Amidst the ruins under the setting sun, the place was unusually lively today. On one side, there was a live broadcast of singing and dancing, while on the other side of the bonfire, an interesting scene unfolded.
The two individuals, whose roles should have been reversed, seemed to have their ages flipped as well. Kouta became the teacher, and Shanks, the diligent student.
Watching Shanks' serious demeanor, Kouta's eyes held a hint of amusement, and then he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!!"
He bent over, placing a hand on Shanks' shoulder, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
"You're as amusing as ever!"
"Why are you being so serious!"
Shanks watched the boy, who was laughing so hard he couldn't stand straight, a smile tugging at his lips.
But just then, the boy, who had been laughing moments ago, suddenly looked up, his sapphire eyes fixed on Shanks' own, and at that moment, his voice resounded, like that of a condescending deity.
"Are you ready?"
Looking at the boy, at his eyes that resembled the starry sky, Shanks nodded.
"Since you're ready, then open your mind and don't resist."
Kouta could have forcefully pulled Shanks into his eye-world, but they were friends, after all, and a forced entry wouldn't be pleasant.
As his words fell, nebulae within Kouta's eyes began to spin faster, and a special power instantly enveloped the entire void.
From Shanks' perspective, Kouta's eyes rapidly enlarged, engulfing everything in his vision.
Driven by primal instinct, he wanted to resist, but Kouta's words made him suppress the momentary discomfort.
In the blink of an eye, when his vision cleared, he found himself standing in a starry expanse, void above, below, and all around.
"Where is this??"
Shanks spun around, scanning up, down, left, and right, his eyes filled with shock.
A flash of red light glinted in his eyes.
"A world without boundaries, vaster than the Uta world."
"No, this is incomparable to the Uta world. If the Uta world were a pebble, this would be a planet, the true starry sky above the heavens."
Just then, Kouta's figure appeared before Shanks. He looked up at the starry sky and calmly stated, "Here, I am a god."
"God?"
Shanks was no stranger to the term "god." If not for a twist of fate, he himself would have been among the false deities of this world. In his decades of wandering, he had encountered all sorts of gods.
Some of these gods were merely powerful beasts, not worth mentioning. But there were others that he couldn't comprehend, entities that, though unseen, he knew to exist through subtle clues.
These were also gods, the objects of faith for the people of backward islands.
Yet, even all of that combined did not deliver a shock as profound as this personally experienced starry sky, and the boy before him, who was the same yet different from the one outside.
"The Other Shore!"
At that moment, the boy spoke.
From the void behind him, a speck of red appeared, then rapidly grew, consuming his entire field of vision.
Shanks looked upwards, seeing tree trunks like red veins, followed by a colossal flower that obscured the entire starry sky.
At this very moment, with the appearance of the flower, an aura that Shanks had never seen or felt before, yet felt both foreign and strangely familiar, began to emanate.
Unlike the nauseating darkness of a demon king, this power felt warm.
However, it was undeniably more powerful than that of a demon king. Even though the Other Shore had restrained itself, its mere presence, as it appeared for the first time in Kouta's starry sky, caused it to emit a faint aura.
And it was this aura that made Shanks feel like an ant, seeing a god floating in the sky for the very first time.
The gentle yet majestic power of the Other Shore, a power so immense and incomprehensible that it didn't belong to this world, caused his waist to instantly bend.
Even if he unleashed his full Conqueror's Haki and willpower, even if the surrounding void momentarily distorted due to his outburst, before this aura, he was like an ant dropped into the ocean; no matter how much it struggled, it was insignificant.
"What is this?"
With his hands on his knees, Shanks looked up, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the blood-red flower behind Kouta.
"This is the truth of the world. A god, a true god, a god who has lived from ancient times to the present, who has surpassed the world's true peak, who reigns above the world, a god who can freely roam the entire world and the starry expanse."
Kouta stared at Shanks and waved his hand. The faint aura of the Other Shore that filled the void instantly dissipated with his gesture.
Although there was a vast disparity in their strength, one must not forget where they were. As he had said at the beginning, here, he was god, the sole god of this starry expanse.
"Kouta, why did you call me?"
The flower disappeared, and the Other Shore, transformed into a small boy, appeared beside Kouta.
He had been sleeping when he was suddenly summoned by Kouta into this space, connected to Kouta's mental world but existing in another void.
There was no infinite spirit in Kouta's mental world here, so the moment the Other Shore emerged, he questioned Kouta.
Of course, there was a hint of morning grumpiness in his tone.
"Haha! Nothing, just wanted you to make an appearance so someone could know the truth of the world."
Kouta chuckled at the Other Shore.
Although he claimed to be the sole true god of this starry expanse, he couldn't emit even a trace of divine aura, so he had to bother the Other Shore.
"You..."
The Other Shore looked at Kouta, somewhat speechless, then turned to face the red-haired middle-aged man who had straightened up before Kouta.
"Good willpower, good strength, but still a bit of a gap."
Nodding at Shanks, the Other Shore commented, "You are somewhat similar to that guy from Elbaf, but due to the difference in physique, the power gap is vast. That Elbaf fellow broke the world's shackles through sheer strength, while you..."
Staring at Shanks, the Other Shore mused, stroking his chin.
Upon seeing Shanks, he had guessed Kouta's intention: wasn't it to have him tell Shanks how to break free from this world's constraints?
Shaking his head, the Other Shore looked up and slowly said, "You are indeed extraordinary, managing to achieve such willpower with a mortal body. Keep pushing, and perhaps you might truly break the rules of this world with this willpower and evolve to my level."
"Your level?"
After some time to adapt, Shanks had calmed down. He knew he was now facing a being he had previously been unable to imagine, a creature that existed only in human fantasy.