vncnus Chapter 88 The Island of Song Incident: Demons or "Evil"
Chapter 88 The Island of Song Incident: Demons or "Evil"
Chapter 88 The Island of Song Incident: Demons or "Evil"
Uta, the new world and music capital, wakes up from her dream, opens her eyes, and tears wet her pillow.
She had a dream yesterday; she dreamt of a sea of flowers, pink petals drifting in the air, and she and her father were playing.
In the New World, on the Red-Haired Pirates' Red Fox.
The azure sea was gracefully parted by the Red Fowles, its sails billowing as it sailed toward the eerie seas—the music capital, Elegia.
On the board, the atmosphere was not as noisy as usual.
The crew members remained silent in tacit agreement, their gazes occasionally drifting with worry to the lone figure at the bow.
Shanks stood there, the sea breeze ruffling his signature red short hair, but unable to dispel the heavy gloom between his brows.
The black coat draped over his shoulders seemed to weigh a ton.
He gazed at the island's outline gradually becoming clearer on the horizon. That place, which should have been where his daughter's dreams blossomed, had now become a prison for her, a cursed land tainted by the demon of song.
Abandoning his daughter, leaving her to bear the heavy burden of this talent and the calamities that come with it, and to carry the stigma of destroying the music capital, Uta grows up in hatred and misunderstanding. Every thought is like a dull knife cutting into him.
He could even imagine the hatred and pain that would emanate from Uta's beautiful eyes when she saw him.
"Uta—." he murmured softly, his voice almost broken by the sea breeze.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white.
"Are you still hesitating, Master?"
A gentle, comforting voice sounded beside me.
Merlin had somehow found himself leaning against the ship's railing, his purple eyes, which seemed to hold the stars, radiating an all-knowing understanding.
He gazed gently at Shanks, his long, pinkish-white hair swaying softly in the sea breeze, a hazy halo swirling at the tip of his staff.
Shanks didn't turn around, but said in a deep voice.
"Merlin, you should already have my memories. All I brought her was pain. My appearance might only make her more desperate and hate me more. It might even trigger that thing."
He was referring to the "Demon of Song" lurking deep within Uta's songs.
Merlin gently shook his staff, reflecting Shanks' resolute yet pained profile.
"The intertwining of love and hate is the most intense part of human emotion, and also the stage that fate loves most."
"Master, your determination to save her no matter what shines brighter than gold and is more steadfast than the stars."
"This sentiment has long transcended the shadows of self-blame and fear. It itself is the seed of the most powerful 'miracle.'"
His voice possessed a strange magic, as if it could cleanse the dust from one's soul.
"It's precisely because you love her that you can't bear to see her fall into ruin. I appreciate that sentiment. So, please move forward with confidence; I will lend you a hand. After all..."
He winked playfully: "Witnessing and driving dramatic turns of 'fate' is what interests me."
Shanks took a deep breath, the salty sea breeze filling his lungs and carrying away the last trace of hesitation.
Merlin's words were like a ray of light, piercing through the gloom in my heart.
Yes, regardless of whether Uta forgives him or not, no matter how difficult and dangerous the road ahead may be, he must go!
For the little girl who once laughed and sang in his arms, so that she could truly pursue her musical dreams freely, instead of becoming a vessel for evil.
This determination is as unshakable as a rock.
He turned around, his face still solemn, but his eyes were as sharp as a quenched steel knife.
"Beckman! Raki! Yasopp! All hands on deck, prepare for landing!"
"Yes, Captain!" the crew responded in unison, their trust in the captain replacing their previous worries.
The Red Voss slowly entered Elegiana’s iconic natural harbor.
However, what greeted them was not the sea breeze carrying beautiful melodies from their memories, but a suffocating silence.
An indescribable odor permeated the air, like over-fermented fruit mixed with rust and some kind of fishy smell.
This feeling pressed heavily on everyone's chest.
Shanks was the first to set foot on the long-lost land.
The sensation beneath his feet made him frown – it was no longer the solid, warm wooden planks or soft sand he remembered.
It was a damp, cold, and sticky sensation, as if stepping on the rotting entrails of some enormous creature.
He looked down and saw that the ground of the port and the surfaces of the dilapidated buildings were covered with a thick layer of purple moss.
These mosses pulsated extremely slowly, like the breathing of a living creature, and gleamed ominously in the dim light.
What's even more chilling is that irregular clusters of crystals are growing on the moss-covered edges and in some building cracks.
They shimmered with an eerie, dark light, as if liquid were flowing within them.
"This is Elegia? Even if we fought here, it wouldn't be like this!" Raki Lu gripped his bone club tightly, his voice hoarse.
His chubby face was filled with disbelief and astonishment.
In his memory, this place was a paradise of food and music, with the harbor always filled with the aroma of baked bread and grilled fish, as well as cheerful improvisational performances.
Now, there is only deathly silence and this nauseating, rotten smell.
"Damn it, something else is happening here." Yasopp's fingers unconsciously rubbed the trigger of his sniper rifle. The sharpshooter's eyes were sharp as an eagle's, yet carried a hint of barely perceptible coldness.
If there's any danger, then wouldn't Uta be—
His gaze swept over the twisted crystal clusters and wriggling moss, instinctively sensing extreme danger.
"There's something in the air that makes me feel uncomfortable, like invisible bugs crawling into my pores," he muttered under his breath.
First mate Ben Beckman was the calmest of them all, but he stubbed out his cigar after only taking one puff, his brow furrowed deeply.
"It's not just a wasteland, Shanks," he said in a deep voice, unusually clear in the deathly silence.
Even the light seems eerie. Is it because of a demon?
He cautiously observed his surroundings; the moss-covered doors and windows were dark and gaping, like the mouths of monsters.
Shanks walked silently at the front, each step making a sickening "plop" sound as he stepped on the sticky moss.
His red hair appeared somewhat dull in the dim light.
The scene before him was a stark contrast to the vibrant, sacred place in his memory where his daughter's musical dreams blossomed.
He remembered that the sun was always shining brightly here, the sea breeze carried a salty taste and music, and people's faces were filled with a love for music.
Now this place is like a place completely abandoned by human civilization.
Has my daughter always lived in a place like this?
Self-blame clung to my heart like cold vines, but even stronger was a chill that seeped into my bones—the changes that had occurred here were definitely not as simple as the "Demon of Songs"!
Just then, Merlin, who had been following the group somewhat casually at the side and behind, showed a subtle change in his expression for the first time.
His eyes, which seemed to hold the stars, narrowed almost imperceptibly.
He made a soft "hmm," a sound that wasn't loud, but it instantly drew the wary gazes of all the cadres.
Merlin tilted his head slightly, as if listening to some sound that ordinary people could not catch, or as if trying to catch an invisible thread in the air.
The staff in his hand flickered irregularly, sometimes as bright as stars, sometimes as dark as ink, and occasionally flashed with incomprehensible characters.
"Lord Merlin?" Shanks stopped in his tracks, his sharp gaze fixed on the mysterious Heroic Spirit.
He sensed from Merlin's subtle changes and the anomaly in the crystal ball of his staff that the situation was far more serious than he had imagined.
Merlin did not answer immediately. He stretched out his long fingers and gently touched a cluster of dark crystals growing on the wall next to him.
The fingertips did not make direct contact, but the crystal cluster seemed to be stimulated by an invisible force, and suddenly contracted inward.
"It seems we've found the right place."
Merlin's lips curled up, but the smile no longer held the relaxed and playful tone of before.
"Master, and all my brave crew members." Merlin's voice remained elegant, clearly reaching everyone's ears.
"Now it seems we've stepped into more than just a ruin corrupted by demonic power."
As soon as the words were spoken, everyone, who was already tense, tightened their nerves to the extreme.
He raised his staff, and the light stabilized, but then emitted a deeper glow as it swept over the distorted buildings around him.
"The sounds here, or rather, the fundamental melodies that constitute this space, have been completely corrupted." Merlin's eyes deepened.
"Or rather, it's not pollution, but rather a return to a state of aversion to humanity under some kind of force."
"I can't tell if the air is filled with pity or something else; I've never felt anything like it before."
He paused, a glint of light flashing in his purple eyes.
"Whatever it is, something far more dangerous is lurking here. It's using Miss Uta, and it seems to be treating this place, along with Miss Uta herself, as a—incubator."
Merlin's words sent a chill down the spines of all the Red-Haired Pirates' officers, who had weathered countless storms.
This description goes beyond their understanding of "Devil Fruit abilities" or "powerful creatures".
This is practically a cancer in the world.
"Hatchery? Hatching what?!" Shanks' voice was terrifyingly deep, and his Conqueror's Haki caused the moss beneath his feet to sink slightly.
"Who knows?" Merlin shrugged, resuming his enigmatic expression, but his eyes remained serious.
"Perhaps it's an even more terrifying song, or perhaps it's some kind of evil itself? But for now..."
He abruptly changed the subject, and the crystal ball's light suddenly focused, pointing towards a huge pile of garbage made up of discarded musical instruments deep in the harbor.
"We seem to have disturbed the local inhabitants. They've arrived."
As if to confirm Merlin's words, the huge mountain of garbage suddenly began to writhe!
A broken violin bow string snapped, emitting a piercing shriek; rusted brass instruments twisted and deformed.
The moss is like living tentacles, and the crystal clusters are like proliferating bone spurs.
The entire "garbage mountain" rapidly expanded amidst nauseating sludge-pulling and bone-dislocating sounds, transforming into several indescribable monsters!
These monsters, filled with soul-chilling malice, roared and snarled inhumanly, like hyenas that had caught the scent of blood, and pounced on the Red-Haired Pirates from all directions.
"Enemy attack! Engage!" Beckman shouted sharply, his flintlock pistol instantly pointing at the nearest enemy.
The officers immediately went into battle mode, and swords flashed and gunfire erupted instantly!
At that very moment, a figure slowly peeked out; it was Uta, who had heard the commotion and rushed over.
Uta was clearly stunned by the hellish scene before her and the sudden appearance of her father and his entourage.
Seeing Shanks in particular overwhelmed her with complex emotions, making her momentarily forget to run away, as the stench of a monster was already wafting towards her.
"Uta-i-i!!!" Shanks' eyes widened in fury, his Conqueror's Haki about to erupt, as he desperately tried to rush over.
But the distance was too far, and the monster was too fast.
At this critical moment!
"Oh dear, that won't do. Letting a beautiful songstress get injured on stage would ruin the entire performance."
Merlin's aria-like voice rang out clearly, drowning out the monster's roar and the chaotic noise.
He didn't move an inch, but a mysterious smile curved his lips as he gracefully and swiftly raised his right hand, which was holding the staff, and gently tapped it forward.
Yu Yiyi!
A dreamlike radiance spread out instantly like ripples.
The image freezes.
As Merlin's staff shone, time seemed to freeze under an invisible force.
The monster lunged at Uta, its twisted body blocked by a sudden burst of light.
What is described as radiance is actually more like countless tiny petals that float in the air, forming a perfect spherical shield that firmly protects Uta within it.
The petals, centered on Merlin, filled the entire harbor.
As Merlin exerted his power, the blossoms scattered again, their petals gathering like a soaring dragon soaring through the sky. Then, they drifted away like swallows landing in the palm of one's hand.
Then, the pink and white petals suddenly retracted inward!
Without a deafening explosion, the ferocious monster was instantly decomposed like a clay model crushed by an invisible giant hand, turning into countless tiny specks of light that, along with the moss and crystal shards on its body, dissipated into the air.
Uta opened her eyes wide in surprise, her long eyelashes trembling.
He reached out and caught half of the fragrant flower. His clear pupils reflected the sudden, dreamlike light, and fear was replaced by shock and bewilderment.
"This...this flower is—" Shanks's forward momentum in his dream last night came to a halt because of this miraculous scene, his face a mixture of lingering shock and disbelief.
This is the magician's power. So beautiful...
The Red-Haired Pirates' officers, whether it's Beckman and Yasopp fighting a monster, or Lucky Roux who just defeated one.
They were all taken aback by the sudden, overwhelming sea of flowers, and their movements paused for a moment.
This miraculous scene brought the battlefield to a standstill.
Even the seasoned veterans of the Red-Haired Gang couldn't help but gasp in astonishment—this power was too bizarre!
Merlin, on the other hand, stands at the origin of this dreamlike burst of brilliance.
The sea breeze ruffled his long, pinkish-white hair and long robe. His eyes were deep and unfathomable, and the curve of his lips carried a sense of composure that controlled everything and a hint of indifference that understood all things.
He did it as effortlessly as if he had just casually brushed away a speck of dust.
At the tip of the staff, the light shone brilliantly, like a pure moon rising from the filthy hell, its radiance illuminating not only Uta,
It also dispelled the dark moss in a small area around it.
On this island of despair, a haven of hope was cast.
"Don't stand there in a daze, everyone!" Merlin's voice rang out lightly, with a hint of mischief.
"Time to clean up the trash!"