Chapter 338: Let It Sprout

Roy turned over everything the Sunlight Tree Eve had said.

At the same time, Eve also had doubts in her heart.

"How strange—I can feel the ’Ark’ has already moved, but its power source should be the ’Drums of Liberation’."

She seemed somewhat curious about this. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Hearing this, Roy shook his head: "I am indeed not the Joy Boy in your cognition, but that doesn’t mean I cannot possess his power."

"Mm..."

Eve sighed softly, seemingly unable to understand—although this tree had an extremely long existence, she seemed different from ordinary creatures, possessing a guileless heart.

Mm... simply put, she didn’t seem very smart.

However, fortunately, although she couldn’t figure out how exactly Roy managed to do this.

Eve didn’t seem to mind either.

"Person who changes the era."

She only needed to know that Roy had already obtained the power of the ’Seed of the Sky’ and was now receiving hers — he was destined to be the one who would change this sea.

And what she cared about, from beginning to end, was only one thing.

"I am about to die, would you grant me one request before then?"

She said softly.

"You don’t seem to fear death?"

Roy looked at the giant tree in front of him, curiosity flashing in his eyes.

He could see the continuous cracking on the trunk of the Sunlight Tree Eve—Shamrock’s attack had reached deep into the heart of this giant tree.

Although they had been conversing, Roy’s actions hadn’t stopped.

The speed at which he absorbed the Source Energy of Lineage Factor from Eve’s body was getting faster and faster, which was itself a sign of Eve growing increasingly weaker.

So Roy was surprised to find that Eve seemed very calm about this—even her voice was still as gentle as before.

"I am a tree, sprouting from the soil."

She gently answered Roy’s words: "To a tree, death is just returning to the soil once again."

"I have already nurtured enough outstanding seeds, they will always sprout again."

While speaking, she was like a gentle mother.

Yes.

That was the concept of a tree—life and death to trees is just a cycle.

Their lives will continue along with their seeds being planted in the world.

"...The Fish-Man race?"

And Roy naturally understood that the ’seeds’ Eve spoke of right now were of course not real seeds—he had never heard of the Sunlight Tree Eve having tree seeds.

What she spoke of was clearly the Fish-Man race she had protected like seeds until now.

They supported and depended on each other—the wish of the Fish-Man race gave birth to the tree named ’Eve’, and the existence of Eve protected the wishes of the Fish-Men.

And now, this dependence was about to reach its end.

So, Eve had a request for Roy.

"I want to entrust you with one thing."

She said this again.

Clearly, Eve didn’t know the rules of the sea surface or this world—she was pleading with Roy, but didn’t seem to intend to offer any reward.

But...

"..."

Roy glanced at the crumbling tree trunk, feeling the thoughts transmitted through the connection of the ’Source Energy of Lineage Factor’.

"Do you want me to find a homeland for the Fish-Men on your behalf, and then continue to protect them for you?"

"I can agree to that."

He said directly.

With his current abilities, after obtaining the Source Energy of Lineage Factor of the Sunlight Tree Eve, he could actually create another ’Fish-Man Island’ somewhere else in this world.

"No."

But to his surprise, Eve denied his guess after hearing it.

"Fish-Man Island is the ’cradle’, the place where the seeds grow."

"Eight hundred years have passed, they have grown strong enough."

Eve said softly.

And just as she said.

The Seed of the Sea bestowed upon the Fish-Man race by Davy Jones was intrinsically bound to the wishes of the Fish-Men.

In that former era, the homeless Fish-Men desired a homeland, a cradle that would allow their race to live and grow and flourish—so it sprouted from the seed and shaped ’Fish-Man Island’.

But now, through her connection with the Fish-Man race.

Eve could feel that the wish of the Fish-Men had changed.

Starting about twenty years ago, a certain wish began to take root and grow among the Fish-Man population.

Up to the current era, up to this moment—that wish, driven by Ryugu Palace and under the sacrifices of generations of Fish-Man heroes, had become the prevailing feeling on Fish-Man Island.

"I can feel their wish, they want to bathe in the sunlight, they want to see the world."

"So, although you are not Joy Boy, please take them to the sea surface, just as Joy Boy promised back then."

Eve’s words fell into Roy’s mind.

They stunned Roy.

He hadn’t expected Eve’s final request to be this.

But immediately, Roy understood.

"Just like the Giant race..."

He thought of the Giant race—as the race bestowed with the ’Seed of the Sky’, as the race that preserved the ’Nidhogg Fruit’, the Giant race was clearly an ally of Joy Boy and Davy Jones.

Since time immemorial, they had already made a promise.

When the promised era arrived, they would return to the battlefield as Joy Boy’s comrades-in-arms, bringing freedom to this world.

As a race appearing on both the Giant race’s murals and the murals of the Abyss, the Fish-Man race clearly also bore a similar ’promise’.

"No... there are differences!"

But immediately following, Roy realized again—the Fish-Man race was clearly different from the Giant race.

The Giant race had extremely long lifespans, formidable strength as a people, and ancient inheritance, so their promise could be passed down to this day.

But the Fish-Man race was different.

Over the long years, the history of the Void Century had already faded away for the Fish-Men.

They might have already forgotten the promise, at least they didn’t preserve it through something like the ’Codex of Harley’ like the Giant race.

However, that didn’t matter.

Because just as Eve said—seeds will yearn for sunlight, and fate will make them sprout.

"Otohime..."

Ever since twenty years ago, when that naive idealist ’Queen Otohime’ died.

Her will spread through the hearts of the Fish-Men like wildfire, and under the guidance of Neptune and others, took deep root.

Even though to this day, the Fish-Men still haven’t become a part of the wheel of the world—they might also never be able to join it.

Even though many Fish-Men still loathe or fear humans.

However, a truth lay buried deep in the hearts of all Fish-Men.

Just like Shirahoshi wanting to go see the real ’forests’ and ’land’.

They want to go to the sea surface.

They want to bathe in the sunlight like normal races.

And that wish had led to this very conversation.

So...

"My children... please take them to the sea surface."

"Please, let them ’sprout’."

Just as in the past, the Sunlight Tree Eve would always answer the wishes of the Fish-Men.

"...You should know the significance of the current era. If they head to the sea surface in this era, the Fish-Men will inevitably be dragged into war—is that okay too?"

Speaking up to here, Roy’s expression gradually turned solemn.

"Seeds will inevitably experience the baptism of wind and rain."

Eve said gently: "That will make the newly sprouted seedlings even more resilient."

Hearing this, Roy had no more hesitation.

He nodded: "As you wish."

"No... as the Fish-Men wish."

He accepted Eve’s request: "I will take them to the sea surface."

At that, Eve let out a gentle chuckle.

"Thank you."

Accompanying the words of thanks.

Crack! A crisp, resonant sound rang through the deep sea.

In front of Roy, on the massive trunk of the Sunlight Tree Eve, spiderweb-like cracks began to spread from the massive wound in the middle, covering the entire giant tree in just an instant.

Within the tree body, that iconic sunlight went dark at this moment.

Only the golden tree sap sprayed into the lightless deep sea, like stars falling in the dark night, dyeing the sea in twilight hues.

It spoke a wordless truth.

The ancient giant tree ’Sunlight Tree Eve’, which had taken root in this deep sea for countless years... completely died at this moment.

[Parsing and absorption of Source Energy of Lineage Factor complete]

At the same time, the prompt from the Fruit Encyclopedia also flashed across the bottom of Roy’s eyes.

He looked at the unprecedented number in the ’Source Energy of Lineage Factor’ column within the Fruit Encyclopedia, yet uncharacteristically felt little joy in his heart.

He turned his gaze downwards—the shattered fragments of the Sunlight Tree Eve were rapidly plummeting into the deep sea right now.

Notably, even the fragments plummeting into the deep sea were driven by the Sunlight Tree Eve’s final power away from the waters around Fish-Man Island.

Even at the final moment when her life reached its end, she was doing her best to protect her children.

"Rest assured..."

Roy’s whisper pierced through the water currents.

From inside the cuffs of his Star Hunter Unit uniform, faint starlight flowed downwards.

"I will fulfill the promise."

At the same time, deep sea, Fish-Man Island battlefield.

Rumble!

Fish-Man Island, which had already been split in two by Shamrock’s earlier strike, seemed to cry out as its foundation let out an ear-piercing groan the moment the Sunlight Tree Eve shattered.

Visible to the naked eye, the entire Fish-Man Island body, which had been held together by force, began to collapse rapidly.

Ryugu Palace began to topple, and the bubble shield of Fish-Man Island finally began to burst inch by inch.

Screams and exclamations of alarm resounded through the deep sea around Fish-Man Island in an instant.

At the same time...

"Success."

Shamrock, who had just swung a sword slash at Loki’s giant hammer and sent the latter flying backwards, looked at the massive tree body fragments continuously falling in the surrounding sea area, felt the unusual movements of the entire sea area right now, and the expression on his face also relaxed.

"Roar!" ×3

Even the three-headed hound on ’Seven Sins’ in his hand seemed to sense its master’s joy at this moment, letting out a low and ferocious roar.

"The Star Hunter Unit... ’Lord Imu’s’ decision was indeed correct."

"Although they are some insubordinate guys, they are indeed very suitable as ’knives’."

Shamrock thought to himself.

Yes.

To be honest, after realizing that the methods he originally prepared had all been countered due to the arrival of Loki and the Giant race, and ultimately having to issue orders to the Star Hunter Unit.

Shamrock had actually already prepared for things to take a turn for the worse.

After all, he knew very well that the Star Hunter Unit was originally a force established by Imu to counter ’The Zodiac’, and its two commanders were already the most insubordinate troublemakers within the Government—Shamrock’s trust in them was limited.

But now, events had proved that the Star Hunter Unit completed the task he’d entrusted them with.

Of course.

Buru buru.

Buru buru.

Since just now, the sounds of the other few Transponder Snails on his body hadn’t stopped—Shamrock could guess that some things beyond his expectations must have happened on the sea surface, highly likely other actions by the Star Hunter Unit.

But...

Just as Roy guessed earlier, whether it was Shamrock or that Lord behind him, they clearly didn’t care about this.

As long as the core objective was completed, those guys could act as recklessly as they wanted.

"Then..."

Shamrock raised his hand and swung his sword.

"Roar!" ×3

The three-headed hound hissed, and the vortex thrown up by the slash uprooted half of the coral forest below and hurled it towards Loki, who had already stood back up in the distance.

"Haha... you bastard, actually daring to do such a thing!"

And right now, Loki was similarly looking at the falling fragments of the Sunlight Tree Eve around him, panting as he spoke.

"I will absolutely not forgive you."

"That is exactly what I wanted to say."

Shamrock gently shook his head, a chilling coldness appearing in his eyes.

"Eve has already been destroyed. Next is you."

He gripped Seven Sins tightly in his hand, his breathing also becoming rapid.

Yes—his mission wasn’t over yet.

Eve was destroyed, but he still needed to dispose of Loki and the Giants next—he absolutely couldn’t allow the power of the Giant race, especially ’Nidhogg’ and ’Uranus’, to fall into the hands of The Zodiac.

During the previous battle, he had also acknowledged Loki’s strength... on the current sea, the other party was indeed one of the rare people qualified to fight him.

But it didn’t matter.

"I will win."

Holding the sword in his hand, he possessed such confidence.

"Hell’s Paradise..."

Just as Shamrock gripped the sword in his hand tightly, and black-red Conqueror’s Haki and pitch-black Armament Haki wrapped around it.

He heard a certain sound ringing out in this deep sea.

"Moo-ang!" ×N

That sound was boundless, coming from deeper sea areas in all directions, and the voices were many and varied—in this deep sea, it felt as if the entire ocean was roaring at Shamrock.

And those countless massive sounds coming from the deep sea in all directions seemed to be merely an ’opening act’.

And accompanied by those sounds resounding together...

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Was the massive, booming sound of drums.

VMMM!

And at the very limit of Shamrock’s line of sight, from the depths of the abyss below, a vast starlight began to glow.

(End of Chapter)

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