Chapter 342: Soul Fusion

Chapter 342: Soul Fusion



It has only been a handful of minutes since Cherry started her breakthrough and Robin was already starting to get antsy. It didn't help that Cabernet was fidgeting nervously, as the ship girl was far more in tune with Cherry's state than she was.

That things were so calm on the outside was particularly nerve racking. If there were a storm of biblical proportions raging around Cherry, then at least she could see how well she was doing.

*silence*

World silencing black lightning struck again, and then again and again in rapid succession. No visible harm seemed to come to Cherry as she sat in the center of the clearing peacefully, as though there was nothing happening to her at all.

The black lightning was a subtle thing, but that subtlety belied its true danger and violent nature. An attack directly on the soul.

Just as soon as it started, it ended. The wind picked up around the trees once more, mysterious energy flowing to the center of the clearing and bathing Cherry in light.

Cherry stretched her arms up like she was waking up from a pleasant nap and took a deep breath with a yawn.

"I almost forgot how good it feels to be whole." Cherry said, standing up to stretch her legs. "You weren't whole before?" Robin asked as she approached her for a hug.

Cherry nuzzled her face into Robin's neck. "Not truly. That's just how mortals are, and it's not really a bad thing. It's like your soul is always ready to abandon ship in case your body dies, for its own self preservation. Always being on edge, preparing to die... that's not really living, is it?"

"No, it isn't." Robin answered immediately. She was intimately aware of what it was like to live that way, though she still couldn't quite imagine what that's like on a metaphysical level; and she supposed that she wouldn't, unless she reached this realm as well. "It's still a life worth living though, if only for the hope of things getting better."

Cherry squeezed her tight and rubbed her back in slow circles comfortingly. "I'm the happiest now than I have been in a long time, perhaps more than I ever have."

Robin smiled sweetly at her. "Me as well."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Cabernet scooped them both up is a back breaking embrace. "Me too!"

Robin and Cherry chuckled at her innocence.

"There are some new things I can do as a transcendent too, though." Cherry spoke excitedly. "The soul and body fusion means that even if my body is utterly annihilated, then it will be restored in time so long as my soul is fine. In addition, I'll be able to perform physical feats that don't quite make logical sense, and I suspect that there will be some influence on my haki, too. However, the main thing is in regards to the name of my cultivation method; the Ethereal Star method."

Cherry started to shine and she seemed to transform into ghostly white, semi-transparent flame.

"This is a form of intangibility superior to that of Logia devil fruit. Haki attacks will likely still hit me, as well as soul focused attacks, but I'm not exactly weak to those." Cherry said, floating slowly through the air upside down.

Robin was giving her a skeptical look.

"Let's go already!" Luffy wrapped his arms around Nami, Cherry, Chopper, Brook, Jinbe, Pekoms, and Pedro, then yanked them down off the back of the elephant.

"""Ahhhhhhh?!?!"""

Cherry waved goodbye cheerfully as the others screamed for their lives and disappeared over

the edge.

Luffy thankfully had the consideration to not let them hit the deck hard or fall into the ocean, but their landing wasn't exactly pleasant either.

"Damn it, Luffy!" Nami angrily waved her fist in his general direction, since she wasn't able to stand with her shaking legs at the moment.

Everybody but Luffy, Jinbe, and Cherry were a bit shaky on their feet from that fall actually.

"Why are you two like this?" Cherry asked Nami and Chopper. "The trip up to and back down

from Skypiea was worse than this, no?"

"We're only human, you freak!" Nami countered.

"Reindeer." Chopper correctly sluggishly.

"Remind me to have Cabernet take you two on 'joy ride'... Usopp too." Cherry said.

"Nooo! I'm sorry I called you a freak! I take it back!" Nami whined.

Chopper looked like he was going to hurl.

Pedro had recovered somewhat enough to say, "The children were fine with her 'joy rides', are

they really that bad?"

"There is a significant difference between what the children think is fun and what Miss

Cabernet thinks is 'fun'." Brook added helpfully.

"Her top speed gets faster every day!" Cherry said proudly. Chopper hurled.