Red Quality, Left Arm of the King

Bai Cangshu looked at the three items. That black Claymore differed from the famous blades common in this world. It was not shaped like a traditional Japanese sword, with double-edged blades and a broad body, more like the two-handed greatswords often seen in Western fantasy settings.

Yet its blade was pitch-black, fitting rather well with this world’s concept of black blades.

The Devil Fruit in the small box on the right also bore a pattern Bai Cangshu had never seen before. It was a fruit unknown to him so far.

Bai Cangshu stepped forward and was about to reach out when a powerful presence suddenly erupted from the severed arm in the middle.

Black lightning instantly pierced Bai Cangshu’s chest.

Screech!

Bai Cangshu’s mind went blank. His entire body stiffened instantly, every cell intimidated by an overwhelming aura. His muscles spasmed, leaving him unable to move for the moment.

A trap?

No, this was Haki!

A Conqueror’s Haki refined to an extreme degree!

You have come into contact with the Special Construct: King’s Legacy Treasure.

Special Construct?

Bai Cangshu remembered that when he had come into contact with Eldorado, the space had likewise notified him that he had encountered a Special Construct. It had clearly stated that by obtaining complete control over Eldorado, he could eventually gain the right to take all of Eldorado away.

But here, it merely said that he had come into contact with the treasure.

Relying on the body that could now, to a certain extent, be called an Immortal Body, he took another step forward. This time, that overwhelming Conqueror’s Haki did not appear again.

He reached out and touched the severed arm. Judging from the structure of the hand, he determined that this arm was a left arm.

A left arm… Could this be the one one of the Four Emperors, Shanks, lost while saving Luffy?!

But that arm should clearly have been bitten off in the East Blue by the sea beast known as the Lord of the Coast. How had it ended up on the Grand Line?

The instant he grabbed the severed arm, black lightning erupted again. Powerful Haki surged forth, and the air pressure inside the cave changed violently in an instant. Bai Cangshu’s whole body stiffened, but his keen hearing still caught the terrifying sound of seawater rushing in.

The reason this underwater cave had remained free of seawater was probably because of the Haki on this arm?!

Could Conqueror’s Haki do something like this?

You have touched the Special Creation: Left Arm of the King.

Conducting constitution assessment…

Every cell in Bai Cangshu’s body trembled as though electrified, but his physical qualities far beyond those of ordinary humans, along with his nearly immortal resilience, rapidly metabolized his cells. Dead cells fell away, and new cells replaced them.

Constitution assessment… passed.

Conducting will assessment…

Bai Cangshu was struck once more by that majestic aura. It was a surging tide that completely released one’s will, aura, and "heart," indiscriminately drowning all who touched it. Bai Cangshu’s mind went blank for a moment.

This feeling differed from what happened when entering a Plot World. When the space deployed or retrieved reincarnators, excessive information flooded into the brain at once. The brain crashed because it could not process the enormous amount of information received simultaneously, and only began functioning again after that information faded, leaving behind a blank interval.

But now, it felt as if that aura had directly struck his mind until it grew dizzy.

Whoosh~

The sound of flowing water began to emerge. The immense water pressure of The Deep began pressing into the cave once more.

Thump, thump, boom boom…

Under that pressure, Bai Cangshu’s heart began pounding violently on instinct. His frozen face gradually recovered, and a ferocious expression slowly appeared.

"Get the hell… out of here!"

Boom!

A powerful aura erupted from Bai Cangshu’s body as well, though he paid no attention to such details at the moment. He only felt incomparably irritated by the sensation of being drowned beneath someone else’s aura.

Will assessment… passed.

You have obtained the Special Creation: Left Arm of the King.

Left Arm of the King

Type: Special Creation (Material, Bio-Implant)

Quality: Red Quality (World's Rare Treasure)

Description: The remnant of a king in this world, the left hand of an unfulfilled promise.

Bio-Implant requirements: Human Race, constitution and will assessments passed

Effect: Unidentified

Bai Cangshu looked at the arm in his grasp. This was the first item he had ever obtained whose quality surpassed purple. Whether materials, equipment, or even consumables, which had the lowest relative value, he had never seen anything above purple quality in the Slum Area of the space.

Yet this item possessed both the functions of a material and a Bio-Implant.

The value of this arm far exceeded imagination.

Could something like this really appear from a rare-quality treasure map?

Boom!

A large volume of seawater began rushing in, and the cave started collapsing. Bai Cangshu instantly stored the arm away. With a tap of his toes, the Devil Fruit and its box flew into the air. He caught them with one hand and stuffed them into his Backpack.

You have obtained the item: Devil Fruit.

Then, listening to the seawater about to flood in, he tensed his muscles and shut his mouth and nose. The moment the water surged in, he grabbed the pitch-black Claymore with one hand.

He had originally intended to pull out the Claymore and leave immediately. With his superhuman constitution, even if the pressure of The Deep crushed his heart and lungs, he presumably would not die.

But at that instant, a strange suction force emerged from the sword.

Like Demon Blade Enma, this sword actually began actively absorbing the wielder’s Haki. But Bai Cangshu had no such thing. In an instant, his arm lost massive amounts of life energy and cellular vitality.

Bai Cangshu instinctively tried to discard the sword, but his right hand seemed fused to its hilt and could not loosen.

Rumble!

A huge mass of seawater poured directly into the cave, completely swallowing Bai Cangshu. What followed was the terrifying pressure of The Deep. His chest cavity, spine, and skull immediately began creaking.

The consequences of that dreadful deep-sea pressure acting directly upon the human body were horrifying.

Bai Cangshu instantly felt the surface of his skin beginning to crack. At this moment, every square centimeter of his body was likely bearing more than a ton of pressure.

It was as though his body was being crushed by a hydraulic press from every direction without pause.

The first thing unable to withstand it was his relatively fragile skin.

This all-encompassing pressure was not like a fist coming straight at him in battle. There was no room to deflect or redirect the force. Every part of his body was under pressure, and the vulnerable parts shattered directly.

Blood began spilling out in large quantities. Bai Cangshu felt as though that pressure was about to crush him apart.

Pfft!

Scarlet blood appeared in the seawater.

You have passed the assessment and obtained the item: Unidentified Ominous Greatsword.

He instantly stored the black sword away. The cells within his body rapidly regenerated, and his body tensed up accordingly.

Iron Body activated.

Bai Cangshu tensed his entire body, and his skin became as tough as forged steel once more. He voluntarily sealed his ears and nose, reaching a rare state of balance in The Deep. His body no longer continued collapsing.

As the seawater completely filled the cave, Bai Cangshu’s body began drifting along the seafloor.

Because he was maintaining Iron Body, he could not move. But the moment he released Iron Body, the surface of his body would begin breaking apart.

Bai Cangshu knew that even if he did not defend himself, even if he were flattened or his internal organs crushed, he would not die from it.

But that situation would likely make him "die" many times. He would repeatedly cycle between losing his life force and reviving. In such a state, he would lose all ability to act on his own in The Deep and ultimately waste an extremely long time.

If he was unlucky enough to be swallowed by some sea beast, he might even miss the upcoming arrival of the second batch of reincarnators, as well as Enel’s battle against figures from every side.

Therefore, he maintained Iron Body and allowed himself to drift out of the cave. Under the constant, unceasing tempering, Bai Cangshu could feel his Iron Body ability rapidly improving.

His body’s defensive capability, as well as the resilience of his cells themselves, were both increasing rapidly.

This was a training method that could be called extreme.

Normally, a reincarnator like Bai Cangshu, who had not crossed the First Tier, could never endure the terrifying environment of The Deep, where the pressure exceeded a thousand atmospheres. But Bai Cangshu had managed it with the help of his bloodline and abilities.

He slowly drifted out of the cave marked with a skull. He noticed that above the skull carving was a huge shattered stone, making the skull insignia less obvious, as if part of it had been erased.

He could vaguely make out that there should have been another pattern above the skull.

The symbol of the Straw Hat Pirates?

Could this treasure also be related to the Straw Hat Pirates?

Now that Enel had successfully descended to the Blue Sea and established his own God’s Country, the whereabouts of his destined nemesis, Straw Hat Luffy, had become rather unclear.

The information displayed by the space contained no record of any Straw Hat Pirates members dying.

Because Bai Cangshu could not move, his thoughts were instead exceptionally active. Finally, once he had completely drifted out of the cave, everything around him was pitch-black, and he could not distinguish any direction at all.

But since he was already on the seafloor, any direction other than downward basically meant going up.

He maintained his tensed posture as powerful energy began gathering.

Buzz!

Dodon Ray!

Boom!

The seawater on the seafloor shook violently, like a laser firing out, yet also like a deep-sea torpedo detonating.

The terrifying shockwave rebounded onto Bai Cangshu himself, nearly shattering the Iron Body he had tensed to its limit.

The powerful recoil force sent Bai Cangshu rapidly upward.

At the same time, his rapid movement along the seafloor inflicted severe damage on his heart and lungs. But Bai Cangshu did not care about injuries at all right now.

He only needed to ensure that he could return to the surface. Even if his internal organs were completely shattered, it did not matter.

Buzz!

Another Dodon Ray exploded.

In the waters at the edge of Mock Town, Brina sat on the deck smoking. This warship had successfully escaped the edge of that sky-piercing sea current. Although another dozen or so people had unfortunately gone missing, she had at least survived another disaster with her trusted subordinates.

Many Marines were now considering retiring and going home. First there had been the world-destroying thunderstorm, then the giant whirlpool and sky-piercing sea current capable of swallowing everything.

On this sea, no number of lives was enough to play with those monsters.

The navigator remembered the madman who had jumped into the whirlpool. Even now, the hand holding his cigarette trembled. He flicked his lighter several times in a row, yet could not ignite it.

Click!

A flame appeared. He raised his head and saw that Colonel Brina, whose appearance was just as bedraggled, had unexpectedly stepped before him and lit his cigarette.

Under normal circumstances, his thoughts might have wandered, and he might have entertained all sorts of fantasies. But at this moment, he somehow understood this superior officer who had not spoken a word aboard the ship.

There was no place on this sea for ordinary people like them to speak.

Only violence ruled everything.

"Commander Brina, do you think that guy is dead?"

Brina smoked, and many of her old thoughts had faded. Those useless people she had once looked down on now seemed somewhat dear to her.

At least these people were her kind.

"Who knows? Maybe he really does have an Immortal Body. Heh…"

The next moment, a messenger hurried out from the cabin.

"Commander, orders from Marine Headquarters. We are to remain on standby and await a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, then cooperate with the vice admiral’s operation!"

Brina paused.

A Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral had been deployed too…

Under normal circumstances, she would probably have been overjoyed. But now, she frowned and asked instead.

"How many are coming?"

"Is Vice Admiral Garp among them?"