Chapter 254: Immortal Body vs. Life Fixation
Shark Star's loud voice echoed throughout Fish-Man Island, reaching everyone's ears and causing countless fish-men and merfolk to be momentarily stunned.
But soon, they came back to their senses and headed for the deep sea. As they ran, the fear on their faces faded somewhat, replaced by a subtle hope. As early as a year ago, they had already learned of the new king's intentions. And in his year-long call, a longing for that land called Terra had grown in them. This was true even for the conservative factions who were opposed to this matter.
Gradually, everyone on Fish-Man Island began to walk in a direction away from the bubbles. A single sentence echoed in everyone's minds. "Board the Noah and head for the surface world!!"
Looking out, a tide of millions of people was surging, rampaging through the streets like a tidal wave.
This scene made the faces of some of the World Government officials and the agents who had intended to stop all this change. As well-trained agents, it was no problem for them to deal with fish-men who had ten times the arm strength of a human. But when their numbers reached the astonishing tens of thousands, the result was different. To rashly block them would only result in being torn to pieces.
Then, to avoid being torn to shreds by the angry fish-men, these officials and agents tactfully hid in the ruins.
This scene made the several members of the God's Knights who were in the middle of a battle frown.
"This won't do." Quilinguame calmly dodged the attacks of several giant weapons and turned his head to look at the citizens who were gradually escaping Fish-Man Island. "In this way, the plan to annihilate Fish-Man Island cannot be completed."
Then, he temporarily gave up his stalemate with the several people, soared into the air, and in mid-air, once again activated his ability. In that instant, an invisible wave swept through, and more and more giant beasts materialized from the dream world, chasing after the fleeing fish-men. But soon, these ferocious and terrifying dream demons were blocked by one after another of young girls with various appearances, wings, and halos, and were jointly slaughtered.
On the other side, Junko, whose entire body was wrapped in bandage-like arrows, had at some unknown point crossed the battlefield and had arrived directly at Fukaboshi's location. Her heterochromatic eyes happened to reflect the scene of the portal disappearing, and she was slightly dazed.
SHING—
It wasn't until the sound of a sharp blade being drawn was heard that she gradually came back to her senses. She slightly lowered her head, her face as black as the bottom of a pot. "This is going to be difficult."
The goal of the God's Knights' trip had been to, while the Marines and agents were annihilating Fish-Man Island, capture the Mermaid Princess, Shirahoshi, and bring her back to Mary Geoise. However, the speed at which the Marines had arrived was slower than they had imagined. On the contrary, the Archangel's people had arrived first and had already taken the Mermaid Princess away from the very beginning.
On the other side of the battlefield, Somazu, while wrestling with Hajrudin in his pink dragon form, saw the scene near Junko and understood that the plan was difficult to achieve. He then retreated several dozen steps and shouted to her, "Hey, Junko! Shamrock! Should we continue with the plan?!"
Somazu's voice reached the ears of Shamrock, who was fighting in the ruins of an apartment, and made him frown. But the torrential assault coming from the front made him unable to spare much thought to respond.
After a long while, Junko abruptly raised her head. Her cold gaze swept toward the black-haired young girl who was standing with her sword in both hands in front of her, and the blue-haired mermaid she was protecting.
"Continue! This mission is not from the Commander or the Five Elders. There is no possibility of giving up. It doesn't matter if the target has disappeared. As long as we capture these pirates, our mission still has a chance!"
With that, Junko used her fruit's ability, transformed a sharp blade, and charged straight at Kuina and Fukaboshi.
"Fukaboshi, open the pre-prepared Den Den Mushi!" Kuina whispered, and then, holding her sword with both hands, she sent a sharp slash at Junko. The crescent-shaped slash cut through the atmosphere, tearing a bottomless trench in the ground as it flew straight for Junko's body.
To this, Junko did not dodge. A cold killing intent flashed in her eyes. She raised her hand and once again extended an arc with an arrowhead, instantly taking control of it, turning it around, and sending it back at Kuina.
"Is this..." Kuina raised her hand and cut down the slash she had just sent out. Her brow furrowed tightly. "a Devil Fruit ability?"
Behind her, Fukaboshi took out the detonator for the bombs. But looking at the many figures who were helping to clear out the monsters and helping the fish-men and merfolk escape, he ultimately put the button down. After a moment, he took a deep breath and instead activated the treasure Den Den Mushi that was connected to the entire island, placing it next to another.
At the same time, several young girls with halos above their heads and pure white wings on their lower backs were scattered in various places, holding live broadcast Den Den Mushis and monitoring the entire battlefield.
In a castle deep within Terra.
Louis and Arcordon, who had come to Terra for a vacation, sat on a sofa, watching the live broadcast.
"The God's Knights... they've dispatched four of them at once. What a grand gesture!" Arcordon said thoughtfully, taking a bite of an apple. Now that the God's Knights had suffered so many casualties, for the Five Elders to still send out four of them... it made him click his tongue in amazement.
Louis's gaze fell on the battlefield where Yelena and Shamrock were fighting. "What do you think of Shanks and Shamrock?" he asked pointedly.
"Hmm..." Arcordon heard him, and his chewing motion paused. He fell into thought. After a while, he replied in a muffled voice, "The Roger Pirates' educational level is not bad. Not only in terms of character, but also in terms of strength, Shanks is the stronger one."
It was clear that Arcordon had not just learned of this matter, and he had his own views and thoughts on it. But after swallowing that bite of apple, he thought for a moment and added, "However, his immortal body is indeed very difficult to deal with. Compared to Shanks, he might have his advantages."
However, Louis, after hearing this, posed a sharp question. "If one day, Shanks were to be controlled and unable to break free, are you confident you could defeat him?"
Arcordon was taken aback and gave Louis a strange look. After some thought, he gave a very serious answer. "I have to say, for me to defeat Shanks is a very difficult matter. Compared to winning, the probability of me taking him down to hell with me is much greater." As someone who had sparred with Shanks many times, Arcordon knew better than anyone just how astonishing his ever-stronger Conqueror's Haki was. In his many battles with him, Arcordon had clearly sensed that if his own Haki were not also a strong point, he might have been suppressed to the point of being forced out of his Logia elementalization. This was also what puzzled him. Shanks had clearly shown no ambition for conquest, yet he possessed an extremely powerful Conqueror's Haki.
"Is that so?" Louis nodded after hearing this, and without explaining his reason for asking, he quietly skipped over the topic.
Just then, the image on the screen underwent a special change. Countless human-sized cannonballs streaked across the sky and, with a piercing whistle, fell in the direction of Fish-Man Island, creating a series of terrifying fireworks.
This turn of events also made the several Flügel who were broadcasting subconsciously look toward the source of the cannonballs. The live broadcast Den Den Mushis they held in their palms also turned, and the images they saw were fully presented in the distant Terra.
"Is that..." Arcordon raised an eyebrow, putting down the apple he had just picked up. "The World Government actually sent the Marines to destroy Fish-Man Island. Aren't the Five Elders worried that the Marines will become war-weary because of this?"
In the sea entrance of Fish-Man Island, in the direction of the mermaid cove, one after another, warships entered in a line. The Buster Call-scale warships were lined up, continuously bombarding the island.
"So, the Five Elders chose Akainu to carry out this mission of destruction." Louis's gaze passed through the screen and landed on the red figure at the bow of the giant warship. "Marine HQ Admiral Akainu... this isn't the first time he's carried out such a mission. He naturally won't have any war-weariness."
Hearing Louis's words, Arcordon subconsciously followed his gaze to another screen, looking thoughtfully at Akainu, who was dressed in a red suit and had his arms crossed. "The hawk among hawks... Akainu—"
After a moment, a look of interest appeared in Arcordon's eyes. "I hear you can teleport here, right? Should I go over? Yelena and the others are already having a hard time dealing with the God's Knights."
However, just as he looked at Louis, he found that a mysterious portal had opened at some unknown point. Louis's wings were slowly disappearing into the rippling, starry-sky-like scene.
"Since you're already here, just help me look after Terra." After leaving this one sentence, Louis's figure completely disappeared, and the mysterious gate of light, after a few flickers, completely dissipated.
"..."
Arcordon looked at the spot where Louis had been sitting, his expression abnormally excited, wanting to speak but holding back.
...
Cannonballs, like a rainstorm, fell from the sky, landing on a luxurious apartment complex. A sky-high flame erupted, razing the entire cluster of buildings to the ground and leveling the surface by several meters.
This terrifying commotion made both sides of the fighting battlefield tacitly stop, looking toward the distant source of the cannonballs. Immediately after, countless soldiers in Marine uniforms left their warships, opening fire to block the nearby citizens of Fish-Man Island from leaving. In the deep sea around the bubble, several Vice Admiral-class warships were also cruising. Giant searchlights illuminated the seabed, searching for any fish-men trying to leave the bubble.
Somazu looked up at the cannonballs streaking across the sky. The originally tense expression on his face gradually eased, and a smile appeared again. The Marine fleet that had brought destruction had arrived. Although only 28 warships had made it, the weapons and cannonballs they carried were enough to level Fish-Man Island, along with the royal palace. What's more, the one leading this fleet was the notoriously ruthless Admiral Akainu. Even if this super Buster Call couldn't annihilate all the fish-men, Akainu, with his Logia-type Magma-Magma Fruit, was more than capable of turning Fish-Man Island into a desolate land of molten rock.
"Today, Fish-Man Island will become history!"
Somazu waved his large hand, and countless thorns, each with sharp barbs, extended toward Hajrudin in his pink dragon form, instantly surrounding him. At the same time, Somazu leaped high, moving quickly on the thorns. He headed straight for Hajrudin with his weapon in hand, a cold, merciless killing intent in his eyes. "Hurry up and hand over that Shirahoshi! If you do, maybe you still have a chance to leave!"
If he had a choice, Somazu did not want to directly face a Sea Emperor's pirate crew. Compared to a direct clash, he preferred to capture his target and leave, letting Akainu and his fleet deal with the fish-men and pirates.
Facing Somazu's countless thorns and shouts, Hajrudin raised his hand and tore off his shirt, revealing his incomparably hard scales. A fierce light flashed in the eyes under his ferocious dragon horns, and a fatal roar came from his cavernous mouth, which was filled with fangs.
BOOM!
The deafening roar turned into a terrifying lightning, instantly annihilating the one after another of spreading vines and enveloping Somazu's body. And Somazu, seeing this, although a little surprised, did not dodge, but let the thunder roar blast him until he was covered in wounds.
The lightning dissipated. A black flame of rebirth ignited, and the half of Somazu's face that remained turned up at the corner, revealing a mocking smile. "You are far too weak compared to that brother of yours, Loki!"
Hajrudin ignored his mockery. His heavy, double-bladed giant axe was once again dyed a jet-black color, wreathed in inky-black Haki lightning, and he swung it at Somazu's head.
And Somazu saw this and also raised the sharp blade in his hand, wreathed it in the ultimate Armament Haki, and also slashed at Hajrudin's neck.
SHING—
The giant axe and the blade, wreathed in Haki lightning, crisscrossed, landing directly on each other's bodies.
"SPLORT—"
"So-so..." Somazu, half his head lopped off, leaped over the splashing blood, and stepping on Hajrudin's shoulder, he pounced at his next enemy. The black flames ignited again, and the half of his head that had been cut off was restored to its original state.
However, the next moment, a cold battle-axe had already enveloped his body. Immediately after, the sharp axe blade came chopping down, instantly splitting him in two. The giant axe, its momentum undiminished, smashed directly into the plaza, splitting open a canyon-wide fissure.
At the bottom of the canyon, Somazu, with only half his body left, while his body was repairing, stared blankly at the pink dragon-man who was almost the size of an Ancient Giant above.
Hajrudin's neck was stained red with blood. A deep, bone-exposing wound was self-healing at a rate visible to the naked eye, and in just a moment, there was not a single scar.
"..."
"Is this... an immortal body?"
"The Archangel isn't here. How could he possibly be self-healing?!" Gradually, Somazu's expression became abnormally excited, his pupils trembling violently. "Could it be that they, just like us, have obtained an immortal body from a certain existence?"
At this moment, the incomparably holy form of Archangel Louis appeared in his mind, and he subconsciously shivered.
On the outskirts of Fish-Man Island, countless merfolk and fish-men were forced back by the rain of cannonballs and the bullets of the Marine soldiers, and had to get away from the coast to avoid the gunfire.
Just then, a piercing hum, connected by the Den Den Mushi, spread throughout the entire island. Immediately after, a young girl's voice, containing a faint, bewitching charm, sounded.
"Uta's concert is about to begin! Have all of you in the Marines prepared your earplugs?"
At these words, the group of Marine flag officers' faces instantly changed. They decisively gave their subordinates the order: "Everyone, put on the earplugs distributed by Headquarters!!"
Soon, the soldiers, who had rehearsed many times, put on their earplugs in the shortest possible time. However, the young girl's voice, which sounded again, left them astonished.
"Just kidding! Earplugs are useless."
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!