Marcus stepped through the swirling purple portal, the bomb clutched in his arms. The massive explosive device vanished into the Nether alongside him.
"You know, I've never actually tested what happens when you detonate a regular bomb in the Nether," he muttered to himself, looking down at the timer as it counted down past the thirty-second mark. "Wonder if non-Minecraft explosives work differently here."
He'd prepared for this ahead of time, having carved out an empty section of the Nether specifically for dangerous experiments. The area was completely isolated from his main base and mining operations, just in case something went wrong.
He set the bomb down in the center of the prepared zone, then immediately started throwing ender pearls in rapid succession, teleporting himself to a safe distance. He barely made it behind a thick wall of obsidian before the bomb reached zero.
The explosion that followed was absolutely massive.
Even from his protected position, he felt the shockwave ripple through the Nether's superheated air. A mushroom cloud rose into the sky, dwarfing the twisted fortresses in the distance.
"Holy shit..."
When the blast finally subsided and the smoke began to clear, he carefully approached the impact site to assess the damage.
The crater wasn't nearly as large as he'd expected. Given the bomb's advertised destructive capability, supposedly enough to level half of Alubarna, he'd anticipated a much bigger hole.
Instead, he was looking at a pit maybe thirty blocks deep and fifty blocks wide. Impressive by normal standards, sure, but nowhere near what it should have been.
He crouched at the crater's edge, examining the exposed netherrack blocks. They looked completely undamaged beyond the blast radius, as if the explosion had simply... stopped working past a certain point.
"So explosions get countered by block regeneration mechanics too. Same problem as with the other bombs."
He'd run into this issue before when developing the void. He'd asked around and gotten hold of several E1, thinking they'd speed up his excavation work.
The blast radius had looked impressive enough, but the destruction was weaker than TNT. At the time, he'd wondered if maybe the Nether's extreme heat was somehow "cooking" the exploding eggs prematurely, reducing their effectiveness.
Since manual vein mining with his abilities was faster anyway, he'd abandoned that approach.
But this time bomb was different, way more powerful than those E1 exploding eggs. Yet it still hadn't caused the large-scale collapse he'd expected. The evidence was clear: non-Minecraft explosions, no matter how strong, couldn't overcome the block regeneration effect.
"If the force isn't enough to instantly shatter a block, then the explosion won't cause permanent damage," Marcus concluded. "The blocks just repair themselves faster than the explosion can destroy them."
It was actually kind of reassuring in a way. Meant that even if someone got their hands on serious firepower, they couldn't just blow up his bases.
He tossed another ender pearl and returned to the overworld through a different portal.
---
Back in Arabasta, the situation had improved significantly.
Thanks to the milk's detoxifying properties, Bon Kurei was not only cured of Miss Doublefinger's poison but actually looked better than before the fight started.
Clearly, Chopper hadn't just given him milk, the reindeer had probably fed him some of that food Sanji had been experimenting with. Maybe even some of the healing cuisine.
Not only did it restore vitality, but it seemed to boost physical strength as well.
Seeing that situation handled, Marcus made his way over to where the reindeer was tending to the other wounded.
"Chopper, I need you to check something for me real quick. I'm planning to head over to Vivi's location, something feels off over there."
Ever since the battle started, he had been monitoring his minimap religiously. Luffy's marker showed he was still fighting Crocodile, and he hadn't been teleported there via ender pearl, things were presumably under control.
But the rebel army camp was a different story. Vivi's marker, along with Nami and Alvida's, were completely surrounded by hostile red dots, a mix of CP agents and Mr. 3's icon.
The situation looked bad.
Mr. 3's Wax-Wax Fruit could produce wax as hard as steel. Alvida could probably smash through it with her mace, but even someone who could shrug off bullets and blades wasn't invincible. If she was trying to protect Vivi and Nami while fighting off multiple enemies...
He had initially assumed the wax wouldn't be strong enough to actually capture Alvida. But facing that many opponents at once? Even she couldn't protect everyone.
Chopper immediately transformed into his reindeer form, offering his back.
Marcus lay down flat, getting into position. Then he activated Soul Possession.
This power didn't just let him project his consciousness, it allowed him to directly select and inhabit specific targets. There were limitations, of course. He couldn't possess humans or other sentient beings without permisson. But Minecraft creations? Creatures he'd specifically crafted? Those were fair game.
It was basically like switching characters in a video game.
Marcus focused on one of the five iron golems he'd sent to protect the girls, visualizing the connection. His consciousness stretched across the distance, then snapped into place.
When his awareness cleared, he was looking through the golem's eyes, or rather, its visual sensors.
All five golems were standing in the middle of a crowd, completely surrounded. The press of bodies included genuine rebel soldiers, Baroque Works agents, and several suspicious figures in white that he immediately recognized as CP members.
Everyone was eyeing the iron golems, clearly unsure whether they were friend or foe.
Damn, I'm too late.
Marcus' golem-eyes tracked across the battlefield. Vivi and Nami had both been encased in wax sculptures, turned into candles, from the looks of it. The wax was already halfway up their bodies.
Alvida was still fighting, but she looked ragged. No visible injuries thanks to her Slip-Slip Fruit abilities, but she was clearly exhausted from fighting alone against overwhelming numbers.
As for the rest of the rebel leadership? Koza lay motionless on the ground, his condition unknown. Other members of the former Sand-Sand vigilante group had collapsed around him.
Standing over them were CP agents, weapons drawn.
The rebel army's entire command structure had been wiped out in one strike.
In the distance, the royal army had launched their assault. The main rebel forces were pinned down in combat, unable to break away and provide reinforcement.
It was a nightmare, enemies on all sides, leadership captured or killed, and no help coming.
Marcus' iron golem body remained perfectly still, processing the situation. Then he made his decision.
"Target: the guy with hair styled into three parts. All units, charge!"
His voice didn't come out of the golem's mouth, it resonated directly inside all five golems' heads simultaneously.
The four other golems, which had been standing around uselessly, suddenly focused their attention on the same target Marcus had identified. Mr. 3 stood in the distance, laughing maniacally as he watched Vivi slowly transform into wax.
CLANG. CLANG.
The iron golems began moving, and anyone stupid enough to block their path was sent flying. Their combined weight and strength was like being hit by a train.
But Marcus' movements in the golem he'd possessed were completely different from the others. His golem moved faster, with more human-like motions instead of the typical jerky gait.
The arms, normally rigid and straight, now bent at what looked like elbow and wrist joints. The legs moved with a walking stride rather than a shuffle.
And there was something else he was noticing.
Before this, when he'd given orders to his iron golems, it had always been through that Soul Possession ability. His consciousness remained in his human body while his voice carried over distance.
But now that he was actually inhabiting one? Everything felt... strange.
It might have been his imagination, but he could swear he felt the golem developing a mouth. Could sense breathing, even though golems didn't breathe.
If Marcus had been able to see himself from a third-person perspective, he would have noticed that while the golem's body remained blocky, the facial area was changing. The golem was becoming more human.
---
At the center of the battlefield, Galdino, known as Mr. 3, surveyed his handiwork with satisfaction.
His plan had been flawless. Absolutely perfect.
Sure, he hadn't been able to hurt that slip-woman with the iron mace, but that didn't matter at all. His Wax-Wax Fruit let him slowly transform people from the inside out, turning them into wax sculptures.
As long as Vivi became a candle, his mission was complete. Crocodile would be pleased.
All he needed now was to stall a little longer. Just a few more minutes.
And honestly? He couldn't even imagine a scenario where he failed. The situation was completely under control.
CP agents surrounded the area. Even if the rebel army managed to disengage from the royal forces, they couldn't break through quickly enough to save their princess.
And even if they did somehow make it through? So what? He'd already captured or killed every important rebel leader. Without command structure, they were just a mob.
"Hmm? What's that sound?" Galdino frowned slightly.
Miss Goldenweek quietly backed away while clutching her paint palette. "Those big white things are moving."
"What?"
Galdino turned his head and immediately saw one of the massive iron golems charging straight toward him. It wasn't being careful about who it trampled either, Baroque Works agents and CP members alike were knocked aside with equal prejudice.
"What the hell?!"
He'd been startled when these white giants first arrived with the rebels. They looked threatening as hell, easily three meters tall, built like walking tanks.
But when he'd sent people to test them and gotten no response, he'd relaxed. When he'd attacked Vivi and the others right in front of them and they still hadn't moved, he'd written them off as some kind of inactive defense mechanism.
But now they were active. Very active. And heading straight for him.
His hands moved on instinct. Wax began pouring from his body, rapidly solidifying into a defensive wall three meters thick.
If he'd had more time, he could have made it even thicker. But this would have to do.
Then, to his shock, the three-meter-thick wax wall began cracking apart like cheap plaster.
My wax is as strong as steel!
Crack. Crack. CRACK.
The wall shattered completely, chunks of wax flying everywhere.
Marcus' iron golem burst through, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground, bearing down on Galdino like a metallic avalanche.