63: Chapter 63 The Dead Object That Devoured Pure Gold

The physical resonance gradually faded in the air.

The edges of the shallow dent on the surface of the golden bell, created by the iron-black fist, radiated a faint, intense heat.

The sound waves penetrated the clouds and spread toward the Blue Sea below.

Rice retracted his right fist.

The skin on his knuckles had torn slightly from the recoil.

A few drops of blood seeped out, sliding down his bronze-colored hand and dripping onto the soft cloud soil below.

The massive ancient ruins fell into a deathly silence.

A steady sound of footsteps came from behind.

Nico Robin, wearing black high-heeled leather boots, walked to the front of the golden bell's massive base.

On the side of the base was embedded a deep, dark blue cubic stone tablet. A Poneglyph.

Robin extended her fair fingers, her fingertips sliding along the ancient cuneiform characters on the surface of the tablet.

Her nails brushed against the hard stone texture, making a faint rustling sound.

Robin's gaze swept quickly over the carvings on the tablet.

Her azure pupils reflected those forbidden symbols.

"Captain."

Robin straightened her body and turned to look at Rice.

"This stone records the location information of the Ancient Weapon 'Poseidon'. The coordinates point to Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters under the sea."

Rice didn't even lift an eyelid.

His black eyes swept over the indestructible dark blue stone tablet, his gaze filled with undisguised contempt.

"Copy down the coordinates. Then head back to the ship."

Rice turned around, strode away with his long legs, and walked toward the outskirts of the ruins.

"I don't need those trash weapons from hundreds of years ago. My fists are much harder than any 'Poseidon'. Anything that blocks my path, I'll just smash it with one punch."

Looking at that broad, scarred back, a relieved smile curved the corners of Robin's mouth.

She took out the parchment and charcoal pencil she carried with her and quickly made a rubbing of the ancient text on the tablet.

She folded it neatly and tucked it into the lining of her tight leather suit.

At the edge of the ruins.

Makino, wearing a white coarse cloth apron, held the heavy cast-iron eggbeater in her hands, stepped over the collapsed stone pillars, and walked into this Golden City that had been buried for four hundred years.

The metal handle of the eggbeater radiated a dark red, intense heat.

The metal gears turned, emitting a clicking mechanical sound.

"Start feeding." Makino gave the order in a low voice.

The mouth in the center of the cast-iron eggbeater suddenly opened to an exaggerated size that defied the laws of physics.

Fine metal gashes split open along the edges of the mouth.

A mouth full of sharp iron teeth was exposed to the air.

It bit down on a pure gold load-bearing pillar next to it that was one meter in diameter.

Snap.

The iron teeth closed.

A terrifying mechanical biting force erupted.

The hard pure gold pillar underwent severe physical deformation under this biting force.

Golden fragments splattered everywhere.

The inside of the eggbeater secreted purple Devil Fruit juice, wrapping around the crushed gold pieces.

The high-temperature melting rule attached to the juice instantly converted the pure gold into scorching golden liquid, which it swallowed.

A bone-chilling chewing sound echoed through the empty ruins.

The eggbeater was like a tireless heavy-duty crusher, frantically devouring all the pure gold buildings around it.

Gold bricks, gold statues, pure gold gates.

The temperature of the cast-iron shell soared rapidly, its surface taking on a glowing red color like a branding iron.

A few minutes later.

The eggbeater's mouth flipped outward.

Pfft.

A heavy, square metal block emitting a dark golden luster was spat out.

It fell onto the cloud soil, creating a deep pit.

wapol metal.

Integrating the malleability of the vast amount of gold from the Sky Island and the hardness of cast iron, its density reached a shocking level.

Mikita followed behind Makino.

She bent down and pressed her ten fingers onto the dark golden metal block that had just been spat out.

The Devil Fruit rule within her body instantly reversed.

"Gravity Modification: One Kilogram."

The physical mass of the hundreds-of-pounds metal block was forcibly modified.

As if picking up a piece of lightweight sponge, Mikita lifted it with one hand and stacked it on the cart next to her.

The entire process of devouring, restructuring, and transporting formed an efficient physical assembly line.

Four hours passed.

Except for the golden bell that Rice had strictly forbidden anyone to touch, all the other golden buildings in the massive Golden City ruins had been transformed into mountains of dark golden wapol metal bricks in the hold of the ship.

Because of this massive reserve of mass, the ship's draft sank down by two feet.

The edges of the dark golden armor pressed heavily against the clouds of the White Sea.

...

The White Dove, hold engine room.

The air was filled with a pungent smell of ozone.

Thick, pure steel conductive pipes crisscrossed, connecting to the power propellers at the bottom of the ship.

In the center of the engine room stood a thick copper pillar.

Eneru was tightly bound to the copper pillar by several steel chains as thick as fingers.

His bare upper body was covered in charred burn marks.

His sternum showed an unnatural depression.

His breathing was rapid, and every expansion of his lungs was accompanied by a bloody wheeze from deep in his throat.

Those eyes that once looked down on everything were now filled with physical weakness.

The heavy, pure steel door was pushed open.

Rice walked into the engine room barefoot.

The carbonized dead skin on his body was peeling off, revealing the newly grown, dark red muscle fibers underneath.

At the fracture in his right arm, muscles were tightly clenched, forcibly fixing the broken bones while undergoing super-speed cellular self-healing.

Rice walked up to Eneru.

Less than half a meter away.

His intense body heat scorched Eneru's face.

"Discharge for me. Thirty million volts." Rice spoke in a low voice.

His voice sounded like cast iron rubbing together, devoid of any emotional color.

Eneru gritted his teeth, a hint of humiliation flashing in his eyes.

But under absolute violent suppression, he dared not resist.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability within his body barely operated.

Blue-white current overflowed from the surface of his skin.

It traveled along the steel chains and into the air.

A thick bolt of lightning shot from his chest, hitting Rice's abdomen at point-blank range.

Crackle.

The lightning exploded.

Rice didn't step back even half a step.

The muscles in his abdomen tightened instantly. "Iron Body: Steel" activated.

The density of the muscle fibers soared to the limit.

The thirty-million-volt current tore through Rice's epidermis.

The high temperature instantly carbonized the subcutaneous fat.

But the current could not penetrate that dense, steel-like muscle defense line.

The violent electrical energy was forcibly drawn into his meridians and blood vessels.

His blood flow rate soared to a speed that defied physiological common sense.

His heart was like a heavy pile driver. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Old muscle fibers snapped under the tearing current, while new muscle fibers quickly reorganized and intertwined, nourished by the violent blood flow.

Under the tempering of this energy, his bone density emitted dense cracking sounds.

Three seconds later.

The thirty-million-volt lightning was completely drained.

A few strands of blue electric arcs danced on Rice's body surface.

He opened his mouth and exhaled a puff of scorching white smoke.

The charred dead skin on his abdomen fell off, and the muscles underneath took on a deeper, harder, dark copper luster.

Rice raised his head, his black eyes staring at the panting Eneru.

"I'm going to push this body to the limit. You, battery, better pray you can live a little longer."

He turned around, pushed open the pure steel door, and left.

...

The White Dove, main deck.

The sea breeze blew against the dark golden metal ship railings.

Conis carried a wooden tray, on which were several cups of steaming black coffee and several pieces of roasted sea beast steaks.

The white wings behind her were slightly folded. She walked steadily on the deck.

In those eyes that were once full of innocence, there was now a kind of resigned obedience.

She was wearing a form-fitting black sailor suit, which replaced her original silk long dress.

Raki sat on a wooden crate under the main mast.

Holding a rag and a can of machine oil in her hand, she was carefully wiping the barrel of her long-barreled musket.

Her wheat-colored skin radiated a wild luster in the sunlight.

Her animal skin armor had been removed, and she was wearing a capable sleeveless vest and tight leather pants.

In the navigation room.

Nami stood in front of the large drafting table.

A huge map of the Grand Line was spread out on the table.

The magnetic steel needle inside the Log Pose on her wrist had already deflected, pointing to a specific coordinate below.

Nami held a pair of measuring compasses in her hand, quickly calculating the descending gravitational acceleration and wind resistance coefficient.

"Air pressure is stabilizing. The edge of the White Sea clouds is ten nautical miles away from us."

Nami reported loudly. Her voice spread throughout the ship via the speaking tube.

"Everyone, prepare for gravitational impact. The warship is about to leave the Sky Island airspace."

Rice strode out of the cabin.

Visible bright blue electric arcs wandered over his bronze skin.

The air was filled with a strong smell of ozone.

"Raise anchor."

Rice gave the order.

He walked toward the helm.

"Steer the ship to the edge of the Cloud Fall. We're returning to the Blue Sea."

In the hold's water tank.

Sea Cow Mohmoo let out a dull roar.

Its thick tail fin slapped the water surface frantically.

The cast-iron winch turned, pulling up the heavy anchor.

The dark golden warship crushed the clouds, carving a wide white wake on the surface of the White Sea, and advanced at full speed toward the edge of the Sky Island.

Ten minutes later.

The clouds ahead stopped abruptly.

The view suddenly opened up.

A huge vertical cloud waterfall appeared directly in front of the warship.

Below was a ten-thousand-meter abyss obscured by thick fog.

Without any deceleration.

The White Dove's massive bow rushed directly out of the edge of the clouds.

The warship's center of gravity instantly lost support.

The thousands-of-tons steel behemoth tilted its bow downward and plunged headlong into the abyss ten thousand meters below.

A sense of weightlessness descended instantly.

Strong winds scraped across the deck like blades.

The canvas billowed violently in the gale, making a tearing sound.

Chopper hugged the main mast tightly, eyes closed, screaming.

The tray in Conis's hand dropped, and the coffee cups shattered.

She lost her balance and fell backward.

Raki reached out with her sturdy arm, grabbed her waist, and secured her against the edge of the wooden crate.

Rice stood at the bow ram.

His feet were nailed to the dark golden deck as if rooted.

The gale blew his black hair into a mess.

His black eyes looked down at the rapidly approaching clouds below.

"Mikita." Rice barked.

Mikita was already standing in the center of the ship.

She knelt on both knees, pressing her ten fingers tightly onto the wapol metal armor.

The Devil Fruit rule within her body reversed at full power.

"Gravity Modification: One Kilogram."

The rule fluctuation instantly spread to the entire warship.

Thousands of tons of physical mass were forcibly zeroed out in mid-air.

The terrifying acceleration of the ship's descent stopped abruptly.

The warship, like a weightless leaf, drifted in the gale ten thousand meters in the air, its descent speed significantly reduced.

The barometer needle dropped frantically.

Air density gradually increased.

Oxygen levels returned to normal sea-level values.

Temperature rose rapidly.

Frost on the deck melted, turning into water droplets that were blown away by the gale.

Five thousand meters. Three thousand meters. One thousand meters.

The thick fog below was blown away by the wind.

The deep blue sea surface appeared in view.

White waves rolled on the sea surface.

"Lift the rule." Rice gave the final command.

Mikita released her hands from the deck.

She panted heavily, her forehead covered in sweat.

Continuously modifying the mass of a warship had severely overdrawn her stamina.

The light barrier of one kilogram collapsed.

Thousands of tons of physical mass instantly returned to the warship.

Boom.

Gravity took over the steel behemoth again.

The White Dove, at a height of one hundred meters from the sea, regained its original kinetic energy of descent.

A hundred-meter free fall.

The massive dark golden hull smashed heavily through the deep blue sea surface.

Boom—!!!

A catastrophic physical collision erupted on the sea surface.

The kinetic energy carried by the thousands of tons of mass forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of tons of seawater.

A circular white wave tens of meters high spread frantically in all directions with the warship as the center.

Seawater rushed onto the deck, washing over the dark golden armor.

The White Dove's keel let out a dull groan.

Relying on the hardness of wapol metal, which surpassed pure steel, the warship forcibly withstood this terrifying impact without any disintegration.

After the warship rocked violently on the sea for a few minutes, it finally relied on its massive displacement to float steadily on the Grand Line.

Sunlight flooded the deck again.

The salty sea breeze blew.

Blue Sea, reached.

Above in the sky, a familiar bird call came.

A large News Coo penetrated the clouds and landed on the top of the ship's mast.

Its beak opened, spitting out a thick roll of newspapers.

The newspaper roll dropped onto the deck with a dull thud.

Robin stepped forward and picked up the newspaper.

She tore the twine and spread out the paper.

On the front page headline, there were several lines of bold black characters.

The accompanying picture was a blurry photo.

In the photo, a man wearing an orange cowboy hat had his arms locked in Sea Stone handcuffs and was being escorted on the deck of a Marine warship.

Robin's gaze swept over the headline, her azure pupils contracting slightly.

"Captain."

Robin looked up at Rice standing at the bow.

Her voice was steady, but it carried an oppressive feeling of a coming storm.

"Whitebeard Pirates 2nd Division Commander, Fire Fist Portgas D. Ace, has been defeated by Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach. He has been handed over to Marineford. He is about to be imprisoned in the great underwater prison, Impel Down."

Robin turned to the second page of the newspaper.

"The World Government has issued an announcement. Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach has officially taken over the position of Shichibukai."

Rice turned around.

His gaze swept over the newspaper with Ace's photo printed on it.

He took a cigar out of his pocket and bit it in his mouth.

He struck a match and lit it.

He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

In his black eyes, a flash of bloodthirsty violence flickered.

The fuse for the Marineford War had been lit.

The massive physical meat grinder of the Great Pirate Era was about to start.

"Nami."

Rice's deep voice rang out in the sea breeze.

"Although this ship's armor is hard enough, the power System cannot bear the weight of more wapol metal. We need top-tier shipwrights to carry out a thorough internal skeletal modification."

Rice pointed to a coordinate on the nautical chart.

"Check the Log Pose. Next stop, full speed ahead to Water 7. I'm going to build this ship into a war machine that can directly smash through the gates of Marineford."

Nami looked down at the Log Pose on her wrist and quickly adjusted the mahogany ship's helm.

"Course confirmed. Target, Water 7!"

The dark golden warship crushed the waves.

Carrying an old god acting as a battery, a ship full of gold, and stunning crew members.

The White Dove Adventure Group, like an unsheathed black iron heavy sword, ruthlessly advanced toward the next island on the Grand Line.