Eternal Night

Chapter 759 The Great Battle at the Top!
(PS: Still a long chapter of 6000 words.)
Wu Pifu didn't dwell on it for too long. As the saying goes, things will work themselves out in the end, and he never agonized over things he couldn't do right now.

On a cosmic scale, unless it becomes the origin, even an ascended form is too insignificant. Human civilization currently lacks both sufficient technological strength and extraordinary abilities to quickly transport Gaia to Kepler-186f. Therefore, this matter can only be left for the future. Whether it is through special extraordinary powers, such as spatial or temporal systems, or by finding faster-than-light technology from the dream world that can be used in the absolute reality layer, these are the only ways to solve the problem.

At this time, Fenglong and the media mogul had already gone to retrieve the Devil Fruit for him, and he decided to follow their advice and capture as many Celestial Dragons as possible in various places. On the one hand, this would attract the attention of the World Government, and on the other hand, it would increase his chances of opening the Marineford War.

The World Government, however, remained completely untouched, and the Ascended Ones never reappeared. Instead, a large number of people migrated into the New Era City, the World Government's headquarters.

With the World Government's dominance over the Grand Line, coupled with the strange style of this world—with sailing ships, electronic systems, televisions, and even more advanced technology—more than two million people were relocated to New Age City in a short period of time, and more people continued to be transported from behind.

Even with Wu Pifu's limited understanding of domestic affairs, he knew that forcibly relocating millions of people in a short period of time would be a humanitarian disaster in any era before the modern era. With more than two million people coming to the New Era City, given the World Government's inhumane practices, several times that number might have died on the way.

This news naturally did not shake Wu Pifu's resolve, but he also found it quite strange.

Does this mean that the false veil of this world is not maintained by the number of lives or the importance of lives?

Wu Pifu also had some thoughts on the truth of the Mountain and Sea Realm. Of course, due to well-known reasons, he certainly couldn't think too much or too deeply about it. However, based on the fact that he tore open part of the veil twice, the truth of the Mountain and Sea Realm should be related to life and the importance of life.

The first time, when he fought against three Ascended Beings, he killed one of them. At that time, the Heavenly Dao showed contradictory emotions of extreme rage and extreme joy, and these emotions were directed at him at the same time. This was actually the curtain being torn apart.

The second time was when he killed the first Celestial Dragon noble. At that time, the curtain of heaven and earth truly materialized and was torn apart, carrying boundless black energy. However, it only lasted for a very short time. Obviously, killing just one Celestial Dragon noble was not enough to tear the curtain apart.

Both of these events involved the killing of life in this world, special life, and life of high status, which caused the curtain to be torn apart. So, shouldn't the death of a large number of humans also cause the curtain to be torn apart?

However, the World Government's current actions contradict this. If the death toll were truly too high, causing the veil to tear, then the World Government should have dispersed the population as much as possible. Even if it was to use the population to restrain Wu Pifu and make him hesitate, it would never have killed millions of people just to bring over two million people to the World Government headquarters. Such an approach is simply absurd.

It's as ridiculous as shooting someone to stop them from committing suicide.

So, was his guess wrong?

However, upon closer reflection, the veil of the Mountain and Sea Realm may actually have little to do with ordinary people.

According to what Wu Pifu saw and heard in this world, the so-called World Government never treated the people under its rule as human beings. They levied extremely heavy taxes and also required two additional special heavy taxes: the World Government Membership Tax, which was required to receive the World Government's protection (but not the random hunting by the Celestial Dragons), and a so-called Celestial Gold, which was a tax paid directly to all the Celestial Dragons through the World Government.

This heavy tax led to rampant piracy, and many desperate men set sail, especially towards the latter half of the Grand Line. However, many more people lived in misery, and some even sold themselves into slavery.

This is by no means a way to value human life!
"It is said that a long time ago, the Grand Line was not as vast as it is now, almost encircling the outer edge of the Mountain and Sea Realm. At that time, in addition to the World Government, there were other human kingdoms and regions. The people in those human kingdoms lived very happily, at least much happier than the people under the World Government's rule. But for some reason, the Grand Line grew larger and larger, the World Government's territory grew larger and larger, and the other human kingdoms gradually disappeared. Now, apart from the unexplorable inland areas and some other alien races allied with the World Government, the entire Mountain and Sea Realm is ruled by the World Government."

Mei dutifully recounted many past events, information, and histories of the Mountain and Sea Realm to Wu Pifu. While she was recounting these events, Wu Pifu was packing the Celestial Dragons into boxes one by one.

The process was neither slow nor troublesome. After confirming that Wu Pifu was really going to kill them, these Celestial Dragons didn't even dare to vent their anger, letting Wu Pifu safely pack them into boxes.

After doing all this, Wu Pifu threw the Celestial Dragon box back onto the ship, and then asked Mei, "Did they send any messages back?"

Mei immediately opened a document and said, "Yes, they sent back a message a day ago via encrypted Den Den Mushi. It seems they are being pursued by government secret forces. However, after two generals died at your hands, the secret forces dare not attack them head-on. They are using various methods such as ambushes, long-range sniping, or poisoning to attack them. There have been casualties, but under the deterrence of your weapons, they are still rapidly reaching the designated evacuation point."

Some of the crew members, carrying Wu Pifu's weapons, had left the ship earlier. Their mission was to contact the top executives of the three major news groups, which led to the appearance of the media tycoon. He was a sublimated entity and the behind-the-scenes boss of the three major news groups. His arrival actually meant that the team had successfully completed its mission. Moreover, the appearance of the revolutionary army leader Fenglong was also thanks to them, because the young man who revealed himself to be a member of the revolutionary army had also joined the team.

Wu Pifu jumped onto the ship with Mei. He paused for a moment and said, "Then let's get to the designated point as soon as possible and bring them back. This ship will be yours. I have poured enough internal energy into this ship to keep it flying for a long time. I think... after this battle, the World Government will cease to exist."

Mei didn't speak, but stood silently beside Wu Pifu.

Wu Pifu thought for a moment and said, "All the treasure on the ship belongs to you. To prevent any disputes over the spoils, I will give you a hint before I leave: you must not be hostile to each other. The treasure will be distributed according to your positions and contributions. I can't control anything else..."

Mei suddenly bowed deeply to Wu Pifu and said, "This is already the greatest favor we can receive, and... sir..."

Wu Pifu remained silent and turned to walk towards the captain's cabin. Mei shouted loudly behind him. Not only Mei, but all the other naval soldiers on the ship looked up at Wu Pifu. Their expressions were complicated, but filled with some indescribable emotions.

"My lord! Kill all those Celestial Dragons!"

"The world shouldn't be like this!"

"...If it weren't for those Celestial Dragons, if it weren't for the World Government, we, we..."

Wu Pifu closed the captain's cabin door, but the voices of the crowd outside could still be heard.

A day later, the airship picked up sixteen returning crew members. During their journey to complete Wu Pifu's mission, a total of twenty-two people died, including the young man who revealed his identity as a revolutionary. They all died outside, and their bodies could not be found.

Wu Pifu didn't say much. He took back the sword and repeated what he had told Mei to all the crew members. There were eighty-three people on the ship. Apart from Mei and her brother Leon, the rest had been captured by him. But the situation was different now. After Wu Pifu finished speaking, everyone gathered on the deck and looked at him with a fanatical and solemn expression.

"...Alright, you can all fly away on your own. Don't look at me like I'm about to die. Go do whatever you were doing!"

As Wu Pifu spoke, he waved to the Celestial Dragon boxes, which then floated behind him and slowly flew towards the World Government headquarters.

"My lord, you must win!"

Behind him, many people on the ship shouted loudly at the same time. Some of the former naval soldiers even showed expressions full of hatred, and some even wept bitterly.

Nobody wants to kneel down and be a slave!

If it weren't for the suppression by the World Government, no one would tolerate the Celestial Dragons!

Now, they see hope that can change all of this.

Wu Pifu waved his hand and flew away into the distance without looking back.

Then, after a long, long time, everyone was surprised to hear Wu Pifu's voice coming from afar.

Just like the promises he had made many times before.

"Will win!"

This promise... Heaven and Earth bear witness!
When Wu Pifu, alone (excluding the cloak), headed towards the World Government headquarters with the Celestial Dragon's box, all the existing World Government generals gathered at the headquarters looked up at the sky.

At this moment, they gathered in front of the Central Government Building of the World Government Headquarters, the capital of the new century. At this very moment, four great lights descended from the heavens.

A three-legged raven, a six-headed fiery lion, a tornado mixed with sand, and a two-meter-tall human surrounded by these three great orbs of light in the center.

Unlike the magnificent and enormous figures displayed by the other three orbs of light, the two-meter-tall human surrounded by them appeared unusually ordinary. However, the light emanating from her was more dazzling than that of the other three orbs. She wore a gentle smile and appeared serene and peaceful, which seemed somewhat out of place in the grim scene before them.

But no one dared to speak up.

Norm!

The first sublimated human being!

He was once the right-hand man of the Pirate King, the ruler of the world. After the Pirate King disappeared, he became a great man who independently supported the Grand Line and was also the first president of the World Government.

It can be said that she is the greatest legend among humans in the world of mountains and seas, and to this day, she is an even greater legend than the Pirate King who once opened up the Grand Line!
"Gentlemen, the time has come to defend the realm of mountains and seas!"

Nom spoke softly, but her voice carried throughout the entire World Government headquarters. Not only could the naval officers in the plaza hear it, but also the more than three million people in the city and surrounding areas, along with over a million naval soldiers. "A demon from beyond the world has stolen the reins of our world. It seeks to drag this world back into the bloodshed, cruelty, and inevitable predation of humanity!"

"Of course, those who act justly will find many supporters, while those who act unjustly will find few. This war is not only a war for us humans, but a war for all races in the entire Mountain and Sea Realm. We have many allies who will fight alongside us against the demons from the outer world!"

"I hereby declare the Heavenly Sacrifice Begin!"

"For this world, for all living beings, for all the good things in the world... everyone can offer their own strength. The strong will fight to the death, and the weak will sacrifice their lives to heaven and earth. We will surely win this battle!"

As soon as Gnom finished speaking, another twenty-eight orbs of light descended from the sky. Together with the four orbs of light Gnom had below, there were a total of thirty-two orbs of light standing in the sky above the World Government headquarters!

Meanwhile, in the city below, all the World Government's generals and officers displayed fanaticism, each channeling their Haki and Devil Fruit powers, causing a dazzling, extraordinary light to rise from below.

Unlike these generals, the World Government soldiers below them, as well as all the forcibly relocated civilians, began to look blankly into their eyes. Then, group after group of civilians walked to the perimeter of the square and were shot by soldiers with equally blank expressions. In just a few moments, blood was flowing like a stream throughout the city.

As countless humans died, blood vapor filled the sky, and the aura of the Heavenly Dao reappeared. The Heavenly Dao aura, which originally seemed to have two consciousnesses—one of anger and the other of ecstasy—gradually merged, eventually leaving only coldness and numbness...

While Wu Pifu was heading towards the World Government headquarters, and the media mogul and Fenglong were still nowhere to be found, and while a bizarre and terrifying scene of mass slaughter and sacrifice unfolded at the World Government headquarters, another equally cruel and bizarre sacrifice was also taking place on the endless land far from the Grand Line in the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Tens of thousands of beast demons, bird demons, insect demons, water demons, nature demons, and so on, as well as tens of thousands of offspring of giant beasts, bloodlines of ancient gods, and strange monsters were also slaughtered and sacrificed.

Bai Ze, who had previously spoken with Wu Pifu, along with several other sublimated demon race beings, especially the strongest one who resembled both a fish and a bird, was presiding over this massive sacrifice.

As their sacrifices continued, something inexplicable seemed to disappear from their bodies along with the sacrifices, and the aura of these sublimated demon beings began to decline at a visible rate.

"The essence of demonic spirits can still be condensed in the future, but if we miss this disruptor, we don't know how long it will be before the next disruptor appears!"

"Yes, this is the best time for us to correct all of this!"

"Now that we have provoked an unknown being of the extreme realm, we must restore the Mountain and Sea Realm to its original state as the Primordial Realm. Otherwise, we will be slowly hunted down and weakened to death by this being of the extreme realm sooner or later!"

"However, our strength alone is not enough to fight against the Mountain and Sea Realm Alliance, so we must awaken the sleeping behemoths, ancient gods, and strange creatures. As unstable factors in the new era, they have long been targeted by the Heavenly Dao, but they do not have the legacy of our demon race. At this time, by burning our essence and blood, coupled with this brief sacrifice to the Heavenly Dao of the old era that tears the veil, it will be enough to awaken them in a short time!"

"It's impossible for them all to awaken. The new era's Heavenly Dao has already seized almost the majority of power and influence. But even if only one-third, or even one-fifth, of them awaken, it would be enough for us to fight against the new era alliance of the Mountain and Sea Realm!"

"Let those new-age idiots who are burying their heads in the sand see what real power is!"

All the sublimated demon race beings present were filled with indignation, including their leader, the fish-and-bird-like sublimated demon race being equally agitated.

They are bloodthirsty, they are insane, they are the law of the jungle, and the more they face battle and slaughter, the more excited they become.

Gradually, on this boundless continent, in those high mountains, in the infinitely thick earth, in the endless abyss, in the heart of the magma as hot as a star…

Some ancient beings, imbued with an aura of vastness, eeriness, and terror, slowly awoke. But at that moment, the aura of the Heavenly Dao appeared in the sky, and the vast majority of them fell into a deep sleep once more. In the end, only less than ten beings fully recovered and headed straight for the demon race's sacrificial site...

The entire Mountain and Sea Realm was gradually boiling over, and a certain murderous aura began to emerge and spread from nothing, but these three parties were not the only ones involved in the battle.

When the Heavenly Dao of the Mountain and Sea Realm changed, and the Heavenly Dao of the old and new eras seemed to emerge simultaneously and contradict each other from time to time, outside the Mountain and Sea Realm, dozens of monsters that resembled humanoid figures or various weapons pieced together in a chaotic manner were wandering outside the Mountain and Sea Realm, searching for any gaps to enter. Only when the Heavenly Dao of the Mountain and Sea Realm malfunctioned did they seem to smell blood and rush into the interior of the Mountain and Sea Realm through some inexplicable passage.

Behind these dozens of monsters, a being that resembled a beautiful woman, a weapon, and a skeleton appeared and disappeared. This being controlled these monsters, but its existence was too elusive, as if it were restricted or attacked by some enormous force, and it could never solidify into a real form.

As dozens of monsters finally broke into the realm of mountains and seas, suddenly from the deepest part of the dream world, a giant eyeball seemed to blink and flicker, then looked towards this being that resembled a beautiful woman, a weapon, and a skeleton.

"The Celestial Pearl... The Heavenly Court hasn't fully awakened yet, but it seems one of the Four Emperors is about to awaken..."

The being, resembling a beautiful woman, a weapon, and a skeleton, murmured, emitting a terrifying, inhuman sound, before gradually disappearing.

As this entity disappeared, the giant eyeball also completely lost its target, and after observing for a moment, it gradually closed its pupils.

Just moments after this being, which resembled a beautiful woman, a weapon, and a skeleton, completely disappeared, Chu Minghao and Liang Min were piercing through this direction outside the Mountain and Sea Realm. However, they did not completely penetrate into the Mountain and Sea Realm; a certain light enveloping them stopped at the outer wall of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

The two emerged from the light and saw Chu Minghao carrying a huge head crackling with lightning, while Liang Min was carrying a fishing rod.

"...It's time for you to play your important role. Come on, rake, let's penetrate in."

Liang Min kept tapping the huge thunderous head with her fishing rod.

Lei Ting revealed a fawning smile and said humbly, "My lords, this is my last secret. Once I reveal it, I will be unacceptable in the Mountain and Sea Realm, so in the future..."

Chu Minghao looked at Lei Ting's head and said, "Hmm?"

"I said it, I said it!"

Thunder's head was already terrified, its liver, gallbladder, kidneys, spleen, and lungs were practically ruptured. In fact, with only its head left, it was barely clinging to life. In order to avoid being completely annihilated and perished, it couldn't care about anything else at this moment.

"This is our backup plan. As the adults know, everyone needs a bit of unexpected wealth. Although strengthening the new Heavenly Dao is a given, conquering the smaller planes ourselves is the greatest source of resources for us..."

Thunder Head reluctantly led the way for Chu Minghao and Liang Min.

However, this is not a crack that directly penetrates into the Mountain and Sea Realm, but a crystal labyrinth that has been twisted little by little over countless tens of thousands of years and by many sublimated bodies, so the entry speed is naturally much slower.

Chu Minghao was extremely anxious, but he was helpless at this point and could only move little by little into the Mountain and Sea Realm. Liang Min, on the other hand, seemed carefree: "Don't worry, he's even achieved time reversal. I think he's much tougher than us. Maybe by the time we get in, he'll have already slaughtered the entire world... Besides, it's a transcendent-level Great World! What a treasure! Just breaking off some islands and landmasses would be enough to expand our Land of Redemption ten or a hundred times!"

Chu Minghao was also tempted, but he wasn't Liang Min after all, so he shook his head and said, "Let's ensure Brother Wu Pifu's safety first!"

"Yes Yes Yes……"

After Liang Min finished speaking, she looked into the Mountain and Sea Realm and then grinned menacingly.

"Come on, master computer, determine me and Chu Minghao, then..."

"To give this world a little bit of the awe-inspiring power of Gaia!"

"Judging in progress...judging complete."

"Chu Minghao, a pure-blooded human."

"Liang Min...a pure-blooded human."

Liang Min was stunned for a moment, then yelled, "Fuck you! Mastermind, didn't you hesitate for a second?!"

Mastermind: “…”

At the exact moment the judgment ended, Chu Minghao and Liang Min both felt a sense of calm. A special blessing appeared on them, and they were now considered to have half-entered the Mountain and Sea Realm. Then they saw...

The mountain of corpses and the sea of ​​blood!
Not an adjective, but the real thing: a sea of ​​blood, churning with endless corpses, surrounded a continent—that's what the Thunder Ascension described…

The Grand Line!?
(End of this chapter)