Qing Long.
This was a technique he himself had created, capable of unleashing a close-range slash with speed that seemed to transcend time in an instant.
With his current strength, he couldn't actually utilize such a move. Furthermore, for this technique to achieve its maximum speed, there was a prerequisite: the path of lightning.
After eating the Goro Goro no Mi, Kuina was a perfect fit for this move.
If she were to use it now, even he would find it difficult to dodge and could only endure it head-on.
And he, at the moment his Conqueror's Haki ascended, had comprehended infusion.
The void lightning brought about by Conqueror's Haki infusion, while lacking the power of real lightning or Kuina's Rumble-Rumble Fruit lightning, allowed him to perform the true Qing Long.
Therefore, the moment he comprehended it, he naturally unleashed it.
*Pffft—!*
As if slicing through space, a blue light flashed, and Kōta's figure vanished from his original spot, appearing directly before Cartlece.
The blade in his hand slashed down from above, directly towards Cartlece's chest.
*Bang—!*
A deafening explosion echoed, and the immense shockwave forced Kuzan and Kuina to squint their eyes while being pushed out of the church.
The space around the church twisted like a spinning windmill of time and space, and then the ground, like waves, surged outwards from the point of impact between the two.
Amidst the rumbling, the entire church, the entire highland, collapsed directly from the mountaintop. Debris mixed with wood chips, carried by the hurricane-like shockwave, flew into the sky and began to descend towards the town below.
*Crack—*
The sky...
It had truly split open.
This time, it wasn't the thick fog, but the sky above the fog that had truly torn.
The orange-yellow, real clouds resembled a gaping canyon, and the clouds, like water, were continuously pouring upwards through the fissures.
"Has it really come to this?"
Gazing at the sky, a trace of astonishment flickered in Kuzan's eyes. He then lowered his head to look at the highland, where the church had once stood and was now a complete ruin.
Two figures could be seen within the distorted space around them. One held a long blade, attacking from above, while the other, with a raised fist, countered from below, locked in a contest of strength across the distance.
"Brat, don't think that just because you can use Conqueror's Haki infusion, you're invincible. I've known this for 100 years!"
Staring into Kōta's eyes, Cartlece's eyes had, at some point, turned orange-yellow. The black pupils had shrunk to a dot, surrounded by a circle of deep crimson.
It was similar to A Hua's transformed eyes, but the aura exuded was far more ferocious.
Of course...
Looking at Cartlece's pupils, Kōta suddenly felt as if he had returned to his previous life, back to his 120-square-meter apartment, with the familiar ringtone of his phone playing in his ear.
Opening his eyes, everything in the One Piece world seemed like a phantom.
And what was before him was the only reality.
He shook his head, reached for his phone on the bedside table, instinctively turned off the alarm, and then checked the time.
"Damn, I'm going to be late."
Shaking his slightly groggy head, he put down his phone, threw off the blanket covering him, slipped on his slippers, and walked out of the room into the bathroom.
He remembered he'd gotten drunk last night; no wonder his face was so haggard and his head felt so heavy.
Looking at his face in the mirror, a face that had been weathered by life and no longer possessed the handsomeness of his youth, he couldn't help but touch his head. He lowered his hand and looked at the few dark strands in his palm.
Lost in thought, he couldn't help but sigh.
"This damn salaryman life, one day it's going to take all my hair."
Shaking his head, he picked up his toothpaste and toothbrush.
"Meow~"
Just then, a yellow tabby cat, as if sensing its owner was awake, quickly wiggled its plump body into the bathroom. It then raised its head and let out a loud meow towards the equally plump figure standing before the sink.
It was as if to say, "Master, this Empress is hungry. Hurry up and prepare breakfast for me."
Hearing the familiar sound, Li Xiaokong immediately stopped brushing his teeth.
"A cat?"
Looking down at the tabby's orange-yellow eyes, he felt as if the world around him had suddenly receded. This feeling of the entire world being separated from him sent an explosion of pain through his head, as if he had been hit by a car.
Twisting, his face twisted, his body twisted, even his soul felt like it was twisting.
"Who am I?"
"I am Li Xiaokong, a programmer in his thirties who grew up in an orphanage, and a seasoned, overweight otaku."
"No..."
"I am Kōta, a peak powerhouse in the One Piece world. I have a fiancée, a very beautiful and powerful fiancée, as well as a master, childhood friends, and a crew for my voyages."
"No, you are Li Xiaokong. Kōta is just your dream."
At that moment, a gentle hum, warm as a mother's voice, resonated throughout Kōta's mind, and his conflicted soul seemed to find solace, gradually falling into slumber.
"Kōta~"
Just as Li Xiaokong came back to his senses, his head no longer hurt, and he thought it was all a dream. As he was about to go prepare breakfast for his large cat, a voice, incredibly familiar, filled with concern for him, and carrying the booming resonance unique to lightning, suddenly echoed through the entire space.
"Who is it?"
His upward gaze paused, the surrounding space stopped, the cat beneath his feet froze, even the air stood still.
"No, no, no..."
His eyes grew brighter and brighter, eventually flashing with a brilliant blue light within a silver mist. His pupils transformed into a vast, azure blue, like the starry sky.
"I am Li Xiaokong, and I am also Kōta. I am a transmigrator. Both worlds are me."
He remembered. Everything came back.
Turning his head, Kōta looked at his surroundings with a flicker of reluctance in his eyes.
Though he hadn't lived here for long, this place was truly his first home in his past life.
Before he saved enough money, he had rented a place near his company.
It was only after he saved enough to buy a house outright that he bought one.
In his philosophy, installment payments were akin to working for real estate companies and banks in a roundabout way, and he wouldn't be that foolish.
He wanted to own a home of his own.
But he wasn't in a hurry. After all, with his salary and bonuses, he could save a lot each year.
Since he was alone, wasn't he?
He felt reluctant about the house, but...
He lowered his body and looked at the cat, which was gazing at him with an arrogant expression. As if traversing time and space, he slowly crouched down.
He knew that everything here was an illusion, the things most deeply etched in his memory.
"Fatty, I wonder how you'll be after I disappear?"
He reached out as if to touch, but stopped halfway, paused for a moment, and then retracted his hand.
He feared that if he touched it, the yellow figure before him would instantly vanish.
Looking at the yellow tabby cat, a deep longing flashed in Kōta's eyes.
Fatty had been given to him by the old院长 (dean/headmaster) of the orphanage when he visited after graduating from college. The dean said it was so he wouldn't be lonely and would have a companion.
From then on, apart from the old dean, Fatty had become the closest... cat he had in this world.
"Unknowingly, over 10 years have passed!"
Looking up at the gradually shattering space around him, he knew it was time to leave.
No matter how much he cherished it, no matter how reluctant he was, this was merely a cage woven for him by someone else's ability, designed to stir his memories.
This was all an illusion, and outside, his companions and Kuina were still waiting for him!