Chapter 33: A God-Given Opportunity

"Hoo..."

"Returning to the origin is not a big deal after all... Being able to survive is a blessing in itself!"

Taking a deep breath and looking at the scarred Asura Golem inside the Golem Space, Chu Yi comforted himself. He slowly put away the bitter smile on his face, then exited the Golem Space, and his consciousness returned once more to his physical body.

Returned to...

The Void Rift!

At this very moment, Chu Yi finally had the opportunity to observe the strangeness of the Void Rift.

What was going on here?

The Void Rift that was originally on the verge of collapse—how... how had it stabilized once more?

Suddenly noticing the oddity within the Void Rift, Chu Yi slightly frowned and thought to himself, "Could it be that the stabilization of the Void Rift is related to the spacetime storm being devoured by the Asura Golem?"

"Will this restabilized Void Rift, just like before, make the Dark Island a terrifying existence that people shrink back from in fear?"

Harboring such confusion, Chu Yi used his Observation Haki to perceive the surroundings, and upon discovering that the restabilized Void Rift was no longer sucking in the people on the Dark Island as it did before, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems that the restabilized Void Rift can no longer casually pull people inside like it used to."

"In that case..."

"I don't need to worry about Jinbe and the others!"

"However, my current situation is a bit troublesome. I wonder if, with my present strength, I can shatter the void like Kaido and smoothly create a black hole to return to the Dark Island!"

Muttering inwardly, Chu Yi began to sense his own power to see how much strength he could actually wield at present.

And amidst this silent perception...

Not long after, a gratified smile bloomed across Chu Yi's face!

"Wonderful!"

"Aside from not being able to fully display the peak abilities of all my Devil Fruits, although the Asura Golem was severely damaged this time, it hasn't completely restricted my ability to use the fruits!"

"Since that's the case... Hmph!"

"A mere Void Rift is impossible to trap me!"

A brilliant flash crossed his pupils, and maintaining that faint smile at the corner of his mouth, Chu Yi extended his palm, intending to use the Heavenly Principles' power, "Shinra Tensei", to shatter the void and return to the real world.

Yet just as Chu Yi was about to unleash his "Shinra Tensei"...

"Eh?"

Suddenly!

The Asura Golem within the Golem Space emitted a series of tremors, and following the aura of the Asura Golem, Chu Yi inexplicably discovered that the Asura Golem residing in the Golem Space had faintly established some kind of special connection with the Void Rift!

"This feeling..."

"Could it be!"

Feeling that special connection, the smile at the corner of Chu Yi's mouth involuntarily deepened.

Immediately following...

As Chu Yi sat cross-legged within the Void Rift, the Asura Golem at the center of his brow slowly opened its eyes...

"Swish!"

There was no need whatsoever to cast "Shinra Tensei" to shatter the space of the Void Rift and create a black hole!

Relying on the power emanating from the Asura's Eyes, Chu Yi successfully created an exit within the Void Rift leading back to the real world!

Yet just as that exit to the real world materialized out of thin air before Chu Yi...

Staring at the exit that resembled a black hole, Chu Yi once again fell into deep contemplation!

"It seems that the ninth awakening ability this time is far more complicated than I imagined!"

Meanwhile...

Just as Chu Yi, relying on the power of his ninth awakening, had obtained the chance to return to the real world, Mihawk on the Dark Island let out a deep sigh. Indifferently staring at the figure lying in a pool of blood before him, he said to Jinbe behind him:

"This is the last one."

"Well, wipe them all out if we must. Anyway, they... are all a bunch of ungrateful wretches!"

"Indeed, kindness is wasted on them."

Just as Jinbe finished speaking, Jinbe stepped forward and said in an equally flat tone, "Originally, just like us, they were pitiful people trapped on the Dark Island. But if Chu Yi hadn't saved them, they would likely have been permanently trapped in that mysterious space! And now look—Chu Yi saved them, yet instead of thinking of repaying the kindness, they bite the hand that feeds them!"

"Thinking we trapped them? They actually harbored murderous intent toward us?"

"Absurd!"

"We've been lenient enough with these guys these past few days. If Chu Yi were here, they would have been wiped out on the very first day they dared to raise a hand against us!"

As he spoke, Jinbe suddenly fell silent.

Along with Mihawk, Jinbe and the others fell silent upon hearing Jinbe's words.

That's right!

If Chu Yi were here, surely those fellows would have been completely dealt with the moment they harbored murderous intent on the first day, right?

Yet how many days had it been?

More than ten days!

For a full ten days, Mihawk and the others had been quietly waiting on the Dark Island. How intensely they wished that when they opened their eyes the next morning, Chu Yi's reliable figure would reappear before them!

Yet for over ten days, Chu Yi had been completely out of contact.

Even though Mihawk and Jinbe still firmly believed that Chu Yi was bound to create a miracle, amid more than ten days of waiting, their confidence...

Had indeed wavered somewhat!

Mihawk, Jinbe, and the others were already anxious enough over the fact that Chu Yi remained trapped within the Void Rift. On top of that, the strangers whom Chu Yi had rescued from the Void Rift turned out to be restless troublemakers one and all, ultimately causing them all to perish at the hands of Mihawk, Jinbe, and the others. Even if Chu Yi were to return, he would certainly understand the reasons behind Mihawk and Jinbe dealing out lethal blows.

However...

Having waited for a full ten days, Jinbe, Mihawk, Jinbe, and even Gecko Moria still held a shred of hope, feeling that Chu Yi would surely return. But that did not mean everyone could trust Chu Yi as implicitly as Jinbe and Mihawk did.

Take some of the Fish-men crew members of the Sky-Slaying Pirates, for instance.

It was true that Chu Yi had saved them, but after waiting on the Dark Island for over ten days without seeing any sign of Chu Yi returning, while they might not have voiced their complaints aloud, they had long grown impatient in their hearts.

Or consider Gecko Moria's companions.

Although Gecko Moria waited bitterly for Chu Yi, hoping to thank in person the benefactor who had saved his pirate crew, these companions of Moria who had been saved by Chu Yi had never actually met him. Their sense of gratitude was naturally far less intense than Moria's, and indeed, the majority of them simply wished to leave this eerie island as quickly as possible.

Therefore...

During these ten days of waiting, the majority of the people on the Dark Island had actually grown somewhat irritable and reluctant to wait any longer.

Yet, perhaps even Mihawk, Jinbe, and Jinbe never imagined that the individuals harboring ulterior motives on the Dark Island right now were not limited to...

Just those fellows they had already disposed of!

"Smoker, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Should we..."

"Prepare ourselves to make a run for it?"