Chapter 635: Special Monster, Purple Crystal!
Sabo's question left Ryuunosuke genuinely at a loss.
He had never known this so called Island of Gods existed. The first time he even heard the name was during the Wano period, and he had heard it by accident from Koushirou.
And Koushirou had not wanted Riku and the others to come here for sightseeing. He had wanted them here as sacrifices.
So Ryuunosuke had only started digging into the island's secrets after they landed.
As for the Key of the Gods…
He had even less of a clue what it was supposed to do.
While he was still thinking, the rest of the Dragon Hunter Pirates arrived at the beach, each of them wearing the same puzzled look.
They had been fighting those monsters just a moment ago.
Then suddenly, everything vanished.
The monsters were gone.
The strange trees were gone.
"Captain, what happened?" Meliodas asked, clearly confused.
Meliodas knew the Straw Hats. He also knew they were Ryuunosuke's brothers.
In terms of pirate strength, they were not weak. But compared to the level the Dragon Hunter Pirates were playing at, they were still lacking.
So Meliodas did not connect the island's sudden change to Luffy's crew at all. He assumed Ryuunosuke had triggered something on the island itself.
"It was the Key of the Gods," Ryuunosuke said.
He lifted the stone key slightly.
"This is what Mr. Koushirou left behind. It should be used to open something on the Island of Gods."
"The moment Sabo took it out, the monsters and the strange trees disappeared."
"It happened too suddenly, and it was too strange."
"So we decided to pull everyone out first."
Ryuunosuke kept it brief, but the more he explained, the more confused everyone looked.
All eyes shifted to the Key of the Gods in his hand.
To their senses, it was just an ordinary stone key.
No energy fluctuations.
No pressure.
Nothing.
And yet, the instant it appeared, every strange phenomenon on the island had vanished.
That was the kind of thing that made people uneasy.
"Big brother," Luffy suddenly said, pointing into the island with wide eyes.
"Something's coming out of there!"
Everyone turned at once.
But even with their eyes and even with Observation Haki, they detected nothing.
For a split second, the thought flickered through several minds.
Is Luffy just being Luffy again?
"Boom!"
A massive fist slammed down out of nowhere.
It came straight for Ryuunosuke, the strongest presence on the beach.
The instant he felt the attack, Ryuunosuke raised his own fist and met it head on.
The impact forced him back several steps.
His body even swayed.
At the same time, the attacker finally revealed itself.
Ryuunosuke flexed his slightly sore arm and stared.
"What is this?"
It was a humanoid monster with arms that were freakishly long.
Its torso looked compressed, swollen, and short, and its legs were not even a third the length of its arms.
Yet in both speed and attack power, it had moved beyond what their perception had caught.
"Offerings."
The monster spoke in clear human language, only two words.
"Big brother, this…" Sabo started.
"I know," Ryuunosuke interrupted calmly.
"My clone already told me everything."
He had left a clone outside. He knew what had happened before they came here.
He had acted like he did not know earlier only so Sabo could be the one to tell Kuina that white lie.
The word sacrifice was written in the information.
And now this monster was saying offerings.
That had to be the reason Koushirou had planned to send Riku and the others here as tribute.
Could this thing be the god of this island?
"Offerings."
The monster repeated the same word again.
Then it opened its mouth, a mouth that looked like it had not been cleaned for hundreds of years.
A foul stench poured out, disgusting enough to make people's stomachs tighten.
"If you want to sacrifice us," Ryuunosuke said, voice cold, "then prove you have the power to do it."
As he spoke, he activated Dragon Hunter Armor, Tsukuyomi, and his other abilities.
In an instant, his aura surged into something terrifying.
"Back up," Chrollo said immediately, already retreating.
"Getting caught in the captain's aura is not good."
The others followed without hesitation.
It was not that they did not want to help.
It was that Ryuunosuke's power had surpassed them so completely that even if they tried to assist, they would not know how.
Worse, they could become obstacles.
So they retreated and waited for the captain to finish it.
"Sacrificial offerings!"
The monster seemed to know only those two words.
And after speaking, it attacked again.
"Puff!"
This time, its punch did not drive Ryuunosuke back.
Ryuunosuke caught it.
He locked his hand around the monster's arm like a clamp.
"Not bad strength," he said. "But do you really think that's all I've got?"
"You're giving me way too much credit."
Click!
A crisp snapping sound rang out as he twisted the monster's arm off.
Then Ryuunosuke's movements became impossible to follow.
One strike after another hammered into the monster's head.
He was still holding the severed arm, still controlling the distance, still dictating the rhythm like he owned time itself.
"The captain's speed and power improved again…"
"As expected of the captain…"
The crew's voices carried real shock.
This was not mindless cheering.
They understood what they were watching.
Meliodas and the others had high potential, which meant they could see just how terrifying the control was.
In one instant, Ryuunosuke released his grip, threw a punch that should have sent the monster flying, then returned to the exact previous position and seized it again, forcibly stopping its backward motion.
This was not something you could sum up with powerful.
It was a level.
"A big brother like this…" Sabo muttered, unable to hide the emotion in his voice.
"He's reached a place we can't touch."
Even with his own strength, Sabo could not follow the exact sequence without the crew explaining what was happening.
To Sabo's eyes, the monster was just twitching in place while Ryuunosuke held its arm.
"Sabo," Luffy said suddenly, squinting at the scene.
"Is that monster sick?"
"Why's it twitching so much?"
Sabo's face stiffened.
He had almost thought the same thing for a heartbeat.
But normal people did not say it out loud.
"Puff!"
The monster's head finally could not take it anymore.
It shattered.
In the same instant, Ryuunosuke reached into the wreckage and pulled something out.
A purple crystal lay in his palm.
"The problem's solved," he said calmly.
"That's the reason."
"It looks like this so called Island of Gods has plenty of monsters like this."
"The strange trees and the monsters we ran into earlier were only an appetizer."
He held the crystal up slightly.
The energy inside it was already extremely close to the Heart of Eternity.
With this, it was basically confirmed.
There had to be an Eternal Heart somewhere on this island.
But purple…
Ryuunosuke had never seen an Eternal Heart in that color.
And the system's instruction was clear. Gather five Eternal Hearts to summon the Gate of Eternity.
So why were purple crystals appearing here?
.....
[Check Out My Patreon For Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]