Chapter 52: Terror of OLD WORLD
Asgard
Luffy and Zoro thought on Minerva's words-
"Let's go down to Midgard...I think that you two need to know...exactly why you need it at your current level...since you're gonna die at this rate in Vira before you even reach Lodestar or OLD WORLD where One Piece resides- where Laugh Tale is...I won't say the location, it definitely needs power I know you can rise to. You just need a demonstration of where to improve. And it's going to be hell to go through it the first time.," explained the witch.
It all seemed ominous and for the first time, they didn't feel like peers with her, but rather fledglings in the face of a much stronger figure that could easily take them on faster than Kaido could. The gravity of her words hung in the air, thick and unsettling, as Luffy and Zoro exchanged a tense look.
"I don't feel like eating now.," Luffy remarked, his usual appetite waning in the face of the grim information.
"She's definitely not a rookie..," Zoro replied as he sensed Minerva's presence that flared up for a moment before it went back to normal.
"Guess we have nothing better to do.," the swordsman remarked.
They then walked to Valhalla Hall to reach the rainbow bridge to Midgard as Zoro overheard a conversation.
"Come to think of it...where's (BEEP) he's one of the Ten Tree Guardians after all?," asked one of the Giants in the hall of Valhalla.
"He's...you...still like that...," said another.
Zoro overheard and was curious- while the sounds couldn't be heard...he noticed how the mouths pronounced the letters...T-H-O-R.
He also noticed their skin was purple, had blue horns, and very unusual eyes.
Seeing that the mood shifted, they left the two Lokis to their own devices as they went down the Rainbow to the Midgard realm.
Urouge noticed that the white figure had vanished to follow them...
Midgard
Jormung saw that Zoro, Luffy, and Minerva arrived from the rainbow bridge.
Luffy noticed as he said aloud,
"Hey what's with the ghost town?," asked Luffy.
Infinite Dawn
Scotch saw the odd, massive turtle breaching out of the ocean and muttered-
"Can't believe I'm doing this."
He went inside as the Infinite Dawn breathed as he entered its mouth and went inside to then locate the tree.
"Adam's sure changed in a short while. Don't look like anything I know," he muttered as he released the purple spheres into the tree before leaving again as he left the turtle to his captain.
Midgard
Luffy then saw the purple orbs, which then popped into the residents of Wano- the Tobiroppo still begin constrained with Minerva muttering a song to restrain them even further.
Momonosuke cried as he landed in the town, much to the confusion of the two.
"S-Sorry, Luffytaro...Wano is...I-I failed as a Shogun!," he cried as he bowed to Luffy.
"What're you doing here?," asked the Straw Hat Captain.
Franky then walked by him as he muttered,
"What's the point of that room?"
He then saw Luffy.
A few minutes later...
Luffy punched his hand against his artificial hand as he glared with fury.
"Teach that jerk...he really took things too far!," he snarled. "Taking away your home!"
"Still, TEMPEST sounds like something out of a nightmare...," Zoro remarked.
"PLUTON...TEMPEST?...That's the ship that Iceberg and I saw in the blueprints...the one that was resting in Wano. We should've gotten rid of it when we had the chance.," explained the cyborg.
"But we have the alternative one here...the Mole is the other Pluton...," explained Inurashi.
"Don't worry, Lord Momonosuke, the people are the country. We can rebuild as long as we live. Outside of some unfortunate deaths that were unavoidable...we are still alive.," said Kin'emon while patting Raizo on the shoulder.
Momonosuke nodded as his sister, Hiyori comforted him before blushing at Zoro.
"Looks like you'll staying here for a while.," the swordsman noted as he ignored Hiyori's advances.
"Ahem...sorry to be rude, but there's something you need to experience...Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa D. Zoro the 40th...," Minerva said.
Zoro immediately drew Enma at her throat while she remained unperturbed at the action while Luffy looked confused.
"Who are you?," Zoro asked with a quiet ferocity.
"I hope to remain your ally, Roronoa," Minvera replied calmly with her glasses glowing.
"L-let's not escalate things.," Kikunojo said while bandaged. "I'm sure she's alright."
"We talked for a bit, she seems alright.," Luffy replied to defuse the tension, though his own eyes remained wary of Minvera after the recent display of power earlier.
Vega 40 then tapped Luffy as she asked-
"Wanna see something cool?"
Luffy's eyes glowed.
A short while later...
Luffy walked to the area but noticed a pair of ancient round doorways with an anchor and silly face symbol respectively. The two had seen similar doors in the Asgard realm, but it didn't draw as much attention.
They then walked by an expansive cube with a clear white surface inside and out. The Satellites of Vegapunk panted, even though some were entirely mechanical in nature.
"What a slave driver. So evil!," Lilith said with a thumbs up.
"Don't say like that.," complained York.
"It's for the greater good.," explained Shaka.
"T-this is going to be a breakthrough in technology...but you haven't explained why?" asked Edison. "But it seems like it has to do with them." He then noticed Luffy and Zoro.
"So the mystery box's right, right?," asked Luffy with sparkles in his eyes. Zoro noticed how Vega 40 and even Minerva had sullen looks.
Stella looked at the box and explained, "This is like a hologram box..." he said as he pressed a button to show a person he then put on a glove to high-five them before they vanished. "You'll be wearing special clothes to interact, but whatever they do...you won't die. It's just a simulation."
"Oh, like Perona's thingies?," asked Luffy, the captain picking through a holographic bird generated by Pythagoras pressing a button that appeared before putting on this special glove to poke it..., that led to the avian pecking at him in response before he punched it.
"Stupid bird!," he said in annoyance.
"Once you go inside, it will be a full environment simulation as the world appears like the environment chosen.," explained Atlas. "All full of aggressive guys for you to kick their asses!"
"If you feel unnerved...which is unlikely given you...we'll bail you out right away.," explained Vega 40 with a pained smile.
"Well, I guess we're guinea pigs now.," explained Zoro as the two went inside.
"So what's the deal with this thing?," asked Franky as he looked on with Kawamatsu and Nekomamushi coming to overlook the project.
"We owe everything to them for saving Wano...and especially for giving us a place to rebuild...so don't do anything to harm them.," explained the leonine Mink.
The two were wearing nearly identical clothes to their Egghead attire, but more modernized.
"He doesn't see himself as a hero. The most terrifying thing is the moment you buy into that notion and let it justify anything he does," whispered Minvera as she watched Luffy and Zoro disappear into the holographic cube. Her expression grew more solemn as she thought of the trials they were about to face.
"So what will they see?," asked Kawamatsu.
"They'll experience whatever they need to get off their high and start taking things seriously...while being able to be themselves in the end.," Vega 40 explained.
The cube then glowed.
Unknown Space
The environment then changed to a medieval town square. Zoro and Luffy found themselves standing in the midst of a bustling crowd, surrounded by the clanking of swords and the smell of freshly baked bread. The people were dressed in strange garbs (what a contemporary audience would recognize as Dark Age medieval clothes), and the buildings were made of wood and stone. The sky above was a deep blue with fluffy white clouds.
Zoro's expression became dark as he said,
"Well, we ARE heading to Vira...but this is a nasty way to introduce this thing...," he grunted, clearly showing a distaste of the land immediately as if reliving a painful memory. He then turned to look at his captain, and his stern eyes widened.
However, Luffy was experiencing something that Zoro never experienced in his captain- his hair freezing up, a racing heartbeat, chest pain, sweating, trembling, nausea, shortness of breath, and dizziness. On his face, An overwhelming sense of fear, dread, or impending doom, and feelings of detachment from reality.
He started to see visions of a purple elephant sucking something esoteric but vital to people. A red-eyed elephant much like the one that appeared on Egghead...
Zoro noticed Luffy's tingling or numbness in the hands or lips, hot flushes, dry mouth, and tense muscles.
"What's wrong, Luffy?," Zoro asked with genuine concern.
He then saw a rouge appear above him as he went to defend his Captain. The force was far greater than his previous enemy King...or even Mihawk when he got a glimpse of his true power.
The ground turned into a massive crater as Zoro immediately went into serious mode as he put on his bandana and even went into Ashura Mode.
"Oi, bugger. Gimme ya Berries! And Ya be sliced slightly less messy!" yelled the scatter-toothed thug as he dashed again. He clashed with the Pirate Hunter as the form was completely overwhelmed. Zoro then did the unthinkable in his mind.
"Sorry, Mihawk...I gotta do it...," he said as he opened his closed eyes... both went yellow with ripples, showing even greater power- then he was jettisoned out of the island as he skipped like a pebble all the way to Dressrosa. Completely dumbfounded.
The vision then ended..
Midgard
Jormung looked down at Zoro as he came to, breathing hard, but his concern was for his captain.
"You had quite the shocker, but you're more concerned 'bout him. Pirates used to be defined by these values of loyalty...I'm Jormung by the way. You would've met Thor...but he's...currently indisposed...," explained the serpentine Giant.
Zoro then went to Luffy who looked dazed.
Luffy then said, "I feel...so strange, Zoro. It's like...like I've seen something I wasn't supposed to..." His voice trailed off as he tried to grasp the overwhelming emotions and visions that had just assailed him.
Just when things couldn't get worse, suddenly a figure landed in front of them, a white suit-wearing, black shaggy-haired youth with glasses, white wings, pale white skin, and thick, opaque glasses.
"Nametaker"- Mojigo Namae- No. 04 of CP Zero.
"Who the hell is this guy?," asked Nekomamushi as he observed the fellow.
The figure was stoic and withdrawn, almost like an emotionless doll being puppeteered by an unseen force.
"May I have your name?," he muttered. "May I have your name? May I have your name? May I have your name? May I have your name? May I have your name? May I have your name? May I have your name?"
He walked towards Luffy with an eerie calmness, ignoring the tense stares of the surrounding allies. His eyes focused solely on the Straw Hat captain.
The chant was forlorn and creepy...immediately Urashima- the previously arrogant sumo wrestler palm struck him out of nowhere, but Namae didn't budge.
"Iron Body...Icy Metal...," Namae explained as the arm began to freeze. Nekomamushi then swallowed a pill, shocked the limb and the ice broke as he appeared in his Sulong form in broad daylight.
"He must be with CP0...He's wearing white, but he's much more in line with what an assassin should be.," explained the Mink. He then noticed Luffy frozen in place with his mouth agape.
"Luffy! Damnit! Snap of it!," Zoro shouted as he shook his Captain.
Luffy went catatonic when he saw Namae and Zoro saw Namae's face- his eyes widening- lacking the golden colors of before.
Zoro was very puzzled by this string of events by his normally unshakeable Captain becoming unnaturally frozen.
"Why...why does he look like you?," asked the swordsman.
Namae reached out his gloved hand before noticing the Iron Cyborg approach him.
Franky then breathed fire from his mouth, but Namae wings flapped, which caused the flames to freeze in place to the shipwright's immense shock.
"What the hell?! Fire melts ice- not ice freezes fire! What kinda insane logic is this with this guy?!," asked Franky.
Namae then pointed his right index finger and said-
"Ryuo Finger Bullet."
A ranged Haki emission fired from his fingers toward Franky.
Luffy quickly dashed to kick it away as Vega 40 then contained it in a capsule.
He immediately snapped out of his funk but still had a panicked expression.
"I don't know who the hell you are, but how dare you go after my friends when they can't handle it!"
The opaque glass became clearer as his black sclera eyes with white irises twitched.
"Who are you? Outside of the mission?," he asked.
"Huh?! Like I'd know!," shouted Luffy.
Suddenly, the odd doors opened, which sucked in Namae, Vega 40, Minerva, Luffy, Franky, Zoro, and Luffy- the ones with the anchor on them.
Nekomamushi became stiff as the aftereffects kicked in, with Urashima tending to him.
He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he saw the doors slam shut.
"What is that? Where did they go?," the Mink demanded Jormung.
The closed-eyed man opened his narrow yellow iris eyes briefly, gazing at the doors.
"A place that makes the New World seem like a mild rainy day. Filled with things you've only seen in your nightmares. Things you can't even imagine without knowledge of myths. Things you can't even see outside of a book.," Jormung explained.
"I have faith...they're pull through..," said the Mink much to Jormung's surprise.
"Then I hope he has the Devil's luck...," replied the closed-eyed Giant.
Unknown Location
Zoro opened his eyes and realized that he and the other six were on a boat...and it was swaying back and forth. The seas were murky and dark. The clouds above were
nebulous and constantly rumbled.
He then widened his eyes with the horror that they were now on a sea in constant violent storms with other ships of massive size managing to survive in these conditions.
"Damn, wish Nami was here.," he remarked as he steadied himself.
Minerva looked around and didn't seem surprised- in fact, she seemed to be fully aware of the situation.
"Fascinating...I've only been able to reach in brief glimpses. The Adam tree must be where the barrier is the thinnest.," Vega 40 said.
"Thinnest of what?," Franky asked.
Luffy looked around and saw Namae being oddly inactive. Somehow knowing that he wasn't a threat right now while being wary of him, he said-
"What a weird place. No sun at all."
Suddenly, massive droplets splashed onto the waters, causing massive waves that threatened to capsize the boat.
"What even is this place?!," asked Zoro.
Minerva took a deep breath as she said-
"The Classic Line...one of the 19 Lines...of the OLD WORLD."
Outside of Infinite Dawn
As it began to reach the island of Vira, a ship with the World Noble logo approached.
Next Chapter: Anchor in the Storm
Author Notes: While the initial part of the chapter was giving further hints that Luffy and Zoro didn't have a great time with their implied connection with Vira, Namae is finally introduced...only for the crew to end in the OLD WORLD...after over 50 chapters of hinting, they're finally glimpsing it. As for how the Adam Tree is somehow able to access there. I'll reveal it in due time.