129 Three Months Later

"Brrr, brrr..."

"Hello! This is Kalifa."

On a deserted island, upon a beach, a woman in a swimsuit lay languidly on a lounge chair beneath a beach umbrella. Beside her, a Den Den Mushi began to ring. She brushed back her golden locks, her exquisite face wearing an expression of indolence. Her perfect figure was utterly captivating as she parted her delicate, rose-tinted lips to speak in a soft, melodious voice.

"This is Spandine. Kalifa, is Vice Admiral Xuanye there?" A stern voice sounded from the other end of the line—the voice of the highest authority currently at Enies Lobby.

Kalifa’s expression tightened. She sat up and replied, "The Vice Admiral is still in training."

"Tell the Vice Admiral that we have found Edward Weevil." On the other side of the line, Spandine let out a sigh of relief. He had not forgotten that Xuanye had given him a two-month deadline, and they had already exceeded that by a month.

A month ago, he had spoken with Xuanye, who had been furious that they had yet to find any trace of Weevil. Xuanye had stated clearly that he would give them one more month; the consequences of failing to find him after that were clear to everyone. Moreover, for some unknown reason, there had been no news of Weevil on the seas during this time, as if he had evaporated into thin air or was actively hiding, which had placed immense pressure on CP9. Most importantly, Weevil’s reputation was so obscure that he didn't even appear in their databases. Given the vastness of the sea, finding someone so unknown was no easier than finding a needle in a haystack.

Therefore, the moment news arrived, Spandine was overjoyed. To be blunt, ever since he met Xuanye, Spandine had lived in constant fear. He had once tried to investigate Xuanye’s background, but the results had filled him with terror. According to the files, the man was a total madman. Setting aside his personality, the sheer ruthlessness and the ease with which he killed sent shivers down Spandine's spine. At times, he felt fortunate that he had only lost an arm; otherwise, he might not be alive at all.

"Understood! I will go at once." Kalifa stood up, not daring to delay, as she understood the urgency of the message. She still remembered the look of cold indifference in Xuanye’s eyes when he spoke to Spandine a month ago—a gaze that still made her tremble.

Without even taking the time to put on clothes, she rose into the air in her swimsuit, heading toward the center of the island.

At the center of the island, beneath a giant peak, a strange figure stood perfectly still, eyes closed, seemingly devoid of any energy. His otherworldly appearance and strange posture indicated that Xuanye was maintaining his "Godly Transformation" state.

Suddenly, his calm body began to burn with a golden-white flame, and eyes resembling flickering fire snapped open.

"Crack... crack..." The moment those eyes opened, the sky was instantly choked with dark clouds. Crimson and purple lightning flickered, and a vast, supreme will—filled with boundless tyranny and the ferocity of a beast—descended like the crushing weight of heaven and earth, emanating the aura of an emperor.

"Boom... boom..." Visible ripples of power overturned the landscape, spreading in all directions like a raging storm. At that moment, every living creature on the island trembled and collapsed to the ground; some of the weaker ones even lost their lives on the spot.

This sudden manifestation of will was terrifying, containing not just pressure, but an infinite sense of cruelty and madness. It was as if an emperor of hell stood atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, coldly looking down upon the world. In the eyes of this emperor, all living things, and even the world itself, were expendable. Everything revolved around him; those who resisted were met with bloodthirsty slaughter, while those who submitted were spared. Furthermore, this emperor did not seem human, but rather like an ancient beast king—the pressure he exerted was the embodiment of a supreme, singular will.

As the hurricane raged and the island fell into a heavy, suffocating silence, a blood-stained figure among the prostrate beasts looked toward the center of the island with a horrified expression.

"His Conqueror’s Haki... it’s grown even stronger. It’s radiated across the entire island. Is this guy even human?" Lucci gritted his teeth, his fists clenched, desperately resisting the boundless, tyrannical will.

Over these past three months, Lucci had completely submitted to this madman. He had to admit that he had come to respect Xuanye. The madman’s immense strength was inseparable from his insanity. There was no doubt that his power was bought with blood, sweat, and even his life. Of course, Lucci had once tried to push himself as hard as Xuanye, but his body could not withstand it, and he had nearly crippled himself, requiring a half-month of recovery. When it came to willpower, Lucci might not fall short of Xuanye, but in other aspects, he lagged behind. Most importantly, Xuanye possessed both deep-seated attachments and obsessions, as well as an heaven-defying Devil Fruit.

Lucci endured the pressure in silence. The display lasted for a full minute before it finally dissipated.

He let out a sigh of relief. His lips were bleeding from where he had bitten them to stay conscious.

"Hmm? Kalifa’s aura?" Suddenly, Lucci’s Observation Haki picked up a presence. After a brief thought, he wiped away the blood, stepped onto the air using Geppo, and vanished.

On the other side, Xuanye stood quietly, a satisfied smile finally appearing on his fierce face. Over the past few days, he had been honing his Conqueror’s Haki. Perhaps it was related to his Devil Fruit, or perhaps his spirit and resolve were simply different from those of this world; regardless, his Conqueror’s Haki no longer felt like a mere manifestation of spirit.

He had not wasted these three months. While some of his powers were not yet fully mastered, he believed that combat would be the fastest way to refine them. After all, battle was the only true shortcut to strength.

"L-Lord Xuanye, the superior is on the line." Pale-faced, with eyes full of fear, Kalifa looked cautiously at the contemplative Xuanye, trembling slightly.

Xuanye turned and frowned slightly. He stared at Kalifa, his eyes flashing briefly before returning to their calm, cold state.

"Spandine?" He asked coldly, looking directly at her.

"Yes, he says they have found the person you were looking for," Kalifa said, nodding as she handed him the Den Den Mushi.

Although Xuanye currently exuded no aura of a powerhouse, this very fact made Kalifa even more afraid. It was as if she were facing a primordial beast—motionless, yet capable of earth-shattering destruction the moment it moved. Moreover, Xuanye had become increasingly cold. She had never seen him smile sincerely; at times, she felt he was nothing more than a monster devoid of emotion. A monster whose mind was kept at a breaking point, ready to unleash heartless destruction at the slightest provocation.