Night

The night had arrived, bringing with it the starlight illuminating the sky. The cold breeze spread across the sea. The quartet was sitting down to dinner, with the sound of waves hitting the ship's hull in the background. Few sounds could be heard in this vast sea.

Soon, the noise of cutlery and the crew's voices overcame the ambient sounds, and dinner was in full swing. As always, it was cheerful and enjoyable. They used this time to get closer and strengthen their bonds as friends. Today, Merlin was telling the story of when he and Arthur turned into fish to teach his protege a lesson.

At the end of dinner, as everyone sat quietly, Diana stepped forward, capturing everyone's attention. She seemed a bit nervous at first, but her expression regained confidence, indicating that her final decision had been made.

"Well, I have something to tell you all, but before that, I'd like to share a little story," Diana began in a low voice, but as she spoke, her voice grew increasingly confident until it settled into its usual tone.

"In the early days of Earth, a being of pure darkness emerged. It wielded great power, and its life was limitless. Ages passed, countless years went by, and this being continued to walk the Earth. Then came the gods and titans. While the gods waged a war to end the Titans' rule, this malevolent being seized the opportunity to attack the Titans from behind, slaying them. The gods, seeing this, used the opportunity to end the Titans' tyranny. They even extended an invitation to this being to join them. However, this being preferred to continue its relentless killing and carnage, even turning against the gods who tried to help. Sadly, the gods fell in this war. This strange being called itself 'The Immortal,' and it still walks the Earth today, causing destruction and death, as relentless as ever."

Inmo, who was sipping wine as he listened to Diana's story, became very interested in this strange figure he had not encountered in his world travels. However, when Diana reached the part about the gods, his thoughts had already reached a critical point. Still, hearing his own name mentioned by Diana surprised him, causing him to spit out the wine he had in his mouth.

Franky, who was unfortunate enough to be sitting next to Inmo, ended up with part of his face drenched. Inmo glanced at Franky, who had taken out a towel from his pocket and was wiping his face, wearing a poker face. "Sorry, Franky, I was just a bit surprised." Then he turned to Diana and said, "Sorry, Diana. Please continue your story."

Diana didn't say anything about it, thinking it was normal for Luffy to be surprised. After all, discovering that a being of extreme power and malevolence had lived on Earth since the dawn of time was not an everyday occurrence. She continued speaking in her usual tone.

"This story has been passed down through my people since the beginning of our civilization. It's the story of my people's enemy. We are the last hope of the fallen gods. When I left that island, which had been my home all my life, I received a single mission: to bring the gods back to Earth."

After her monologue, Diana fell silent, feeling nervous as she awaited Luffy's response. She knew it was a lot to take in, and the decision was a difficult one. If he agreed to help, The Immortal would see him as an enemy too.

Inmo remained silent as he thought about how shameless the gods were for inventing this story. It seemed he had let them die too easily. He sighed in resignation, then turned his attention back to Diana, who had finished her story. She seemed nervous, perhaps thinking he might want to expel her now that he knew about her past.

Inmo knew that the Amazons would be anything but friendly to him, but he hadn't given much thought to how much they must despise him until now.

"Diana, you don't need to worry. You're part of my team, so I'll protect you no matter who the enemy is," Inmo said, realizing just what he had gotten himself into. "But, Diana, I also have something to tell you about my past."

At that moment, he glanced at Franky and communicated with him through exchanged glances. The android quickly understood what Inmo wanted.

Meanwhile, Merlin remained silent, observing the unfolding drama before him. He wanted to see how Inmo would handle this situation.

Franky used nanobots to create a small device that could act as a projector. He stood up and placed it on the table before speaking, "This is a machine that can display images. We use it in our city to transmit information, so what I'm going to show you is basically the history of our empire. Enjoy."

Franky spoke as if he were giving an educational lecture for children, something that happened frequently in the Immortal City. Once the device was activated, clear images began to appear in the air, forming a 3D hologram. Everything in the hologram seemed to be made of shadows.

A strange figure emerged in the midst of a jungle, taking hesitant steps, wary of its surroundings. Soon, a much larger figure, unlike the first, which was humanoid, appeared. It seemed to have the form of a boar. The two strange figures engaged in a battle, with the first eventually emerging victorious.

Franky's voice was finally heard as he began to narrate, providing context to what was happening in the hologram. "This being is the creator of our empire. It was born from nothing, and its first steps in this world were filled with danger and disaster." At that moment in the hologram, the strange figure barely survived a major catastrophe that engulfed most of the world.

"As it journeyed through the world, it never found its place in it until it stumbled upon a small village in the western part of the world. It decided to spend some time with them. Despite their differences, this strange people chose to welcome it as one of their own." The hologram changed again, showing the figure that had previously been alone while traveling the world, now alongside others.

"Unlike our emperor, the people who welcomed it were born and died. Time passed, and it revealed the fragility of life as generations came and went. Yet, our emperor remained unchanged through the passage of time. It continued to stay with the people until a great ice age arrived, killing a significant portion of the world's wildlife and making life unsustainable in that place." Once more, the hologram demonstrated the changes that had occurred in the image.

"Our emperor had compassion for the people who had welcomed it and helped them. It guided our people to the other side of the world, sailing across the ancient and dangerous ocean, facing powerful creatures that inhabited the depths of the sea, defying nature itself." The hologram vividly depicted the adventures that took place at sea, with the small humanoid figure fighting and defeating gigantic monsters and braving giant waves to protect its people.

"When we reached our new home, our emperor taught us the best way to survive, along with many other things, such as farming, crafting tools from iron, and imparting knowledge about the world we inhabit."

"Our people lived in peace for many centuries until darkness returned. One day, one of the titans challenged our emperor to a duel, and it accepted. While our emperor was away, we were attacked by an ancient people, but we managed to defend ourselves until our emperor returned. When our emperor did return, it was different. It had accepted its divine side and had gone all the way to banish the false gods from this world."

"It became more than our emperor; it became our god-emperor. Its name was... The Immortal." At that moment, as the images neared their end, the images changed again, gaining color and texture, showing Inmo in all his glory in his divine attire.

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p@treon.com/Horadomori [Early Access][$1 = > chapter 63 on patreon]