"He... he actually took down Bellamy, a man with a 55 million Belly bounty, with just one punch..."
Cricket, the Saruyama sub-story brothers, and Bellamy's entire crew stared at the "Hyena" lying crumpled on the ground. Then, they turned their heads in unison to look at the Straw Hat boy, who was currently rolling his shoulders and stretching his wrists. Every single one of them wore an expression of sheer, speechless terror.
That stunning punch—precise, stable, and ruthless—was replaying on a loop in their minds.
It was powerful! They truly hadn't expected this young man in the straw hat to be this terrifyingly strong.
"Phew, that took up way too much time. Zoro and the others are already far ahead."
Luffy pressed down on the straw hat atop his head and shook it with a bit of frustration. "I've got to hurry up and catch a Southbird. Shishishi! I wonder if they actually taste any good..."
With that, the dimwitted captain didn't spare a single glance for the miserable pirate "corpse" on the ground. Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, he sprinted off toward the southern forest.
Mirror Fusion. This was arguably Sherlock's strongest and most prized technique.
If the essence of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit was manipulating the boundary between illusion and reality, then the essence of Mirror Fusion was allowing the illusion to surpass reality itself!
Gungnir. Among the many weapons stored within Sherlock's Mirror Space, this blood-red spear—seized from Blood Wolf: Kohler Haska back on Little Garden—was undoubtedly the most powerful and peculiar.
Even so, if circumstances allowed, the "Sorcerer" preferred not to use this ominous object, which looked as though it were forged from pure, condensed blood. Every time he wielded Gungnir, a strange, inexplicable sense of unease crept into his heart.
Gritting his teeth, his face devoid of color, the Sorcerer tremulously raised his right hand.
"God-Killing Spear!"
Silently, the massive orb of light shattered into countless tiny arcs of blood-red lightning. Like a swarm of bees returning to their hive, they slowly converged, forming a long spear constructed entirely of crimson bolts!
Buzz—
A series of low hums, sounding like the tolling of a funeral knell, echoed through the void. As the electricity flickered, the entire area became saturated with a heart-palpitating aura of destruction!
With each successive fusion, the power of the mirrored weapon increased exponentially.
Compared to the experiment back on Drum Island, which had only maintained its shape for a fleeting moment, this Six-fold Mirror Fusion—fueled by Sherlock's cold fury and his medicinal enhancements—was on a completely different level of terror.
It was no exaggeration to say that this version of the God-Killing Spear was the strongest attack the Sorcerer had unleashed since obtaining the Mirror-Mirror Fruit!
(Just what kind of bizarre Devil Fruit did he eat?!)
Blackbeard stared blankly at the blood-red lightning spear in mid-air, its tip now locked onto him. Despite his absolute confidence in his own strength, the endless killing intent radiating from the sky made him feel, for the first time, that things were spinning slightly out of control.
"But that's what makes it interesting! Zehahahaha...!"
Faced with the world-shaking pressure of the Six-fold God-Killing Spear, Blackbeard didn't show the slightest hint of cowardice. He laughed boisterously as the eerie black smoke billowing from his body swirled and rose, gathering in his right hand. It formed a vortex of pure darkness, radiating a strange, gravitational pull like a black hole.
On the other side, due to the severe overextension of his mental energy, Sherlock's face was as white as paper. A violent headache, feeling as if thousands of steel needles were ravaging his brain, wracked his body. He looked so frail and unsteady that it seemed the frenzied man behind the glasses might collapse at any moment.
Yet, despite this, the Sorcerer kept his eyes locked onto the vicious man shrouded in black aura. His eyes, filled with chilling killing intent, flashed with a cold light. Then, as if expending the very last of his strength, he swung his hand down.
"Gungnir!"
"Black Vortex!"
The lightning of destruction collided instantly with the darkness that swallows all!
Deep in the eastern forest of Jaya, Zoro and the others were being driven to their wits' end by the Southbird's innate abilities.
"Agh! This damn Southbird!"
Usopp, his head covered in lumps from wasp stings, shouted in exasperation. "Just let me catch it! I'm going to braise it alive!"
"No, Usopp. This bridge-burning bird looks like it's better suited for a stew."
After confirming for the third time that there were no disgusting spiders nearby, Sanji breathed a long sigh of relief. As a slightly germaphobic, love-struck cook, he loathed arthropods more than anything.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure the stew is absolutely delicious!" Sanji's right eye, not hidden by his blonde hair, glinted with a cold, murderous light.
"Yeah, I'm counting on you, Sanji!"
Watching the two of them unite against their common enemy, Robin gave a faint smile. "That said, nothing can happen to that bird until we catch the Knock Up Stream."
"Besides, the real question is whether we can even catch it in the first place."
Hearing that, looks of embarrassment flashed across the faces of Sanji and the others. They truly hadn't expected a single bird to be this difficult to catch!
"I... I'm still a little worried about Luffy," the blue-nosed reindeer whispered while providing emergency treatment to the welts on Usopp's face. "Those pirates looked really strong. Luffy is all by himself, I'm afraid that if..."
"There's no need to worry, Chopper. You have to believe in your comrades!"
Zoro leaned against a large tree, arms crossed, looking cool. "Since the Captain said he could handle it alone, then all we need to focus on is catching that damn bird as quickly as possible."
(That's right. I have to believe in my friends.)
Listening to the green-haired swordsman, Chopper recalled the various scenes from Alabasta. His small, furry face filled with determination.
"Hey, you guys! Look at the sky!" Nami suddenly cried out, her beautiful eyes wide with astonishment.
Everyone looked up to see the night sky inexplicably bathed in a flickering, pulsing blood-red light. It looked as if a giant, broken red lightbulb was flashing in the distance, emitting a horrific, ominous aura.
However, this phenomenon lasted for only a few breaths before the night sky returned to normal.
Usopp scrambled up from the ground, his face pale with shock. "Hey, hey, hey! What just happened? Why was the sky blinking like that?"
"That light just now was..."
Sanji's expression shifted. That familiar crimson glow instantly brought back memories of the events in Alubarna.
(Believe in your comrades... huh?)
Gripping the hilt of the Wado Ichimonji, Zoro's face was as grim as still water. An incredibly bad feeling was beginning to stir in his gut.
Mock Town was now a field of ruins.
Among the rubble and shattered timber, only a few sturdy buildings remained standing. The air was thick with the acrid, scorched smell of ionized air, creating a scene of utter desolation.
If the previous battle between Sherlock and Burgess had caused significant damage to Mock Town, then the irrational clash between the Sorcerer and Blackbeard had effectively wiped the once-prosperous town off the map.
A few pirates, lucky enough to have avoided the aftershocks of the collision, crawled out from the debris. Looking around at the terrifying scene that looked like a natural disaster, they collapsed to the ground in terror.
As for the two protagonists of the clash, their conditions were vastly different.
A disheveled Blackbeard panted heavily. He looked down at the darkness still swirling in his palm, then looked at the unconscious, motionless Sorcerer across from him. His rugged face was a mask of suspicion and uncertainty.
(Strange... why did that lightning spear feel so weird? Was that really produced by his Fruit ability?)
One of the primary reasons the Dark-Dark Fruit was called the "most evil" ability was its power to nullify other Devil Fruit abilities through absorption.
Because of this, Teach was incredibly sensitive to the "Demon Power" within others. It was an instinct, like a predator sensing its prey.
But during their clash just now, Teach had felt a sensation from that lightning spear that was different from the aura Sherlock himself gave off. It was as if...
It was as if that blood-red spear contained a different "Demon Power" entirely, separate from the Mirror-Mirror Fruit!
Blackbeard narrowed his eyes. He looked around at the devastating power left behind by the God-Killing Spear: Gungnir, clicking his tongue in private amazement.
"And," he muttered to himself, "by all accounts, a Fruit this powerful shouldn't be missing from the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Was it left out on purpose? If so, what could the reason be?"
Blackbeard was a clever man with immense ambition and resolve. After thinking for a moment, his eyes lit up, and he broke into a hideous, gap-toothed grin.
Though he didn't have a lead yet, he felt it in his bones: he had just stumbled upon a massive secret...
A great secret that had been buried for many years!
"Zehahaha! Whatever the case, I can't let you leave now, Sorcerer!"
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