Chapter 224: The Fruit that Revives at the Speed of Light
A few minutes later, Mabo, his entire body wrapped in bandages and temporarily out of mortal danger, leaned against the scattered wooden crates. He knelt and then stood up, striding step by step deeper into the warship. However, the next moment, his gaze was drawn to some fruit scattered on the ground.
"Is that... a Devil Fruit?"
On the dim floor, a strange fruit, entirely green and covered with peculiar leaf-like patterns, lay quietly.
The next moment, Mabo did not hesitate. He bent down, picked up the fruit, and stuffed it into his mouth, taking a bite. The intense smell and taste almost made him vomit, but the memory of hunger from deep within his past made him force the pulp down and, bite by bite, finish the entire fruit.
Soon, a new power flowed through his body, giving him a false sense of invincibility. His body straightened again, and he stood in the shattered cabin, lost in thought. The next moment, he turned his head to look in the direction from which the biting cold was coming. Then he turned and walked out through the large hole he had crashed through.
Kuina, in a simple kimono, gripped her Wado Ichimonji with both hands and launched a fierce assault on the Commodore in front of her, who was also a one-sword style practitioner. The two figures crisscrossed and collided, kicking up rolling snow on the endless frozen tundra.
One after another, sharp flying slashes tore out of the snow, either splitting apart giant coral formations or plunging into the crowd, cutting down one unlucky Marine or pirate after another.
After a brief stalemate, the two separated, retreating dozens of meters, and watched each other warily, their hands gripping their blades.
"He's clearly just a Commodore, but he's much stronger than the many Rear Admirals I've faced..." Kuina thought to herself, looking at the rank on the other's Justice cape.
The swordsman, wearing a Justice cape and also a kimono, looked at the Wado Ichimonji in Kuina's hand and frowned. "If I'm not mistaken, the sword in your hand is the Wado Ichimonji, a work of Master Shimotsuki Kozaburo. Are you the heir of the Shimotsuki family of this generation?"
"How do you know that?" Kuina asked coldly amidst the standoff.
To this, the swordsman, dozens of meters away, replied meaningfully, "Back then... not everyone chose to settle in Shimotsuki Village!"
Kuina heard him, and her brow furrowed slightly. From his words, it was not difficult to see that he, too, was a descendant of the group that had left the Land of Wano decades ago. Kuina was a little worried that he would report this to the Marines, which would affect the Isshin Dojo.
As if seeing the worry in her heart, the distant swordsman said in a deep voice, "Don't worry. Even though we have changed our names, the friendship of the previous generation still remains. I will not report you to Headquarters. Now, let's fight, little girl of the Shimotsuki family!"
As his words fell, the distant swordsman sheathed his sword. His gaze locked onto Kuina's slender body, and he bent down slightly, whispering, "Ittoryu... Iai..."
The next moment, his legs bent, and his entire body shot out like a cannonball, crossing dozens of meters. The blade, wreathed in Armament Haki, instantly slashed toward Kuina's slender, fair neck.
"First Style: Ridge Shadow!"
Kuina slowly exhaled a puff of white mist. Her gaze became sharper. She gripped her katana with both hands and, after leaving a perfect afterimage, instantly disappeared.
With a slight disturbance in the airflow, the sharp blade passed through the girl's neck, but it did not draw the slightest trace of blood. Instead, she dissipated like a dream bubble.
"What?!" The Commodore's pupils trembled violently, utterly shocked. Before his blade had missed, he hadn't even realized when Kuina had disappeared.
Just then, the young swordswoman's figure flickered and appeared behind the Commodore. She raised her hand, lightly flicked the blood from her sword, and slowly sheathed the Wado Ichimonji.
Click.
With the sound of the guard meeting the scabbard, the katana in the Commodore's hand broke, and his chest was instantly torn open. Blood gushed out like a fountain. The next second, the Commodore, realizing what had happened, his eyes rolled back, lost consciousness, and he fell face-first into the ice field.
Kuina slowly turned around, looked at the fallen swordsman, and, without caring if he could hear, said in a clear voice, "So far, you are the strongest swordsman I have defeated. If you have the chance to survive this battlefield, I look forward to fighting you again..."
After leaving these words, she turned and headed for the Vice Admirals' battlefield. As she had said, this Commodore was the strongest enemy she had ever defeated, but this battle had been relatively easy. Therefore, she felt it was necessary to challenge an even stronger enemy, such as an elite Vice Admiral of Marine HQ or a powerful minister of Totto Land.
Kyros gripped his greatsword with both hands, leading a group of gladiators and former royal army soldiers as he rampaged through the battlefield. Whether it was a Marine officer or a minister of the Big Mom Pirates, none were a match for him. Most of the people who encountered him ended up with their weapons shattered and their bodies covered in gashes, falling in a pool of blood.
His actions also attracted the attention of a Marine HQ Vice Admiral, who, without a second thought, attacked him directly. A man with a long skullcap and a beard swung his two large swords, cutting a bloody path through the pirate crowd as he headed straight for Kyros. In just a moment, the pirates and Homie soldiers blocking his path had been slaughtered, and the two sharp blades appeared before Kyros's eyes.
Kyros's expression changed, becoming fierce and extremely powerful. He swung his greatsword violently, directly blocking the two large swords.
CLANG!
The sound of clashing metal exploded. A powerful shockwave spread out, forcing the group of Marines and gladiators to stab their weapons into the ground to steady themselves.
In the midst of the fierce stalemate, Kyros's gaze fell on the long skullcap and beard of the man before him. He spoke the man's name in a low voice: "Strawberry."
Strawberry opened his eyes slightly, stared at Kyros's face, and said in a deep voice, "The champion of the Dressrosa colosseum with three thousand consecutive wins, Kyros. A man like you... why did you become a pirate? Were you coerced?"
"No, it was not coercion." Kyros casually pushed him back, turned, and swung his sword, aiming for the Vice Admiral's head. "Joining his crew allows me to recover to my peak period, and it also puts my family in a safer environment."
Strawberry swung his twin swords, taking a conservative stance to block the gladiator's repeated slashes. "Then why not join the Marines?" he said with a blank expression. "The Marines have a medical system second only to Mary Geoise. And Marineford is not just a war fortress, but also a gathering place for the families of Marines. Besides Mary Geoise, there is no safer place. We know about you, and we lament that you have become a pirate, Kyros."
"Is that so?" Kyros did not refute, but silently quickened his assault.
Seeing this, Strawberry no longer defended, but instead swung his two weapons, creating an impenetrable and fierce offense that clashed repeatedly with the heavy greatsword. As the two clashed, the sound of metal on metal continued to explode, and brilliant sparks bloomed every second. As they moved back and forth, the surrounding area suffered unimaginable damage. Many pirates were caught in the crossfire and killed by the aftershocks.
Soon, Strawberry, who was fighting at high intensity, gradually began to bleed. He was drenched in sweat and panting heavily. In this fierce clash, neither of them could gain an absolute advantage, and they were locked in a stalemate. But the golden chain behind Kyros was always there to heal him whenever he was injured, and it gave him infinite stamina. This caused Strawberry to be gradually pushed into a very disadvantageous position.
Just then, Hajrudin, who had transformed into his dragon-man form, finished off the opponents who had been besieging him and transformed into a sky-blotting pink dragon shadow. He lowered his head from the sky and spat out countless sharp wind blades, which enveloped the Marines and pirates behind him, who did not have a life chain.
In that instant, the dangerous wind blades rained down from the sky. If they hit, they would surely cut a land of ravines in the boundless azure ice field, causing the Marines and the Big Mom Pirates to suffer considerable losses.
Seeing this, Strawberry's already grim face became even more grave. "This can't go on... Someone has to stop him!"
"You can't even take me down, a person in the middle to lower tier of the Archangel Pirates, yet you want to go and deal with Hajrudin? Aren't you a bit too confident?" Kyros wreathed his blade in his unskillful Armament Haki, gritted his teeth, and with all his might, chopped at his opponent's neck.
Seeing this, Strawberry had no choice but to put away his thoughts and focus on dealing with Kyros's attack.
In the distance, Fujitora and Katakuri, who had been fighting, saw this and stopped their movements, turning to face the distant, sky-blotting pink dragon shadow.
"The Giant God Soldier?—" Fujitora, his clothes disheveled and panting slightly, gripped his cane-sword and, while searching for a meteorite in outer space, said in a low voice.
"This is no longer accidental collateral damage. This is intentional," Katakuri said, looking up at the falling wind blades, his face incomparably grim. "That guy Hajrudin... is he taking this opportunity to take revenge for Mama killing that giant hero?"
Katakuri raised his trident, Mogura, which was wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, and swung a destructive blow imitating his mother's at Hajrudin in the sky. "IKOKU!"
However, the next moment, an outwardly released Haki streaked across the atmosphere, directly deflecting Katakuri's move.
"Is this—advanced Armament Haki?" Katakuri and Fujitora simultaneously turned to look at the heavily armored figure who was arriving with the snowstorm.
At the same time, one after another, incredibly sharp wind blades cut through the sky, tearing the atmosphere before abruptly falling onto the ice-covered battlefield.
And just at that moment, one after another, giant python-like tree roots extended from underground. Like octopus tentacles, they coiled around huge chunks of rock and earth, holding them above the Marines' heads.
"..."
"Is this—the Woods-Woods Fruit?!"
"Ryokugyu isn't dead?!"
"No... even if Ryokugyu were seriously injured, he wouldn't be this weak!"
A towering, ancient tree with a human face on it instantly rose. It extended its branches and roots, coiling around the dilapidated warships and giant rocks to block the path of the wind blades. One after another, the wind blades were blocked by the giant rocks and warships. When they shattered, the giant tree-man used its own body to block the wind blades for the Marines.
"That face..." Yelena looked at the face on the giant tree and fell into a brief silence, a hint of shock in the eyes beneath her gas mask.
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