Plunderer: Master of the Multiverse

The world spun wildly, and when Alex steadied himself, he found himself back in the familiar cave he'd left behind.

A heap of cold ashes lay before him, the remnants of a bonfire he'd kindled in the cave long ago.

He brushed his fingers over the ashes, their chill confirming time's passage.

This marked Alex's third journey across planes, yet whether in X-Men, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, or One Piece, he returned each time without a clock, leaving him clueless about how much time had elapsed in the real world after his back-and-forth travels.

It seems that next time he crosses planes, he must devise a way to track the time spent in the real world after these round trips.

Due to the dizzying spin and weightlessness of plane-crossing, Lily slowly fluttered her eyes open at this moment. Instantly, her gaze widened, scanning the cave with a mix of awe and puzzlement, her small hand scratching her head in confusion.

She clearly remembered this cave, but her sudden return left her grappling with what had happened.

Then, Lily extended her palm, and it transformed into a swirling blizzard, snowflakes dancing in the dim light.

It was clear she was testing her Snow-Snow Fruit powers, checking if her One Piece adventures were merely a dream.

"Let's go, time to move…" Seeing Lily's bewildered expression, Alex flashed a warm smile, gently ruffling her hair as he spoke.

Trapped in this forest by the zombie outbreak, Alex had been unable to escape. Now, he brimmed with newfound confidence.

After six months of grueling training in the One Piece plane, his strength had soared to third-level Awakened. With Lily's support, breaking free should be within reach.

In the One Piece plane, Natural-type Fruits were countered only by seawater and Armament Haki. Now, with Lily wielding the Snow-Snow Fruit, Alex believed her self-preservation in this apocalyptic world was more than assured.

Stepping out of the cave, the sky outside glowed with dawn's light. Alex unsheathed the White Dragon sword at his waist, then leapt upward, the blade humming as it carried him and Lily into the heavens.

Though the skies above the forest teemed with birds, they were far safer than the zombie-infested ground below.

At the same time, Alex activated his invisibility ability, cloaking them in a shimmering veil. The duo soared on the sword toward Greenridge base, unnoticed by the occasional evolved beast or bird gliding through the air.

Whoosh!

But just as Alex thought their escape was secure, a blazing fireball, the size of a washbasin, streaked toward him, striking with pinpoint accuracy.

Alex's fist darkened to an inky black, infused with Armament Haki, and he smashed it into the fireball with unyielding force.

With a thunderous boom, the basin-sized flame shattered into a cascade of tiny sparks, scattering across the sky under Alex's blow.

A shadowy blur surged toward him—a scarlet bat, its wingspan stretching two meters, eyes glinting with feral hunger.

"Second-tier evolved beast—Fiery Bat," Alex muttered to himself, eyeing the crimson creature swooping closer.

He felt a pang of frustration. His invisibility was merely optical, useless against bats, which navigated by echolocation. Against such evolved beasts, his cloaking trick was powerless.

As Alex struck, his invisibility shattered, and the White Dragon sword, guiding him through the air, revealed his form. Instantly, four or five aerial evolved beasts spotted him, shrieking as they dove toward their prey.

Whoosh!

Though Lily remained silent, her reflexes were lightning-fast. As the winged beasts charged, her body dissolved into a torrent of icy wind and snow, surging toward them with chilling ferocity.

In her elemental state, Natural Fruit users gained the power of flight, untethered by gravity.

Alex stretched out his palm, and the White Dragon sword snapped into his grip. Freed from supporting Lily's weight, he commanded the metal chainmail on his body to keep him aloft, wielding the sword as a deadly weapon.

Within the frigid blizzard, the charging evolved beasts were encased in thick ice and snow, plummeting to the earth below.

Simultaneously, Alex's White Dragon sword sliced through the Fiery Bat, felling the second-tier evolved beast in a single, precise strike.

With his third-level Awakened powers and Lily's Snow-Snow Fruit, the duo carved a path through the forest's skies, exuding an unstoppable aura.

Gazing down from their vantage point, Alex soon spotted clusters of evolved beasts amassed at the forest's edge.

Beyond the forest, hordes of zombies lurked, but the evolved beasts formed a formidable barrier, preventing the undead from breaching the woods. A stark divide separated zombies and beasts.

"These zombies move with purpose, like they're being controlled…" From his aerial perch, Alex observed the forest's edge, a clear boundary like a river dividing armies, with few zombies daring to cross. His heart sank slightly at the sight.

Zombies were mindless corpses, driven by instinct. This was why, despite their numbers, humanity clung to slivers of survival.

But if these zombies were orchestrated, advancing and retreating with strategy, the consequences would be catastrophic.

Evolved beasts patrolled the forest's skies, and as Alex broke free of the woods, zombie beasts took flight in the open air.

With a shrill, ear-splitting caw, these creatures clearly detected Alex, and hundreds of corpse crows swarmed toward him, a writhing black cloud.

Yet, against this dark tide, a radiant storm of snow and wind rose to meet them—Lily's power unleashed!

For a Natural Fruit user, snow and wind were perfect for mowing down hordes of lesser zombie beasts, their area-of-effect devastation unmatched.

After consuming the Snow-Snow Fruit, Lily's crystal points had skyrocketed to 88, making her a standout among second-level Awakened.

Consider that the top second-tier evolved beast, the Raging Bear, nearly obliterated the guard team. Now, in raw power, Lily surpassed even that beast.

The snow and wind swallowed the corpse crows, freezing them solid in an instant.

Their rigid, frost-covered bodies rained down like a hail of dumplings, a breathtaking spectacle…

"The Natural Fruit's power is unreal!" Witnessing this, Alex couldn't help but marvel inwardly, his awe tinged with pride.

But at that moment, a heavy, ominous flapping echoed, and Alex's gaze sharpened.

A massive corpse vulture, its wingspan stretching three meters, soared toward them, its sheer size radiating crushing menace.

"Third-tier zombie beast—Corpse Vulture?" Alex's heart tightened as he studied the enormous creature gliding closer.

As the young heir of Greenridge base, Alex was well-versed in the region's deadliest zombie and evolved beasts. This Corpse Vulture was a notorious third-tier threat.

Taking a deep breath, Alex charged forward to meet it head-on.

Now, he and Lily moved in perfect sync, their teamwork seamless.

Lily's abilities excelled at crowd control, handling swarms of weaker foes, while Alex stepped up to tackle third-tier zombie beasts and evolved creatures.

"Whoa, look! People are flying up there, and that monstrous Corpse Vulture's on the move!"

As Alex and Lily cleared the forest, their aerial battle drew the eyes of survivors below, their shouts of shock ringing out across the wasteland.