Chapter 53 - Invisible Thief, Unstoppable

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"What on earth is going on? Aaron should be fine... right?"

In a hidden spot near the Donquixote Auction House, Shuma anxiously waited for Aaron's return. Watching the enormous stone giant rampaging before him, he couldn't help but feel both awe and terror. The sheer commotion it caused was enough to make his heart pound.

With his current level of strength, he couldn't even begin to imagine how one could possibly defeat such a monster. Likewise, he doubted that Aaron—no matter how capable—could handle a creature of this massive scale. A wave of worry surged within him for Aaron's safety.

After all, he had witnessed it with his own eyes—the giant stone man had transformed from what used to be the stone fortress of the Donquixote Auction House. Had he not seen it for himself, he never would have believed such a thing was possible.

If Aaron was still inside that thing... then the situation was truly dire.

Judging by the furious, piercing roar echoing from the massive stone figure—one completely at odds with its colossal body—it was clear that the creature was enraged. Shuma could easily guess why: Aaron must have succeeded in stealing the Devil Fruit, but was discovered in the act, triggering the creature's wrath.

For a moment, Shuma debated whether he should go and check the situation himself.

But against a monster like that? He would be throwing his life away—and worse, he might only drag Aaron down.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Just as Shuma paced back and forth in agitation, a familiar voice came from behind him. Instantly, the dark cloud in his heart lifted.

He turned around quickly—only to find no one there. He wasn't surprised, though. He knew that Aaron must still be with Absalom, using the latter's Suke Suke no Mi (Clear-Clear Fruit) ability to turn invisible.

But the next second, Shuma froze in disbelief.

Aaron suddenly appeared before him, lifting the invisibility.

"Where's Absalom? How are you using the powers of the Clear-Clear Fruit without him?" Shuma exclaimed in shock.

"This isn't a good place to talk. Let's get out of here first," Aaron replied calmly with a faint smile, glancing toward the enormous stone giant nearby.

A moment later, he grabbed Shuma's hand—and together, they vanished once more into thin air.

"Amazing… that must be Aaron's Devil Fruit power! He did it—he actually stole Absalom's ability! No wonder he was so obsessed with that Devil Fruit at the Donquixote Auction House. It has such incredible potential!"

As another Devil Fruit user, Shuma immediately understood what was happening when his body turned invisible upon contact with Aaron. Excitement filled his mind.

As for Absalom—the "tool" who had outlived his usefulness—Shuma couldn't have cared less.

He had spent three days working alongside the man, and he utterly despised him. The perverted creep had reverted to his disgusting habits the moment he got out of prison. To Shuma, it was only right that Aaron had gotten rid of him. In fact, he considered it a good deed.

Meanwhile, Pica had completely lost his mind with rage.

He had unleashed the full power of his Ishi Ishi no Mi (Stone-Stone Fruit), merging entirely with the fortress and sealing every exit—but he still couldn't find Aaron, that infuriating thief.

The mission entrusted to him by Donquixote Doflamingo had failed. Worse yet, in his fury, he had disobeyed Doflamingo's orders and attacked recklessly, injuring Wapol and Gilbert. What made it worse—Wapol was dead, and not even by Pica's hand.

No matter how one looked at it, Wapol's death inside the Donquixote Auction House would spark chaos. Once this got out, the fallout for the Auction House—and for Pica himself—would be catastrophic. After all, the whole mess started because of him.

Anger and impulse truly were the devil.

He had ruined everything. Completely.

With Wapol's death throwing everything into disarray, Doflamingo's carefully laid plans in Vilia Port and across the Drum Kingdom were now in shambles.

There was only one thing left in Pica's mind: Destruction.

If everything was ruined anyway, then so be it. He would vent his fury—thoroughly.

And truth be told, Doflamingo had long desired to raze this cursed port city to the ground. Since Pica had already made a fatal mistake, he might as well throw his life away helping his young master fulfill that wish.

The destructive power of the giant stone man—Pica fused with the fortress—was nothing short of cataclysmic. He was like a super bulldozer, effortlessly leveling entire sections of the city. Within just a minute or two, a large part of the city center had already been reduced to rubble.

At this rate, it wouldn't take long for him to completely annihilate the heart of Vilia Port.

However, the city center housed the most profitable establishments of the major powers operating in Vilia. These were their goldmines, generating enormous wealth every day—there was no way they'd sit back and let Pica destroy them.

Even before their leaders could issue orders, countless armed men from various factions stationed in the city center rushed to counterattack.

And with both Wapol and Gilbert—two key figures of the Drum Kingdom—trapped inside the fortress, the city's defense forces also mobilized en masse to rescue them.

Gunfire and cannon blasts erupted across the city as volleys of bullets and shells rained down upon the towering stone giant.

Ordinary bullets were useless against him. Only heavy artillery could cause even minor damage. But since Pica could endlessly regenerate stone with his Devil Fruit powers, even that damage vanished in moments.

At this point, Pica's control over the Stone-Stone Fruit was far from the mastery he would achieve fourteen years later. The giant he created now was smaller in scale, but even so, it was already terrifying.

The stone colossus stood over a hundred meters tall. Even with its sluggish movements, its destructive power was overwhelming.

A single stomp could shake the earth. One punch could carve a massive crater into the ground.

"Die, you insects!"

Pica glared down at the tiny figures below him—so insignificant they looked like ants. With a cruel grin, he roared in that shrill, mismatched voice of his, before swinging a massive stone hand toward the artillery positions.

The soldiers manning the cannons screamed and scattered, desperate to flee—even wishing they had more legs to run faster.

A thunderous BOOM! erupted moments later.

The ground quaked violently. The entire artillery line—and every soldier too slow to escape—was wiped out, leaving behind a gigantic handprint carved into the earth.

"Aaron, you've really unleashed a monster this time. If this keeps up, Vilia Port is doomed!"

On a rooftop in the residential district, Shuma lowered his binoculars after watching the devastation, swallowing nervously as he turned to Aaron.

"Don't worry," Aaron replied, calm as ever, his gaze fixed on the colossal figure in the distance. "It won't be rampaging for long. This city doesn't belong to it."

Then he looked up at the dark, cloud-filled sky and sighed softly.

"Shuma… take a good look. This is what power truly is. If one day we can wield such strength—or even surpass it—do you think those who look down on us will still dare to?"

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