Saint Dio stood up.
Hancock slid off his thigh and took her place obediently at his side, her head slightly bowed.
“Alright.” Saint Dio patted the non-existent dust from his hands, his gaze sweeping over the three sisters.
“Next, it is time to verify the results of this training.” He raised his right hand, palm facing upward.
The three sisters and Stussy all focused their gazes on his palm.
Suddenly, a tiny vortex materialized out of thin air in the center of his palm.
At first, the vortex was only the size of a fingernail, spinning with a faint hum.
Then it rapidly expanded, swelling in the blink of an eye to a size large enough for a person to pass through.
The edges of the vortex rippled with distorted space, while its center was a fathomless, abyssal darkness.
Saint Dio flicked his hand forward.
The vortex shot from his grip, expanded in mid-air, and then locked into place—forming a circular portal standing upright in the void.
The portal’s rim shimmered with an eerie blue glow.
The scene within was a blur, as if it led to another world.
Everyone present, except for Saint Dio himself, was stunned.
Stussy’s lake-blue eyes widened slightly.
She had followed Saint Dio for years and believed she thoroughly understood his abilities, yet she had never seen her master display such a technique.
Opening a portal out of thin air?
This surpassed her entire understanding of Devil Fruit abilities.
The three sisters were even more dumbfounded.
“Let’s go.” Saint Dio offered no further explanation.
He simply dropped the two words and was the first to step through the portal.
The moment his figure passed through the threshold, it seemed to be swallowed by a rippling halo of light before vanishing on the other side.
Stussy was the first to recover, following him without hesitation.
The three sisters exchanged glances before hastily stepping forward, passing through the vortex portal one by one.
As the last person crossed, the portal vanished silently into the air as if it had never existed, leaving not a single trace behind.
The four who had passed through now stood upon a completely unfamiliar land.
The midday sun hung high in the sky, its scorching rays pouring down without reserve and heating the rocky ground beneath their feet.
They stood in a vast, open expanse of rock, the ground crisscrossed with fissures carved by wind erosion and littered with sharp-edged fragments of stone.
In the distance, a lush green forest was visible, its dense canopy swaying gently in the breeze.
The air was thick with the scent of dry dust, mingled with a faint, fresh fragrance of vegetation wafting from the distant woods.
“Where…
where are we?” Hancock couldn’t help but ask.
She scanned her surroundings, completely unable to reconcile the scene before her with the damp, stifling swamp they had just left.
A single step had seemed to bridge half the world.
Saint Dio didn’t answer her question.
He stood at the front of the group, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the environment.
“We have arrived in a new world,” he said simply, offering no further explanation.
He had no intention of explaining the mechanics of his journey to them.
After all, this was his other secret Cheat: the ability to travel between worlds.
The land they now stood upon was scorched by the midday sun, which beat down mercilessly on the earth.
As far as the eye could see, countless blurry figures wandered the landscape.
Clad in tattered rags, they stumbled aimlessly across the desolate terrain as if driven by some unseen force.
The moment Saint Dio and his group appeared, the figures seemed to catch the scent of living beings.
As one, they froze, then charged toward the group as if compelled by a single, collective will.
Stussy shaded her eyes with her hand, narrowing them as she watched the figures rapidly closing in.
After a moment’s observation, a playful smile touched her lips.
“Oh my, to have so many people rushing to welcome us…
we’re truly flattered.” She paused, her tone shifting.
“But…
their clothing style looks just like the fashion of Wano Country.” Saint Dio didn’t engage in her conversation.
Instead, he turned his head to face Sandersonia and Marigold, who stood on either side of him, and commanded: “Sonia, Gold.
Spare none of them.” Without a moment’s hesitation, the two responded in unison, “Yes!” They tightened their grip on their naginatas, stepped forward, and unleashed the newly awakened power within.
Sandersonia was the first to transform.
Her body swelled violently.
A fine layer of bronzed scales surfaced on her skin, glinting with a metallic luster under the sun.
Her lower half rapidly fused and stretched, becoming a thick, powerful green serpentine tail.
Its scales overlapped in layers, shimmering with a cold, eerie light.
Her eyes shifted into vertical reptilian slits, their golden irises burning with a frigid murderous intent.
Her tongue elongated and forked, flicking through the air like a serpent’s.
The Titanoboa—the largest known snake in history—had long been extinct.
Yet, in the ancient ecosystem, its position as an invincible apex predator was unshakable.
Now, this primeval power was manifesting once more through Sandersonia’s body.
Her size surged.
Three meters, six meters, eight meters…
It didn’t stop until she reached a height of ten meters.
The naginata she had held in her hand grew in tandem with her body, transforming into a colossal weapon capable of cleaving a small mountain.
Its blade gleamed with a terrifying, cold light under the sun.
Next was Marigold.
Her transformation differed slightly from her sister’s.
Her body was also covered in a layer of earthy-yellow scales, but these were smaller and more tightly packed, fitting her skin like a suit of armor.
Her lower body likewise fused into a serpentine tail, though its color was darker, a dusky yellow reminiscent of a desert viper.
Her size increased as well, though not as dramatically as Sandersonia’s, finally stabilizing at around eight meters.
The Laophis—the largest venomous snake of ancient times.
Though it lacked the Titanoboa’s terrifying size and strength, it possessed a far more insidious venom.
The two colossal serpent-women stood side by side, their shadows blanketing the ground.