novelhk Chapter 171 An Army of Heroes? An Army of Curses!
Chapter 171 An Army of Heroes? An Army of Curses!
Chapter 171 An Army of Heroes? An Army of Curses!
Upon learning of the current situation, Kidd jumped off the ship with a gloomy expression.
Behind him followed Kira and Shiki the Golden Lion, who was floating around with an equally grim expression.
The woods ahead were too dense for the boats to navigate.
"Straw Hat Boy!" Kidd yelled irritably.
"What trouble have you guys gotten into? Wherever you go, the place becomes a mess!"
Luffy retorted irritably, "It wasn't us! It was that black-bearded guy! And that really fierce Thunder Uncle from earlier!"
Roger crossed his arms, looked at his old rival, and laughed heartily.
"Shiki, you're still as cunning as ever! What, I thought you were going to go after Blackbeard kid?"
The golden lion snorted, its floating posture exuding displeasure.
"Roger, stop with the sarcastic remarks! It's all Indra's fault for interrupting our battle; that damned Blackbeard, his ship slipped away faster than a rat!"
"And the environment in this godforsaken place has become so bizarre that even my abilities have been somewhat affected!"
He did try to catch up, but the dramatic changes in the environment and the unique cloud sea routes of the Sky Island made him lose sight of his goal.
Tescatlipoca watched the new lion with great interest.
"It certainly has an effect; the power of the wind and the arrogance of the lion seem to have been restrained."
His gaze seemed to see through the contractual connection between the Golden Lion and Kidd.
Crocodile watched coldly, uninterested in the squabbles of these juniors, and spoke directly to Tescatlipoca.
"Stop wasting time. Tell me, what do we need to do now?"
Before Tescatlipok could answer, a series of hurried footsteps and flapping wings sounded.
"People of Qinghai! Stop right there!!! Put down your weapons!"
Everyone looked over and saw Shandia warriors Weber and Lachi, leading a group of warriors.
The Sky Island's captain and several soldiers, including Conis and her father Pagia, all rushed over.
They should have been enemies originally.
But at this moment, due to the disappearance of God and the mutation of the Sky Island, they could no longer care about such things.
Their faces were filled with fear and anxiety.
"Who are you people?!" Weber raised the incendiary cannon, but his target wasn't clearly anyone; it was more of a wariness of the unknown changes.
"What happened to the Island of the Gods—no, to the entire Apayado? Why has the forest become like this? Is the sky angry?"
Connie's voice trembled: "Those two terrifying beams of light just now, and that god who called himself Indra—he kidnapped Lord Enel—"
Although the Sky Island inhabitants loathe Enel's tyranny, the sudden upheaval and the existence of a being capable of easily abducting gods plunge them into even deeper fear.
Looking at his home, which had become like another world, Pagya said with heartache.
"If this continues, Angel Island and Apayado will both be destroyed—"
Nami couldn't help but speak up: "We're looking for the reason too! This is very likely related to the Blackbeard Pirates; they're on this island!"
"Blackbeard?" Webber frowned.
"Yes, please calm down," Robin said calmly, trying to reassure everyone.
"The change in the environment may be related to the arrival of a powerful being." She turned slightly to the side, gesturing towards Tescatlipoca.
Tescatlipoca stepped forward, his towering figure and otherworldly divine aura immediately drawing the attention of all the Sky Islanders, causing them to instinctively step back, feeling an innate awe and fear.
He smiled, but his voice carried an unquestionable authority.
"There is no need to panic. You are but tiny lives. The changes in the environment are merely a natural phenomenon caused by the flow of higher powers here."
"Like water flowing downhill, my existence will bring this place closer to the appearance of the Age of Gods. This is not destruction, but..."
sublimation."
His words were half true and half false, mostly a white lie.
Crocodile snorted coldly from the side and muttered, "Hmph, just like what you did in Alabasta."
Tescatlipoca smiled without saying a word.
Shiki the Golden Lion interrupted impatiently.
"Stop with the nonsense! All you're really looking for is that black-bearded kid! I'm going to crush him!"
Being schemed against and manipulated by Blackbeard, and nearly being devoured by the suicide of his crew, this humiliation fueled Shiki's rage.
Kidd roared, "That's right! That guy has weird abilities and almost killed my men. We have to settle this score!"
Luffy clenched his fist, unusually agreeing with Kid: "I'm going to beat Blackbeard to a pulp too! He bullied Nami and Chopper! He's a bad guy!"
For a time, the Straw Hat crew, Kid's crew, the Skypiea natives, and even Crocodile and Tescat Ripperca reached a subtle consensus on stopping Blackbeard.
Roger grinned as he watched this scene.
"Looks like we're on the same page. Then don't just stand there like an idiot, young lady."
He looked at Robin and Connie.
"Does anyone know the exact location of the Poneglyphs, or where Blackbeard might have gone?"
Upon hearing the guy mention the Poneglyphs, all the Skypiea inhabitants were momentarily stunned, then fell silent.
Tescatlipoca didn't say anything. He sensed that unsettling dark aura was also permeating the north.
"Great!" Luffy took the lead.
"Let's go! To the forest! Let's beat Blackbeard to a pulp, then go find the stone!"
"Hey! Don't make decisions on your own, you idiot captain!" Zoro and Sanji complained at the same time, but still followed.
Kidd and Shiki exchanged a glance and immediately followed, not wanting to be beaten to the Straw Hats.
Weber gritted his teeth and addressed the Shandian warriors and Skypiea people behind him.
"We're going too! We can't let them do whatever they want on our land! And we must find out the root of all this!"
The shared goal of protecting their homeland temporarily put aside the feud between these two sworn enemies.
The large group began its journey into the forest, where the environment had drastically changed and dangers were lurking everywhere.
The Blackbeard Pirates are indeed here. But things aren't going smoothly.
"Hahaha! What happened? Where did that figure go?"
Blackbeard looked at the complex array beneath his feet, constructed from stolen sky island gold and fragments of historical relics, and felt the surging magic in the air, yet he felt no joy.
Lafitte smiled and said, "Captain, could it be that the energy here is insufficient to summon an army of heroic spirits?"
Van Oka aimed at a mutated bird in the distance and shot it in the head.
"Whatever the reason, we'd better hurry. The energy has attracted a lot of mutated creatures, which is really troublesome."
"Hahaha! We'll take down as many as come!" Burgess flexed his muscles.
The count floated in the center of the array and said in a low voice, "Contractor, the mysteries here are enough to support the summoning."
"However, without suitable relics, it is extremely difficult to accurately summon Servants from another world."
"The barriers of this world are not so easy to break through. More likely, the energy here will respond to your desires, but summon native spirits that resonate with the history and legends of this place, or... an unknown entity that is twisted and cannot be controlled."
The black-bearded man grinned nonchalantly, "Hehehe! It doesn't matter! As long as it's powerful! Native heroic spirits? Even better! They're definitely more suited to this sea! Come on!"
He placed his hand on his chest and activated the magic loop that Dilt had given him.
This loop acts like a universal interface, connecting its individual magic to the earth's leyline magic, and ultimately infusing it into the array beneath its feet.
"Descend, my new companions!"
The formation erupted with blinding light! The entire ruins trembled violently, even affecting the surrounding forest.
However, the light was extremely unstable, with mixed and distorted colors, as if several different forces were in fierce conflict.
The aura emanating from the formation was not a clear heroic spirit, but a mixture of several violent, chaotic energies filled with resentment and ancient obsession!
"Huh?!" The Count was the first to notice something was wrong. "Something's wrong! Contractor! Stop! The energy conflict is too intense! The summoning coordinates are completely messed up!"
"Something has been wrongly pulled over! And not just one! And it's full of curses!"
But it was too late.
Boom! ...
The formation exploded violently! The black-bearded man was forced to retreat several steps by the shockwave.
Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, several distorted figures appeared and disappeared, emitting chilling roars and whispers.
A figure, seemingly composed of countless fragments of gold and resentment, vaguely resembling a human, uttered endless curses against Shandora.
Another figure, entwined with enormous vines and raging lightning, seemed to be the embodiment of the ancient forest's vengeance.
There is another one, even more indistinct, which seems to be a mixture of the lingering souls of those who died in aerial battles over the centuries and their disappointed prayers, exuding an aura of despair.
They are not complete heroic spirits, but more like earthbound spirits, aggregates of resentment forcibly activated by powerful magic.
They formed a group of followers or leaders!
They have no reason, only immense energy and boundless resentment towards the living and this land!
"Damn it!" Blackbeard cursed. "What the hell is this thing?!"
The count's face darkened: "As expected. Without the guidance of sacred relics, forcibly extracting the power of local faith can only summon these remnants of history!"
"They are very strong, but completely uncontrollable!"
"Roar!!!" The cursed entities roared, sensing the nearest life force and immediately launching an indiscriminate attack on the Blackbeard Pirates!
The golden vengeful spirit unleashed countless golden spikes! The forest vengeful spirit lashed out with lightning vines! The aggregate of remnant souls unleashed a mental attack!
"Defend!" Blackbeard hurriedly used his hidden acupoints to absorb some of the attacks, but there were too many and too varied ones!
"Wow!" Burgess was whipped away by a vine.
"Spray!" Van Augur fired repeatedly, but the physical attacks had little effect.
Poison Q's sick horse was so frightened that it collapsed to the ground.
Chaos instantly engulfed Blackbeard's gang!
The Straw Hat crew, who were heading deep into the forest, immediately sensed the violent energy explosion and the burst of cursed energy!
"That direction!" Crocodile pointed to the ruins. "A massive energy burst and a very ominous feeling!"
Luffy's expression turned serious: "I sense it! There are a lot of unpleasant auras!"
Roger and Shiki frowned as well: "This chaotic and sinister feeling—what on earth has that Blackbeard kid gotten himself into?"
Tescatlipoca, however, revealed an even more excited smile.
"Oh? Not a pure heroic spirit, but a condensation of the poison of faith and the resentment of the earth?"
"Interesting! So interesting! The sediments of this world have a unique charm!"
Webber and the other Sky Islanders felt a pang of fear. The cursed aura that erupted seemed to contain something both familiar and strange to them, making them instinctively feel sadness and anger.
Connie covered her mouth: "That ruin—it's an ancient sacrificial site that our ancestors warned us not to approach lightly."
"No time to hesitate!" Luffy shouted, accelerating forward.
"Whatever it is, we can't let Blackbeard get away with it! And it looks like a fight has broken out over there!"
The combined team immediately sped up and rushed toward the ancient ruins, the source of the chaos.
What awaited them was not a neatly dressed legion of black-bearded heroes, but an out-of-control storm of curses triggered by a mistaken summoning.
On Beehive Island, Dilt, who was in the dominant position, suddenly opened his eyes!
"Lox's son, you really do like your father, enjoying challenging the world's barriers—do you want more beasts to come here—?"
Dieter glanced at Jeanne d'Arc beside him, and she instantly understood her Master's meaning, then disappeared.