Free Web NovelChapter 381: Chapter 381 – A World on Pause
PHOENIX NEST – MAIN OFFICE
"If before the system froze everything on its own..." Riser slid his fingers across the surface of the desk, feeling the cold contact of the material as he adjusted his posture. "...then now I need to see if I can do that by my own will."
He kept his gaze fixed on the open window, where the world was still moving normally. Flags in the distance fluttered, shadows shifted position, and life flowed continuously without any interference. The memory of the other world surfaced with precision, without distortion, like an intact record stored within his own mind.
Back then, there had been no decision. System 2.0 had acted on its own, locking everything to preserve stability. Now it was different. Control was in his hands, and the question was no longer about possibility, but about precision.
Riser slightly raised his chin and closed his eyes for a second, organizing his thoughts into a direct line.
"System, can you freeze the world?" He maintained a firm posture, without moving away from the desk, while his right hand remained resting on the cold marble.
[YES]
[DO YOU WISH TO TEST?]
"Yes." He did not hesitate, only adjusting the position of his fingers against the surface before finishing. "Do it now."
[EXECUTING.]
The command produced no sound, nor any visible displacement of energy. Even so, the process began at the exact instant the order was accepted, as if an invisible structure had been activated beyond common perception. The world did not suffer impact; it simply stopped continuing.
Ocean currents halted at the exact point they were in, without completing their next movement. Waves that should have crashed onto the shore remained suspended, foam frozen in the air, unable to fall. Ships crossing the sea were locked in incomplete positions, sails open without wind, ropes still, crews frozen mid-action that would never be completed.
Entire cities entered the same state. People stopped mid-step, hands remained suspended before touching objects, expressions stayed fixed without change. Markets, streets, ports, fortresses, everything was reduced to a single continuous instant that neither advanced nor regressed. The absence of change became the only rule in effect.
Even the sky stopped moving. Clouds did not advance, dissipate, or change shape. Light did not shift position, there was no movement of shadows. The world was not destroyed, nor altered. It had simply been placed on hold, as if removed from the natural sequence of existence.
The Phoenix Nest became an isolated point within that stagnation, an active core within a universe that no longer responded to time. The separation was not visible, but it was absolute. Everything beyond that limit was frozen in an eternal present, awaiting command.
[COMPLETED. HOST.]
Riser opened his eyes slowly, without haste, as if he were testing not only the system, but his own control over what had just happened. He did not move immediately. Instead, he activated Kenbunshoku Haki in a controlled manner, expanding his perception beyond the office walls.
The reading was direct.
The Phoenix Nest appeared whole in his mind, every corridor, every room, every point occupied by someone who no longer moved. The Kuja were positioned throughout the inner areas, some training, others moving, all interrupted mid-action, as if the world had been paused at the exact instant they were living.
Riser slightly adjusted the focus of his perception, advancing through the interior of the fortress until reaching the main chambers.
Hancock was in the room.
Her body was not lying down as before. She had begun to get up, one leg already out of bed, her torso leaning forward, her hair partially falling over her face. Her hand was resting on the mattress, mid-motion, without completing the next gesture.
There was no breathing.
The movement did not continue.
The position remained fixed at that exact point.
"And such a strange position to sleep..." Riser slightly tilted his head while keeping his Haki active, analyzing the scene with precision. "...but even so, she’s still beautiful."
He did not shift his focus immediately. Instead, he continued expanding his perception, passing through the room and advancing to another wing of the Phoenix Nest, maintaining fine control of the range without wasting unnecessary energy.
The field of perception reached Merlin.
She was in one of the internal areas, near a table where she was organizing her own items. Her body was slightly leaned, her hand extended toward a teacup. Her fingers were a few centimeters away from touching the handle, the movement interrupted before contact.
Riser kept Kenbunshoku active for one more second, analyzing the scene more precisely, and then slightly furrowed his brow as he adjusted the focus. Merlin’s position was not just interrupted; she was completely static, without any continuation of action, just like any other being in that world.
"Wait..." He tilted his head slightly, maintaining firm perception. "She stopped too?"
The thought came along with the analysis, direct and objective.
’Merlin isn’t from this world... she’s from the system.’
Riser slightly tightened the fingers of his right hand, as if testing his own logic while maintaining the active reading. The surprise did not come from the freezing itself, but from the target that had been affected.
"She should be an exception." He adjusted his gaze, still looking toward the point where the table was, even without needing to see it directly. "She’s not part of this flow."
[ALL NON-EXCLUDED INDIVIDUALS ARE AFFECTED BY THE COMMAND.]
[UNIT MERLIN WAS NOT MARKED AS AN EXCEPTION.]
[THEREFORE, SHE WAS INCLUDED IN THE FREEZE.]
Riser remained silent for a moment, absorbing the response as he slightly relaxed his shoulders. The logic was direct, without room for misinterpretation, and that made the system even more precise.
"So there’s no automatic privilege..." He slid his hand along the side of the desk, feeling the firm contact as he organized the next action. "Everything depends on me." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
’Even better.’
Riser closed his eyes for a brief second, maintaining full control over his breathing, before issuing the next command without hesitation.
"System, unfreeze only Merlin."
[PROCESSING.]
[TARGET ISOLATION: MERLIN.]
[LOCAL RESTORATION AUTHORIZED.]
The action was immediate.
The flow of time returned only to a single point within the frozen world. There was no visible transition for anyone outside, but for Merlin, continuity resumed exactly from the instant it had been interrupted. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Her fingers completed the movement.
Her hand touched the cup.
Her body leaned slightly forward.
The action ended.
The contact with the object occurred as if it had never been interrupted, but something did not fit. The sense of continuity failed for a fraction of a second, and that was enough.
Merlin stopped.
The cup remained in her hand, but her body did not proceed to the next movement. Her eyes adjusted slightly, her breathing returned, and her mind tried to organize what had happened in that nonexistent interval.
"This..." She tightened her grip on the cup’s handle, her fingers firming the contact. "...wasn’t normal."
Merlin kept her body still for a second, her eyes adjusting as her mind tried to fit the break in continuity.
The sensation was not of a complete interruption, but of an imperceptible jump, as if an entire fragment had been removed from the sequence without leaving a trace.
She drew in a deeper breath, her fingers tightening around the cup before easing slightly.
"That was magic..." Her gaze narrowed as her perception expanded with precision. "...and it wasn’t small."
Her magical flow opened in controlled layers, scanning the environment around her in search of origin. The reading was not superficial; she searched for signature, pattern, structure. The first impact came as absence, as if everything around had been turned off by a single command.
Merlin frowned.
’Everything... stopped?’
She immediately adjusted her focus, ignoring the surroundings and searching for something more specific.
"Riser..." The word came out low, but firm, carrying more concern than doubt. "Where are you?"
Her magic advanced in a direct line, tracking the signature she knew better than any other. It took no more than a second. The answer came clean, without interference, pointing exactly to a single active point within a world that no longer responded.
Her eyes opened slightly wider.
"In the office..." She steadied her posture, her body reacting before the analysis even finished. "Then it was you."
The decision came instantly.
Merlin adjusted her footing and pulled her magic into the core of her body, compressing the energy before releasing a dimensional jump. The space around her distorted in a controlled manner, like a clean fold without resistance.
FWOOSH.
Her body disappeared from the original place, leaving no trace, pulled directly by her own command.
___
PHOENIX NEST – MAIN OFFICE
Merlin reappeared inside the office, her position already aligned at the moment of materialization. Her feet touched the ground with precision, but her body moved half a step forward before stabilizing completely, the motion stopping at the next instant.
The cup was still in her hand.
She didn’t even notice.
Her eyes were already fixed on Riser.
"You." The word came out without pause, carrying direct confirmation as her chest still rose and fell faster than normal. "You were the one who did this, weren’t you?"
Her hand tightened on the cup by reflex, the liquid inside trembling slightly with the pressure.
’He stopped everything.’
Merlin took a step forward, reducing the distance between them without taking her eyes off him for a single second.
"The whole world..." She slightly tilted her head, her voice lower now, but still firm. "...is not moving."
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