Chapter 448: God of Mortals, the Red Dragon

The former granted Gao Wen the power to reach the absolute limit of legend, even overpowering seven peers of equal rank, completely shattering his constraints and stepping into the realm of myth.

It also triggered a complete and total transformation of Gao Wen’s very essence of life—the most astonishing transformation in history.

Gao Wen even doubted whether he could still father children with a woman.

The change was simply too great: from flesh and organs to bone and skin, even the very nature of his soul had been altered.

Though he could not determine his lifespan, at this moment Gao Wen sensed that he might no longer age with the passage of time.

Both the lifespan of his body and the limit of his soul had been raised to a height beyond sight!

If one must find a precise term to describe it, it might be called a leap in life’s tier, or an elevation of ontological rank.

A true evolution toward the state of a god!

“This is… myth?!”

“Can this truly be a realm attainable by human ability?!”

“Impossible!”

Gao Wen was utterly certain of this.

The limit of humanity should have been the level he reached before his breakthrough.

Neither Joy Boy nor Im had broken through that boundary—even at their peaks, they were no stronger than Gao Wen had been in his former state.

But now Gao Wen far surpassed them all.

This was a non-human realm attainable only with the aid of the Captain System.

And during this process, the changes to the Red Dragon Fruit were equally astonishing.

Its original body length of just over three hundred meters surged to nearly ten thousand meters.

Merely hovering in the sky, its shadow could engulf all of Camelot; the air currents from its wingbeats could uproot trees on the ground.

Merely by this size alone, Gao Wen could dominate the seas—but this change in size was merely the smallest part of the Red Dragon’s transformation!

Gao Wen raised his dragon claw, and faint blue lines of earth vein energy gathered toward his palm.

Within mere breaths, he condensed a sphere over ten meters in diameter—its contained earth vein energy could erase an island dozens of kilometers wide from the map in an instant!

“This attack’s power rivals that of an ancient weapon!”

“And…”

Gao Wen closed his eyes, and his awareness extended outward with his consciousness.

Centered on Camelot, the entire earth vein energy of Britannias lay within his perception—but this was far from the limit!

The earth veins continued to expand, plunging beneath the sea!

“This is…”

Gao Wen suddenly opened his eyes, his astonishment barely contained.

For even the earth vein energy hidden beneath the sea’s surface, he could now control.

This meant the amount of earth vein energy he could command had reached an almost infinite scale!

“Though the sea covers only the planet’s surface, the land beneath the waves is still connected…”

“But this shouldn’t be possible!!”

“This exceeds the limits of Devil Fruits—normal Devil Fruits cannot affect anything submerged by the sea.”

“Whether the Gura Gura Fruit manipulates seawater or the Hie Hie Fruit freezes the ocean, they extend their power through a medium…”

“Is earth itself just a medium?”

“No.”

Gao Wen realized his method of controlling subsea earth vein energy was fundamentally different from theirs!

He was not extending his ability through a medium—he was directly commanding subsea earth vein energy, immune to the sea’s curse.

To test his theory, Gao Wen flapped his wings and raced toward Britannias’s inland sea, then dove straight into the ocean.

Though his badge ability let him ignore seawater’s effects, underwater he still could not use Devil Fruit powers—he would revert to human form.

But this time, even fully submerged, Gao Wen felt no discomfort and remained in his Red Dragon form.

Beneath the sea, on the seabed teeming with coral and algae, threads of earth vein energy flowed toward Gao Wen!

“This is…”

“What changes have occurred within me since stepping into myth?!”

“And the influence on me has vanished entirely!”

“Wait!”

Gao Wen opened his system interface and suddenly noticed a change in the “Bounty Over 100 Million” badge section:

【

Bounty Over 100 Million – Favor of the Sea (Pending Activation)

】

…

“This is…”

Gao Wen’s pupils shrank sharply!

He would not forget.

When he first consumed the Red Dragon Fruit at Raven Port, this badge’s ability had already been used, and its description had been marked “Used.”

But now it had changed to “Pending Activation…”

“What has happened to the Red Dragon since I stepped into myth…”

Gao Wen shifted his gaze to the Red Dragon, his shock deepening!

【

Red Dragon - Lv-11: 0/5000000 (Armor Integration, Perfect Fusion)

】

…

“Not awakening? Perfect fusion?!”

Gao Wen froze, instinctively sensing the hidden will within the Red Dragon Fruit—and saw his own face.

“Of course.”

Gao Wen suddenly opened his eyes, understanding what had occurred.

“My will has replaced the hidden will within the Red Dragon Fruit—this is a further development beyond awakening: perfect fusion with the Devil Fruit.”

“From now on, the Red Dragon Fruit is part of me. As long as I refuse, even after my death, no new Red Dragon Fruit will ever be born.”

“That’s why the Bounty Over 100 Million badge’s ability was released and returned to ‘Pending Activation’ state!”

“Does this mean…”

“I can eat a second Devil Fruit!”

Gao Wen thought of the Gura Gura Fruit.

This world is destined to be swallowed by the sea—when that time comes, even the Celestial Dragons will drown.

But now Gao Wen saw a glimmer of hope.

Having stepped into myth, his life tier had leapt, his lifespan nearly infinite.

And the Gura Gura Fruit could grant islands the ability to float—so long as the user lived, the island would remain suspended in the sky forever.

With Gao Wen’s current power, even lifting Britannias itself into the air would be no challenge.

Even if he couldn’t do it yet, having stepped into myth, Gao Wen felt the persistent limits on his potential had vanished entirely.

As long as he had enough strong followers to cultivate, he could grow even stronger, and accomplish far more!

Gao Wen’s eyes gleamed with renewed hope:

“The Age of Pirates may truly be ending—the new age shall be called… Sky Cities!”

“But all of this depends on one thing: that I can truly consume a second Devil Fruit.”