Late at night, above a stretch of sea in the New World.
Arcs of electricity writhed and leaped across Boer's skin like tiny blue vipers, while fierce winds howled past his ears, almost tearing them apart. The air was violently forced aside, leaving a vacuum trail stretching dozens of kilometers behind him. Along its edges, moisture in the atmosphere was instantly ionized, refracting an eerie blue-violet glow like the burning trail a meteor left across the night sky.
He was the only, solitary blue meteor beneath the boundless night.
Boer could feel it-his speed had already exceeded four times the speed of sound. At this speed, even his Observation Haki grew hazy from information overload. But he did not slow down. Instead, he accelerated.
As though, if he went fast enough, he could shake off that clinging, shapeless thing called "emptiness" behind him.
Boer slowly decelerated.
Like a great bird folding its wings, the blue arcs went out inch by inch across his skin. His fearsome Electronic Armor disintegrated into metallic particles, retreating like the tide into the lining of his everyday black clothes. When the final trace of electricity faded, he hovered above the clouds, five thousand meters in the air.
Below him lay the sleeping land.
City lights glimmered in the distance, like flecks of gold scattered across black velvet.
Boer lowered his head and looked at his hands.
But at that moment, they were trembling slightly.
"Where... am I going?"
The thought surfaced without warning.
Boer froze.
Ever since he had crossed over into this world, he had kept "moving forward"-establishing Bernia, developing industry, fighting Cipher Pol, maneuvering among the Four Emperors, pursuing revenge... Every goal had been clear, every step planned.
But what about now?
Red-Hair had forcibly pressed pause on his revenge.
His alliance with