Simultaneous Time Travel: What Villain? I'm the Protagonist!

The Knights of God's ship has been adrift at sea for three days.

Commander Figalan Garin stood at the bow of the ship, the documents in his hands rustling in the sea breeze.

There were seven people standing behind him. Such a large mobilization was unprecedented in the past twenty years.

"Shengren," Jialin read aloud.

No one answered; everyone was listening.

"Former chief biochemist on Egghead Island, head of the Devil Fruit transcription project. He attacked Admiral Kizaru six months ago, stole the project's core equipment, and has since disappeared."

He turned the page of the document.

"He is thirty years old, a user of the Flame-Flame Fruit, and his physical skills and Haki are both at the Admiral level or above. The injury he inflicted on Kizaru—" He paused, "is still not healed; the burned tissue cannot regenerate."

Someone behind me took a soft breath.

Garin didn't turn around and continued reading:

"Extremely dangerous, but capturing it alive is the priority; even if it is killed, it should only be used when the location of that thing is confirmed."

He closed the file.

"There's only one reason for this operation—that thing can't fall into the hands of the Four Emperors. Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido are all looking for him. If the traitor really joins them, the consequences will be unimaginable."

One of the team members spoke up: "Captain, is the source reliable? The last place they came out was Water Seven, and it's been three months already."

Garin glanced at him:

"Whether it's true or false, we must find out. If that thing falls into the hands of a Yonko-level power, the danger will be even greater than that of Rocks and Roger, and even the World Government could be overthrown..."

"How is that possible?" someone behind him blurted out.

Garin turned around, and the teammate immediately lowered his gaze, but it was too late to take back what he had said.

"Rocks was a madman," Garin said, his voice not loud, but each word like a nail. "Roger was lucky. The two combined were simply a bigger ship, a more ruthless man, and a bigger commotion. But that thing—"

He tossed the documents to the person next to him, gripped the gunwale, and looked down at the sea.

"That traitor called it the 'Furnace,' while Vegapunk called it the 'Desire Transfer Furnace.'"

The wind billowed the sails, making them flutter loudly.

"Devil Fruits originated from humanity's desire for continuous evolution. After continuous research, Vegapunk and that traitor finally created artificial Devil Fruits, but they were limited to Zoan-type fruits. It was at this time that the traitor suddenly proposed the theory of the re-evolution of Devil Fruits..." Garin paused, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes.

"Evolution? Is it awakening?" The team members were somewhat puzzled.

"No, it's about enhancing the Devil Fruit by consuming it!"

"Devour?" someone asked.

Garin sighed, his hand still resting on the gunwale.

"Literally, that machine can extract the power of one Devil Fruit and inject it into another. What do you think would happen if the Glint-Glint Fruit swallowed magma?"

No one answered.

Garin turned to look at the sea.

The sky had darkened, the clouds hung low, and distant thunder rumbled softly.

Meanwhile, on the Grand Line, in the Calm Belt.

This sea is always unusually calm. There are no waves, no wind, and the sails hang down like dried fish skin.

Sheng Ren sat behind the reef, holding an empty wine bottle in his hand. Robin squatted three meters away, opened his toolbox, and examined the test tubes inside one by one.

"You haven't said anything yet." She didn't even look up.

Sheng Ren threw the bottle into the sea; it floated on the surface and sank.

"What did you say?"

"Why tonight?" Robin held up a test tube to the moonlight and waved it. "The Knights of God have gone to the New World. They think you're over there. If you stay hidden, no one will find you."

Sheng Ren remained silent.

Robin waited a few seconds, put the test tube back into the box, and turned to look at him.

Under the moonlight, that face appeared even paler than on the wanted poster.

"You owe me an explanation," she said.

Sheng Ren smiled, but didn't laugh out loud.

"The Mother Fire," he said, "I've told you about it before."

Robin frowned: "Vegapunk's energy project, known as the Unquenchable Flame, can bring endless energy to the world, but what does that have to do with you?"

"That thing was my suggestion to build, and coincidentally, Vegapunk also had the idea," Sheng Ren said, kicking a pebble into the sea.

"It's all to provide the incinerator with a core energy source," he said. "Ordinary fires can't burn that thing. In the semi-finished stage, Akainu burned it tirelessly for three months, and it could only preheat the incinerator."

Robin stared at him without saying a word.

Sheng Ren's memory suddenly returned to half a year ago, the night before he escaped from Egghead Island, and Vegapunk's old face seemed to appear before his eyes again.

"I didn't expect the World Government to get the news so quickly. If this machine and the Mother Flame fall into the hands of..." Old Beelzebub was worried. He knew all too well what the world would become if the Furnace fell into the hands of the World Government.

"No," Sheng Ren interrupted, "I'll take it with me."

"good!"

With just this one word, Shengren went from being the undisputed darling of the World Government to a heinous fugitive.

"Where is the Mother Flame?" Robin's voice pulled him back to reality.

Sheng Ren stood up and patted the sand off his pants.

"Mary Geoise. It happened so suddenly, the Divine Knight was almost there, and Kizaru was right beside me, there was simply no time to react."

Robin stopped moving.

"Don't tell me..."

"I didn't say I'd take you."

"Are you crazy?" Robin slammed the test tube into the box. "That's the most dangerous place in the world."

Sheng Ren looked at her and suddenly smiled:

Are you worried about me?

Robin ignored him, bent down and fastened the suitcase, the zipper rattling loudly as it was pulled.

"Three billion, double the amount if you capture me alive," she stood up, picked up her suitcase, and walked towards the ship. "If you die, I'll lose a lot of money."

Sheng Ren followed.

"So you have to help me stay alive even more."

Robin stopped and looked back at him.

Under the moonlight, that face still had that same smug look on it.

"I owe you twenty years' worth of wages," he said, "and I'll never be able to pay you back even if I die."

The night wind was particularly cold in the windless zone.

When Robin pulled the anchor out of the crevice in the reef, it was a sloop with two patches of paint chipped off its hull and its canvas patched.

"Where did they come from?" Sheng Ren asked, looking down from the bow of the boat.

"I snatched it from a fat woman a few days ago." Robin threw the anchor chain into the hatch. "The woman was chased away, but the boat will be useful."

Sheng Ren squatted down and touched the gunwale. The wood was still new, and the Big Mom emblem carved on the keel had been scratched by a knife. He turned to look at Robin and smiled.

"Aren't you afraid of being investigated?"

"If you find out, just say you coerced me," Robin jumped onto the deck and kicked her toolbox into the cabin. "A wanted criminal worth three billion, what can a weak woman like me do?"

Sheng Ren chuckled but didn't reply.

The wind picked up, the sails billowed, and the ship veered toward the red earth continent.

"I'll wait for you for three days at most," she said.

Sheng Ren took off his coat and threw it on the deck, leaving him with only a black short-sleeved shirt underneath, the collar of which was frayed.

"He hasn't been back for three days?"

Robin didn't answer, and turned to go into the cabin.

Sheng Ren smiled, flipped over the gunwale, and silently sank into the sea.