Location: Grand Line – Border of the Elbion Expanse
A golden glow lined the horizon like the edge of a dying sun. Before the Oro Jackson stretched a vast desert sea—swirling sands that moved in mechanical patterns, ticking like clock hands, forever shifting.
The Elbion Expanse.
Shanks narrowed his eyes. "That's not just sand... it's moving in rhythm."
Rayleigh nodded. "The old records were right. The desert is a time-lock. If you don't follow its rhythm… you get trapped in an endless moment."
Toni looked forward, both blades sheathed but humming at his sides.
"I can feel the fragment," he whispered. "It's somewhere deep beneath the dunes. And it's awake."
⏳ Time Distortion Begins
As they crossed into Elbion's border, the ship's compass spun violently. Stars blinked out. The sun flickered like a faulty lantern.
System Alert: Temporal Distortion Engaged
Caution: Movement must follow internal timeflow
Deviation beyond 3.5 seconds may result in memory loss or physical erasure
Roger laughed. "Ahahaha! Sounds like fun!"
Rayleigh grabbed his arm. "You're a madman. We'll split up. Only Toni can enter the core. The rest of us'll anchor the ship and protect the gate."
Buggy gulped. "We have to fight time? I didn't sign up for this!"
Shanks: "Too late. You already did."
🔺 Inside the Dunes – Toni's Solo Descent
Toni stepped onto the sand.
Time pulsed beneath his feet—like breathing stone. He followed the rhythm. One second walk. Half-second pause. One second slide.
With every correct step, ancient glyphs lit beneath him. With every wrong movement, shadows of other versions of himself flickered around him—some twisted, some… dead.
He arrived at the crater of a buried fortress. Bones littered the sand.
At its center: a temporal hourglass, floating in the air, guarded by a man with no skin.
His body was made of hour hand gears, obsidian bones, and eyes that rotated like clocks.
"You are the bearer of the blade that defies memory," the guardian rasped.
"I am Chronolux, Keeper of Forgotten Seconds. You may not pass."
Toni unsheathed both blades.
"I've passed too many gates already. I'm not stopping now."
⚔️ Boss Battle – Toni vs. Chronolux, Keeper of Forgotten Seconds
Chronolux struck first.
His weapon? A scythe made of frozen time—each swing erased sound, color, even momentum.
Toni dodged narrowly, activating Observation Haki.
He countered with Twin Fang Style – Cross Memory Cut, slashing across space in an X-pattern.
But Chronolux split in two, like separating hours on a clock.
"You cannot strike what you have not yet remembered," Chronolux hissed.
Toni grinned. "Then I'll remember it before it happens."
His Observation Haki surged—pushing beyond normal limits. He could now see 3 seconds into the future.
Using the flow of time against his enemy, he began predicting strikes before they occurred, matching rhythm for rhythm.
Tenryūzan: Left slash – Memory Echo
Phantom Fang: Reverse slice – Future Cut
CLANG. SHING. SHATTER—
Toni's blades locked into Chronolux's scythe.
Then—he blinked behind him.
"Twin Fang Form VI – Timelock Severance."
He sliced diagonally through Chronolux's center—where the hourglass fused with his core.
Time shattered.
Chronolux's body turned to drifting particles, vanishing into desert wind.
✨ Memory Fragment Acquired – 2 of 5
From the remains of the hourglass rose a sliver of crystal—glowing with golden and silver light.
Toni grasped it.
System Update: Second Myth Memory Fragment Acquired
Ability Unlocked: Echo Instinct – Predictive Reflex
Toni can now see up to 3 seconds into the future during battle (costs stamina)
New Style Available: Form VII – Phantom Shift Counter
The desert's rhythm paused.
Time smiled.
And then it resumed.
Toni stood alone as the fortress walls around him collapsed into harmless dust.
🏴☠️ Meanwhile – Oro Jackson, Edge of the Storm
Roger stood on the deck, hand on his blade. Shadows danced in the sandstorm beyond them.
Rayleigh narrowed his eyes. "They're coming."
Buggy trembled. "Who?"
"Time Raiders," Shanks said, stepping beside Toni as he returned. "World Government mercenaries who live outside history."
From the sands rose a skiff of bone and gold, and on it—five armored figures bearing no insignia, only numbers: 06, 07, 08, 09, and 10.
The leader pointed at Toni.
"By order of the Void Archives, surrender the boy and the blade fragments.
Or Elbion becomes your coffin."
Roger cracked his neck.
Toni drew both swords, eyes glowing faintly with blue-gold light.
"You'll have to erase me to stop me now."