I guarded Impel Down for a hundred years in the pirate world.

Ace remained silent for a moment.

"need."

He harbored resentment towards his father's irresponsibility during his childhood, but he did not hate him.

Or rather, more than three years have passed since he secretly ran away to the planet Lampfire behind his mother Rouge's back, and he has come to understand Roger a little better.

But he can't possibly call me father; at most, he's just a sparring partner!

So Roger and the others stayed on the island in this strange atmosphere. At first, Zoro and Kuina felt awkward, but they later got used to the way the father and son got along. Moreover, Rayleigh's swordsmanship was really strong, even stronger than their master Mihawk.

They also discovered that Roger and Rayleigh possessed a level-five swordsmanship lamp. Rayleigh explained to them, "It was given to us by Grandpa Figo. He said he considered giving it to you, but Lucifer recovered earlier than expected, leaving you no time to grow, so he chose us. Of course, taking this lamp means you'll have to fight to the death!"

Fight to the death? Fight to the death with whom?

And the Demon King? Do you even need me?

As they spent time together, the intelligent Kuina and Ace gleaned some insights from snippets of conversation.

In the blink of an eye, 10 months have passed, and under the careful guidance of Roger and others, Luffy and his crew are improving much faster than before.

The time for parting has arrived.

The youths stood on the beach watching the large ship sail away. Gazing at Roger's departing figure, Ace hesitated for a long time before shouting, "Hey! Watch out!"

Roger didn't turn around; he simply waved his arm with his back to Ace.

Maintain the composure of being a father.

Chapter 393 Gathering Before the Battle

"You're here, Roger. Rayleigh, find a place to sit."

"Grandpa, are we late?"

"Perfect timing, let's have a seat."

Inside the Albita Palace, Roger and Rayleigh nodded their greetings to Figo, then chose two seats from the circle of chairs in the main hall, neither too far forward nor too far back.

To Ace and Luffy, they were fathers, teachers, and powerful Five Light Kings, but among the people gathered in this hall at this moment, their strength and status were not particularly special.

Because everyone here is at least a five-light king!

Of the original eight strongest members of the Light Star, four of the five remaining were present after the three who died. The Giant King was not present, simply because his size made it inconvenient for him to enter the room; he would participate from outside the venue via a Den Den Mushi (transmitter snail).

Besides them, there are the five dukes of Capri, Asmoda, the half-demon princess, Linlin and Kizaru of the Blue Sea, and even the five Celestial Dragons, Bailey and Yasunari.

The reason everyone gathered here was naturally to hunt down the Spirit of the Lamp!

In the year since the Spirit of the Lamp began to be unsealed, these people have gradually learned of its existence, while Roger and Rayleigh learned of it 10 months ago when they received the Level 5 swordsmanship Lamplight from Figo.

They were excited for ten months.

For adventurers, nothing is more exciting than exploring the truth of the world.

Unfortunately, Jabba and his companions were assigned to other places to guard due to their lack of strength.

Meanwhile, Figo was communicating with Bailey and Yasun. The two sides were originally mortal enemies, but because the Celestial Dragons later repented and showed more sincerity, took the initiative to guard the border seas, and made great contributions in the war, and the Celestial Dragons in the starry sky, under Shanks' leadership, helped stabilize the starry sky environment, the past grievances could be temporarily put aside.

Figo did not accept Rillentoff, nor would he accept Lucifer, but after consideration, he still let them join the ranks against the Spirit of the Light, which could be considered as gathering all forces.

Now, Bailey has also been upgraded to MR8 level, which is similar to the Four Kings. He can at least block two out of 14 second-class stars.

From them, Figo also heard some somewhat unexpected news.

"Blue Fravo is still alive?"

“That should be right,” Ya Sheng said. “We noticed him when we were keeping an eye on Long Huyue. Do you remember Lord Lenos’s Mechanical Emperor? In that battle, shortly after Lord Lenos’s death, the Mechanical Emperor ran away on his own.”

Lenos, one of the Celestial Dragons who lived long lives, used the Creation Fruit to create a Gundam-like mecha, which was destroyed in a battle with Figo, and the user Lenos also died.

He ran away by himself...

Figo gave a soft "oh": "The metal man who stole the lamp from the Borrowed Fruit? So it was him."

Although even the prison records showed Blue Fravo's status as deceased, Figo did not immediately deny Ya Sheng's words.

"Resurrection? The Borrowing Fruit can even do something like this? That can't be right... He shouldn't have met the Mechanical Emperor when he died."

"It should be that some of the emotions were transferred to a certain mechanical race in advance, and then that mechanical race came into contact with the Mechanical Emperor by chance, which completed another memory chip replacement between mechanical races, resulting in the current situation."

Ya Sheng said, "Bruce Fravor was once Long Huyue's teacher and was also admired by Long Huyue. But suddenly, one day, the two had a fierce conflict. Long Huyue said many times that she hated the expressions that Bruce Fravor used. I have heard this as well."

Around that time, the scheming Blue Flavor transferred his memories, including his emotions, to the Machine Race.

“That makes sense.” Figo nodded. “No wonder he… doesn’t have Conqueror’s Haki.”

Blue Flavor, the sixth general of the Celestial Dragons, was the enemy who left the deepest impression on him. Whether it was the power of the Borrow-Borrow Fruit or the twisted personality of the man who manipulated Beelzebub's tragic life, he was very special.

And it's incredibly strong.

Although he is not among the immortals and has not lit the fifth lamp, he has developed the Borrowing Fruit to level five, possessing MR5 level strength that is no less than that of a weak five-lamp king.

In fact, if he hadn't had personality flaws and lacked Conqueror's Haki, and if Figo hadn't shattered his defenses with each punch, Figo might have won that battle, but he might not have been able to kill him.

Lending out one's own emotions and using other people's emotions—that's quite an operation.

It turns out that emotions are flawed; if they weren't, he would be even stronger.

Logically, his abilities should have ceased after his death, and those memories should have flowed back to his body. However, the mechanical race is different. Their memory chips can back up memories, so even if they flow back, they are still there.

This is how a different kind of rebirth was achieved.

“Let them be, the Mechanical Emperor doesn’t count as him,” Figo finally said.

Surely Blue Fravo couldn't have lent out someone with ambitions and desires?

Pele and Yassen nodded. Figo wouldn't pursue the matter further, nor did they want to investigate this former god-like general, especially with Long Huyue present.

"Please sit down, everyone's almost here."

Figo walked to his spot.

Although the Albita Palace is the palace of the Skeleton Emperor, Figo rightfully takes the lead today, sitting at the head of the table.

With his return to his position, the Holy Demon King who was trying to curry favor with Asmodian, the Half-Demon King who was disgusted by the Holy Demon King's force, and the human dukes who were exchanging whispers all fell silent.

Wait for Figo to speak.

A serious atmosphere instantly descended. Figo didn't smile as he usually did when he spoke; there was no need for him to liven things up. The people gathered here were all mentally strong enough.

"Everyone here is one of the strongest in the world, and we all know exactly why we've gathered here today."

Attacking the Spirit of the Light ahead of schedule was my decision. Given the current state of the Spirit of the Light's unlocking, Lucifer should not have been able to revive for at least another year. After that, we would not have encountered the Spirit of the Light and the sea monsters.

I don't know what the consequences of starting a war prematurely will be. The worst-case scenario is that we're courting disaster a year early... I'll confirm one last time, is everyone ready?

After the voice faded, no one spoke.

The implicit stance was conveyed, and all the kings present knew that disrupting the enemy's formation was crucial in battle; it was only a year, and it was worth it!

Figo nodded and asked, "So, are all your men in place?"

Baal, the Holy Demon King, replied, "I have the most power reserved there, so there's no need to worry."

There are five Five-Lamp Kings in the Holy Demon King City. Due to the awkward relationship between the demon race and the human race, and also because the Holy Demon King is powerful enough, he is the only one who participates in the war against the Spirit of the Lamp.

Two Five-Light Kings of the Half-Demon race also stayed, but the Half-Demon King said, "My daughter insists on joining the war, and the original defensive line may have a gap. Baal, Barel, which of you can send some people to provide support?"

Nobody paid him any attention.

Everyone knows that the half-demon king is a shameless guy who loves to take advantage of others.

On the human side, there were also powerful beings from the Star Realm such as Akainu, as well as elites from the Lantern Army and the Merchant Guild stationed there, but the Mermaid King looked somber.

If the sea monsters attack, their mermaid kingdom will be the first to suffer. Even if Gening leaves behind defenses, he is worried that he will not be able to take good care of them.

Figo had no good solution to this, and could only comfort them by saying, "If the battle goes well, the fighting force freed up among us will be used to reinforce the Mermaid Kingdom."

The Mermaid King nodded gratefully.

Figo straightened his gaze and said, "I just returned from the Starry Sky yesterday. They've already made preparations there. As long as we win this battle, it doesn't matter if the entire Starry Sky is plunged into darkness!"

Compared to the stars, the starry sky is in a better state. The strong people of Qinghai have now fully developed the excellent genes and talents they inherited from the 13 kings of ten thousand years ago, and three- and four-star experts are emerging one after another.

With the pillars of the Navy like Garp, Aokiji, Sengoku, and Sora able to guard their respective regions, and Rocks, who has already lit five lamps and is dominating the starry sky while Figo is away, providing assistance, even if there are demon generals lurking and taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble, they can handle it.

As for the problem of the sun disappearing, it is indeed very serious. In the past four years, astronomical scientists have not been able to develop a technology to replace the sun, and it is said that they will never be able to. But so what?

Prioritize survival, then everything else.

We can't be afraid to act rashly for fear of harming the innocent.

With everyone working together, even the deepest darkness will never wipe out humanity!

"So... does anyone else have anything to say? If not, let's set off!"

Chapter 394 First-Class Star

After the era of the Twin Demon Pillars and the seven legion commanders came to an end, the demon race, now spreading chaos throughout the Star of Light, is led by two newly promoted Five-Light Kings, but both of them are only at the level of ordinary Five-Light Kings.

Previously, to avoid being discovered and captured all at once, the two were separated by vast distances. However, after the Light Star began to unlock, the two came together to await Lucifer's return.

Now that the Light and Fire Stars have been unlocked to the point where even the stronger four-light kings can leave, they have a way out. However, the starry sky is a completely unfamiliar place to them, and it is also Figo's territory. They also have a group of subordinates to take care of, so they did not rashly withdraw from Light and Fire Stars.

At this moment, however, he felt a bit like giving up.

Because the demon general who was still hiding among the humans and secretly in contact with them told them that, for some reason, the Holy Demon King, the Half-Demon King, and all the human dukes and kings had gathered in the capital of Capri. He had not found Figo, but he figured Figo must be there too.

Aside from the demon race, the strongest fighting force of the Light Star has been assembled. In their view, the only possibility is to wipe them out before Lucifer revives. Moreover, their location may have already been exposed!

Although so many people gathered, it was a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut for the two of them.

Upon learning this news, they immediately led their people to relocate multiple times, but they could not feel at ease. While arranging for people to investigate, they had already made the worst-case scenario preparations and abandoned everything to run away.

Little did they know that this very act of arranging for people to investigate would backfire.

"Torrine and Oslu? These two guys are hiding in the Hilo Sea!" Akainu looked at the intelligence report in front of him, his expression grim.

The Hilo Sea, where the headquarters of the Lantern Merchant Guild is located, is where Figo most frequently stays, and correspondingly, the Lantern Army's search capabilities are weakest there. The Demon Clan is quite bold, daring to attack from their own backyard; aren't they afraid of encountering them when Figo is fishing for lanterns?

It was precisely at this time that the location of two demon race Five-Lamp Kings was discovered. Five-Lamp Kings are usually not around, and they also have the task of guarding the sea area.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely put this intelligence aside for the time being, and wait until the situation with the strongest combatants became clear before dealing with the demon race, who were not a major threat.

But Akainu is different.

"Inform all departments that each department should select two kings of three lamps or above to accompany me."