Chapter 106: Severance Fruit, Thousand-Face Nine-Tails!
Without a doubt.
The figure that suddenly appeared from the air was no stranger to the three present.
He was the very reason they had gathered here.
The Zodiac.
"Nezumi!"
He was actually on this island, right beside them.
"You really are as elusive as the rumors say."
Cracker grinned, a savage smile spreading across his face. "And the ability user just now... he's called 'Inu'!?"
That codename alone explained everything.
The person disguised as 'Miss Spider' was also a top executive of The Zodiac, one who had never appeared on the seas before.
"Looks like our plan has been seen through completely, huh?"
Hanafuda, arms crossed, looked at Drug Peclo beside him.
"..."
The Major Undertaker's fists were clenched tight.
Under his ridiculous clown mask, his eyes were bloodshot, teeth grinding in a terrifying grimace.
He was so enraged he couldn't even speak.
SWISH! (x3)
The next moment, the three vanished instantly.
BOOM!
Cracker's massive body erupted with power as he swung his giant sword down at Nezumi's head.
ROAR!
Hanafuda transformed instantly into his beast form, swinging his massive dragon tail toward Nezumi's midsection.
SHING!
Peclo's scythe glowed, slicing toward Nezumi's neck.
The combined Haki of the three shook the entire cave instantly.
But...
"Shh."
Nezumi merely looked at them and whispered. "Quiet down."
As his words fell, three doors appeared out of thin air, instantly swallowing their attacks.
Nezumi took a step forward and vanished into the air.
The next moment...
BOOM!
Countless blades sprouted from every corner of the cave.
"It's his ability!"
"As tricky as the rumors say!"
Seeing this, Hanafuda and Cracker frowned immediately.
Although there was no definitive conclusion about Nezumi's specific ability in the outside world, analysis of his assassination traces had led to rumors.
It was said this Zodiac executive could move through the air and manifest blades from anywhere to kill enemies from blind spots.
So now, they instinctively coated themselves in Haki to defend against the incoming slashes.
But...
"Hm!?" (x2)
In the very next instant, their expressions changed drastically.
Because...
SLICE!
To their shock—the blades sprouting from the cave weren't aimed at them, but...
At the ground!
SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! SLICE!
Under their wide-eyed gazes, countless slashes cut through the cave walls and rocks as easily as tofu.
Then...
"!!!" (x3)
Moments later, the three realized—the sky visible through the cave roof was moving away.
Weightlessness hit them. They were falling!
Yes—standing on the ground, they were now plummeting deep underground.
If someone could see inside the massive island, they would be horrified.
Centered on the cave, the island's interior was being sliced by giant invisible hands.
The sliced ground softened and folded like paper, then was kneaded and reshaped by those giant hands.
At this moment, the entire island became a colossal "Building Block", folded and transformed by the player named "Nezumi."
But interestingly—no matter how much the interior changed, the surface of the island remained exactly as it was.
Under these circumstances, the foundation beneath the cave was completely hollowed out—so they kept falling until they reached the bottom layer of the island.
Immediately after...
RUMBLE!
RUMBLE!
Layer upon layer of "Mountain Blocks" stacked up, cutting off the sunlight and the surface world.
The ground beneath them was sliced apart, then walled off by massive earthen barriers.
When they finally hit the bottom...
The three were completely separated.
"..." (x3)
Looking at the drastically altered terrain around them, their expressions were filled with disbelief.
"This guy's ability... what the hell..."
They couldn't understand what had happened.
Meanwhile, on the surface...
Nezumi stood inside the now-hollow cave.
Under his mask, his eyes watched the changes on the screen in his mind.
[Fusion Fruit - Severance Fruit (Cut-Cut Fruit) LV5]
[Fusion Materials: Dice-Dice Fruit LV4 + Snip-Snip Fruit LV5]
[Fruit Effect: Combines abilities of both fruits. Grants the body hardness and blade transformation of the Dice-Dice Fruit, and the cutting and reshaping ability of the Snip-Snip Fruit.]
[Extra Fusion Effect - Free Severance]
[Can choose different slash modes: 'Trim', 'Sever', and 'Annihilate'.]
[Trim: Can cut any non-living solid matter and reshape it. Even Haki-infused matter can be easily cut. Only cuts without destroying internal structure. Cut objects recover after a period.]
[Sever: Against living beings, slash damage is amplified. Slashes can penetrate the surface and destroy internal body structures directly.]
[Annihilate: Awakening Effect. Can cut non-substantial objects and energy, completely destroying their internal structure. Consumes massive stamina.]
Yes—what Nezumi used was one of the abilities of his Fusion Fruit, the Severance Fruit: 'Trim'.
Combined with the Flower-Flower Fruit, he could reshape the island's terrain at will.
Its name was...
[Air Slash · Trim · Island Blocks]
"I tried to control it, but there was still some noise... Should be fine, right?"
After doing this, he glanced toward the outside of the cave, muttering.
Then, he stepped forward.
A door opened in the air.
Nezumi jumped in, heading underground.
At the same time, outside the cave.
RUMBLE!
Miss Spider (Inu) stood outside, feeling the tremors from below.
Not huge, but not small either.
So...
Puru Puru Puru.
Puru Puru Puru.
The Den Den Mushi in her hand rang immediately.
Looking at it, Miss Spider wasn't panicked.
The nine color-shifting fox tails behind her swayed. The three most magnificent tails turned into wisps of fox fur and fell from her back.
Then, something incredible happened.
As the three tails hit the ground, rainbow smoke rose.
Then...
VMMM! (x3)
The smoke condensed, and three figures formed out of thin air.
They were 'Hanafuda', 'Cracker', and 'Drug Peclo'.
Watching this, Miss Spider... no, Inu's expression remained unchanged.
"This cost a fortune."
She muttered.
In her eyes, the Fruit Encyclopedia screen was visible.
[Fusion Fruit - Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Thousand-Face Nine-Tails LV5]
[Fusion Materials: Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Nine-Tailed Fox LV5 + Clone-Clone Fruit LV3]
[Fruit Effect: Combines abilities of both fruits. Enhances the transformation ability of the Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit.]
[Effects by Level]
[LV3: Gain full fruit effect. Can transform into the Mythical Beast 'Thousand-Face Nine-Tails'. Gains Zoan transformation and greatly enhanced stats. Can transform into anyone by touching any body part, even copying armor or clothes.]
[LV4: Deep-Dive Development. Copies life aura after transformation. Can obtain part of the target's memories (up to one month of memories).]
[LV5: Fruit Awakening · Thousand-Face Fox. Gains Zoan Awakening transformation with flame clouds. Can perform 'Perfect Transformation'. Copies target's abilities and physical stats (weakened version).]
[Extra Fusion Effect - Nine Tails, Nine Visages]
[The main body and each tail can store one 'Perfect Transformation' form. Tails can detach to transform independently. After the transformation ends, the corresponding tail vanishes and regrows in three days without a stored form.]
[Both tails and main body can only maintain one transformation at a time.]
[Cannot copy oneself.]
"Nine-Tailed Fox Fruit LV5, plus Snip-Snip Fruit LV5, plus the fruit on Nezumi... The second payment from the Revolutionary Army and the profits from Baroque Works are almost all gone."
Inu muttered, looking at the distant coasts.
As she said, awakening two fruits and upgrading another almost emptied Roy's recently healthy finances.
But undoubtedly—if this attempt succeeded...
"It will all be worth it."
Whispering, she picked up the ringing Den Den Mushi.
Click.
As the call connected, an anxious voice came through.
"Miss Spider, what was that tremor? What happened?"
"BIG MOM's and Hanafuda's men are agitated. What should we do?"
Having obtained Miss Spider's memories, Inu knew the speaker was one of the leaders of the assassins guarding the perimeter.
Clearly, the tremor had caused a commotion outside.
But...
"It's fine. Probably just a sea quake."
Inu glanced at 'Hanafuda', 'Cracker', and 'Peclo' beside her, smiling softly.
She spoke calmly, stating the 'fact': "The meeting is going smoothly... nothing happened."
☆☆☆
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