Chapter 291

But having exhausted all his strength, he was swallowed by a chaotic, twisted temporal vortex.

In the final moment before disappearance.

He saw Guina and Hancok, their faces filled with panic.

He spoke his last words to them.

"Wait for me to return."

Then he plunged into the warped, shattered spacetime.

When he awoke again.

He had already arrived in this world…

Thinking of this.

Luo En, gazing up at the bright, clear moon, couldn't help but sigh.

"System, is there any way to get me back?"

Luo En asked inwardly.

But after several seconds, the system still gave no response.

Luo En frowned slightly.

"System?"

At that moment, the system's familiar mechanical voice echoed in Luo En's mind.

【Ding! Host detected in another world. The Ultimate Check-in System is about to upgrade.】

Luo En froze in surprise.

"Huh?"

【During upgrade, all system functions are disabled. System space is inaccessible.】

【Estimated upgrade time — 30 days.】

【System upgrade will begin in 10 seconds.】

【10, 9…】

"Wait, wait."

Hearing the mechanical countdown in his mind.

Luo En, with no time to ask anything, immediately opened the system space and swiftly pulled out several items.

【…2, 1. Ding! The Ultimate Check-in System is upgrading…】

After that voice, there was no further sound in Luo En's mind.

"You pull this at the worst time… damn it!"

Luo En, rarely angry, stomped his right foot hard on the ground — terrifying force erupted, and the ground within dozens of meters around him suddenly sank, cracking outward in layers.

After venting with that single kick.

Luo En gradually calmed down.

Panicking now won't help — he can't return to the One Piece world anyway.

If he wants to return to the One Piece world, he'll have to rely on the upgraded system.

"Thirty days… no choice but to wait."

Calm now, Luo En looked ahead.

【Endless Flask】

【A set of clothing.】

【A silver revolver with infinite bullets】

【A pouch of gold coins.】

In the final seconds before the system space closed, he'd been too hasty — he'd only taken these items, leaving behind many other useful things.

But… whatever.

Luo En picked up the Endless Flask, drank a sip of liquor, and felt the familiar warmth of the rich alcohol sliding down his throat into his dantian — his unease about arriving in another world slowly eased into calm.

"Huh…"

Luo En exhaled a breath of alcohol.

He stood up.

Changed out of his tattered, bloodstained clothes.

While changing, he assessed his body's condition.

"The Transcendent Eye's power is overdrawn — needs time to recover. Cannot be used for now."

"The Paramecia ability at Stage Two can be used in this world without any hindrance."

"The Ice Emperor Artifact can also be used."

"Three Colors of Haki can be used."

"Although I constantly maintain Breath of the Sun, my body hasn't recovered to its peak — only about thirty percent restored."

"Sword techniques can be used without obstruction, but in my battle with Im, I destroyed all my named swords…"

Luo En thought as he dressed.

He glanced toward the trench he'd carved.

"Are there still man-eating things in this world? But their strength seems weak — is it just that this individual is weak, or is the overall power level of this world low?"

"Either way, first I need to understand this world."

Dressed in fresh attire, his long hair tied back, looking crisp and sharp, Luo En hung the Endless Flask at his waist, tucked the silver revolver into his chest, and slipped the pouch of gold coins into his sleeve.

Having made himself ready.

He set off walking toward a direction within the snow-covered mountain forest.

He soon vanished at the far end of the mountain forest.

His steps left a trail of footprints in the snow.

Behind those footprints lay the mountain forest destroyed by a single sword strike and that enormous trench a hundred meters long.

That famed blade Sakuraju, broken and shattered, come from the world of pirates, lay quietly in the accumulated snow.

Under the bright moonlight.

The broken blade still connected to the hilt gleamed with a cold, chilly light.

2. The World of Demon Slayer — Demons and the Demon Slayer Corps

One day later.

In a fairly bustling town.

One could see people of the Land of Nippon wearing traditional kimono and wooden clogs everywhere, along with a fair number of people in Western-style clothing, though they were few.

Inside a tavern doing decent business.

Several people were discussing the recent serial death cases that had occurred in the city.

"Hey, have you heard? Another child disappearance case has happened."

"I know, I know! I heard too — it was that family at the foot of the mountain north of the city, right?!"

"That's right. Their son and daughter both vanished last night."

"This is already the fourth one this month, and they still haven't caught the culprit. What exactly are those freeloading police even doing?"

The big fellow downed the wine in his cup in one gulp and shouted drunkenly.

His companion across from him, upon hearing this, looked a little tense: "Shh! You can't just say things like that…"

"They can't hear us anyway, it's fine, it's fine."

The drunk said, slapped his thigh, leaned forward, and said with a mysterious look: "About the recent child disappearances, I also heard a rumor."

"What rumor?"

The drunk lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "Someone says… it was done by a demon that specifically abducts children."

"Demons? Hah, don't be ridiculous. What kind of demons and monsters could there possibly be in this world? You actually believe that kind of talk too?"

"I don't believe it either, I just heard about it."

……

Beside the window seat.

Luo En drank his shochu, watching the people coming and going outside the window, listening to their conversation, and had already formed a judgment about this world in his heart.

"So… it's the world of Demon Slayer, is it."