"Gum-Gum… White Bell!!!"
As Luffy's roar thundered from the sky, a colossal white bell suddenly descended from above, instantly engulfing Palkia, who had been locked in a standoff with Zoro below.
BOOM—!!!
Atop the massive bell, Luffy—his head transformed into the bell's striker—let out a gleeful laugh.
"Now then, now then—let's see you keep running around!"
But at that moment, Zoro, who had been knocked backward by the bell's impact, suddenly raised his head and shouted helplessly at Luffy:
"You idiot! Did you forget this guy has spatial travel abilities just like Red?!"
As if responding to Zoro's warning, a dazzling ripple of distorted void light abruptly appeared behind Luffy.
The next second, a pale-purple, dragon-like beast manifested instantly behind him.
"ROAR!!!"
An enraged Palkia let out an earth-shaking roar as strange energy rapidly condensed before it.
In that instant, all space around the terrifying energy twisted violently.
If this attack were to land head-on, even Luffy in Gear Fifth would absolutely not have it easy!
Space and time—forces far too advanced for a pirate world accustomed to brute-force clashes—were ultimately powers on an entirely different tier.
At the very least, they were on the same level as the freely imagined might of Nika.
"Luffy, watch out!!!"
Seeing this, Red's heart jolted. Without hesitation, he summoned a Hyperspace Hole behind Luffy.
At the same time, another Hyperspace Hole appeared nearby, perfectly aligned with Palkia's attack.
The violent, twisted beam of light fired forth and plunged straight into the pitch-black spatial vortex.
The next moment, that same beam erupted from the other Hyperspace Hole, slamming directly into Palkia and smashing it into a distant mountain ridge, burying it deep within.
Perhaps because this was the final boss—or the climax of the storyline—the battlefield this time was extraordinarily vast, more than enough for Luffy and Palkia to fight without restraint.
"GRAAAH—!"
A roar filled with pain and fury echoed from within the distant ridge.
Dark purple light flared again as an overwhelming energy beam blasted out from deep within the mountains, crashing toward Red and the others.
Clearly, Palkia had been completely enraged.
"I never expected it…" Red muttered. "A divine beast with a godly domain could be this powerful."
At the same time, he realized just how badly he had underestimated Palkia.
He had originally thought that without a Primal Form, Palkia couldn't possibly compare to a Mega-Evolved Mewtwo…
But reality proved otherwise. As the god of space, Palkia's true strength went far beyond what its stats alone suggested.
"I'll help you!"
Red, who had initially believed Luffy and Zoro could handle it easily, spoke up as two surging energies erupted from his body.
One was pale-blue Aura, instantly merging into Luffy—whose body already contained immense Aura—causing his perception to skyrocket.
The other was deep-crimson Psychic Power, flowing directly into Zoro and causing the Dragon-type energy within him to expand explosively, his presence growing even more overwhelming.
"This is my misjudgment," Red admitted frankly. "Its control over space is far too strong—and it looks like manipulating space has become instinctual to it…"
Red couldn't understand it.
Why did the Palkia that seemed so underwhelming in the anime become this terrifying in the game world?!
This wasn't just raw power anymore—it was refined, skillful application of spatial authority.
Otherwise… a mere Level 70 Legendary Pokémon shouldn't have been able to trouble Luffy and Zoro fighting together.
Red didn't believe they would lose—but dragging things out like this was wasting time.
And their time was precious!!!
"What do we do next?" Zoro asked, lifting his head with a sword clenched between his teeth.
Red replied calmly,"You two keep fighting like before. I'll block all of its attacks for you."
"Don't worry!"
"Though it's skilled in spatial manipulation, my space-type moves happen to counter it perfectly."
As he finished speaking, Red flashed a reassuring smile.
Luffy and Zoro responded in kind.
In an instant, three waves of Conqueror's Haki erupted from them.
"Sorry, Sanji," Red joked silently to himself. "Looks like today, the Straw Hats' top three fighters are getting reshuffled!!!"
"Gum-Gum… White Rocket!!!"
"Three Sword Style Secret Technique—Dragon Realm · Mighty Claw!!!"
"Hyperspace Hole!"
Luffy's fist transformed, truly becoming a massive rocket warhead, blasting forward on a surge of white vapor toward Palkia.
Three razor-sharp slashes followed, merging midair into a ferocious steel-winged dragon that swung its claws savagely forward.
At that very moment, two Hyperspace Holes appeared before Luffy and Zoro's attacks, instantly swallowing them whole.
In the next instant, two spatial vortices opened above Palkia's head and beneath its feet.
BOOM!!!
Luffy's Gear Fifth punch and Zoro's ultimate slash struck simultaneously, smashing into Palkia and forcing a pained howl from the spatial god.
"As expected," Red thought. "Palkia, which excels at creating and destroying space, has no way to deal with abilities that connect spatial points directly…"
"No wonder it's called the Abandoned Child of Space."
"But I don't care about any of that… Just become part of my power already!"
Countless thoughts flashed through Red's mind as greed flickered across his face—anticipation for the power Palkia's template would bring.
"It's working! It really can't deal with Red's techniques!"
Seeing their attack land again, Luffy burst into laughter.
Only he knew how suffocating it had been fighting this space-twisting monster.
In terms of power and techniques, he clearly had the advantage—yet his attacks were constantly deflected by spatial distortions.
He even had to stay wary of those terrifying slashes that tore space apart.
Even Zoro couldn't help but remark,
"With Red here, things suddenly got a lot easier."
"Hahaha! That's because this guy was never that strong to begin with," Red laughed. "You struggled earlier only because you've never dealt with space-time abilities before…"
"In my memory, space-time powers are among the strongest in any world—so this is normal."
"Space-time power?!"
Hearing the term again, Luffy and Zoro's eyes gleamed.
Though Red always told them to focus on their own paths, how could they not be tempted by such mysterious, overwhelming power?
But Red cut off their thoughts immediately:
"Alright! Since it can't predict where Hyperspace Holes appear, this'll be easy!"
He waved his hand decisively.
"Let's finish this quickly. We've still got plenty to do in the real world!"
"Got it!" ×2
Abandoning all distractions, Luffy and Zoro charged forward again, raining down fists and blades upon Palkia without mercy.
Fifteen minutes later…
A battered Palkia let out one final scream before collapsing forward, unconscious.
Starlike streams of experience flooded into Luffy and Zoro, raising both of their levels by one.
After three months of training, Luffy had reached Level 72.
Zoro, after defeating Palkia, reached Level 65, two levels higher than Sanji.
It couldn't be helped.
Ever since Zoro fused Pokémon power into his swordsmanship, it was as if he had undergone total sublimation.
If not for Luffy's high level and the miraculous might of Gear Fifth, even Gear Fourth Luffy might not have been able to beat Zoro.
Now, even if he still lagged behind Dracule Mihawk, the gap was only physical.
In pure swordsmanship, Red didn't believe Zoro would lose.
Enhancing swordsmanship with Pokémon energy was far easier than endless self-reflection.
"Go—Memorial Ball!"
Before the battlefield vanished, Red threw a white Memorial Ball, capturing the unconscious Palkia.
Two notifications flashed before his eyes.
[Congratulations on successfully capturing Palkia. Reward obtained: TM — Spacial Rend.][Congratulations on successfully capturing Palkia. Reward obtained: Space Seed.]
"Two rewards again!"
Even though he had expected it, Red couldn't help but feel pleased.
He immediately opened his inventory to check them.
The TM needed no explanation.
Red had already witnessed Spacial Rend's power repeatedly.
Tearing space itself to create blade-like devastation—A Dragon-type move in name only, but truly a space-manipulation technique!
Though its base power was only 100, even Gear Fifth Luffy feared its effects.
No matter how strong the Nika Fruit was, it only ruled the material world.
Even Nika's power couldn't restore a body erased into another dimension.
"Perfect… Zoro looked pretty interested in space-time power earlier."
"With this move, maybe that inspiration monster will grasp something new~"
Red had long been stunned by Zoro's creativity.
Whether Pokémon-ization or true attribute awakenings were intended mechanics no longer mattered.
If not for Zoro, no one might have discovered Pokémon power could be used this way.
Turning his attention to the second item, Red opened its description:
[Space Seed]Type: Continuous Item
Effect: Bind to a sealed space and inject electricity to reconstruct it into a brand-new extra-dimensional space.PS: The size of the space increases with injected electricity.PPS: After binding, electricity can be injected continuously to further expand it.
"…This is interesting."
Red's eyebrows lifted.
"A drop from the god of space that creates pocket worlds—how fitting!"
In an instant, Red knew exactly how to use it.
He would convert a room aboard the Going Merry into the Straw Hats' private training room.
As they grew stronger, even Pokémon-ized Merry couldn't withstand their training.
That was why they never trained seriously on the ship—and why they stayed three months at Fish-Man Island.
"If this Space Seed works well, we'll never need to search for training grounds again!"
After checking on Luffy and Zoro, Red exited the game world and returned to his room aboard the Going Merry.
"Merry!"
The moment he awoke, Red called out.
A small girl in a plain robe appeared by the window, swinging her legs curiously.
"What is it, Red?"
"Help me find an unused room—doesn't need to be big, just something we won't need for a long time."
Thanks to Usopp's Storage-Storage Fruit and the ship's expansion, the Merry had plenty of empty rooms.
Soon, Merry led Red to a spacious room three decks below.
Without hesitation, Red stepped inside with the Space Seed.
After binding it, he injected electricity equivalent to ten days of in-game time.
The seed glowed pink-purple and sank into the floor.
In an instant, Red felt space shift—just like entering the game world.
The room vanished, replaced by a boundless white void.
Instinctively, Red sensed its size—
About ten Going Merrys.
"Incredible…"
He retrieved the seed and injected even more electricity—everything he had stored.
The space expanded explosively.
In thirty seconds, it reached half the size of the Sea of Trees.
"Still small for Luffy and the others… but better than nothing."
Then a thought struck him.
"If Palkia drops a Space Seed… will Dialga drop a Time Seed?"
"If so—what would it do?"
"Speed time up? Slow it down? Or control it freely?!"
If the drop was good enough, Red might build a Room of Spirit and Time aboard the Merry—
One day inside equals a year outside.
A god-tier training artifact!!!
"Please deliver, system!!!"
Meanwhile…
The New World, Whole Cake Island.
After handing Buggy and Bartolomeo's captives over to her subordinates, Smoothie rushed to report to Big Mom.
Soon after—
"Mamamamama~!"
"So you've finally found the Straw Hat Pirates?!"
"Even if the papers calling them the Fifth Emperor irritates me—if we can subjugate them, we'll have the capital to challenge the other Four Emperors!"
"Then I can charge for the final throne!!!"
"Mamamamama~!"
Laughter filled the castle.
Only one tall man with a thick scarf frowned quietly.
Something felt… rushed.
But thinking of Big Mom's strength and the power of the Big Mom Pirates, he swallowed his doubts.
(End of Chapter)