Chapter 378: Chapter 378: Blackbeard’s Second Ability
Chapter 378: Blackbeard’s Second Ability
The sun had already sunk a little, hanging on the horizon and casting an oblique glow on the sea. The sea breeze stirred the waves, which refracted the light into a shimmering, gem-like phosphorescence.
Even though the battle was over, the ice on the island showed no signs of melting. The wind climbed ashore and shuttled through the ice-and-snow-covered streets, bringing a bit of coldness that brushed against the body.
"It’s already four in the afternoon. Including travel and rest time, we’d best settle things here before the sun sets,"
Reiner said, looking at the time and making a rough estimate.
According to Vegapunk’s news, CP0 was estimated to arrive at Egghead the next morning. The person who had revealed the information to him should be Stussy, so the accuracy should not be too far off.
However, Reiner knew that there was also a mole among Vegapunk’s satellites. The news that they were going to help Vegapunk had probably also been learned by the World Government.
This trip back would probably be another big battle. Constantly traveling and fighting, traveling and fighting... the physical consumption was fine, but mental fatigue always needed rest to recover.
"Speaking of which, you maintained Gear Fourth until the end of the battle this time. Are you okay?"
Reiner couldn’t help but glance at Luffy.
When he had first seen Luffy in Gear Fourth, he could probably only last for about ten minutes. After deactivating it, he was basically half-dead.
Later, with continuous battles, the time he could maintain Gear Fourth had slowly become longer and longer. This was the first time he had seen Luffy voluntarily deactivate Gear Fourth after a whole battle.
"Ah. I don’t have to worry too much about the time limit of Gear Fourth now,"
Luffy nodded at Reiner, looked at his own palm, and clenched his fist.
His recovery ability had always been very fast. Before, it was because the consumption of Gear Fourth was too exaggerated. Even with his Haki improved, he was still easily drained in battle.
But now, his control over Haki had become much stronger. He could maintain Gear Fourth with lower consumption. Coupled with his powerful recovery ability and constantly growing Haki, he had finally mastered this form perfectly.
At the very least, the situation of suddenly running out of steam in the middle of a battle would no longer happen.
"This also means that the development of the ’Rubber-Rubber Fruit’ has basically reached its end."
Reiner was lost in thought.
The upper limit of Haki was very high, and there was still a chance for continuous improvement later. But if the fruit didn’t awaken, then the Rubber-Rubber Fruit could only be the Rubber-Rubber Fruit. Gear Fourth was basically the limit. Reiner also couldn’t think of any other tricks he could play with it.
But as for awakening... Luffy had basically reached the extreme in terms of Devil Fruit development. The only thing left was probably the stimulation of his will.
Reiner remembered that Vegapunk had once said that Zoan-type Devil Fruits housed the will of the corresponding creature. The so-called awakening was not only a breakthrough in ability but also a battle of wills.
If the ability user’s own will was not strong enough, they would instead be devoured by the fruit’s will after awakening. The idiotic Impel Down Jailer Beasts were the most typical example.
In this point, Mythical Zoans were different from other ordinary Zoans and Ancient Zoans.
The will of the other two types was more manifested in their biological habits. Like the Jailer Beasts, they were basically no different from animals that were only in human form.
But Mythical Zoans originated from mythological forms. The so-called will was also closely related to the symbolic factors in the legend. The Sun God Nika represented laughter and liberation.
Laughter was fine. Luffy lived like a college student every day. As for the other, liberation...
During the Wano Country arc, he had even specially gone to fight Law and Kid first, but when Luffy was beaten unconscious by Kaido, there was not a single sign of him awakening.
It was unknown if it was because he was there, which made the pressure on Luffy insufficient, or because he hadn’t met Momonosuke, which would have made Luffy establish a stronger emotional connection to Wano.
But there was no doubt that the awakening of this fruit was not simple. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been that no one had been able to do it for hundreds of years.
"Let’s go."
Without thinking any further, he looked up and locked onto Blackbeard’s and Zoro’s positions. The three of them quickly left the spot.
On the other side of the island, unlike the world of ice and snow that had frozen everything, this place was now as dark as if it were shrouded in darkness.
A large number of streets were filled with a deep black mist, as if one would fall into an abyss with a single glance. Countless buildings had collapsed into ruins and were slowly sinking. The black mist was like a bottomless pit that would devour everything.
Clang!!
A fierce spark flew. Teach’s thick wrist was wreathed in Armament Haki and held above his head. His whole arm looked like a pitch-black steel pillar that was firmly blocking the two descending swords.
Zoro’s right eye was grim. The blades he held were creaking under the stalemate. As the blood in his arms surged, his muscles and veins bulged and swelled up a size.
"Nigori-zake!!"
His Haki went berserk, as if a ferocious vajra’s phantom had condensed behind Zoro, looking down at Teach with angry eyes!
"One-Face, Two-Arm Great Majesty of Virtue: Two-Slash!!"
Zoro roared in a low voice. His arm strength surged, and his two swords shook Teach away. At the same time, he swung his swords, and two huge, red, crescent-moon-shaped slashes converged into an ’X’ shape and flew out swiftly!
Clang!!
Teach’s eyes widened in shock. He quickly raised his arms and crossed them to block. The brutal flying slash slammed into his arms, pushing his feet to scrape against the ground as his body rapidly retreated.
Bang!!
Teach’s entire back smashed heavily into a mountain wall. The slashes left two giant, intersecting cracks on the mountain, and then the small mountain collapsed with a ’rumble’, and a rolling cloud of dust and smoke gushed out.
"Poison Dragon!!"
The Magellan undead leaped onto the roof of a dilapidated house. A viscous poison quickly formed from its back, finally converging into a ferocious purple dragon that pounced viciously at Blackbeard.
"Roronoa..."
"Damn it! How can he be so strong!"
In the dust and smoke, Teach’s face was extremely grim as he gritted his teeth and stared deadly at Zoro.
He had, of course, read the reports of the Wano Country incident and the latest wanted posters of the Straw Hat crew. The fame of the crew had now reached a point where no one on the seas did not know of them.
If he remembered correctly, Roronoa’s latest bounty should only be 1.711 billion, right? The amount was definitely not high in his eyes, who had a bounty of 3.9 billion. But the other’s strength was even greater than the Hawk-Eye Seraphim he had encountered on Kuja Island.
He even began to suspect if the title of the world’s strongest swordsman had quietly changed hands at some point.
"Tch—"
Teach scoffed with a grim face. Faced with the ferocious poison dragon that was attacking him, he propped himself up with the stone wall behind him and stood up, extending his five fingers forward.
"Kurouzu!!"
Teach’s palm turned pitch-black. A mist of darkness gushed out from his palm and began to spin like a fan. An invisible gravitational pull tightly pulled the diving poison dragon towards his palm.
The deadly poison that ordinary people would avoid at all costs was now like a mud ox entering the sea, completely swallowed by the bottomless dark hole!
"Zehahaha! Don’t waste your energy! It’s useless no matter how many times you try!"
A corner of Teach’s mouth lifted into a sinister grin, a hint of pride inadvertently showing in his eyes.
"Darkness can swallow everything! No matter what kind of ability, it will be reduced to nothing before me! It can even do this..."
As he spoke, a sharp glint flashed in Teach’s eyes. His jewel-and-ring-covered palm was aimed at the charging Zoro, and the black mist began to spin again.
"Kurouzu!!"
A gravitational pull suddenly acted on his body. Zoro’s pupils constricted in shock. Teach’s hand was now like a vortex that would suck everything in.
"What’s going on! Can it also affect non-ability users and objects?!?!"
Seeing the surrounding rocks being attracted and flying towards the other’s palm, Zoro gritted his teeth and took a horse stance, stabbing his sword into the ground in an attempt to stop his uncontrolled body from flying out.
"Zehahaha! The gravity of darkness can absorb and crush everything! Just like a black hole! Even light is no exception!"
Teach laughed wildly, his gaze ruthless to the extreme.
Kurouzu could not only generate gravity to absorb everything, but it could also seal the opponent’s fruit ability at the moment of contact. Zoro was not an ability user, so the second effect did not work on him. But the gravity from the darkness could even affect non-ability users and even objects.
Ability users who relied on their fruit’s ability to fight would mostly be at a loss after their power was sealed. Some would even directly lose their combat ability. But non-ability users were different.
If it were in the past, he would never have easily used this move on Zoro.
Those who did not rely on Devil Fruit abilities were generally more skilled in close combat, especially a master of swordsmanship like Zoro. A frontal fight would only give him more of an advantage.
But he was the exact opposite. Because of the all-absorbing characteristic of the Dark-Dark Fruit, he could not elementalize like other Logias to evade damage. Instead, he would also absorb and bear all attacks. This was simply a disaster for him, whose sense of pain was much higher than that of ordinary people.
But times were different now. He had already obtained another power that was enough to crush everything!
As long as he could catch the other...
A sinister, sharp glint flashed in the depths of Teach’s eyes.
Hiss!
Crackle—Crackle!
Just as Zoro could no longer resist the gravity and was about to fly into Teach’s hands, a cluster of fierce fire and a bolt of lightning appeared in the sky.
"Thunderflame Storm!!"
Frieren’s face was expressionless. She floated in the air on a platform of converged flying sand, and the cold staff in her hand gushed out with explosive flames and violent lightning.
"Black Snake Reiner...!"
Teach gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words from between them in anger.
Every time he saw these undead, he couldn’t help but remember how he had lost the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and several of his subordinates at the other’s hands.
Faced with the fierce, intertwined lightning and fire tornado, Teach had to give up on targeting Zoro and instead released his dark power towards the sky with both hands at the same time.
"Kurouzu!!"
Even the elemental energy could not escape the gravity of Kurouzu and was completely unable to break free from the powerful vortex in Teach’s palm.
Faced with this scene, Zoro’s expression was unchanged, still calm.
Never mind the abilities used by the undead, even the undead themselves were creations of an ability. The threat they could pose to Blackbeard was minimal.
The undead were on the field from the beginning to act as a distraction. Although it was difficult to directly injure Blackbeard, it was enough to provide cover and a certain degree of suppression.
The core of this operation, the true main attacker, had been Zoro himself from beginning to end.
While Teach’s two hands were used to block the extremely large-area thunderflame storm, Zoro’s feet tapped the ground continuously, and he charged straight up, dragging his two longswords.
"Roronoa...!!"
Teach’s eyes were resentful. He gritted his teeth and stared at the charging figure. A pillar of black mist gushed from his back and rushed up towards the sky, blotting out the sun!
"Darkness: Liberation!!"
With his angry roar, a large number of objects were revealed within the madly surging black mist. All the things that had been absorbed by the darkness before were all released.
Rocks, trees, shattered houses... countless objects fell from the sky, smashing towards Zoro.
Even the poison dragon that had been absorbed by ’Kurouzu’ before, under the crushing gravity, had long since lost its original shape and had turned into a rain of purple poison that poured down.
Zoro pushed off with his toes, his body like a swimming dragon as he weaved through the falling debris. The poison fell onto the ruins on the ground, and the stones immediately turned purple and began to corrode.
While dodging, Zoro leaped several times and quickly closed in. He held his sword behind him, and a scarlet light flashed in his eyes. His sword energy erupted as he swung his sword fiercely!
"Three Sword Style: Crone Tiger: Tiger Hunt!!"
Clang!! Clang!!
Two slashes, like the sharp fangs of a fierce tiger, bit and shattered everything in their path, and flew at Teach with undiminished momentum!
"What!"
Teach’s eyes widened in shock. He quickly raised the steel claws on the back of his hand and crossed them in front of him to block.
Clang—Boom!!
The powerful slashes struck the steel claws, creating a shower of sparks. They pressed down on Teach’s body, and his two feet plunged into the ground. A roaring tiger’s head was imprinted on the crushed earth.
Two sprays of blood flew up. Even though he had blocked the slashes, Teach’s arms were still cut with bloody gashes.
Zoro’s fierce aura did not diminish. He dragged his two swords behind him and charged up swiftly.
"Pain, pain, pain, pain! It hurts so much!"
The wound was extremely painful. Teach wailed, and while clenching his fists, he stared at the approaching Zoro imperceptibly, a sinister look in the depths of his eyes.
"Just like that... a little closer..."
A cold glint shone from the wolverine claws hidden behind Teach’s back. A layer of translucent purple energy wave gathered on the cold blades, exuding a decaying aura of death.
Zoro clearly did not notice this hidden little move. He still thought the other was suffering from pain and was unable to parry. He crossed his hands and held his two swords vertically at his sides, preparing to take the opportunity to end the battle.
However, the moment he charged in front of the other...
The dagger was drawn!
"Die, Roronoa!!"
A corner of Teach’s mouth lifted into a sinister grin as he suddenly erupted, swinging the wolverine claw that was emitting an aura of death and viciously tearing down!
"Etching Death Claw!!"
This is bad!!
Zoro’s pupils constricted in shock. His beating heart paused for a moment. All the hairs on his body stood on end, and his entire person felt an inexplicable chill, as if he were in an ice cellar.
His Observation Haki faintly stung his temples. The purple energy attached to the steel wolverine claws gave him a strong premonition that he couldn’t block it.
ZING!!
The aura of etching death transformed into three giant purple wolf claws. At the critical moment, Zoro gritted his teeth and used all his strength to twist his waist, trying to dodge.
Hiss!
Although his reaction was timely, the wolf claws still grazed his shoulder, tearing open his skin and flesh and bringing up a large splash of blood.
Then, the giant wolf claws continued with undiminished momentum and clawed at the ruins, easily tearing them open like cutting tofu, leaving three giant trenches.
Soon, a wisp of purple began to spread from the scratches on the ground. Even the steel bars buried in the ruins were easily cut through and rapidly decomposed under the corrosion of the purple energy.
"This is...!!"
With a fiery, stinging pain, Zoro looked at his left shoulder, his expression grave and a little panicked.
His wound had also been dyed with this strange power. It was eroding his flesh and blood and beginning to spread to the surroundings. Even using Armament Haki could only slow it down, not completely block it.
Zoro made a decisive move. His eyes hardened. He gritted his teeth and swung his sword!
Hiss!
"Urgh, urgh...!!"
Blood suddenly gushed out. Cold sweat broke out on Zoro’s forehead. He had actually, with a ruthless heart, directly dug out a large chunk of flesh from his shoulder!
(End of Chapter)
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