thefictionvixens Chapter 174 Relics? Moria, do you have any clues?
Chapter 174 Relics? Moria, do you have any clues?
Chapter 174 Relics? Moria, do you have any clues?
"Lady Jeanne!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise, waving his rubber arm exaggeratedly.
"What brings you here? Is Uncle Dilt here too?"
Sanji's eyes instantly turned into hearts and began to swirl around Jeanne.
"Oh, oh, oh~ It's that beautiful and holy saintess! It's such an honor to see you again~"
Even in such a bizarre situation, the instinct of chivalry remained undiminished.
Zoro gripped his sword hilt tightly, his guard not completely down: "Ruler's appearance at this moment—could it be to protect Blackbeard?"
Jeanne d'Arc nodded slightly to Luffy and Sanji, a hint of gentleness appearing on her face, but it was quickly replaced by solemnity. She raised the holy banner high, her voice clearly echoing across the battlefield.
"In the name of the Arbiter, by the command of Master Delt, to maintain the basic order of the Holy Grail War."
"Since the last war ended in a draw, all participants and Servants are protected by the rules. Until the Overseer issues new instructions, any private duels that could result in the loss of Servants or the death of Masters are prohibited. Because the Holy Grail War is far from over—"
"Marshall D. Teach, please leave the Sky Island immediately."
The black-bearded thief chuckled dryly twice, his eyes darting around.
Joan of Arc's sudden appearance and powerful aura made him wary, especially since her Judge class seemed to have a special binding force on her Servants.
He shrugged: "Hahaha, since it's the arbitrator's decision, I naturally have no objection. I'm leaving now, I'm leaving now—"
As he spoke, he gestured for his men to slowly retreat, his gaze greedily sweeping over the magical land and the few newly appeared heroic spirits.
"Leave? Easier said than done!" Webber's voice boomed like thunder, and the incendiary cannon was raised again, pointed at Blackbeard.
"The Qinghai man who brought disaster and disturbed this sacred land, along with those two otherworldly evil spirits, must pay the price for the chaos this place has caused!"
His ancestor, Calgara, also raised his spear: "The will of the world calls upon us, not to allow them to leave!"
The Shandian warriors behind him were filled with righteous indignation and raised their weapons.
The wise man of the clouds slowly said, "The source of filth cannot be left to its own devices. This is not order, but indulgence."
Jeanne looked at the two native Heroic Spirits, her tone calm yet firm: "The world's restraining force is not the same as the rules established by Master Dilt."
"Their guilt will be repaid in due time, but not now, not here, and not in a way that violates the rules."
The Sage of the Clouds spoke: "Judge, your neutrality seems to me almost as cold. It is true that your master is from this world."
"Why protect other worlds, overriding the self-purifying instinct of our own world?" She astutely pointed out the key contradiction.
Calgara roared, "Your master is the uncrowned king of this world? Then he should bear the weight of a king!"
"Protecting his people and land is the top priority! What is the purpose of your current actions? And what is your true stance?"
His question was extremely sharp, directly shaking Jeanne's very foundation as a Servant and her absolute trust in and execution of her Master's will.
Bhujun, clutching the iron, though burning with rage over Arjuna's affair, still frowned as he looked at Joan of Arc. Yanmi, however, showed little reaction.
Joan of Arc, however, hesitated slightly, a barely perceptible wavering flashing in her azure eyes.
Sacrifice, chaos, and the world's lamentations certainly conflicted with her beliefs.
She was not oblivious to Dieter's boredom and playful nature.
At that moment, he recalled Dilt's words before he left: "I understand, you don't want to let go of that ambitious guy, Blackbeard."
"But I have a feeling that this guy will be a major driving force behind world change."
But she quickly hardened her gaze, and the light of the holy banner became even more stable: "The Master's profound meaning is beyond my full comprehension."
"I only need to follow the covenant and fulfill my duties. The Lord's guidance has made me His sword and shield, and I firmly believe in the meaning of this covenant."
"Both worlds are now in grave crisis. You should unite against the common enemy, not engage in pointless fighting."
"At this moment, I ask everyone to cease fire, exchange intelligence, and clarify the current situation."
Under Joan of Arc's restraint, although all sides harbored resentment, they did indeed temporarily refrain from their fighting impulses.
Upon seeing this, Blackbeard immediately led his men and followers, carefully retreating from the ruins and disappearing into the dense, mutated jungle.
Although Shiki was unwilling, Roger suppressed him, and he could only temporarily suppress his anger in the face of the uncertain situation.
Next, in an extremely delicate and tense atmosphere, the parties began to exchange intelligence.
The Straw Hat Pirates tell the story of how the Alabasta desert was transformed into a rainforest by the arrival of Tescatlipoca.
Roger briefly mentioned his experiences with Arjuna and Karna.
The Sky Islanders described Indra's arrival, Enel's abduction, and the dramatic environmental changes.
The arrival of Tescat Ripperca, Crocodile, and Robin confirmed the connection between the Poneglyphs and otherworldly divinity.
Based on their acquired knowledge of the world, Baku and Enmi deduced that the divine Servants of the Fate world have descended and are eroding this pirate world in a way similar to overlays or Lostbelts.
However, this approach usually requires a blank slate process—but they seem to have skipped that step and directly used deities as their anchor.
The Holy Grail War is something that shouldn't exist in this situation; gods shouldn't even be there—
The clearer the intelligence became, the more awkward the position of Joan of Arc and the Dieter behind her became.
"So," Calgara concluded, his voice tinged with suppressed anger.
"The so-called Holy Grail War is something that should never exist in this world. The Throne of Heroes in our world simply doesn't exist!"
"The very existence of us Servants was a huge mistake!"
"Although there are still many unclear details, it seems that Dilt has brought a disaster from another world into our world!"
"Is he the king of this world, or the shepherd who summoned the wolves?!"
His question was forceful and resounding, and all the Sky Islanders looked at Joan of Arc with suspicion and even hostility.
Joan of Arc gripped the holy banner tightly, speechless.
She couldn't refute these facts.
Dilt's purpose? Perhaps it was just a silly pastime at first, but now it has evolved into a storm sweeping the world.
However, he believed that at this point, the Master would definitely not be the kind of person to sit idly by.
Tescatlipoca listened to the discussion with that enigmatic smile on his face.
When someone looked at him hoping for an answer, he simply shrugged and spoke in an aria-like tone.
"Trials~ Everything is a trial~ The rise and fall of civilizations, the clash of worlds, are nothing more than ripples in the eyes of great beings~ The truth?"
"Do you need to find and define that yourselves?"
He played the role of a riddle-maker perfectly, revealing no substantial information whatsoever.
Jeanne could only reiterate: "Under no circumstances should the rules be disregarded until the Master issues new orders. Combat is prohibited." However, the biggest problem remained unresolved: what would become of the Skypiea?
Calgara and the Wise One of the Clouds remained resolute.
"We must de-Indianize, restore the Sky Island to its original state, eliminate all influences from otherworldly divinity, remove the traces left by Indra, and expel all outsiders. All heroic spirits, including Indra, must be eliminated!"
However, it wasn't just outsiders; the Sky Island itself was rife with internal conflicts.
The Shandian warriors were filled with righteous indignation: "Our ancestors were right! This land has always been ours! Those Sky Islanders, and these otherworldly gods, are all invaders!"
"With the ancestor Calgara and this Sage of the Clouds, we will surely reclaim everything that is ours! We will drive them all out!"
They believed this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The inhabitants of Angel Island were both shocked and furious: "Nonsense! This land was given to us by God Enel! Although he is gone, you natives are the ones who came later!"
"Even without Lord Enel, we still have—"
They looked to the Wise One of the Clouds, hoping he would uphold justice, but the Wise One of the Clouds seemed more concerned with the purity of the environment than with racial disputes.
The wise man of the clouds spoke slowly, his voice filled with compassion.
"The endless arguments are precisely the obsession and hatred that have lasted for hundreds of years, polluting the land and giving the otherworldly divinity an opportunity to take advantage. If we want to purify it, perhaps..." His gaze swept over both sides, the meaning of which was self-evident: the accumulated resentment itself was an anomaly that needed to be cleared away.
If settling centuries-old grievances is too difficult, eradicating them at their root is also a viable option.
These words stunned the Sky Islanders and the Shandians, but they didn't seem to understand the deeper meaning.
They glared at each other angrily, and the internal conflict escalated instantly, even surpassing the hostility towards outsiders.
The fragile alliance, which had just been barely maintained due to a common enemy, was on the verge of collapse in an instant.
The heavy responsibility of mediating this internal feud seems to have inexplicably fallen on one of the outsiders, the Straw Hat crew.
Luffy looked at the two sides arguing, picked his nose, and looked confused.
"This is so troublesome. Weren't we supposed to be taking down that Indian guy? Why are they fighting each other first?"
However, this occurred amidst ongoing internal conflicts.
Blackbeard Teach, who had quietly slipped away, was contacting an unexpected person via Den Den Mushi (a type of electric scoop).
"Zehahaha, Gecko Moria! It's me, Blackbeard!"
Moria, who had just returned to his ship, was immediately startled.
"Black! Blackbeard! What the hell is that you, you bastard? Do you even know what the government is like now—"
Since the World Government suspended the Seven Warlords of the Sea's rights, he has been plagued by countless pirates these days, leaving him exhausted.
"Oh, let's not talk about that now. I heard you've been having a tough time lately—didn't those bastards at the World Government suspend the Seven Warlords' authority? How about we make a deal?"
Moria scoffed: "Even in my current situation, I'm still better off than you, a government-wanted criminal."
"Am I stupid enough to want to talk business with you?"
The man with the black beard chuckled: "What if I told you—we could assemble an army of heroic spirits?"
Moria instantly understood what was going on: "You want to summon a Heroic Spirit, and what you need is—a powerful corpse?"
"Brilliant! Even the corpses of heroes! Or those mutated monsters will do! Let's cooperate!"
"Give me those corpses, and I'll give you an invincible army of heroic spirits!"