World Anomaly, the Descent of the Black King (5K Mega Chapter)

Team member KI41400655 (Rouge) has died

Team battle points -1, current: -1

The cold Space Panel prompt made both Michelin and Critical Point realize that the woman who had always suppressed her nature while trying to fit into the team had truly died.

"You… Mercenary Tao… I’ll kill you!"

Rouge had saved Michelin many times during missions. Overwhelmed by fury, Michelin floated up from the sea.

Critical Point knew things were bad and snapped, "Stop!"

Bai Cangshu shifted his gaze away from the corpse that had completely vanished. With a turn of his wrist, he placed the Scarlet Drop Card into his Backpack.

He raised his head and looked at the woman who seemed ready to tear apart the hurricane over the sea. His nerves, stimulated by blood and slaughter, kept twitching, and the Satsui no Hado surged uncontrollably.

He began to understand why that woman had insisted on activating the explosive device even knowing it could not kill him. That was probably her heart. She had wanted to trade her own death for the survival of those teammates.

Unfortunately, the rage of this big-haired woman had tarnished the resolve behind that death-defying strike.

Bai Cangshu drew his right palm back to his waist. The next moment, he stomped repeatedly, and the sea surface sank again. Michelin, suspended in the air, felt as if a giant hand had clenched her heart. She knew it was her instinct… fearing him.

Buzz!

The air spiraled violently as white shockwaves erupted like a tornado.

"Stone!"

Critical Point shouted, and a glow suddenly lit up around Michelin. Bai Cangshu paid it no heed and struck with his palm.

Rakshasa Palm!

At that moment, Bai Cangshu’s Rakshasa Palm was practically a hurricane. As he struck, white airflow exploded before him, and within dozens of meters, the air roared like a muffled air cannon.

Boom!

The woman in the air vanished instantly, replaced by a pitch-black man.

Facing that terrifying impact, the man crossed his arms before himself, clutching a blue card in his hand.

Bang!

The force penetrated his body, but the man only grunted. His defensive ability far surpassed that of ordinary Reincarnators. The next moment, light flared in his hand again.

Continuous Magic: Position Shift!

Powerful magic began to envelop this stretch of sea. This was one of the trump cards of the Critical Sniping team. While the magic lasted, they could freely alter the positions of team members.

Had Bai Cangshu’s surprise attack not been so ferocious, had his first strike not sent Obsidian—the one with the strongest defense—flying hundreds of meters, and had he not instantly killed Rouge, their team would never have lost members so easily.

At this moment, Obsidian finally filled the gap in time, switching positions with Michelin and blocking the attack.

Veins bulged on Bai Cangshu’s forehead, and the tendons across his muscular body stood out as well. The longer the battle continued, the more pronounced the Satsui no Hado became. Even he was finding it difficult to endure. His mouth unconsciously began to open as the desire for slaughter gradually gnawed at his mind.

Bai Cangshu repeatedly used Moonwalk, moving over a wide area in the air. A type like Obsidian, with extraordinarily high defense, did not make Bai Cangshu wary. Instead, he only more easily aroused Bai Cangshu’s urge to hunt.

Given his current set of abilities, he was practically the nemesis of Defense-Specialized Reincarnators.

As Bai Cangshu whistled through the air, white Shockwaves continuously spread out. Obsidian fell from the sky onto the sea. His mobility was not high enough, and he had no good way to deal with Mercenary Tao’s rapid aerial movements.

However, while Mercenary Tao was occupied by Obsidian, Critical Point swiftly plunged into the sea and moved toward the rear.

Crackle!

Pitch-black lightning flashed out in an instant. Critical Point’s heart tightened. Though famous and highly destructive, he truly hated fighting vicious people like Mercenary Tao.

They were hard to kill, and they made you feel the threat of death every moment.

Though his heart contracted violently, his gaze remained clear. As the air behind him turned scorching hot, a terrifying fist struck at Critical Point from afar.

Critical Point’s eyes flickered. At this perfectly timed moment, he activated the effect of Continuous Magic: Position Shift again. This special spell from the Dark Game World placed great demands on the user’s judgment of timing. After all, this was a real life-and-death battle, not entertainment between card players. There was no such mechanism as a "timing window."

But while Critical Point hated injury and feared death, he possessed an exceptionally calm mind. Obsidian believed that Critical Point had been born with nerves of steel, and this time was no different. The instant that tyrannical punch arrived and lotus-red flames erupted, he switched places with his substitute, Untouchable.

The attack that had been aimed directly at the substitute was reflected in direction… straight back along its original path!

Boom!

Bai Cangshu threw a punch, only to suddenly feel terrifying force and flames rebound together. He was instantly swallowed by lotus-red fire and blasted away.

Critical Point appeared in the distant air, pale-faced as he spat out a mouthful of blood, horror in his expression.

Untouchable’s defense had been shattered by that one punch?!

Because his substitute had been injured, he had suffered damage as well.

What exactly was going on with this Mercenary Tao? There was something seriously wrong with that left hand…

Critical Point keenly realized that every attack Mercenary Tao launched with his left hand was especially terrifying.

Before he could continue considering Mercenary Tao’s intelligence, Mercenary Tao on the other side fell from the explosion of lotus-red flames into the sea.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At this moment, countless shells came flying from the direction of the Grand Fleet. The earlier battle had unfolded too quickly for the Golden Emperor’s Grand Fleet to notice at first, but after those two explosions, they had become aware of the fierce battle on the sea.

On someone’s orders, the Grand Fleet had actually begun bombarding them.

Critical Point’s thoughts shifted, and he swiftly exchanged positions with his substitute again. Turning back, he sternly shouted at Michelin, who was still trying to fly over from behind and attack Mercenary Tao, "Retreat! Don’t let Rouge’s death be meaningless!"

Their team had been built around long-range attacks. Engaging in close combat with a powerful Martial Artist like Mercenary Tao was far too disadvantageous. Moreover, Mercenary Tao was clearly strangely powerful right now. Even Flame Demon had been blasted to death head-on.

Rouge, their team’s strongest close-combat fighter and a Hundred-Man Slayer, had also been instantly killed at close range.

The next moment, with Michelin as the rear core, the three continuously switched positions and swiftly headed toward the sea behind them.

Within the Grand Fleet, several people stood in the shadows, watching the scene with some hesitation.

"What should we do? Critical Sniping wants to retreat. Should we give up pursuing the Eldorado incident, or intercept and kill that Mercenary Tao here?"

"Or should we take out the people from Critical Sniping? That dangerous woman seems to have been taken out by Mercenary Tao."

The leader was bald and bare-chested. His muscles were not especially pronounced, yet his entire body faintly glowed. Just as he was about to speak, his pupils contracted.

"Watch out!"

Boom!

A figure shot out of the sea, crashing toward the One Piece ship where they stood like a torpedo.

It was Mercenary Tao!

In their eyes, Mercenary Tao’s muscles had swelled even further. The purple ripples on his body’s surface had completely merged into his body, and his expression was incomparably ferocious.

An abnormal aura continuously seeped from Mercenary Tao’s body. In the brief time that mist entered the cabin, it had already begun changing the natives aboard the ship.

The bald Reincarnator pressed his palms together, and powerful Nen Aura erupted from his body. A phantom appeared behind him as he struck with one palm, golden light exploding forth.

Boom!

The cabin immediately exploded, and the group instantly leaped out.

At this moment, prompts began appearing on the Space Panel.

Warning: You are being corrupted by God Hand: Roland

Exemption check in progress…

You have been exempted from this corruption

The man relaxed slightly, but another check immediately began. His scalp went numb. As he threw another palm strike at the cabin from midair, he turned and leaped toward the Golden Emperor’s ship.

God Hand: Roland… the target of that special cooperative mission. He wasn’t dead?!

This bizarre corruption was actually triggering exemption checks without interruption. This was clearly the most dangerous kind of regional anomaly.

Ordinary corruption was one-time only. Passing the check meant that the other side’s ability would not affect you.

But continued checks meant that, in the Space’s judgment, the corruption intensity of this God Hand: Roland was constantly changing and growing stronger. Passing the previous check did not mean he could pass this one as well.

He did not even warn his teammates. He directly diverted the disaster toward them, then leaped across the decks of various ships himself.

Bai Cangshu’s expression was calm as he fell from the Throne of the Heart. He looked at Roland above him, entirely black and reduced to only half a spirit body. Roland’s appearance had also changed completely.

The elegant Reincarnator in a clean suit with loose blond hair had vanished. The current Roland was draped in a strip of black cloth that covered him from head to toe. His eyes were lifeless, while each hand bore a clear human face, extremely similar to the face on the Egg of the King. Their mouths were open, their expressions twisted.

Corey’s spirit body was nearly transparent. One hand clung to the edge of the Throne of the Heart while the other gripped Bai Cangshu, preventing him from falling.

"What are you doing?!"

"Stop him, now!"

Corey was beside himself with urgency. He could feel that he was about to vanish completely.

Yet he was not anxious because he was about to disappear. He was anxious because Bai Cangshu was not cherishing the power he currently possessed and using it to reclaim his body.

He feared that after he vanished, Bai Cangshu would also completely lose control of his body, allowing this evil being to ultimately take command of everything and cause an irreparable disaster.

Corey could feel it clearly. This person called Roland was now a hundred times more terrifying than that evil god, his entire being exuding despair and deathly stillness.

Moreover, as he looked down, he saw that the other half of Roland’s spirit body in the Consciousness Space was about to dissipate in the Yellow Springs. He could sense that the original Roland had probably still possessed some reason and bottom line, but this spirit body draped in black cloth felt utterly inhuman.

It was unlike every other spirit body in this Consciousness Space.

"Hey, Marine kid over there, you should come down first."

Satoru Gojo stood on the ground with his hands deliberately cupped before his mouth like a megaphone, his tone exceptionally frivolous.

He seemed as relaxed as if he had not been fighting for control of consciousness just moments earlier.

Bai Cangshu shook himself hard, and Corey could no longer maintain his grip. He fell to the ground alongside Bai Cangshu.

Bai Cangshu looked at Satoru Gojo and said, "It seems you didn’t resist just now and willingly let that thing throw you down?"

During the battle, he had been forcibly pulled out of the Yin Spirit Possession state, ending Satoru Gojo’s possession and thus losing the support of the Limitless Cursed Technique. That was also an important reason he had failed to instantly kill Moon Demon and Critical Point.

Had the Limitless Cursed Technique been available, even if he could only use basic applications like Blue and Red, he might have had the chance to kill several more.

Satoru Gojo shrugged and spread his hands.

"You noticed it too, right? That thing now… can’t even be considered a complete spirit. Wait a while, and it’ll fade away on its own."

"And… against it in that state, even if I went all out, I probably couldn’t win…"

Bai Cangshu did not answer. He walked over to the remnants of Roland’s spirit body, which was about to dissipate in the Yellow Springs. This spirit body was about to vanish and possessed no consciousness, yet when Bai Cangshu approached, he could still sense a powerful lingering obsession.

I’m sorry… Guts… I was too weak.

That spirit body completely dissipated into the Yellow Springs and never gathered again. Bai Cangshu turned back to look at his Throne of the Heart. Without needing to think, he knew that the thing which had corrupted Roland’s soul had abandoned this God Hand spirit body to seize control for a brief moment. It certainly was not merely for the trivial matter of taking over his flesh.

Bai Cangshu’s body stood within the cabin, not pursuing the fleeing Reincarnators. He opened his eyes, which had already turned pitch-black.

This "Bai Cangshu" continuously emitted black mist. That abnormal aura corrupted every living creature aboard the ship in an instant, and all those One Piece pirates and sailors began growing all sorts of faces over their bodies.

"Bai Cangshu" approached a person in front of him.

Pfft!

He thrust his hand into the other man’s chest. The One Piece pirate, whose face had sprouted several new faces, did not resist at all. Instead, his mouth moved, and the several faces all revealed devout expressions.

"Bai Cangshu" withdrew his hand. A beating heart rested in his palm, and a new face appeared on it. Then the heart continuously contracted, and a new Egg of the King appeared in his hand.

"Bai Cangshu" held the Egg of the King as his spirit body rapidly burned away.

"Open, Netherworld."

"Come forth, God Hands… cast Causality Law into this world!"

Buzz!

A pitch-black space instantly unfolded. Unlike before, when black mist had enveloped Skuld Island, that had not been the true form of the Netherworld opening. It had merely been God Hand: Roland using his power to forcibly transform Skuld Island into a state resembling the Netherworld.

The true Netherworld was an independent world, entirely unrelated to the terrain of the real world.

The dim world unfolded in an instant, and distant Skuld Island was enveloped within it as well. Garp, who had captured Moon Demon, raised his head, his pupils contracting. Doberman and the other Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals aboard the warships at sea also simultaneously felt a heart-palpitating presence.

An enormous hole appeared in the sky in an instant, and a gigantic head fell from within as countless figures began to emerge…

A massive number of Behelits began appearing in the sky, then shot off in every direction as if they possessed wills of their own.

Critical Point and the others had luckily fled far enough. As they watched the black world cover that stretch of sea like a curtain, they felt incomparable terror.

What terrified them even more were the Space’s prompts.

Warning: Pirate Derivative World A9981 has undergone a medium-intensity distortion

Pirate Derivative World A9981 is undergoing distortion. This world’s danger level and challenge rating have changed

Due to this distortion, this world’s rewards have increased by 20%, mission failure penalties have been removed, and Reincarnators may leave this world while out of combat

It was the first time the members of Critical Sniping had seen such prompts from the Space, and they all realized how terrifying the situation was.

The world itself was being corrupted. This world… was being twisted by another power. Another World Will, another power system, was forcibly implanting itself into this world.

The third batch of Reincarnators is being deployed…

The Space prompts appeared one after another, and Critical Point’s heart clenched. At such a dangerous moment, the Space was already allowing the first and second batches of Reincarnators to withdraw directly, yet it was still going to deploy a third batch?

Then were these third-batch Reincarnators beings that the Space believed could resolve a crisis of this magnitude?

Deployment abnormality…

Crackle!

Pitch-black lightning exploded in the sky. The heavens abruptly changed color. Under Critical Point’s stunned gaze, all kinds of colors began appearing in the sky at once. Stars appeared in the blue heavens, while the sun and moon appeared together.

The waves vanished completely in an instant.

Only pitch-black lightning continued to appear from nowhere, crossing the entire sky in an instant.

Warning: Special unit Black King Society has entered this world

All Reincarnators, evacuate immediately

Crackle!

A bolt of lightning pierced through Critical Point and the others. His entire body stiffened, his cells trembled without end, and his thoughts nearly stopped. That overwhelming dominance far surpassed the attacks of Garp and Mercenary Tao from before.

A flood of chaotic information instantly poured into his mind. He seemed to see countless One Piece Worlds simultaneously engulfed in flames, with innumerable familiar Plot Characters slaughtered, captured, dismembered, even eaten…

This was…

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps sounded. A pitch-black, one-armed man walked down from the sky step by step. With every step, black lightning crossed the distance of the entire world and pierced through a Reincarnator’s chest.

Whether it was the Critical Sniping team or the team that had just leaped onto the Golden Emperor’s Grand Fleet, all were left in this world as though frozen.

"Reincarnators, you have once again made my world filthy."

The one-armed man’s voice was somewhat hoarse. It was not loud, yet even those within the Netherworld clearly heard his near-whispering tone.

He gently raised his lone arm and tapped the air.

Enormous cracks appeared in space as if it had shattered. The next moment, a terrifying airquake erupted.

A Blazing White airquake stretching for hundreds of kilometers swept over the Grand Fleet in an instant, shaking those fleeing Reincarnators to death on the spot and turning them into clusters of bloody mist.

Obsidian stood at the very back and saw it clearly. When he spoke, his voice trembled from terror.

"The Tremor-Tremor… Fruit?"