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

Chapter 63 Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan Type: Phoenix Form

Marco moored the boat behind the reef.

The waves were small, and the boat rocked gently. He stood at the bow, staring at the sloop twenty meters away—two patches of paint were scratched off the hull, the sails were patched, and the Big Mom emblem on the keel had been scratched off with a knife.

This is the ship.

He jumped over, his feet landing on the deck without a sound.

The cabin door was open, and it was pitch black inside. He went in and glanced around: a hammock, a few empty wine bottles, a pile of parts scattered on the floor, a toolbox open, and a few test tubes missing from it.

no one.

He squatted down and reached out to touch the hammock; it was cold.

There was half a bowl of water on the stove, and when he dipped his fingertip into it, it was cold.

It took at least half a day to walk there.

He stood up and walked out. He stopped abruptly at the cabin door.

On the distant sea, a ship is approaching. A tall man stands at the bow, a smile on his face.

Kyrie Irving.

Marco didn't move.

The ship drew closer and stopped twenty meters away. Owen stood at the bow, looking at Marco, then at the empty ship.

"What a coincidence," Irving said.

Marco didn't respond.

Irving jumped over, landed on the deck, and glanced into the cabin.

"Nobody here?"

Marco looked at him.

"What are you doing here?"

Irving smiled.

"I'm looking for someone," he said. "What about you?"

Marco did not answer.

The two stood on the deck, three meters apart, neither of them moving.

The wind made the sails flap loudly.

Irving put his hands in his pockets, took two steps toward the ship's side, and looked down at the ship's waterline.

"He left in a hurry," he said. "He threw everything away."

Marco looked at his back.

Irving turned around.

"Shall we fight?"

Marco did not answer.

Irving waited two seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"No," he said. "My mother said that if we fight you now, the world government will benefit."

Marco looked at him.

"That's what I think too."

Irving nodded, walked past him, and jumped back onto his own boat.

"See you next time," he said.

The boat turned around and sailed away.

Marco stood still and glanced at the empty ship one last time.

Then he jumped back onto his boat, started the engine, and drove in the opposite direction.

seabed.

Sheng Ren swam forward close to the coral reef, his oxygen mask on his diving suit covering his face, and strings of exhaled bubbles floated upward.

Robin followed behind him, clutching a test tube in his hand.

The test tube contained a blue liquid that glowed faintly in the dim light of the seabed.

A group of small fish swam over, circled the test tube, and pecked at the glass wall with their mouths.

Sheng Ren waved his hand, shooing them away.

Keep swimming forward.

Ahead lay an open area with a gentle seabed, the fine sand rippled with the currents. Further on, the water suddenly darkened—a trench stretched out before us, pitch black and bottomless.

Sheng Ren stopped at the edge of the ditch and looked down.

Robin swam over and held up the test tube in his hand.

He nodded.

Robin unscrewed the test tube cap and poured the blue liquid into the sea.

The liquid spread out, like a blue cloud, and slowly sank down.

A few seconds later, a noise came from the depths of the trench.

A group of dark figures darted out of the ditch—dozens of fish, some as long as an arm, others as big as a person, desperately swimming away.

Then came the bigger ones.

A ten-meter-long sea monster burst out of the ditch, flicked its tail, and disappeared into the darkness.

Another one.

They are all running.

Sheng Ren stared at the bottom of the ditch.

The blue light continued to sink deeper and darker.

Suddenly, the bottom of the ditch lit up.

A shadow rose from the depths.

It was twenty meters long and five meters wide, resembling a giant sunfish. There was a wound on its belly, the skin and flesh turned inside out, revealing something silvery-gray inside.

It swam very slowly. With each movement, a trickle of blood seeped from the wound.

It looked at the blue light, slowly swam over, and touched it with its mouth.

The blue light dissipated.

It turned its head and swam upstream.

Swimming up to Shengren, I stopped.

Sheng Ren reached out and gently pressed his hand on its belly.

The wound was deep, running from the abdomen all the way to the pectoral fin, its edges already festering. At the deepest part of the wound, the corner of the machine could be seen—silver-gray, about half the size of a door, embedded in the flesh.

Sheng Ren turned to look at Robin.

Robin swam over, took a short knife from his waist, and handed it to him.

Sheng Ren took the knife and looked into the fish's eyes.

The fish didn't move.

He took a deep breath and inserted the knife into the wound.

The fish twitched, but didn't dodge.

The blade sliced through the rotting flesh, blood gushing out and staining a patch of seawater red. Sheng Ren's fingers reached inside, touched the machine, and pulled it out forcefully—

Out.

The silver-gray metal stove, about half the size of a door, was covered in blood and slime and was slightly warm in the seawater.

He stuffed the machine into the waterproof bag at his waist and zipped it up.

The fish looked at him, its eyes slowly closed, and it sank down.

Sheng Ren reached out and pressed his hand on its head.

I pressed it for three seconds.

Then he let go and turned to swim upstream.

Robin followed.

Behind him, the fish sank into the darkness.

Two hours later, they emerged from the sea on the other side.

Ahead lies an island. It's not large, the sand is blindingly white, and the coconut trees grow crookedly; there's no one there.

They swam over, climbed ashore, and lay on the beach.

It's hot under the sun.

Shengren took the huge waterproof bag off his back and threw it onto the sand. The bag rolled twice, revealing the outline of the machine inside.

Robin sat up and wrung out the water from his hair.

"What's next?"

Sheng Ren lay still, looking at the clouds in the sky.

"Wait until the injury heals."

Robin turned to look at him.

"Wait for your injuries to heal? Do you know what's going on out there? A 10 billion bounty, the whole world is looking for you. Whitebeard's men are looking for you, Big Mom's men are looking for you, Kaido's men are looking for you, the Revolutionary Army is looking for you, and the Marines are looking for you. You're just going to lie here waiting for your injuries to heal?"

Sheng Ren did not answer.

Robin waited a few seconds.

"Whitebeard is good," she said, "or the Revolutionary Army would be fine too."

Sheng Ren sat up and looked at her.

"You believe them?"

Robin was taken aback.

“Whitebeard,” Shengren said, “what does he want? He wants an heir, to secure a future for his sons. But that person will never be me. What does the Revolutionary Army want? They want to overthrow the world. If I go, will I be a guest or a tool?”

Robin didn't say anything.

Sheng Ren took the machine out of the bag and placed it on the sand. The silver-gray metal reflected the sunlight, and the bloodstains on it had dried and turned black.

"I'm still recovering from serious injuries," he said. "If I go, I'll be at their mercy. They'll give me food, and I'll risk my life to work. It's not worth it."

Robin looked at him for three seconds.

"So what do you plan to do?"

Sheng Ren didn't answer. He reached into the waterproof bag and pulled out something else.

A Devil Fruit.

It looks like a pineapple, with a scaly peel covered in patterns. Beneath the patterns, flame-like lines are faintly visible.

Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan type, Phoenix form.

Robin recognized him.

"This is……"

"I just grabbed it from the Celestial Dragons' treasure vault," Sheng Ren said. "There were two in total. I gave one to a family of three to escape, and I kept this one."

He held the fruit up to the sunlight, his mind replaying the massive explosion. The villains were dead, but what about the innocent people…

"A mythical beast species," he pursed his lips, "a phoenix rising from the ashes, a legendary bird that can be reborn in fire."

Robin didn't look at the fruit; she reached out and stroked Shengren's face.

"You didn't do anything wrong."

Sheng Ren paused, but didn't speak.

He placed the fruit on the beach and picked up the machine.

There is a groove on the side of the machine, just big enough to fit a Devil Fruit.

He inserted the Phoenix Fruit.

The machine lit up briefly.

He then took out the Mother Flame from his pocket, glanced at it, and placed it into the machine's core.

"The Flaming Fruit," he said, "and the Phoenix Rising from the Ashes."

Robin stared at him.

"You're seriously injured right now, are you sure you can manage?"

Sheng Ren looked at the machine, and at the faintly glowing fruit inside.

"I have to make it," he said. "Time waits for no one. The whole world is looking for me. If I stay like this, I'll just be waiting to die."

Robin stood up.

"How about we wait a little longer?"

Sheng Ren looked up at her and smiled.

"Have you forgotten? Before joining the World Government, I was the world's number one pharmacist," he said. "I know my wounds."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

His right hand rested on the hot machine.

The sun was shining. Waves lapped against the rocks. Coconut leaves rustled in the sea breeze.

The machine is getting hotter and hotter.

A scorching heat emanated from my palm.

On the beach, the flames within the patterns of the phoenix fruit embedded in the machine suddenly ignited, as if a real fire was about to burst forth from within.

The fire climbed up his arm.

It climbed up to the shoulders, up to the chest, up to the neck, up to the face.

My entire arm was burning.

The bandages burned away. The wound burned away. The flesh churned under the flames, as if something was swimming in the veins, causing the skin to bulge and throb.

Sheng Ren lowered his head and stared at his hands.

That hand was no longer his hand.

A glow emanated from beneath the skin. Golden, orange, and red hues shone through in layers. The fingernails grew longer, curved, and became claw-like. The fine hairs on the back of the hands fell out, replaced by a dense layer of shimmering down.

He spread his five fingers.

Flames shot out from between his fingers.

Robin took a step back.

Sheng Ren stood up.

He stood up very slowly, like someone who had just learned to walk. His knees were shaking, his legs were shaking, his whole body was shaking. But he stood up.

He looked down at himself.

The wounds on his chest were gone. The wounds on his shoulder were gone. The bloody hole in his arm where Somaz had stabbed him was gone. The light shining through his skin grew brighter and brighter, so bright that the outline of his veins was visible.

Old wounds die in the fire, and new flesh is born in the fire.

He raised his hand and pressed it against his face.

My face is burning.

It wasn't the painful kind of burning. It was warm, like soaking in hot water. He could feel something growing, stretching, and pushing outwards under his skin.

He opened his mouth, as if to speak.

He didn't say it.

A sharp shriek escaped from his throat.

It wasn't a human voice.

Robin covered his ears.

The shriek shot out, causing coconut leaves to fall with a rustling sound, creating ripples on the sea, and making the sand on the beach jump.

Sheng Ren's body began to deform.

His shoulders flared out, tearing his clothes. His back arched, forming two prominent curves. His hands hung down, below his knees. His fingers curled, the tips sprouting hook-like claws.

More and more fire surged from beneath her skin, engulfing her entire body.

Robin could no longer see him clearly.

All you can see is a ball of fire.

The fire was expanding. Five meters, ten meters, one hundred meters—

It exploded suddenly.

Flames scattered, splashing onto the beach, the sea, and the coconut trees. Wherever they hit, they immediately burst into flames.

Robin crouched down and covered his face with his arm.

I waited a few seconds. The fire didn't spread.

She lowered her arm and looked up.

A bird was standing on the beach.

Like a colossal mountain, it stood there as if supporting the sky. Its feathers were golden, with orange-red beneath the gold, and deep red beneath the orange-red. Layer upon layer, like draping the entire twilight over its body. Its wings were folded at its sides, the edges drooping down and dragging on the sand. A tuft of feathers on its head was held back, swaying gently in the wind.

Those eyes were looking at her.

It was still Shengren's eyes.

Robin opened his mouth, but no words came out.

The bird—Shengren—lowered its head and looked at itself. It looked at its feet, which had turned into claws, at its feathers hanging on the sand, and at its wings folded to its sides.

He raised one wing, turned it over, and looked at it.

There was light flowing beneath the feathers.

He lowered his wings and turned to look at the sea.

His reflection was mirrored on the sea. A ball of fire floated on the water, swaying gently with the waves.

He looked at it for three seconds.

Then spread its wings.

Wings that reach the sky unfold from the sides, blocking out the sunlight. Feathers burst open in the sunlight, golden, orange, and red, as if the sun had been torn to shreds and draped over the body.

He fanned himself.

The wind howled and the waves surged back. Robin couldn't stand still and immediately hid behind Sheng Ren.

He slapped the fan again.

My feet left the ground.

He took flight.

Robin looked up, watching the ball of fire climb upwards. Ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters—it climbed higher and higher, smaller and smaller, until finally it became a golden dot, poised in the center of the blue sky.

That point suddenly exploded.

A ring of flames pushed outwards from the blast site, scattering the clouds and creating a circular hole. Inside the hole, the phoenix hovered in mid-air, its wings spread and its tail feathers trailing down like a waterfall of fire.

He called out.

The shout echoed down, shaking the sea, bending the trees on the island, and making Robin's ears ring.

Then he folded his wings and fell.

It fell very fast. Like a shooting star.

Fifty meters from the surface, he suddenly spread his wings and flapped them downwards. The wind created a trench in the sea, causing waves to surge and crash to the sides, creating towering waves. He skimmed over the trench, the tips of his wings brushing against the crests of the waves, sending sparks flying.

He turned a corner and flew towards the island.

It flew very low, skimming the treetops. Where its wings flapped, the leaves immediately curled up, turned yellow, and began to smoke.

He landed on the beach.

The moment it landed, the fire receded, suddenly shrinking back into human form.

Sheng Ren stood naked where he had just taken off.

He looked down at himself.

His chest was smooth, without any wounds. His shoulders were smooth, without any wounds. His arms were smooth, without even a scar.

He clenched his fist.

The bone cracked.

Robin stood three meters away, watching him.

Looked for a long time.

"How is it?" she asked.