Chapter 393: Shadow Legion, Waiting
Step.
Step.
Step.
Behind the fallen bodies of the marines, that door leading to the underground of the Tenshukaku had already been opened.
And at this time, Rat, wearing a rat-head mask, was walking on the stairs inside the door.
Those deep and secluded stairs extended all the way downwards, as if they were going to extend all the way to the bottom of the sea.
"The space has been distorted... even the power of the Door-Door Fruit cannot be activated—is it Imu's power?"
Rat calmly made his judgment.
He could perceive that the surrounding space was clearly being stretched and distorted.
Moreover, in the air, there was distinctly a power similar to Seastone—that was the "restriction" left by Imu.
"This kind of defensive measure, plus the location of the Tenshukaku... it's indeed very tight."
Rat sighed.
He could imagine.
If it were under normal circumstances, entering this space located at the bottom of the Tenshukaku would originally be an extremely difficult thing—after all, Marineford was stationed with Admirals and a large number of Marine generals long-term.
Even if someone forcibly entered, they wouldn't be able to activate their fruit ability in this distorted space.
And once it dragged on long enough, the Marines would inevitably discover the abnormality.
"It's indeed not inferior to the defensive strength of Impel Down..."
Rat admitted this.
But...
To the current Rat, even this kind of distorted space had lost its meaning.
VMMM!
Right now, from Rat's body.
Dazzling starlight abruptly burst forth.
He raised his hand, his finger gently tracing across the space in front of him.
The next moment...
VMMM!
Pitch-black shadows swept through the entire stairway, and a massive rift was cut open out of thin air in the space in front of him.
And closely following...
VMMM!
The surrounding space that was distorted and stretched by Imu's power actually began to change abruptly the next moment.
Silently, the entire space was like a twisted Rubik's Cube—its length, structure, shape, everything began to change according to Rat's will.
And besides that.
In that continuously changing space, there were also countless overlapping shadows.
From within the shadows, one could seemingly see pitch-black human figures patrolling and searching within this space.
That was strikingly exactly...
[Paramecia · Shadow Legion Fruit]
[Lineage Factor Creation · Fruit of the Stars]
[Obtains the ability to manipulate nearby space]
[The user can create a "Shadow Legion" in space. Each Shadow Legion possesses a portion of the user's main body's abilities. They will not die; even if destroyed, they will be reborn in the shadows]
Yes.
What Rat was using right now was no longer a "Devil Fruit" restricted by Imu.
But the "Fruit of the Stars" created by him, drawing inspiration from a certain anime work in his previous life, combined with the "trials" on the Aster not long ago.
And quickly...
"Found it."
As those countless black shadows swept past the surroundings like a legion, the gaze beneath Rat's mask opened and closed slightly.
The next moment, he reached out his hand and waved gently.
VMMM!
Thus, space was torn apart again, revealing the thing that existed in the depths of this distorted space.
And Rat took a step forward, already crossing the distance of space, and arrived in front of that thing.
That was a massive mechanical structure.
On the mechanical structure, there was a massive lever, engraved with the World Government's iconic cross star emblem.
And more importantly...
In the space behind this mechanical structure, Rat could clearly see the deep-sea seawater continuously circulating and changing at an exaggerated speed.
Yes.
This space underground in Marineford connected strikingly exactly to the deep sea beneath the sea surface, connecting to...
"The Tarai Current."
As Rat murmured in a low voice, he also gently raised his hand, his fingers waving downwards slightly.
The next moment, that massive lever was pulled down.
Thus...
Rumble!
Accompanied by a massive booming sound in the deep sea.
Rat saw the continuously circulating seawater of the Tarai Current, as well as the faintly visible Abyssal Power within the seawater, all begin to rapidly eliminate at this moment.
In a short period of time, that massive and violent ocean current directly eliminated a full third of its portion, and that massive amount of Abyssal Power also vanished out of thin air by a similar amount.
"As expected..."
And seeing this scene, beneath Rat's mask, Roy's face also revealed a look of comprehension.
Just as he guessed.
"The Tarai Current—this massive special ocean current that has existed since the establishment of Marine Headquarters, does not exist naturally."
"Marineford, Mary Geoise, and Impel Down all have a similar mechanical structure existing in their depths."
"They use Imu's Abyssal Power as an energy source, controlling the flow of the Tarai Current, forming a massive, insurmountable 'barrier'."
"Rocks's body is buried below."
Roy already had this answer in his heart.
He couldn't help but think of the "key" Rocks gave him thirty years ago, as well as Rocks's incredibly bold "plan".
"Looking at it this way, that guy really managed to pull it off..."
And upon thinking of the "gains" Rocks mentioned, which could be obtained once his plan succeeded.
Even the current Roy couldn't help but feel his heart pound.
He knew very well.
If Rocks's plan succeeded, then he only needed to receive all the gains from Rocks's plan to directly cross the long time span and obtain the power truly sufficient to eliminate Imu!
But clearly...
"I can't be anxious yet."
Quickly, Rat suppressed the excitement in his heart.
"I've only opened one of the three mechanisms right now, it's not the time to be excited yet."
His gaze looked at the Tarai Current in front of him, which although weakened by a third, was still continuously circulating.
"Next are the two mechanisms at Mary Geoise and Impel Down."
In all fairness.
Normally speaking, either of these two mechanisms is extremely difficult to touch—even for the current Zodiac, if they brazenly forced an attack on Impel Down, the victory or defeat and losses would actually be hard to estimate.
As for Mary Geoise, let alone that—as Imu's lair, even the current Roy didn't dare to set foot easily.
But clearly, the current situation was not a "normal" situation.
"Right now, it's the 'Paramount War'..."
Rat raised his gaze slightly, as if he could see the fierce battle above Marineford from within this deep-sea space.
Then, he chuckled softly.
When the wind and waves are big enough, and the chaos is intense enough.
Opportunities will naturally appear.
And clearly, the giant waves stirred up by this war were still continuously strengthening.
So, there was only one thing he needed to do.
That is...
"Wait."
Wait for the moment the big fish leaps out of the water.