The One Piece I

...........

Chapter 173: The One Piece I

...........

Without a word of explanation, Yovan's gently placed his dark coat to the side, the one made by Laffitte himself; before joining Kalifa on the bed, gently pulling her closer into a hug, and going to sleep.

They had a lot to talk about. They just left it till morning, but Yovan of course didn't forget about Laffitte's body as his crows took it somewhere safe.

"Have you talked to them?" Yovan asked, very early in the morning as he felt Kalifa waking up.

"Yeah," Kalifa snuggled closer to him and nodded, "I told them that you took Laffitte's advice in forcing yourself to never look back, which likely means that you want to bring him back to life in the future... Was my assumption right?"

They didn't talk about that beforehand. Kalifa just understood him better than anyone else, and she a lot more about him.

Yovan's nod made her frown, and despite how much she believed in him, she could help but question, "Can you really do it?"

"I will be when I succeed," Yovan nodded.

"What you did... While they believe in you, it will no doubt create a rift between you and the rest of the crew," Kalifa said with a low tone, "No matter your goal, allowing him to die... You shouldn't have made it so obvious... Unless?"

Suddenly, Kalifa's eyes widened as she stared at Yovan, asking, "Was it on purpose? Are you planning on disbanding the Crew?"

"Not yet, but you really do understand me most, don't you?" Yovan couldn't help but gently caress her silky blonde hair, a peaceful smile on his face, "I do want to disband the crew."

"Why?" Kalifa's tone softened as she asked, although anxiousness was still clear in her voice.

"I like adventures, and this adventure was a good one despite its rocky start... However, it's coming to an end. What do you think someone like me would do after?" Yovan asked.

"Seek an even greater adventure?" She understood him best, so she naturally answered correctly, and even took it a step further, "Seeking the moon? The Sun? The stars?"

"Hahaha," Yovan couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he nodded, "Exactly... And perhaps things even beyond that."

"What things could lie beyond the stars?" Kalifa's curiosity was burning bright as she wondered.

"Who knows?" Yovan shook his head with a smile, "I do want to know though... Have what I did create a rift between us?"

"With how unpredictable you are, I expected it a lot worse, so no." Kalifa shook her head with a smile, "I want to make satisfying memories with you, but first of all, I want to help you achieve your goal."

"So silly," He said that but he couldn't help but let out a smile as he held her chin before sealing her mouth in a long passionate kiss.

The two took a long while before leaving the comfort of their own chamber, Kalifa looking more radiant than ever, undulating satisfaction.

"Does anyone have any questions?"

"I do! I do!" Pudding who seemed to have calmed down, instantly jumped at the opportunity, "Is it true that you can revive the dead??"

"Not yet, but I will be able to," Yovan shook his head, realizing that the supposed rift didn't affect Pudding whatsoever, nor did it affect Viola.

The ones most affected seemed to be Bege and Kaku, seeming quite a bit depressed despite their trust in Yovan.

"Will you, really?" Bege seemed doubtful. Reviving the dead was after all a miracle.

"There exists a Devil fruit that can turn people into toys and erase their existence from the memories of all that know them. Its user is in the hands of the Pantheon right now.

There exists a Devil Fruit that can slow down time, and has the potential to do so much more. It's currently in my hands.

There exists a Devil Fruit that can send people into the future. There exists a Devil that rises the dead... Is the revival of the dead such an attainable thing to you all?"

Yovan shook his head, almost like he was disappointed, "I liked Laffitte's advice, so I took it to heart. I'm sure he doesn't mind. In fact, when he comes back, he'll be the happiest man alive for experiencing something so insane and unbelievable. Of that, I'm certain."

The two of Bege and Kaku still didn't feel much better, Yovan could see that, "How could he treat one of us in such a way? That's what's on your mind, right?"

Indeed, that's what was on their mind, so he continued without awaiting a response, "It's simple. I see this as nothing but another crazy adventure that we will surely survive... That's it."

His mentality was distorted, Yovan realizes that, but he doesn't mind it. it was the mentality of someone who went through so much misfortune and death scenarios that he has grown numb to it.

It's also the mentality of someone who has grown so strong that he had left the comprehension of the world he walks upon.

Even Yovan himself can not accurately asses his unrivaled strength. The question always was, can the entirety of the World pose enough of a challenge to make his survival an irrationality?

"If there are no more questions, then let's set out... For the One Piece." And that they did, leaving behind whatever chaos took place in Elbaf.

In fact, as far as the night before, Yovan controlled the Ship to enter the green dimension, thus in the eyes of the World, the Strangers just vanished into thin air.

"Dad? Did you kill the King of the Giants?" The news soon reached the Strangers, and Pudding was the first to let her curiosity out, joining him on the Crow's head.

The rest of the Strangers also got close, also curious about what happened in Elbaf. They, after all, had seen the Ice spikes that appeared that day.

"Oh? What did the newspaper say about me?" Yovan asked with a tone of amusement.

"They said that you sought to create chaos in the Colosseum of the Giants before trying to burn the Giant Treasure Tree Adam with your Golden flames," Viola was the one to explain.

"However, the King, Ymir was awakened from his slumber, forced to use most of his power to create the Ice spikes that stopped you. One thing led to another, and the King died while trying to save Loki," She continued.

"It's certainly a conspiracy of sorts," Bege noted, "They say here that the other Strangers' involvement made it difficult to stop the Stranger."

The Strangers didn't get involved, only Yovan did, so they naturally understood that It should be bullshit, but Yovan killing Ymir wasn't out of question.

"It was Loki who killed Ymir," Yovan shook his head, "He seeks the Throne, not only the Elbaf throne but also the Empty Throne."

"Oh? Does he want to rule the World? Quite ambitious, huh?" Kalifa remarked with a chuckle.

They didn't realize it, but the Strangers started treating the World like a story to be enjoyed, sometimes to be messed with, insert some chaos into it.

"Is Loki that strong? Wasn't Ymir supposed to be a millennium old giant? And he even created those giant Ice spikes." Viola was curious.

"It's more like the King allowed himself to die, and left his responsibilities to Loki. Although Prince Loki is very strong, one of the strongest in the entire World," Yovan said.

"How so?" The Strangers were curious.

"His Devil Fruit is that of Illusion, and it can even affect me though I have a few ways to work around it... Most importantly, he seemed to have awakened it, gaining the ability to turn illusion into reality." Yovan explained with interest.

"..."

"??"

"Huh?"

"Don't look so shocked. It isn't so simple. It seems to have too many limitations, one of them is for the target to believe the Illusion to be real. Another should be for the user to be capable of handling the consumption, so creating a life should be impossible."

Despite his explanation, the power still sounds unbelievable to them, turning Illusion into reality, such a ludicrous power.

"There are probably a lot more limitations, but in the right hands, it's certainly deadly." Yovan had to say that Loki is quite scary... He even deemed him as one of the leading toys in the coming War.