NABC Chapter 207 Action: Resentment Drives the Drought Demon Dragon
Chapter 207 Action: Resentment Drives the Drought Demon Dragon
Chapter 207 Action: Resentment Drives the Drought Demon Dragon
The oppressive atmosphere of the Cloud Flow Secret Passage seemed to solidify into a tangible form.
After determining the precise timing of the operation down to the cloud hour, the two teams, like arrows about to be shot at their respective bullseye, silently parted ways at the crossroads.
There were no grand words, only heavy breathing and the resolute flames reflected in each other's eyes.
Led by Weber, the Shandian Heritage Team set off first, venturing into an even narrower, downward-sloping ancient cloud crevice.
This road is said to have been secretly dug by the early Shandians during wartime, connecting to an abandoned cloud-gathering site, allowing them to bypass most of the surveillance from Angel Island and penetrate directly into the heart of the ancient Shandian lands.
The passageway was filled with an indescribable smell of burning and—dead silence.
The further we went, the hotter the air became, and large patches of blackened clouds appeared on the once pristine white walls, as if they had been licked by the wrath of a giant.
Broken rubble, twisted metal fragments, and the occasional carbonized, mangled limbs embedded in the cloud-like walls silently testify to the horrific apocalypse that once took place here.
Weber walked at the front, his back ramrod straight, but every step felt like he was stepping on a knife's edge.
He no longer shed tears; those eyes, once filled with the pride of a tribal warrior, were now nothing but cold, almost burning ashes.
The serpent scales on his arms no longer merely shimmered, but flickered like breathing, emanating an unsettling purplish-black aura.
An unnamed will roared wildly in his mind, and the desire for destruction and revenge eroded his reason like poison.
"Hey, Curly-Eyebrow Chef," Zoro whispered to Sanji beside him, "keep an eye on him, I have a feeling something's wrong with him."
Sanji nodded silently, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and the smoke seemed particularly heavy in the murky air.
"You don't need to tell me, you green-haired moss. The hatred of losing your clan—it's not something you can easily bear."
Luffy followed silently behind Waver, his Nika form giving him a heightened sense of his surroundings.
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He could not only hear the clouds groaning in pain, but also the lingering thoughts, filled with fear and resentment, that had recently dissipated and were now swirling and howling above this scorched earth.
He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes beneath the straw hat like a sea brewing a storm.
He recalled Calgara's final entrustment, and everything Weber was carrying at this moment; an unprecedented sense of responsibility and anger intertwined within him.
"No matter when or where, this scene is truly heartbreaking—"
Roger's voice broke the silence. He looked around, his eyes filled with a hint of reminiscence and emotion.
"The cruelty of war remains the same no matter how many years have passed. Kid," he said, looking at Luffy and Waver.
"Remember this scorched earth, remember this hatred, but don't let it consume you. The fight is to protect those who remain and—to let the departed rest in peace."
Suddenly, Weber, who was walking at the front, stopped abruptly, his body trembling violently.
Ahead lies the square that may have been the last gathering place for the Shandians.
Now, all that remains are twisted metal frames, molten, glass-like ground, and—mountains of charred corpses.
A pungent smell hit me.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Weber let out a piercing howl that sounded inhuman, unable to maintain his composure any longer. He collapsed to his knees, his hands digging into the ground so hard that his nails cracked and bled profusely.
That burning hatred surged forth like a flood bursting its banks, instantly shattering his defenses!
Dark purple scales spread wildly from his arms to his shoulders and neck, his eyes began to glow with an ominous red light, and a low, dragon-like roar came from his throat!
"Wave!" Luffy exclaimed, wanting to go forward.
"Don't go over there!" Roger shouted sharply, taking a step forward to block Luffy's path, his Conqueror's Haki revealing a terrifying aura.
This forms a confrontation with the chaotic, violent, and desolate power emanating from Weber.
"I'm not an Indian deity, so I don't know what's going on, but I suspect he's being assimilated by that demonic dragon lady's lingering resentment! Forcing your way in will get you caught up in it!"
"What do we do?!" Zoro and Sanji immediately assumed battle stance, watching Waver warily as he clearly began to lose control.
Just when Weber was about to be completely consumed by Frodo's will.
"Hey——!"
A clear and familiar cry came from high above!
A pink figure darted down through the billowing smoke like lightning!
It's a compass bird!
It seemed to recognize Weber, and despite the terrifying desolation, it anxiously circled and chirped above his head, even trying to peck at the wildly growing scales on his shoulders with its beak!
This sudden call from the creatures of his homeland was like a glimmer of light, piercing Weber's consciousness shrouded in darkness.
His wildly spreading scales suddenly stopped, and the red light in his eyes flashed violently as he fought a desperate battle with his remaining sanity.
"—Guide—Bird—" He squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth, looking at the bird that had never left his side, and tears finally mingled with blood and slid down from the corners of his eyes.
Those were his companions whom he had raised since childhood, fragments of memories from when Shandia was still alive.
"Now!" Roger's eyes flashed. He did not use his domineering aura to suppress it, but instead let out a low shout that was as loud as a bell and contained a firm will.
"Boy! Look at it! Remember who you are! You are the last warrior of Shandia! Your people are still watching you!"
"The Calgary Agreement awaits your fulfillment! Don't let hatred turn you into a tool of destruction!"
The low shout was like a wake-up call; Weber's body jolted, the red light in his eyes quickly faded, and the wildly growing scales slowly retracted into his arm.
He gasped for breath, looking at the anxious compass bird before him, then at his companion watching him intently from behind. A mixture of endless sorrow and a more resolute determination replaced his previous madness.
"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely as he stood up again. His eyes were still filled with pain, but no longer confused.
"I—will not lose my way. For Sandia—for the ringing of the golden bell—"
The crisis was temporarily averted, but everyone understood that Weber's inner volcano was only forcibly suppressed, and Frodo's will remained a double-edged sword.
As they traversed the scorching, charred square, every step the Shandian Relics Team took felt like treading on the corpses and souls of their people.
The compass bird hovered low above Weber's head, occasionally letting out mournful cries. It seemed to sense the despair pervading the land, yet stubbornly led the way.
They flew toward the location of the Golden Bell of Shandora, a sacred site in Shandora.
The closer they got to their destination, the more brutal the battle became.
The enormous crater, the ancient trees torn apart by violence, and the many unrecognizable remains all testify to the fierce resistance that once took place here.
In addition to the smell of burning, the air was filled with a strong and lingering stench of blood.
Finally, after passing through an ancient stone forest shattered by lightning, a breathtaking view opened up before them.
But that is not the hopeful scenario.
The once magnificent Shandora ruins are now mostly in ruins.
The broken giant pillars lay collapsed on the ground, and the exquisite gold reliefs melted into shapeless blocks, scattered everywhere.
In the center of the ruins, the golden clock tower, which symbolized Shandia's four-hundred-year-old commitment and promise, was broken in half!
The upper part of the massive bell tower crashed to the ground, burying most of the altar area below.
Only the enormous golden bell, though covered in charred and cracked surfaces, miraculously remained intact, half-buried among the collapsed boulders and twisted metal, like a dying giant stubbornly pointing towards the sky.
"No—impossible—" Weber's pupils shrank, and he stumbled towards the pile of rubble.
The last hope seemed to have collapsed along with the broken clock tower.
He frantically tried to pry at the boulder blocking the path to the altar with his bare hands, his fingernails cracking and blood staining the cold stone, but to no avail.
Dark purple scales appeared uncontrollably, and despair entwined his heart like a poisonous vine.
"Calm down, Webber!" Zoro stepped forward and tried to pull him back.
"Chung is still here! As long as Chung is still here, there is still hope!"
"Hope?!" Waver abruptly flung Sauron's hand away, his eyes bloodshot, his voice distorted with extreme anger and despair. "The bell tower is destroyed! The altar is buried! We don't even have a chance to ring it anymore! Shandia—there's really nothing left!!"
The desolate aura emanating from him surged once more, even subtly overshadowing Zoro's killing intent.
"There's no hope!"
Meanwhile, the Skypiea team, led by Crocodile, embarked on an even more bizarre and unknown journey.
They traveled along the bed of an ancient cloud river, which was almost dry and composed of solidified cloud crystals.
According to Crocodile, the riverbed leads to a forgotten place called the Valley of Weeping Clouds, where the legendary ancient nest of the Cloud Clam Mother is said to be hidden.
Unlike the desolate, scorched earth in the direction of Shandia, the air here is filled with a viscous, slightly bioelectric moisture.
The towering cloud walls on both sides have an unhealthy, sickly gray-green color, covered with luminous moss that twists and pulsates like blood vessels.
A low, mournful sound drifted through the air, like the simultaneous wailing of countless creatures, sending chills down one's spine.
"This place—makes me feel very uncomfortable."
Kidd rubbed his arms, his face pale.
As a user of the Magnet-Magnet Fruit, he could sense that the magnetic pointer in his mind was spinning wildly, indicating that the climate and magnetic field here were extremely chaotic.
"According to ancient texts," Robin said in a low voice, while cautiously observing his surroundings.
"In Skypiea legends, Weeping Cloud Valley is a forbidden zone for life, a place where the ancient Skypiea inhabitants abandoned failed experiments and exiled criminals." If the Cloud Shell Mother's Nest is truly located here, then perhaps some unknown anomaly has occurred there as well.
The survivors of the Sky Island huddled behind the Wise One of the Clouds, trembling with fear.
"My lord, even we have never been to this place before. We never imagined it would be so terrifying."
"It feels like so many eyes are watching us—"
"Hahaha! What are you afraid of!" Shiki the Golden Lion floated in mid-air, laughing disdainfully.
"No matter how bizarre the place, it has to give way in front of me!" He casually waved his hand, activating the power of the Float-Float Fruit.
He easily crushed several huge, moss-covered cloud rocks, revealing an even deeper, darker passage behind them.
Kidd grinned, surrounded by countless metal fragments that formed a moving wall of blades.
"That's true—who cares what's inside, just chop it all up!"
Ace's injuries were no longer a problem thanks to Chopper's treatment. He walked in the middle of the group, flames dancing in his palms, serving as both illumination and a deterrent.
"Be careful, everyone. I can't sense any living creatures, but this place—the deaths aren't quite normal; it feels completely dried up—"
As the tactical core, Karna always remained highly vigilant, with the water pipe in his hand ready to deal with any emergencies.
"Crocodile, how can you be sure this is the way? Did Tescatlipoca tell you something?"
Crocodile, with a cigar in his mouth, looked particularly eerie in the dim light.
"Hmph, that guy's riddle was useless; I figured it out myself."
"The history of the Sky Island is far darker than the rightful inheritors of this tradition know."
"This river of clouds was referred to as the Path of Exile in some taboo records from eight hundred years ago."
"The cloud shell mother nest—may no longer be a nurturing cradle of life, but has become something—more dangerous."
His gaze swept over the pulsating moss, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes.
Suddenly, Kidd, who was walking at the front, stopped abruptly, and the metal fragments around him emitted a piercing buzzing sound.
"There's something ahead—a lot of it—coming!"
From the depths of the passage, countless fist-sized cloud miasma jellyfish, their bodies crackling with chaotic electricity, surged forth like a tidal wave!
They have no eyes, yet they accurately sense the presence of living people, and like sharks that have smelled blood, they swarm in like a tidal wave!
Wherever they passed, even the hardest cloud crystals were corroded, emitting hissing white smoke!
"Fight!" Karna commanded.
Kidd's metal storm was the first to meet the attack, and countless fragments tore the jellyfish in the front row apart like a meat grinder. But after the jellyfish were broken, the chaotic electric light inside them would explode instantly, producing a small-scale thunderstorm and corrosive slime!
Ace's flames surged forth, forming a wall of fire that incinerated a large number of jellyfish into ashes, but the fire's effect on these formless, energy-driven creatures was diminished.
The golden lion manipulated a massive cloud to crash down, clearing a vast area, but the number of jellyfish seemed endless.
"This will never end!" Robin used the Flower-Flower Fruit to attack, but with little effect.
"Their core is that chaotic electric light!" the Cloud Sage exclaimed excitedly, hiding behind Karna and rapidly calculating with his instruments.
"This is not a natural creature! It's a man-made defense mechanism! The energy source—the energy source is deep within!"
Karna stepped forward, his sun-shaped spear sweeping across, the blazing karmic fire purifying everything, jellyfish crumbling at the touch, his efficiency far surpassing others.
But he also frowned slightly: "There are too many of them, and—they are absorbing some kind of energy from their surroundings and constantly regenerating."
Just then, Robin, who had been silently observing, suddenly pointed to the side wall in the direction from which the jellyfish were coming: "There! The mural!"
The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw, amidst the chaotic battle, an ancient mural covered in moss revealed on one side of the cloud wall.
The murals are grotesque and primitive, depicting the early inhabitants of the Sky Island throwing a heart-like, pulsating object into a cloud-shaped nest resembling a stomach, surrounded by jellyfish-like creatures!
"Sacrifice—and modification—" Robin instantly deciphered part of the meaning.
"The Cloud Clam Mother Nest—has been converted into—a hatchery for biological weapons?!"
This discovery sent a chill down everyone's spine. Could the "Tears of the Clouds" they were searching for be being nurtured in such a terrifying place?
And what role did Tescatlipoca, who was always hiding in the shadows, play in all of this?