Chapter 481: The Black Robe Remnants and the Crisis at the End of the World
Luffy lay on the ground gasping for breath, and his companions were sitting or lying, immersed in the exhaustion after the war and the joy of victory. However, this tranquility did not last long.
Suddenly, a strange light appeared in the sky. It was like a crack, and a mysterious wave came out from it. Everyone immediately became alert and stood up.
"What's going on?" Zoro clenched the knife in his hand, his eyes full of vigilance.
Ling Tian looked at the light in the sky with a frown on his face. “This fluctuation is very strange. It seems to be related to the space-time gate we just closed, but it’s also not quite the same.”
Luffy looked at the light, his eyes showing no fear, only curiosity: "Whatever it is, we'll find out after we go and see it!" As he said that, he ran towards the direction of the light. The others shook their heads helplessly and followed him.
As they approached the light, they found some blurry figures in it. These figures gradually became clearer and turned out to be people wearing ancient costumes. Their faces were peaceful, but there was a hint of worry in their eyes.
One of the men who looked like an elder spoke up and said, "Thank you for stopping the black-robed man's conspiracy. You saved the world. But the balance of time and space has been greatly impacted. Although the black-robed man's actions were stopped, they still triggered some chain reactions."
Luffy scratched his head: "What chain reaction? Who are you?"
The elder smiled slightly: "We are the guardians of time and space, and we have always been protecting the order of time and space. The actions of the black-robed man have caused cracks in time and space to appear in every corner. If they are not repaired, the world will fall into endless chaos."
Kuina asked: "So what can we do to repair these space-time cracks?"
The elder pointed to the distance and said, "At the end of the world, there is a mysterious clock tower. It is the key to controlling the balance of time and space. You need to go there and start the repair ceremony. But the road is full of dangers. Not only will there be attacks from the remnants of the black robed people, but there will also be interference from the turbulence of time and space."
Zoro looked at the elder, "Now that we have come this far, we will not back down."
Hancock also nodded: "We will definitely complete this mission."
So, they bid farewell to the guardian of time and space and set out on a new journey to the clock tower at the end of the world. During the voyage, they encountered many time and space cracks, from which strange creatures would emerge from time to time.
Once, a group of creatures that looked like birds but were burning with flames all over their bodies appeared from a crack in time and space. They flew towards the ship, spewing high-temperature flames from their mouths. Luffy turned on the third gear, "Rubber Rubber? Giant Fist? Flame Shock!" His fists, with great power and flames, blasted towards the flock of birds, breaking up part of the flock. Zoro used "Three Swords Flow? Flame Slash? Phoenix Dance". His sword light was like a burning phoenix, shuttling through the flock of birds and killing many flame birds. Kuina and the Nine Snakes warriors shot with bows and arrows, and each arrow hit the vital point of the flame bird. Hancock used "Fragrant Kick? Flame Bond". Her legs were powerful, and each kick could kick a group of flame birds apart, and the flames became more vigorous under her attack, forming a wall of flames to block the attack of the flame birds.
After resolving the attack of the flaming bird, they continued sailing. However, the ship was severely damaged when it passed through a strong space-time turbulence area. Many cracks appeared on the hull and the mast was broken.
"We have to find a place to repair the ship." Ling Tian said as he looked at the damaged ship.
They found a small island nearby with a dense forest. They moored the boat on the shore and began to look for materials to repair the boat. In the forest, they found some huge trees whose wood was very strong and could be used to repair the boat.
However, the forest was not peaceful. There was a giant spider with strong silk that could trap its prey. While looking for wood, Luffy accidentally triggered the spider's trap and was entangled by the silk.
"Oh, this thing is so troublesome!" Luffy struggled.
Zoro immediately rushed over and cut the spider silk with his knife: "Be careful, these spiders are not easy to deal with."
At this moment, a group of huge spiders surrounded them. The spiders' eyes flashed with strange light, and they quickly spit out spider silk, trying to trap everyone.
Kuina used "Tianyuan Sword Skill? Spider Silk Break", her sword swung like lightning, cutting the approaching spider silk. The Nine Snake Warriors used their agility to dodge the spider silk and attack the spiders. Hancock used "Sweet Sweet Wind? Sweet Spider Web", her ability to freeze some spiders and make them unable to move.
After Luffy broke free from the spider silk, he activated the "Tank Man" form in Gear 4 and rolled towards the spider group, knocking down many of them. "Rubber-Rubber? Giant Spin Bomb? Spider Crush!" His body spun rapidly, sending all the spiders around him flying.
With everyone's joint efforts, they successfully repelled the spiders and collected enough wood to repair the ship.
After sailing for a while, they finally arrived near the end of the world. The sea here was rough, lightning and thunder were flashing in the sky, and time and space turbulence was more frequent.
"This is the end of the world. The Clock Tower should be at the center of this chaos." Ling Tian said as he looked at the surrounding environment.
They carefully sailed towards the center, and suddenly, a huge black warship appeared from a space-time rift. The warship was full of people in black robes, their eyes full of hatred.
"It's the remnants of the black-robed men!" shouted Zoro.
The leader of the black-robed men stood at the bow and laughed loudly, "Do you think you can get rid of us so easily? Today is the day you die. We must complete our mission, even if it means we all perish together!"
As they spoke, the black-robed men launched their attack. They fired black energy beams, which shot towards Luffy and his crew's ship. Luffy and his crew quickly dodged, and the ship swayed left and right under the attack of the beams.
"Rubber rubber? Machine gun? Shoot randomly!" Luffy launched a series of attacks towards the black-robed warship. His arms attacked like raindrops, knocking some of the black-robed men off the warship. Zoro used "Three Swords Style? Secret? One? Three Thousand? Great Thousand Worlds? Destruction". His sword light was like a huge destructive force, slashing towards the black-robed warship, cutting a huge gap on one side of the warship.
Kuina and the Nine Snakes warriors shot arrows with bows and arrows, each arrow contained a powerful force and hit the black-robed men. Hancock used "Heroic Haki? Fear Domain", her Haki enveloped the black-robed warship, causing some of the black-robed men to fall into fear and their fighting power was greatly reduced.
Seeing this, the leader of the black-robed people took action himself. He cast a powerful dark magic and summoned a huge dark monster. This monster was huge and exuded a dark aura. It pounced on Luffy and others.