Splitting Up

"How's it going? Are they watching us?"

"It seems he's gone."

"Phew~ Looks like I've fooled them!"

"You're really something, Garp."

Garp and Zephyr slipped into a house by the roadside, looked at each other, and grinned.

I heard the name Kaya from the Sengoku. It is said that the navy had captured several Quincy long before that time.

Through interrogation, it was discovered that the Quincy were connected to a guy named Kaya on Hachinosu.

That being said...

There's really no need to go through all that trouble.

Kaya's bounty is flying all over the world now; it would be strange if no one knew about it.

"We can't use this tactic too often; we need to find a way to go deeper into this country." Garp stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"If we run into that so-called king, we won't be able to leave," Zephyr said calmly. "And... we'll have to deal with another problem first."

The two turned their heads at the same time and saw a guy coming out of a room inside the house.

The three men locked eyes, and the man looked at each other blankly.

"This place is packed with people! We're going to have to fight again!" Garp walked up, rubbing his fists together.

But to their surprise, the other person's expression changed several times, but they neither retreated nor advanced; they simply looked at them with a strange gaze.

Zephyr's eyes flickered for a moment, and after sizing up the man, he suddenly asked, "Are you a Marine?"

"Huh?" Garp was clearly stunned.

"Lieutenant Resadax greets the two Vice Admiral." The other man stood with his legs together and raised his hands, giving a somewhat perfunctory salute.

They recognized each other?

Garp and Zephyr exchanged bewildered glances, their minds a jumbled mess, unsure of what expression to adopt.

"What's this...?" Garp glanced at the man's form-fitting knight's uniform, "You've joined those Quincy?"

Resadax grunted, "Those willing to join will receive blood, drink it, become Quincy, and settle down here. Those unwilling will be imprisoned with the Celestial Dragons."

"Is everyone still alive?" Zephyr asked.

Some people died, and some people lived.

"... nonsense!"

The three of them suddenly fell silent again.

Wow!

Resadax raised his hand and manipulated the Reishi, summoning a blue Spirit Bow that glowed faintly in the room.

The light shone on Garp and Zephyr's faces, and these two experienced fighters instinctively went on alert, unleashing their full Observation Haki.

But things developed in a way that surprised them.

"Quincy can absorb Reishi from the atmosphere to fight, and condensing them into bows and arrows is their most basic method."

Resadax drew his bowstring, a Holy Arrow was nocked, and he raised the arrow over the heads of Capzef and the other man before firing it.

Snap!

A light bulb on the ceiling was shattered, and blue flames burned on the scattered fragments.

"Hirenkyaku!"

Resadax dodged and got right up to the two men.

Wow, so fast!

Garp looked at the person who had suddenly appeared in front of him and suppressed the urge to throw a punch.

"Transferring the body using Reishi is faster than the 'Shave' technique from the Six Powers." Resadax flicked his hand, scattering the Spirit Bow.

Zephyr and Garp didn't understand what he was going to do, so they remained silent and just stood there watching.

"If we inject Reishi into the blood vessels..." Resadax stretched out an arm, and patterns composed of Reishi appeared on the surface of his clothes.

"Blut Arterie increases attack, Blut Vene increases defense. They cannot be used simultaneously; their effects are similar to Armament Haki."

"But I can't use the Blut Vene yet, I don't know the specific reason." He lowered his hand again.

"And Schrift."

He pondered for a moment, "I don't know much about it, I only know that it's a power that only members of the Sternritter can wield, and each Schrift is comparable to Devil Fruit."

"You..." Zephyr was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"You two Vice Admiral should leave now; this is no place for the navy." Resadax turned around, his back to the two men.

Zephyr was about to say something when Garp stopped him and shook his head.

The two took one last look at Resadax, without saying goodbye or blaming him for his betrayal. Without needing to say more, they left the house.

After the two men left, only Resadax's murmurs echoed in the quiet room.

"I must join the Knights..."

Garp and Zephyr both went out.

The two stood on the empty, cold road, neither speaking, their feelings inexplicably strange.

The good news is that the Celestial Dragons and the missing Marines are all alive. The bad news is that some Marines have defected to the enemy, and some are even imprisoned.

"We should ask more questions," Zephyr said in a low voice.

"Forget it, it's already a favor that he didn't report us intruders." Garp patted Zephyr on the shoulder.

"He said drinking his blood would turn him into Quincy. What blood? Whose blood?" Zephyr frowned.

"Let's find the answer there." Garp suddenly looked up and gazed into the distance.

Zephyr also looked over.

Their gaze passed through buildings and streets, finally settling on a palace that was significantly larger in area.

That's the absolute center of the city.

The palace resembles those built in some old-fashioned kingdoms; it is not luxurious or extravagant, and its gray-white walls exude a sense of antiquity.

A layer of pale blue ice stretched from the ground all the way to the corners of the house; just by looking at it, one could feel the temperature drop considerably.

Garp and Zephyr no longer hesitated; there was no point in staying on the outskirts of the city any longer, so they decided to move forward.

As the distance rapidly closed, nothing unexpected happened along the way; at most, they encountered a few Quincy, which could be ignored.

I don't know how much time has passed.

In such a world, without the sun, moon, and stars, people would gradually lose their perception of time.

No matter how many hours or days have passed, the sky remains the same color, and the whole world remains the same, as if time has stopped flowing throughout the entire space.

There are no guards at the gate?

There was a spire in front of the palace. Garp hid behind it, peeking out to observe the buildings in his line of sight.

Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the palace was situated higher than the other buildings, with the entire underground area rising up, requiring steps connecting to the surface to ascend.

No wonder I could see it even from a distance.

He and Zephyr waited for a while, but no one appeared. They weren't in a hurry and continued to wait.

"78, 79, 80..."

Zephyr counted, and waited for a full eighty minutes.

It's been over an hour, and I haven't seen anyone or made a sound.

The two nodded to each other and rushed forward.

Unlike some Devil Fruit User, these two were both masters of physical combat, incredibly fast, and flew up the steps in the blink of an eye.

A palace with dozens of large pillars stood directly in front of them, its main gate resembling an entrance to a cave.

Garp and Zephyr in without slowing down.

But as soon as they went in, they stopped immediately, or they would have bumped into the wall.

Just inside the main gate is a huge wall, with a long corridor on each side extending in completely opposite directions.

"Two paths?" Garp instinctively clenched his fists.

"Split up, write down the route, and keep track of the time. In two and a half hours, we'll come back the way we came and meet here again," Zephyr.

"Okay!" Garp readily agreed, randomly choosing a direction... "Let's go to the right," he said, and started running.

Zephyr took the left path, and the two of them separated back to back.