Chapter 525: Contact Card Two, Black Phantom
Morgans quickly relayed everything he had dug up to Ryuunosuke.
Charlotte Linlin had gone to the giants not to seek their aid.
Her goal, from the very beginning, had been Adam.
To gain the trust of Big, chieftain of the giant race, she had even dragged the Dragon Hunter Pirates' name into it as a shield, claiming cooperation with Ryuunosuke.
Then, Charlotte Linlin sank her teeth into Adam.
The energy that erupted was so overwhelming that she lost consciousness on the spot.
The moment the giants realized what she had done, they turned their fury on the Big Mom Pirates.
With Linlin out cold and the crew completely outmatched by the giants' strength, they could only flee in a panic.
If not for the giants' slow moving ship, the Big Mom Pirates would never have escaped.
"Where are they now?"
Ryuunosuke took a slow breath and asked directly.
"Right now the Big Mom Pirates are sailing toward Whole Cake Island," Morgans answered.
"My guess is they plan to retreat back into their own territory."
"As for the giants, they will reach Laugh Tale very soon."
"I understand."
"That is all for now."
Ryuunosuke ended the call.
This had come far too suddenly.
He had only just learned the truth about Adam, and Charlotte Linlin had already gone and taken a bite out of him.
And it was obvious this had not been some impulse of hers.
This was something she had prepared for a long time.
That meant Charlotte Linlin knew at least part of the truth behind Adam.
Everything she had done before was likely paving the way for this moment.
So then… what about Kaido?
Ryuunosuke looked toward his own ship.
At this moment, Kaido, like the others, was standing on the deck watching the battle like some bored spectator.
From their actions, a pattern emerged.
The Four Emperors definitely held information others did not.
Whitebeard had sent Ace into Laugh Tale and must have already gotten answers back.
Shanks had been acting strangely for years. That was not how an Emperor of the Sea should move.
As for Kaido and Charlotte Linlin, their relationship went without saying.
They had been preparing in secret long before this incident.
None of the Four Emperors were simple.
"Beru beru…"
With that thought, Ryuunosuke picked up another Den Den Mushi and dialed a different number.
"Morgans, why are you calling at this time?"
The voice that came through was Katakuri's.
"It is me, Ryuunosuke."
Ryuunosuke spoke calmly.
"Captain Ryuunosuke?"
Katakuri was stunned for a heartbeat, then let out a quiet breath.
Of course Ryuunosuke would know.
He had simply not expected him to know this quickly.
"Do not tell me you knew nothing about this," Ryuunosuke asked directly.
"I really do not know."
Katakuri sounded both gloomy and frustrated.
"Even now I still do not understand what happened."
"Mother is still unconscious, and the energy leaking from her body is so intense that we cannot even get close to examine her."
"Whenever I try, my Observation Haki is disrupted before I can sense anything."
He had originally thought his mother was going to Morbig to establish cooperation with the giants.
The talks had gone smoothly from beginning to end.
So how had things devolved into this?
"Do not return to Whole Cake Island."
"Bring the ship straight to Laugh Tale."
"If you insist on going back, then I will simply wait for you on Whole Cake Island."
Ryuunosuke's tone neither rose nor fell as he spoke.
Katakuri fell silent.
He had no option here.
If they did not change course for Laugh Tale, the Dragon Hunter Pirates would eventually catch up to them.
At that time, they would not even have the right to choose how they faced Ryuunosuke.
"I understand."
Katakuri finally replied in a low voice.
On the open sea, strength was the only law that mattered.
If anyone else had dared speak to him like that, they would already be dead.
But the one saying these words now was Ryuunosuke.
After receiving Katakuri's answer, Ryuunosuke hung up.
At the same time, he contacted Morgans again and told him to keep monitoring every movement of the Big Mom Pirates.
Only after arranging all this did he return to Whitebeard's ship.
"What happened, big brother?"
Ace looked at him in confusion.
From the way Ryuunosuke had abruptly left before, and the heavy look on his face now, it was clear something serious had happened.
"Something happened to Adam."
Ryuunosuke rubbed his brow.
"To be honest, I really do not know what any of these people are thinking anymore."
He did not explain everything on the spot.
Roy, standing off to the side, was already tense, a mix of anxiety and curiosity swirling in his eyes.
After all, their next move was to head straight for Adam.
"The Spear of Longinus."
A terrifying aura suddenly erupted from the battlefield in the distance.
Ryuunosuke and the others instantly turned their gazes that way.
A colossal vortex twisted open in the sky.
From within it, two long scarlet lances slowly emerged.
The lances intertwined in midair, spiraling around each other until they fused into a single spear with an extended shaft.
"The Spear of Longinus."
Ryuunosuke recognized it at a glance.
The weapon of rules that Roy had described in such detail was now being summoned before his eyes.
And there was no doubt that the one calling it forth was Atostana.
So this man could actually wield a weapon of that level.
Ryuunosuke's eyes narrowed slightly.
If Atostana had chosen to use this trump card when they were crossing blades earlier, the outcome of that fight might have been very different.
He did not know if he could have withstood that power.
But Atostana had chosen not to use it.
Now, however, the Spear of Longinus had descended.
"Roar!"
Moria suddenly bellowed like a beast crawling out of the deepest abyss.
His already enormous body twisted, and writhing black tendrils burst from his back.
They extended and converged in the air, weaving together like the legs of some monstrous spider until they formed a massive black cone that stabbed straight toward the heavens.
A shrill, grating sound echoed through the sky, scraping against everyone's eardrums.
Even Ryuunosuke instinctively raised a hand to cover his ears.
The cone of shadow slammed into the Spear of Longinus.
It shattered in an instant.
With a dull, heavy thud, the spear pierced through Moria's body.
A dark shadow flowed along the spear's shaft and gathered at the hilt, forming a huge black hand that clawed at the air.
This was the shadow Moria had swallowed earlier.
Adam's shadow.
"Ryuunosuke."
A voice rang out directly inside his mind.
Ryuunosuke's gaze sharpened and he locked onto the black phantom hand in the sky.
The voice had come from that thing.
"Interesting. So you are keeping an eye on me now."
Ryuunosuke's aura surged.
He stepped forward without hesitation, walking straight toward the looming hand.
No matter who the other party was, did they really think they could subdue him with such a method?
What a joke.
The moment Ryuunosuke took that step, a tide of power rushed into his mind.
"So this is how you turned Atostana and the others into your apostles?"
His lips curled into a small smile.
"But…"
A scream echoed inside his head.
The shadow that had tried to invade his mind suddenly shrieked.
It had lunged in to devour his soul.
What it did not know was that there was already a terrifying existence waiting there.
The system.
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