Outside the room where Caelan was,

The women gathered together, watching the situation nervously.

They saw the originally ordinary room suddenly warp with spatial distortion.

From time to time, a barren and desolate land was projected, filled with a murderous aura, as if it were a world independent from this one.

Unlike the moonlit night outside, the sun in that world was high in the sky, blazing as if it were noon.

This only further proved how unusual the matter was.

As time passed, that world continued to undergo tremendous changes, becoming clearer and more real.

"I don't know what he's doing, making such a racket in the middle of the night," Nami said unhappily, though worry remained in her eyes.

She had rushed over the moment she woke up.

Seeing this mysterious scene, she could not help but worry about Caelan.

"It's already so late, and we still don't know what's going on inside. Even if it were a sneak attack from a Yonko, it wouldn't look like this."

Robin stared at the locked door, her face equally grim.

She had racked her brains and combed through every book in her collection, but nothing explained what was happening.

That barren land was nothing like the scenery of this world. She was certain that even the Red Line would not hold such an endless expanse.

And on that vast land, countless white bones lay scattered, each radiating a powerful aura, as if they had been formidable beings in life.

It left her feeling more unsettled than ever.

"It would almost be a relief if one of the Yonko appeared. At least that would be easier to deal with than this uncertainty."

Gion sighed softly.

This distorted space was far beyond her understanding.

Even though she was a seasoned Marine officer, she had no answers.

Not far from them stood Dragon.

He was clearly an emperor of the sea, yet the women spoke as though the Yonko were nothing more than minor pirates.

It wasn't that they were arrogant enough to look down on the Yonko.

They simply believed the Yonko could not pose a threat to Caelan.

"Could this be some kind of Devil Fruit ability?" Kalifa ventured a guess.

In this world, all kinds of things existed, so the appearance of a special Devil Fruit was not impossible.

"Impossible. No Devil Fruit can achieve this, not even an awakened one," Gion immediately dismissed Kalifa's theory.

The higher one stood, the clearer the limits of Devil Fruits became. For example, Borsalino's Glint-Glint Fruit was said to be the power of light itself, yet it fell far short of the true speed of light.

The world they were witnessing now had already surpassed the limits of any Devil Fruit.

"That makes it even harder to explain," Kalifa sighed helplessly.

If it was neither Devil Fruit power nor anything else she knew, then… could Caelan truly be creating a world?

"Enough of this. In my opinion, we should just rush in and rescue Caelan!" Hancock folded her arms across her chest, eyes burning as she stared at the desolate world.

As long as she could save him, she didn't care what dangers awaited.

"Don't be reckless. If we rush in now, it might backfire. We should wait a little longer," Robin quickly stopped her from acting rashly.

"Let's give it some time. If there's really no other choice, then we can go in."

Gion added her voice in agreement.

"Yeah, we understand," Vivi, Tashigi, and Kalifa responded together.

Hancock did not resist further, but instead fixed her gaze on the shifting scene in silence like the others.

…

Nearby, Dragon and Morgans whispered to each other.

"You were just speaking with Caelan. Do you know anything about this?" Morgans prodded Dragon curiously.

"I don't know a thing."

Dragon sighed, clearly helpless.

He had only just returned to rest when he was drawn back here again.

Now, he was just as confused as the others, unable to understand how such chaos had erupted in the short time since he had left.

"Oh," Morgans muttered, not disappointed, since he had not expected much from Dragon to begin with.

His sharp eyes remained fixed on the strange world. The white bones scattered across it made him frown.

Not because he was frightened, but because something about them felt strange.

Many of the skeletons were unusual. One was wreathed in flowing yellow sand, another flickered with arcs of lightning, and yet another was entangled with endless threads…

But one particular skeleton among them caught his attention.

It looked strangely familiar, almost eerily similar to Monkey D. Dragon standing beside him, even exuding the same aura.

After watching carefully for a while, Morgans finally asked, "Look at that skeleton. Doesn't it seem familiar to you?"

"Familiar?" Dragon looked at him, puzzled.

"That one," Morgans pointed, "it looks like the remains you would leave behind after death."

"…What!?" Dragon was stunned.

But upon closer inspection, he realized Morgans was right.

The skeleton's height, build, even the proportions of its hand bones were identical to his own, as though they had been shaped by the same martial training.

It still carried a faint aura, one almost identical to his.

"Am I dead?" Dragon rubbed his eyes, then exclaimed, "Then who the hell am I!?"

His expression darkened instantly.

He had thought this was only Caelan's problem, but he had not expected to be pulled into it as well.

"But what can we even do?"

Dragon felt powerless.

Beyond recognizing that the skeleton resembled himself and existed in another world, he knew nothing else.

Even if he wanted to resolve it, he had no idea where to start.

"Wait, look! That world has completely stabilized!" Morgans suddenly shouted.

The world that had been flickering between illusion and reality finally solidified.

It seemed that stepping through that room would allow one to enter it, while at the same time, the oppressive atmosphere disappeared.

At once, everyone fixed their eyes nervously on the desolate land, bracing themselves for some monstrous being to emerge.

Under their tense gazes, ripples appeared in the space and a tall figure stepped out.

"Good evening, everyone," Caelan greeted calmly. Then he raised his voice and asked, "Would you like to visit my world?"

(To be continued.)

***

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