cleaning.
Robin walked over and crouched before him.
"Why take the risk? You could have waited until we regrouped."
"There wasn't enough time." Lin Yan opened his eyes. "Crocodile will launch his full assault tomorrow. If we don't get the key fragment before then, he'll use it to threaten King Cobra. He might even... destroy it, making sure we never find Pluton."
"Is Pluton that important to you?"
"It isn't Pluton that matters. It's the truth." Lin Yan looked at the metal box. "The clues my mother left, the fate of the D Clan, the truth of the Void Century... it all points to Alabasta. I have to find out what really happened eight hundred years ago."
Robin fell silent. She understood that obsession-for twenty years, she too had pursued the truth, even if it meant staining her hands with blood, even if the whole world hunted her.
"I'll help you," she said suddenly.
Lin Yan froze.
"I said I'll help you." Robin repeated herself, her gaze firm. "Not just for our deal, and not just to protect myself. Because... you're the first captain who's treated me as a person instead of a tool."
She rose, walked to the altar, and opened the metal box.
Inside wasn't the stone tablet fragment they had imagined, but a palm-sized golden badge. A sun and flames were engraved on its front, with a line of Ancient Script on its back.
Robin picked up the badge and softly read the words aloud.
[To my son: By the time you read this, your mother will be gone. Do not grieve. Do not seek revenge. Carry the will of the sun and open the Gate of Dawn.-Your mother, who will always love you.]
Lin Yan went rigid.
He staggered to his feet, approached the altar, and took the badge. The instant it touched his hand, warmth swept through his body. The suppression caused by the Seastone powder actually diminished by more than half.
"This is..." His fingers trembled as he stroked the badge.
"Bloodline authentication," Robin explained. "Important objects belonging to the ancient D Clan royal family were bound to their bloodline. Only a direct descendant's touch can activate their true functions."
As if confirming her words, the badge suddenly blazed with golden light! Within that light, a three-dimensional star chart appeared, with three blinking points-one in Alabasta, one on Sky Island, and one... somewhere in the New World.
"The locations of the three fragments." Robin studied the chart. "You've already obtained the Alabasta fragment. The Sky Island fragment... so that's where it is. As for the New World fragment..."
Her voice abruptly stopped.
Because on the chart, the point in the New World bore a stark label:
[Marineford]
The World Government's headquarters, where Marine Headquarters was located!
"The last fragment is in the Marines' vault?" Ace approached, frowning. "How are we supposed to get that?"
"There's always a way." Lin Yan put away the badge, and the golden light faded. "Let's deal with what's in front of us first. Crocodile won't let this go. He must be planning an even bigger conspiracy."
Just as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps sounded outside the temple.
Tashigi slipped through the doorway, her expression grave. "A large force is approaching! Baroque Works agents, and... the Rebel Army!"
"What?!" Everyone was shocked.
Lin Yan went to a ruined window and looked outside.
A dense crowd was surging along the street outside the temple. Hundreds of agents in matching uniforms led the way, followed by thousands of armed civilians in ragged clothes-the Rebel Army Crocodile had incited.
At their head was a middle-aged man wearing a crown and an ornate robe. He rode a camel, holding a flag emblazoned with crossed blades.
"Is that... Koza?" Robin recognized him. "The Rebel Army's leader. But why is he with Baroque Works?"
"He's been deceived." Lin Yan's gaze turned cold. "Crocodile must have spread more rumors that the king is colluding with pirates to sell out Alabasta. These rebels have come to 'purge the traitors.'"
Then Koza's voice rang out through a loudspeaker.
"Pirates inside the temple! And the king's lackeys who betrayed our country! Come out and surrender immediately! Otherwise, we'll set the temple on fire and burn you all alive!"
Behind him, the agents raised their torches.
"Those bastards..." Flames ignited around Ace's fists. "I'll go explain!"
"It's useless." Robin stopped him. "An incited crowd won't listen to explanations. They'll only believe what they want to believe."
She looked at Lin Yan. "What now? If we force our way out, we'll hurt those civilians. They're just being used."
Lin Yan considered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Robin, does this temple have an underground structure?"
"Yes." Robin nodded. "Ancient temples all had underground altars and escape passages. But I don't know where this temple's passage entrance is."
"Find it," Lin Yan ordered. "Isuka, take two people and guard the entrance. Use smoke bombs to buy time. Chopper, keep treating the wounded. Robin, Ace, Tashigi, come find the passage with me."
Everyone immediately got moving.
The temple wasn't large, and they soon searched it thoroughly. But they found no hidden doors or mechanisms.
The shouts outside drew closer, and the agents began battering the temple doors.
"We can't find it..." Ace said anxiously. "Should I just blast a path open with fire?"
"No." Lin Yan shook his head. "It'll collapse."
He approached the statue in the temple's center-a statue of the Sun God. Though damaged, it still retained traces of its former majesty. Its right hand extended toward the east.
Lin Yan followed its pointing finger to a mural on the wall. It depicted the sun rising over the sea, but a closer look revealed a small depression at the sun's center.
"Robin, what does that writing say?" He pointed to the markings around the depression.
Robin leaned closer. "It's an ancient prayer... It means, 'When dawn's light descends, the door below shall open.' It needs 'light'..."
Light?
Lin Yan looked up at the sky. The east was growing brighter, but the sun hadn't risen.
"Does it need real sunlight?" Tashigi asked.
"Maybe... not." Lin Yan raised his right hand, igniting a reddish-gold flame in his palm. It wasn't ordinary fire, but the "Simulated Sunlight Flame," which mimicked the sun's spectrum-its temperature was low, but its spectral composition was almost identical to sunlight.
He pressed the flame into the depression in the mural's sun.
Hum-!
The mural suddenly lit up! Golden light filled the temple! Then the floor beneath the statue began to shift, revealing stone steps leading down.
"We found it!" Ace exclaimed in delight.
"Get inside!" Lin Yan urged everyone.
Isuka and the others fought as they retreated, finally withdrawing into the secret passage. Lin Yan entered last. The instant he stepped onto the stairs, the temple doors were smashed open.
"They went in there!" an agent shouted.
Koza rushed inside. Seeing the passage entrance closing, his eyes hardened. "After them! Don't let them escape!"
But just as he reached it, the passage closed completely. No matter how hard they pounded, the wall wouldn't budge.
"Damn it!" Koza punched the wall.
He didn't notice the wisps of reddish-gold flame seeping through the cracks. Like living things, they spread along the walls, soon covering the temple's entire interior.
Then the temperature began to soar.
"It's so hot..." A rebel wiped away his sweat. "What's happening?"
"It's that Flame Emperor's power!" an agent who had seen Lin Yan fight cried in terror. "Run! He's going to-"
He never finished.
BOOM-!!!!!!!
The entire temple exploded.
It wasn't a flame explosion, but a steam explosion-before entering the passage, Lin Yan had poured a large amount of Simulated Sunlight Flame into the temple's walls and floor. The flames hadn't released their heat immediately, instead lying dormant like time bombs.
After Koza and the others entered, the flames activated, instantly vaporizing all the moisture inside the temple, including the moisture in their bodies, generating terrifying high-pressure steam. With nowhere to escape, the steam ultimately blasted the entire structure apart.
There was no firelight, only a white mass of steam and a shock wave.
When the steam cleared, the temple lay in ruins. Most of the agents and rebels had been knocked unconscious, while a few suffered minor injuries, but not a single person had died-Lin Yan had controlled the explosion's power, injuring without killing.
Amid the rubble, Koza crawled up, covered in dust. His eyes filled with shock as he surveyed the scene.
Such control... such restraint...
"Are we... really doing the right thing?" For the first time, he began to doubt.
Inside the underground passage.
Everyone hurried down the stone steps. The passage ran deep; even after ten minutes, they hadn't reached the bottom.
"Captain, what was that just now..." Isuka couldn't help asking.
"A steam explosion," Lin Yan explained. "High heat instantly vaporizes moisture, generating high pressure. I controlled the temperature and range, so it wouldn't kill anyone, but it would buy us time."
"Amazing..." Chopper's eyes shone. "I need to learn that kind of precise control!"
"I'll teach you later." Lin Yan rubbed his hat.
Just then, Robin suddenly stopped.
"There's a fork ahead." She pointed forward. "Three passages, each leading somewhere different. According to the mural, the left leads to the Chamber of Knowledge, the middle to the Chamber of the Altar, and the right to the Chamber of Weapons."
"Where are we going?" Ace asked.
"The Chamber of the Altar," Lin Yan answered without hesitation. "That's where ancient rituals were held. There may be more records about the Sun God and the D Clan. Besides... I sense something familiar there."
Something familiar?
Everyone looked at him.
Lin Yan offered no explanation and headed straight into the middle passage.
At its end stood an enormous bronze door. Complex star charts were engraved on it, with a recess at the center exactly matching the badge in Lin Yan's hand.
"You need the badge to open it," Robin said.
Lin Yan took out the badge and placed it in the recess.
Click-!
The bronze door slowly opened inward.
The sight beyond made everyone hold their breath.
It was a circular altar hall more than fifty meters in diameter. At its center stood a pyramid-shaped stone platform, above which floated three things: a thick metal book, a longsword burning with golden flames, and... a crystal coffin.
A woman lay inside the coffin.
She wore an ancient white robe, her expression peaceful, as though she were merely asleep. Her features bore a strong resemblance to Lin Yan's, especially her closed eyes, whose contours were almost identical to his.
Most shocking of all, she wore a badge on her chest-exactly like the one in Lin Yan's hand.
"Mo... ther?" Lin Yan's voice trembled.
He walked toward the crystal coffin, each step unbearably heavy. For twenty years, he had never seen his mother's face, only imagined her appearance from Garp's descriptions.
And now she lay right before him.
"Wait!" Robin suddenly shouted. "Don't go near it! That crystal coffin... is a trap!"
But it was already too late.
When Lin Yan came within ten meters of the crystal coffin, dazzling red light suddenly blazed across the altar hall's floor! Countless intricate runes emerged from the ground, forming an enormous magic circle!
At its center stood the crystal coffin.
"This is... an ancient sealing technique!" Robin's expression changed drastically. "She's sealing something! Or rather... she's being sealed by something!"
The moment she finished speaking, the woman in the crystal coffin opened her eyes.
Golden flames burned within them.
She looked at Lin Yan, her lips moving slightly as she uttered a sentence in an ancient language.
Robin understood, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.
"She said... 'Run, my son. It's about to awaken.'"
RUMBLE-!!!
The entire underground space began to shake!
Countless cracks split the altar hall's walls! Ink-black mist poured through them! From within came hair-raising whispers, as though countless tormented souls were howling!
"What is that?!" Ace ignited his flames and moved in front of Lin Yan to shield him.
"An Ancient Weapon... no, something more terrifying." Robin's voice trembled. "This is... a 'devil's' seal. Your mother used herself as a sacrifice to seal a 'devil'!"
The black mist thickened, gradually forming a vague, gigantic humanoid figure. It had no features, only two hollow eye sockets burning with eerie blue ghost-fire.
It looked at Lin Yan and spoke in a rasp.
"The bloodline... of D... has finally... come..."
"If I devour you... I can... fully... revive..."
It reached out with a hand formed from mist and grabbed at Lin Yan!
"Don't touch my brother!" Ace roared, throwing a punch with all his strength.
"Fire Fist: Great Flame Commandment!"
A gigantic fist of bluish-white flame slammed toward the mist figure, only to pass straight through it-physical attacks were useless!
"It's no use..." Robin said in despair. "It exists on a 'conceptual' level. Conventional attacks can't hurt it!"
The misty hand drew closer and closer.
But Lin Yan stood rooted to the spot.
He looked at his mother in the crystal coffin, at the golden flames burning in her eyes, and suddenly understood something.
"Mother..." he whispered. "The badge wasn't the only thing you left me."
He raised his right hand, and the badge blazed with dazzling golden light in his palm. Within that light, his mother's voice emerged-not through his ears, but directly inside his mind.
[Yan, if you're hearing this, the seal has begun to loosen. Don't be afraid. This is the final gift your mother prepared for you.]
[What I burned my life to seal wasn't a devil, but the 'Primordial Devil Fruit Source'-the source the World Government used to create all Devil Fruits before the Void Century. It is both a 'curse' and 'power.']
[Now, I pass the last of my power to you. Combine it with your father's 'Pirate King's Blood' to control it, devour it, and become... the new 'source.']
[Remember, power itself is neither good nor evil. Used well, it can be the light of dawn; abused, it becomes the darkness that destroys the world.]
[The choice is yours.]
The golden light surged!
The badge liquefied and merged into Lin Yan's palm! Then his mother's body in the crystal coffin began to glow, dissolving into countless golden motes that flew toward him!
The motes entered his body, each bringing immense energy and information! They were his mother's lifetime of power, knowledge, and memories!
Lin Yan's body began to change.
Golden patterns surfaced on his skin, his eyes turned completely molten crimson-gold, and his hair stirred without wind, every strand burning with a tiny flame.
His aura soared wildly!
"This is..." Robin was stunned. "A bloodline inheritance! She's passing everything on to her son!"
The mist humanoid sensed the threat and let out an enraged roar:
"No!!! That power is mine!!!"
It reached for Lin Yan even faster!
But just as its palm was about to touch Lin Yan-
Lin Yan opened his eyes.
There was no confusion or hesitation in those eyes anymore, only boundless majesty and searing flames.
"Get lost."
Two words.
Boom!!!
Crimson-gold flames erupted from Lin Yan like a tsunami! Rather than spreading outward, the flames compressed inward, forming an absolute domain ten meters in diameter!
Within the domain, the temperature instantly exceeded a hundred thousand degrees!
The mist humanoid's palm evaporated into nothing the instant it touched the domain!
"How is that possible?!" It recoiled in terror. "You're only human! How could you control such power?!"
"Because..." Lin Yan slowly raised his right hand, palm up.
The flames within the domain began to swirl and condense, finally forming a miniature "sun" in his palm-a sun in the truest sense. Though only the size of a fist, nuclear fusion was taking place inside it!
"I'm not 'controlling' power."
"I am power itself."
He clenched his fist.
The miniature sun exploded.
It was not a destructive explosion, but a "purification"-pure light and heat, like the holiest baptism, instantly filled the entire altar hall!
The black mist let out agonized screams in the light, melting away like ice and snow. The mist humanoid struggled frantically, trying to flee, but the light was everywhere. It had nowhere to escape.
"No!!! I refuse to accept this!!!"
After one final roar, the mist dissipated completely.
Calm returned to the altar hall.
The light gradually receded, and Lin Yan landed back on the ground. The golden patterns on his body slowly faded, and his eyes returned to their normal color, but his bearing had changed completely-there was an indescribable majesty to him now, as though a god walked among mortals.
He walked up to the crystal coffin.
His mother's body inside had turned transparent, as though she might disappear at any moment. Yet a peaceful smile appeared on her face.
She raised her hand, trying to stroke Lin Yan's face, but her fingers could no longer take solid form.
[Yan... you've grown up...]
Her voice sounded directly in Lin Yan's mind.
[I'm sorry... your mother can't go any farther with you...]
[But you must remember... you bear more than just the fate of the D Clan...]
[You are the 'key,' the 'lock,' and the 'gate'...]
[Find the other two Ds... gather all three fragments... open the Final Gate...]
[There... you'll find all the answers...]
Her body dissolved entirely into motes of light and vanished into the air.
Only a badge remained, falling to the bottom of the coffin with a clink.
Lin Yan picked up the badge and held it in his palm, silent for a long time.
"Brother..." Ace walked over to him, looking at him worriedly.
"I'm fine." Lin Yan took a deep breath and turned to the others. "I understand Mother's last wish. She wanted me to find the other two Ds, gather the fragments, and open the Final Gate."
"The other two Ds?" Robin asked. "Who else is there besides you?"
"Ace and Luffy," Lin Yan said. "The three of us brothers are the 'key.' That's also why Crocodile is targeting us-he doesn't just want Pluton. He also wants to stop us from bringing the keys together."
He looked toward the exit of the altar hall:
"Now, it's time to deal with Crocodile."
"Then we'll go to Sky Island and get the second fragment."
Everyone nodded, fighting spirit kindling in their eyes.
But just then, the entire underground space shook violently again!
This time, it was not the seal loosening. The tremors came from the surface-something enormous was attacking Alubarna!
"Let's go up and look!" Lin Yan charged toward the passage first.
When they returned to the surface, the sight left everyone stunned.
Three enormous Marine warships hovered above Alubarna!
All the warships' broadside cannons were aimed at the royal palace, and their decks were packed with Marine soldiers. Aboard the lead warship, a young female officer in a pink coat, a cigarette between her lips, stared coldly down at them.
Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, "Black Cage" Hina.
Her voice rang throughout the city through a loudspeaker:
"Cobra, king of Alabasta, has colluded with the pirate 'Flame Emperor' and conspired to subvert one of the World Government Member States. By order of Marine Headquarters-"
"Place him under arrest!"
"Anyone who resists is to be killed on sight!"
Before you continue