After leaving the Silent Abyss, the allied fleet followed the Silence Crystal's guidance toward an unsettling destination-Demon Island. Legend held that it was the Ancient Kingdom's experimental ground for crime and punishment, where the most dangerous criminals were imprisoned and the most forbidden experiments conducted.
"Demon Island..." Sabo looked grave as he consulted the Revolutionary Army's classified files. "According to the records, they researched 'sin quantification' and 'customized punishment' there, trying to achieve absolute justice through scientific means." Ace clenched his fists. "Absolute justice? Like the Marines' version?" Luffy's rubber face scrunched up. "Just hearing about it makes me uncomfortable..." Allen extended his Time Perception, and his pupils suddenly contracted. "The flow of time there... is filled with pain and repentance... and some kind of... experimental distortion."
As Pluton approached Demon Island, a suffocating air of blood and despair swept over them. High walls surrounded the island, covered with spikes and automated defense systems. Most unsettling of all was the enormous "Scale of Sin" at the island's center, constantly weighing something.
"Welcome to Demon Island," an icy mechanical voice rang out. "Please undergo a sin assessment so that an appropriate punishment may be assigned." Several judgment robots appeared and scanned everyone. "Monkey D. Luffy: sin level A-. Primary offenses: disruption of order, violent conduct..." "Portgas D. Ace: sin level A. Primary offenses: illegal use of fire, destruction of property..." "Sabo: sin level B+. Primary offenses: subversive activities, illegal intelligence..." "Portgas D. Allen: sin level S. Primary offenses: tampering with time, defying heaven to change fate..."
Luffy's rubber body swelled with anger. "Who are you calling criminals?! We're helping people!" Ace erupted in flames. "Those slave traders are the ones who should be judged!" Sabo analyzed it calmly. "They're measuring complex human behavior against fixed standards." Allen's Time Perception saw through to its nature. "This isn't justice... it's mechanical judgment."
The judgment robots replied without emotion. "Sin must be punished. Based on the assessment results: Luffy is sentenced to forced labor, Ace to punishment by fire, Sabo to solitary confinement, and Allen... to a time-loop sentence."
The horrific punishments began! An invisible force crushed Luffy down, forcing him to carry massive boulders; Ace was trapped in a cage of fire, suffering the backlash of his own flames; Sabo was locked in a chamber of absolute darkness; Allen was dragged into an endlessly looping temporal prison, repeating his most painful moments over and over!
"Brother!" Luffy struggled desperately. "Allen!" Ace roared as he battered the cage. Sabo stayed calm in the darkness, searching for a loophole. Allen held his mind steady within the time loop. "These are all illusions... they aren't real..."
But the punishments grew increasingly real and began truly hurting them! These were not illusions, but "conceptual punishment" developed by the Ancient Kingdom, acting directly upon the essence of existence!
"We have to break this system!" Allen unleashed his Power of Time at full force, but struggled to concentrate within the time loop! The other three fought bitterly against their own punishments as well!
Just then, a weak voice reached Allen's mind. "Help... us..." His Time Perception traced the voice to the "Penitents" deep within the island-prisoners tormented by permanent punishment.
"Take me to the core..." Allen transmitted the message through his Power of Time. With the Penitents secretly helping them, the four struggled to reunite and charged toward the "Judgment Core" at the island's center.
The sights along the way made their blood run cold:
· A pirate endlessly repeating the process of dying;
· A glutton who felt hunger forever;
· A traitor tormented every moment by the feeling of being betrayed;
· There was even a Revolutionary Army member punished for "thoughtcrime"!
"This is crueler than death..." Sabo was shocked. Ace burned with fury. "The people who devised these punishments are the ones who deserve punishment!" Luffy clenched his rubber fists. "I'm going to send this bastard system flying!"
At the Judgment Core, they met the island's controller-a partially mechanized judge who called himself "Absolute Justice."
"Sin must be quantified and punished," the judge said mechanically. "Only absolute pain can produce absolute order." Allen's Time Perception saw through to the truth. "You aren't human either... you're an ancient judgment AI, already twisted into a punishment machine!"
Streams of data flickered in the judge's eyes. "Lord Imu understands my value. Soon, the sins of the entire world will be 'purified.'"
Battle erupted! The judge controlled the entire island's punishment system to attack:
· Chains of sin tried to bind them;
· Flames of repentance scorched their souls;
· Temporal cages created looping predicaments;
Most terrifying of all, the judge could directly "pass judgment" on their abilities: "Fire is guilty! Disabled!" "Rubber is guilty! Disabled!" "Wisdom is guilty! Disabled!" "Time is guilty! Disabled!"
Their powers were severely suppressed! They were almost reduced to ordinary people!
"At this rate..." Ace struggled to dodge the attacks. For the first time, Luffy felt powerless. "My strength... I can't use it..." Sabo desperately tried to think of a countermeasure, but his thoughts were being disrupted. Allen struggled to circulate his Power of Time. "We have to... break through the conceptual restrictions..."
At that critical moment, Allen recalled the revelation from the Silent Abyss: True justice isn't punishment, but redemption.
He transmitted this idea to all the Penitents through his Power of Time. Something astonishing happened-the Penitents began to resist! Their pain became power, battering the punishment system!
"You... would actually help criminals?" For the first time, the judge showed an emotional fluctuation. An old man subjected to permanent punishment spoke with difficulty. "We are indeed guilty... but we shouldn't be punished forever... redemption... is justice..."
With the Penitents' help, gaps appeared in the punishment system! The four partially regained their powers!
"Now!" Allen combined his Power of Time with the Power of Emotion. "Time Weaving: Road to Redemption!" He no longer tried to destroy the punishment system, but transformed it into a "redemption system"-pain was no longer punishment, but a process of purification and growth.
The judge resisted frantically. "Impossible! Sin must be punished!" But more and more Penitents chose redemption, and the system's foundations began to shake!
The final showdown! The four joined forces against the judge:
· Luffy shattered the chains of sin with Fist of Redemption;
· Ace burned the flames of repentance with Fire of Purification;
· Sabo illuminated the dark punishments with Light of Wisdom;
· Allen ended eternal suffering with Time Pardon;
When the judge was finally defeated, it voiced one last question. "Why... choose redemption... instead of punishment..." Allen said softly, "Because we all deserve a second chance."
Demon Island's system was reset, turning it from a place of punishment into a place of redemption. The Penitents began true rehabilitation, and their sentences became meaningful rather than eternal.
In the core database, they discovered a shocking truth: Imu had originally been the "supreme judge" here, but had gradually become twisted through exposure to too much sin, ultimately believing that only absolute control could eliminate sin.
"Imu's desire for order... stems from despair over the sins of human nature," Allen realized.
As they left, the former Penitents bowed to see them off. "Thank you for giving us a chance at redemption." Luffy laughed. "Be good people from now on!" Ace nodded. "Everyone has the right to mend their ways." Sabo recorded, "Justice should include mercy."
The judge's core was remodeled into the "Redemption AI," continuing to manage the island, but with an entirely different philosophy.
Standing at Pluton's bow and looking back at Demon Island as it gradually receded, Allen held what had once been the Scale of Sin, now transformed into the Scale of Redemption.
True justice was not punishment, but giving people a chance to mend their ways.
This belief in redemption would guide them to change the world with greater tolerance.
Pluton sailed toward the site of the final battle, carrying an understanding of the complexity of human nature.
And that understanding might be the very key to opposing Imu's absolute order.