Offering Up Alabasta

Bai Cangshu had originally thought that little Cindy’s "Officer Corey" turning into a Ghost had been an isolated incident. On this vast sea, anything could happen. The occasional appearance of a Ghost was not impossible to understand.

He had even associated it with Enel’s Rumble-Rumble Fruit, wondering whether some special electromagnetic phenomenon had caused the Ghost’s appearance.

But at this moment, countless Ghosts walked amid the gale within that white fog. They crossed the sea, spreading directly across all of Skuld Island, before finally converging within the mountain Enel had designated as a forbidden zone—the location of Eldorado.

This clearly could not be connected to any event or ability from the original work. Even Brook’s Yomi-Yomi Fruit merely allowed Brook’s own soul to briefly leave his body, while Big Mom Charlotte Linlin’s Soul-Soul Fruit was even more vastly different.

Some kind of power had turned many people into Ghosts.

That "Officer Corey" did not seem to see Bai Cangshu either, instead spreading toward the back mountain along with the white fog. Bai Cangshu looked around again and saw that Vergo and those Marines seemed to have already infiltrated Skuld Island under the cover of the fog.

Bai Cangshu swiftly vanished from the beach as well. His method of concealing his aura could not evade Observation Haki, and only by blending into a crowd could he hide his traces as much as possible, preventing Enel from noticing that there was one extra person among them.

After returning to the so-called God’s Country, Bai Cangshu saw three pillars in the square outside the temple at the town center. Three corpses were tied to them. Though their bodies had been charred black, Bai Cangshu recognized them as Leo, Barnaby, and that hunched marine soldier from their missing limbs and faintly visible outlines.

He guessed that those three had likely sought help in their own ways on the very night he had made his move.

Standing amid the crowd, Bai Cangshu noticed that on the other side of the temple square, the priest Ōgami sat on a round island cloud with his eyes closed. The large dog Holy stood to one side, while the other priest, Nirvana, stood on the other.

A large number of God’s Guard members stood in formation within the temple.

Clearly, Enel’s subordinates also knew that the situation was far from relaxed. This island had already become a target coveted by many One Piece and Marines, so these people remained on alert at all times.

They also intended to use these corpses to lure out the other Marines hiding on the island.

Bai Cangshu curled his lips. This despicable tactic of exploiting human weakness was indeed somewhat effective. His gaze fixed on the crowd two hundred meters ahead to his left.

The little girl with messy red hair tied into two braids glared furiously at the priests. She kept looking around, seemingly plotting something.

Cindy was indeed furious, and deeply saddened as well. She did not understand why everyone had suddenly left that sewer, much less why, after they had died, those priests still had to treat their bodies like this.

They had been good people. Brave people. They should not have met such an end.

As the little girl’s eyes darted around, she suddenly thought of something and lifted her foot to walk toward the priests. But a large hand suddenly grabbed her by the back of the neck from behind.

"Uh… it’s you, big guy!"

Cindy flailed her limbs a few times and found that she could not break free. Only after turning back and seeing that it was someone she knew did she stop struggling.

Bai Cangshu moved with astonishing speed, and before long, the two of them had returned to that dilapidated White District.

"What were you planning to do just now?"

Cindy lowered her head. The joy of reuniting with someone she knew faded away, but it also reminded her once more of the deaths of those Marine Soldiers.

Olgins had gone elsewhere again today to gather information. She had heard that quite a few warship wrecks had drifted onto the beach over the past two days. Uncle Olgins said that Officer Corey’s reinforcements might have been defeated by that guy too.

"I wanted to trick them into thinking that lots of Marines had come to the island. Then, when they went looking for them, I’d take Uncle Leo and the others down, and then… find somewhere to bury them."

Bai Cangshu looked away, confirming once again that she really was an overly naive and foolish girl.

Even if she did not know that priest Ōgami could read minds, she should have considered that with her strength alone, there was no way she could secretly carry those corpses away from that huge square.

Bai Cangshu did not dislike naive and kind people, but he believed even more firmly that naivety and kindness without power did nothing except make tragedy even crueler.

He did not want to waste any more time on those corpses, so he changed the subject and asked, "Has the island always had that kind of heavy fog over the past two years?"

Cindy blinked, somewhat unaccustomed to how quickly Bai Cangshu changed topics. Still, she frowned and thought for a moment before asking back, "What’s heavy fog?"

Bai Cangshu’s pupils widened slightly, but his expression remained calm.

"It’s that vapor that turns everything you see white and hazy. You’ve never seen it?"

"It should have happened just now."

Cindy shook her head and denied it. "No. Cindy was in that square the whole time just now. I didn’t see any heavy fog. The weather has always been like this."

Bai Cangshu finally confirmed that the white fog and those Ghosts were not things of this world.

He could see them because of the special constitution of his Myriad Tribulations Yin Spirit Yellow Springs Physique, because of his special Milestone.

The changes occurring in this world were far more exaggerated than those in the Jujutsu World. It was not simply that powerful Plot Characters such as Hawkeye and Crocodile had died. This world itself had undergone other kinds of changes.

Things that did not belong to the One Piece World had begun appearing here. Moreover, they had not vanished when the Reincarnators left; instead, they had begun becoming part of this world.

After reaching that conclusion, Bai Cangshu looked again at the items from the treasure he had obtained. Aside from that Devil Fruit, the other two items had suddenly become much more enigmatic.

The two-handed greatsword’s style was completely unlike the famous blades commonly found in this world. Such an oversized sword, common only in a Western fantasy setting, had been given the name Unidentified Ominous Greatsword by the Space.

While the One Piece World did have the concept of "cursed blades," the "curses" and "cursed blades" of the One Piece World were more like things tied to one’s "heart."

A cursed blade devoured its master, but in another sense, it was also a cursed blade choosing its master.

The "ominousness" defined by this sword had always seemed to belong to another level, connected to mysterious negative energies.

Bai Cangshu looked out the window at the sea, which had regained its clarity. He realized that he had made a mistake in this world.

After arriving on this island of God’s Country, sensing Enel’s presence, and learning about the Sky Island’s fall, he had instinctively focused the changes to this world’s timeline on Enel.

Because Enel was powerful enough. His oppressive presence was enough.

In Bai Cangshu’s view, even as the final BOSS of this mission, Enel’s level was already sufficient.

Judging from the combat power Enel had displayed so far, his development of his Devil Fruit Ability was astonishing. He could easily defeat Doflamingo, who had mastered the Three Types of Haki, making him one of the people closest to the top of the sea’s pyramid.

Aside from those sea emperors who had mastered Conqueror’s Haki Infusion, perhaps only the three veteran Marine Admirals had a chance of suppressing him.

He was already one of the sea’s few supreme experts.

But now, Enel’s arrival in the Blue Sea itself seemed full of doubts.

Enel’s goal had been the Endless Earth. Thinking with the mindset of the real world, Bai Cangshu had instinctively felt that falling from the Sky Island had also fulfilled Enel’s goal.

But the One Piece World was different. In the One Piece World, nearly the entire world was covered by ocean. The world consisted entirely of islands separated by the sea, then divided by the Red Line and the Grand Line.

This world… had no concept of "continents."

In other words, if Enel truly sought the Endless Earth, then his target should indeed have been the moon.

"Cindy, can you help me find newspapers from the past two years?"

"As payment, later on, I can take those people’s bodies out of that place and give them a proper burial."

Bai Cangshu was unexpectedly reasonable toward a target with absolutely no combat value.

Countdown until the second batch of Reincarnator factions enters this world: 6 days, 17 hours, 44 minutes

Current team battle points: -7

Bai Cangshu had originally planned to find a way to keep the island’s situation as it was before the second batch of Reincarnators entered, while farming reputation with the Marines during that period.

Then, when the second batch of Reincarnators—whom the Space had determined to be stronger than his own batch—entered, they would happen to be swept into the chaotic battlefield between Enel and the large numbers of One Piece and Marines.

With Enel’s current control over the situation, it would not be difficult for Bai Cangshu to borrow the Marines’ power and kill some Reincarnators amid the chaos, causing their deaths.

But now, Bai Cangshu felt pressed for time.

A Rare Quality treasure had produced a powerful Red Quality item.

A world that had initially seemed not to have changed much had suddenly revealed an entirely different power system.

Bai Cangshu immediately changed his line of thought.

Cindy was overjoyed. She nodded, then hurried into the kitchen and brought out plenty of food, including fruit and some quick-prepared meat.

All of it was reserve food she had stolen from the market.

"Big guy, eat something first. I’ll go look right away!"

The little girl only felt that she had saved a truly good person.

After Cindy left, Bai Cangshu took out the arm and the greatsword again, examining them carefully.

Merely touching the black greatsword caused it to strongly absorb Haki and vitality, matching certain settings for cursed blades and black blades in this world. And its appearance could not be completely ruled out as belonging to this world.

As for this arm, there was no doubt that its former owner had possessed exceptionally powerful Conqueror’s Haki. A Conqueror’s Haki user whose quality could reach Red Quality—World’s Rare Treasure…

Did such a person exist in the One Piece World?

Although equipment quality was not completely tied to a person’s strength, an item possessing both material and Bio-Implant characteristics was certainly directly related to the quality of the arm itself.

One of the Four Emperors, Red-Hair?

It did not feel like enough.

The former Rocks?

Or perhaps… the legendary Joy Boy?!

Cindy gradually found all kinds of newspapers and magazines. Bai Cangshu read quickly, and because Cindy had found them randomly from all over the place, their dates were scattered and chaotic.

But Bai Cangshu suddenly saw a report describing the disappearance of a Seven Warlords of the Sea member.

"As Alabasta has completely become a barren land and its desert people have mysteriously vanished without a trace, an analyst who declined to be named believes that this may be related to Sand Crocodile Crocodile."

"However, Crocodile has been missing for more than half a month as of now, and the Marines have refused to comment…"

According to the Space’s verification, Crocodile was indeed dead. And Alabasta’s people had all disappeared too?

Bai Cangshu caught a trace of Spiritual Perception. Previously, he had focused on the deaths of Hawkeye and Perona, so he had assumed that some Reincarnator had hunted those two by some means.

But now, perhaps the situation was completely different.

Perhaps some terrifying person had done something in Alabasta…

There were not many players of the myriad worlds capable of slaughtering an enormous desert kingdom in such a short time. Especially since the Space could not possibly arrange for people whose power level vastly exceeded this world’s to enter and farm points.

The abilities and items that could allow people of roughly equal strength to accomplish such a thing were even more limited.

Ritual sacrifice. Meme Curse.

These concepts remained in Bai Cangshu’s mind.