One Piece: The Devil Fruit Collector-Chapter 266: She is Not a Sinner, but a Hero!

At this moment, Cobra looked at the message appearing out of thin air before him.

Even though he had read this message more than once since inheriting the throne—could even recite it backward—no matter how many times he read it, he couldn't help but feel a profound shock at the incredible truth revealed within.

Yes.

Nefertari Lily, the creator of Alabasta.

She did not choose to become a God, but chose to become the 'Enemy of God'—she chose to become a 'D'.

That was Alabasta's greatest secret.

And right now, looking at that message, the shock in Roy's heart was no less than Cobra's.

One must understand, Queen Lily clearly didn't want her descendants to rashly investigate the truth of the world, but rather hoped they would quietly wait for the arrival of the promised day. Therefore, the content of the message was relatively cryptic.

So much so that compared to Cobra, Roy—who knew of Imu's existence and the truth of the world—could actually discern the queen's true intentions from eight hundred years ago much more clearly.

"Scatter the history across the human realm..."

Roy naturally understood the significance of this.

In the original story, Imu had mentioned it—the reason the Poneglyphs were scattered across the world was because of 'Lily's' plan.

Looking at it now, this was indeed the case.

Besides that—

[I will march toward the final war that belongs to me]

[I cannot win that war—the power obtained from the world naturally cannot defeat the world]

[I only hope to do my utmost to ensure that when the one destined to change everything appears, the world he must oppose will not be so invincible]

The facts stated in these sentences completely confirmed Roy's theory.

"That Levely... she didn't go to attend the meeting at all."

"From the very beginning, she went to her death." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Roy could almost picture it.

In the distant past eight hundred years ago, which no one alive today knows of.

The blue-haired queen buried her crown symbolizing her authority and her sword symbolizing her power, laying to rest her life's achievements and sins right here.

Then she turned around and marched toward her death.

She knew she couldn't win.

After all—

"According to historical records, the Initial Twenty Kings all possessed great power—their power must have all originated from Imu."

Using Imu's power to defeat Imu was naturally impossible.

At the same time, the 'special contract' belonging to Lily that had been displayed also matched Roy's judgment.

Imu bestowed power upon Davy Jones, destroying the First World.

Imu bestowed power upon the Twenty Kings, destroying the Second World.

From this, it was clear.

Although Imu was bound by the tree, after finding a spokesperson, He could bestow upon them mighty power sufficient to destroy the world.

And judging from Lily's situation, each of the Twenty Kings may have had their own unique contract—they were the true agents of Imu.

By contrast, in the current era, even the highest-level contract bestowed by Imu, the 'Abyssal Sea Contract', although it could carry a portion of Imu's essence and possess the trait of 'immortality', the Source Energy of Lineage Factor within it was far inferior to the contract Lily had left here.

So—

"Lily must have done something during that meeting to undermine Imu."

"And Imu's current state is very likely her masterpiece."

"This directly caused Imu not only to have His own freedom restricted, but even the power He could bestow to weaken significantly."

Roy reasoned inwardly.

Then he turned to Cobra: "King Cobra."

"Regarding Queen Lily, do Alabasta's historical records mention what specific abilities she possessed?"

Roy was clearly very curious about how exactly Lily had sealed Imu's power—that might just be the key to dealing with Imu in the future.

"Yes!"

Before Cobra could respond, Vivi had already answered first.

Having always idolized Queen Lily, she said without hesitation: "Legend has it that Ancestor Lily could fulfill people's wishes, and the ability she was best known for was curing everyone's diseases. It was an incredibly compassionate power!"

"...Curing diseases?"

Hearing Vivi's words, Roy was somewhat surprised.

He had merely asked casually, but he didn't expect to hear something genuinely interesting.

Fulfilling people's wishes—that part of the ability should be a manifestation of the contract power bestowed by Imu.

But curing everyone's diseases was very specific.

Based on Roy's experience, this ability very likely did not come from the contract, but from the Devil Fruit ability Lily originally possessed.

"Can cure everyone's diseases... Phoenix? No, the Phoenix's healing ability is strong, but it has many limitations."

"Heal-Heal Fruit? Doesn't seem quite right either."

"Then..."

As Roy pondered, a fruit naturally surfaced in his thoughts.

"Op-Op Fruit?"

When those words appeared, his train of thought suddenly halted.

Because he knew very well—the Op-Op Fruit was also a very special fruit.

It was nearly one of the absolute top-tier fruits among Paramecia, and its abilities were comprehensive without any flaws.

At the same time, the most crucial point was this:

The World Government had placed a bounty of a full 5 billion Berries to obtain this fruit.

This directly made the Op-Op Fruit the most expensive known fruit on the entire sea, bar none.

According to the original story, the reason was that after a user developed this fruit to its absolute limit, they could perform the 'Perennial Youth Operation' at the cost of their own life, granting a being eternal youth and immortality.

But now, Roy suddenly thought of an enormous problem.

"Eternal youth and immortality... what use is that to the World Government?"

Whether it was Imu or the highest authorities of the world who had placed the bounty on the Op-Op Fruit—the Five Elders—they themselves were 'immortal' beings.

The 'Perennial Youth Operation' of the Op-Op Fruit held absolutely no attraction for them.

Then—what were they pursuing it for?

The answer seemed very clear.

"Queen Lily was the user of the Op-Op Fruit eight hundred years ago?"

"She used the power of this fruit to somehow 'bind' Imu?"

"So Imu wants to retrieve this fruit and undo that binding?"

This idea was bold and completely uncorroborated.

But Roy instinctively felt it was very likely the truth.

Yet just as Roy was deep in thought—

"Mr. Tatsu..."

Vivi, who had proactively provided the clue, shook her head and tried to speak.

Her heart was filled with utter confusion right now—whether it was regarding Ancestor Lily's message, her fate, or Alabasta's responsibility and the 'World' itself.

She could barely comprehend everything recorded in this mausoleum.

But clearly, Tatsu and The Zodiac knew something.

So she wanted to ask.

But—

"Vivi."

Just as she was about to speak, Cobra stopped her.

"Father?"

Vivi looked at her father.

"What lies here is a 'secret' known only to the successive kings of Alabasta," Cobra said. "Why do you think we are here right now?"

As he spoke, he looked at his daughter.

Vivi was stunned.

Yes.

Cobra originally shouldn't have told anyone about the existence of Queen Lily's mausoleum—as long as the fact that the Nefertari clan carries the 'D' spread, it would be an absolute disaster for them.

Even she, as the future princess of Alabasta, shouldn't know of this place's existence yet.

But today, Cobra chose to bring her, and even an outsider like Tatsu, here together.

The reason behind it—

"..."

Vivi, who understood her father well, arrived at the only answer after just a brief moment of thought.

"Father, you believe The Zodiac..."

Vivi looked at her father.

And Cobra nodded with gratification.

Yes.

When a secret meant to safeguard the future no longer needs to be kept, the only explanation is that the future has arrived.

Cobra couldn't know the truth of the 'World', and he could faintly sense that his ancestor had intentionally held back in her words.

But he could confirm one thing through the Government's reaction.

The organization named 'The Zodiac' had truly made the 'World' afraid.

That 'World' which Ancestor Lily deemed invincible, which hid behind everything, was already wavering.

So Cobra was certain—this era was the 'future' spoken of in Ancestor Lily's message.

The Zodiac were the ones who would change the world.

"Your Excellency Tatsu."

Cobra directed his gaze at Tatsu.

"I do not know what 'sins' Ancestor Lily spoke of committing."

"Nor will I gamble the entire country and its people on a single sentence from an ancestor."

"But..."

He said firmly: "If, as Ancestor Lily wrote, redeeming that sin can return freedom to Alabasta and the people of the whole world—then I believe that I, Nefertari D. Cobra, ought to bear that sin."

Just as mentioned before.

When he brought Tatsu here, he had already made his choice.

He would not rashly gamble everything of the country, but he staked everything of himself, revealing the family's deepest secret to The Zodiac.

He wanted to cooperate with The Zodiac to fulfill Queen Lily's entrustment.

To put it bluntly—

Once it failed, he would surely die, and Alabasta would change hands just like Dressrosa.

"I will cooperate with your side. I will do my best to provide the resources you need without disrupting the country's operations."

"Of course, if things ultimately cannot be achieved... I hope you can protect my daughter."

Cobra said so.

"Father..."

Hearing this, Vivi, who already understood her father's meaning, spoke with a trembling voice.

But before she could say more—

The two of them heard Tatsu's quiet chuckle.

"King Cobra, I must correct you on three things."

"First, the most precious thing you can offer us is already here."

As he spoke, Cobra watched the dragon-head mask on Tatsu's face begin to transform.

In just a moment, the dragon mask slowly morphed into a Sea Beast Mask surrounded by starlight.

And Tatsu's voice shifted to Star Lord's at that same instant.

"Second, we will not fail."

Star Lord spoke calmly, as if stating an unquestionable fact.

"Third, you are not 'atoning'."

And as he said this, Star Lord slowly stepped forward, arriving before Queen Lily's sarcophagus.

He looked at the contract mark on the sarcophagus, and at the lily flower resting within it.

"Your ancestor did indeed make mistakes in the past, but she has long since redeemed her sins."

His voice carried a distinct note of deep emotion.

Yes.

Queen Lily had certainly made a mistake in the past; she was one of the twenty people who caused the world to fall into Imu's hands.

But at the same time, if his theory was correct—

Then for this world to have survived until today, to have retained hope, this queen had also played a crucial role.

The sins she committed, she had long redeemed.

"She is not a sinner."

"But a hero."

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