One Piece: The Playboy Emperor Starts by Leaving Totto Land

Holy Land, Mary Geoise.

In the grand council chamber, the Five Elders gathered once more, the atmosphere heavy and tense. The vast hall was utterly silent.

Saint Saturn was the first to break the silence.

"It's been so long. Why haven't the Marines found Ethan Sugawa yet?"

Ever since the God Valley Incident, Saturn had held a personal grudge against Ethan. He would not rest until Ethan was captured.

"Didn't Sengoku report years ago that Ethan had fallen into the sea and died?" Saint Mars replied calmly. "You still don't believe it?"

"Until I see his corpse, I refuse to believe he's dead," Saturn said, his face darkening.

"Suit yourself. If you want to keep looking, you can do it on your own."

Saint Vochuli swept his gaze across the other Elders and said in a deep voice, "Our focus now should be how to handle the remnants of the Rocks Pirates."

"We originally thought that after Rocks died, his pirate crew would collapse completely. But we didn't expect the real trouble to come after the disbandment."

"Exactly," Mars sighed, looking troubled. "The remnants of the Rocks Pirates have been gathering forces, each trying to form their own pirate crews."

"Among them, Whitebeard and Shiki have caused the biggest waves. Both their pirate crews have already been established and openly oppose us at every turn."

"We need to come up with a way to suppress them," Vochuli pressed.

"Right. Didn't we recently capture Kaido?" Vochuli suggested. "If we execute Kaido, the remnants of the Rocks Pirates will definitely be forced to keep their heads down."

"That won't work." Saturn shook his head. "Kaido's body was already monstrously tough, and now that he's eaten the Azure Dragon Fruit, his defense has multiplied several times over. He's nearly impossible to kill."

"If that's no good either, then we must strengthen our own forces." Saint Nasjuro, gripping the First Generation Kitetsu sword, turned to Saturn and asked, "What's the progress in your Science Defense Division? How far along is Vegapunk's research?"

"The cyborgs and clones are still in development no major breakthroughs yet."

Saturn's voice remained steady. "However, there has been significant progress in artificial Devil Fruits since we extracted Kaido's lineage factor. It won't be long before we can mass-produce them."

Before he could finish, the sound of a Den Den Mushi suddenly interrupted him.

As soon as he answered, an urgent voice came through.

"Minister, we've lost all contact with the research division's Den Den Mushi. We can't reach anyone inside the lab!"

Saturn's expression changed instantly.

If something had happened to the research division, Lord Imu would surely blame him.

One misstep here could easily cost him his life.

Without hesitation, Saturn said to the other Elders, "There may be an emergency at the Science Defense Division. I must investigate immediately."

Without waiting for their response, he disappeared from the chamber, flying at top speed toward the research facility.

…

Meanwhile.

Ethan had been hiding underwater for several hours, patiently waiting for CP0's shift change.

As soon as CP0 let their guard down and prepared to leave, Ethan burst from the sea.

Fully unleashing his Shadowstep, his speed instantly multiplied twentyfold.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind CP0.

Without hesitation, gripping his White Bone Sword tightly, he swung with full force.

"Divine Nation!"

A terrifying wave of sword energy instantly tore through the CP0 agent's body. Before he even realized what was happening, Ethan had already taken his life.

"Enemy attack!"

The nearby patrolling Marines tried to sound the alarm, but Ethan released his Conqueror's Haki, knocking them unconscious before they could react.

One by one, they collapsed, unable to rise.

Ethan swiftly used his Sword Control Technique to end the remaining Marines' lives and absorbed their souls.

At that moment, the Primordial Spirit Flower within his upper dantian finally bloomed.

The flower resembled a lotus, its petals slowly unfurling, revealing a small, childlike figure seated at its center his Primordial Spirit.

The little figure, resembling a seven or eight-year-old Ethan, radiated a brilliant light that Ethan quickly absorbed.

His entire body was being transformed.

The instant the Primordial Spirit Flower fully bloomed, a system notification appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations, host, you have awakened the special physique: Three Souls in One Body.]

[Three Souls in One Body: The host's body can house three distinct souls. For each additional soul, the host can consume an extra Devil Fruit.]

"As I suspected!"

Ethan finally confirmed his earlier speculation, but he wasn't particularly surprised.

With his Primordial Spirit now awakened, he felt his mental strength grow significantly, allowing him to control his physical body with greater precision.

This would be a major advantage when it came time to awaken the Asura Fruit.

For Zoan-type Devil Fruits, both body and mind must reach a certain threshold to resist the fruit's innate will from devouring the user's soul.

Moreover, his enhanced spiritual power greatly improved his sword control.

Previously, managing one hundred flying swords was taxing and clumsy.

Now, commanding one hundred swords simultaneously was effortless.

"Now that I have the Primordial Spirit, I effectively possess an extra soul. That means I can finally create another Homie."

Ethan was eager to imbue the golden bell he obtained from Skypiea with a soul, but remembering his current objective, he decided to postpone creating a new Homie.

"First, I need to cut off their communications. If they alert the World Government, things could get complicated fast."

Without hesitation, Ethan unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, covering the entire island in an instant.

All the Den Den Mushi scattered across the island, whether used for communication or surveillance, fell unconscious under the overwhelming pressure of his Haki.

In that moment, all communications were severed.

Even if the World Government noticed something was wrong and rushed to respond, it would take them a long time to arrive.

That window would be more than enough for Ethan to tear this place apart and steal everything of value.

Ethan quickly infiltrated the facility and casually captured a guard.

Under interrogation, he learned where Kaido and King were being held.

Following the guard's directions, Ethan soon arrived at the prison.

Before he even stepped inside, he heard the sounds of fierce battle and Kaido's furious roars from within.

"When I get out of here, I'll make the Marines and the World Government pay in blood!"

The fighting inside grew more intense, neither side able to gain the upper hand.

"Looks like Kaido's pretty tough. He's already broken his chains. Even if I hadn't come, he probably would've freed himself eventually."

Ethan looked at the heavy doors and calmly stepped forward.

"Since I'm here, I might as well help Kaido finish this fight. He's probably already injured and exhausted otherwise, this wouldn't be dragging on so long."

Without hesitation, he entered the prison, appearing right in the middle of the fierce battle.

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Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.