Beneath the darkened sky, dazzling golden light pierced the black clouds like the sun, shining down on the rolling sea.
Sengoku, transformed into a golden giant Buddha, floated in the sky with a solemn, dignified presence. He radiated such overwhelming righteousness that both Marines and prisoners around him felt the urge to bow before him.
But with a closer look, one could see that Sengoku's giant Buddha form was different from before.
Black markings had appeared between his brows like eye shadow, and spiral black patterns wrapped around his arms and chest. Dark lightning crackled around his body, while black clouds churned behind him.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but the Marines watching felt that Admiral Sengoku now carried something terrifying that he had not shown before.
If the Marines could not put that feeling into words, the prisoners around them sensed it clearly.
At that moment, facing Marine Admiral Sengoku gave them the same feeling as facing a vicious great pirate.
Yet with this form revealed, Sengoku did not attack like a raging Asura. Instead, he calmed down.
As he clenched his iron fists, pitch-black Haki flowed over them. His gaze was indifferent as he looked at the two men before him.
"This is my final warning, Yemu and Shiki. Surrender now, and you can spend the rest of your lives in Impel Down. Otherwise, I will execute you right here."
"Shihahaha…"
Hearing Sengoku's judgment-like words, Shiki laughed with utter arrogance.
"Hey, Sengoku, do you think you're Garp? I'll admit the way you look now is worth making me go all out. But if you think this is enough to beat me, aren't you overestimating yourself a bit? Shihahaha…"
After saying that, Shiki looked toward Yemu, who stood not far away opposite Sengoku, and spoke wildly.
"Hey, brat, what you're seeing now is the strongest form of the man called Sengoku the Buddha. He has perfectly combined his Devil Fruit and Haki. This is his absolute strongest power. With your current strength, your Devil Fruit's attack power may be powerful after awakening, but since you haven't mastered Conqueror's Haki coating, you won't be able to defend against his next attack. One careless mistake, and you'll really die. So, want to team up with me? If we join forces, with our combined strength, we can turn this around and kill Sengoku right here easily."
The moment Shiki said this, gasps rang out across the sea.
Even Sengoku's expression shifted slightly.
At that moment, even he had to admit that he had miscalculated. He had not considered this outcome at all.
With the trouble Yemu was capable of causing right now, if he joined forces with Shiki, Sengoku would definitely be defeated very quickly.
And then…
"Has Zephyr still not arrived…"
But just then, something happened that surprised both Shiki and Sengoku.
"No. I refuse."
Shiki froze, and his expression immediately darkened.
What he had proposed just now was an alliance.
In the past, the only two men he had considered worthy of such an offer were Roger and Whitebeard.
It was one thing for those two to reject him, but now he had been refused by a mere brat.
So he raised his rooster-like head high and looked at Yemu.
"Hey, brat, young people should know the height of the sky and the depth of the earth."
Yemu's calm voice rang in everyone's ears.
"Of course I want to know how high the sky is and how deep the earth is in this world. But getting that answer by relying on someone else wouldn't be much fun."
As he spoke, under everyone's gaze, Yemu moved. His eyes locked firmly on Sengoku before him.
"Since Admiral Sengoku has already shown his strongest power, I can't afford to hold back either. After all, I don't want to die. Next, let's use our strongest powers to end this fight."
"What!"
The moment Yemu said that, both Shiki and Sengoku were shocked.
"This guy still has a trump card? Has he also mastered Conqueror's Haki coating? No… If that were true, he should have shown it long ago…"
Just then, under everyone's astonished gazes, Yemu's body seemed to change like the Yarukiman Mangroves of the Sabaody Archipelago. From his shoulders, a golden flame bubble and a red heat bubble floated out.
After the two bubbles separated from Yemu's shoulders, they twisted and changed shape in midair, turning into a small golden flame figure and a small red heat figure. They landed on Yemu's shoulders and spoke in human language like little children.
"Yemu No. 1 reporting for duty!"
"Yemu No. 2 reporting for duty!"
"Huh!"
The sight left everyone stunned.
"What just happened?"
"What are those two things?"
Sengoku and Shiki stared at the two little figures on Yemu's shoulders, both somewhat unable to understand.
"What kind of ability is this?"
Just then, Yemu's voice rang out.
"Stop messing around. It's time to get serious."
"Oh!"
"Oh!"
As they answered in unison, the two little figures jumped into the air. Under everyone's gaze, they made a movement that nearly made Yemu black out.
The two of them actually began dancing in midair, performing a strange, perfectly symmetrical dance.
The ridiculous scene instantly shattered the tense, murderous atmosphere across the entire battlefield.
Even Sengoku looked stunned.
"What are they doing?"
At that moment, Yemu was already starting to regret giving these two little fellows part of his soul.
That was right. This was part of the Soru Soru no Mi's power, fully awakened through Dr. Furumi's experiment after interfering with the wavelength of Linlin's Lineage Factors inside his body.
However, unlike the original Soru Soru no Mi, the ability he had obtained could not extract the souls or life force of others. It could only split apart his own soul and life force, then grant them to other objects.
So after gaining this ability, the first thing he did was divide a small portion of his soul and life force and grant it to the Mera Mera no Mi and Atsu Atsu no Mi inside his body.
Before this, the Mera Mera no Mi and Atsu Atsu no Mi within Yemu's body had only been strange energies with consciousness.
But after Yemu gave them part of his soul and life force, they truly gained souls and lives of their own.
Just like now.
And Yemu's reason for doing this was simple.
It was to obtain the awakened power of those two Devil Fruits.