King felt his strength continuously draining away, leaving him unable to muster any energy.
"Is it because of this blade?"
He stared at the sword, wanting to pull it free, but the torment of flames made it impossible to move.
Matsuri couldn't stay here watching him forever—she still intended to go help Ren. So she pulled several black nails from her waist, each about the length of an arm and thicker than a thumb.
She drove those nails ruthlessly into King's hands and limbs. King immediately felt an even more intense wave of powerlessness wash over him.
Now King felt as completely drained as if he'd relieved himself forty times in a single day. His entire body had gone soft, as though every bone had been pulled from his frame.
"This is... Seastone...?"
He said in surprise, while a bad premonition crept into his heart.
If even this woman had Seastone as her trump card, could her master possess such things as well?
He couldn't help but worry about Kaido. Even if Kaido and Big Mom had strong resistance to Seastone, having it suddenly driven into their bodies would still drastically reduce their combat power.
And in fact, King's guess was spot on.
Ren did indeed have quite a few Seastone devices hidden on his person.
Wano Country possessed vast deposits of Seastone ore—he couldn't possibly let that go undeveloped. He just rarely used them. On the Grand Line, many people relied on Devil Fruit abilities as a means to grow stronger, and without a doubt, Seastone could absolutely serve as a strategic weapon.
He had always controlled the Seastone mineral veins. After fully mastering the Door-Door Fruit, he had even transferred those veins into another dimension entirely.
So even though Ren appeared to be at a disadvantage, he wasn't necessarily unable to turn the tables. As long as he found an opening, he could catch Kaido or Big Mom off guard. If he then struck with everything he had, killing one of them wasn't impossible.
However, before he got the chance to use the Seastone, something unexpected happened.
A man in a white suit wearing a mask appeared abruptly beside Captain John. His arrival came without any warning whatsoever, as though he had teleported.
Still, his appearance immediately drew everyone's attention.
A smug expression appeared on Captain John's face. He began laughing without any attempt to hide it, giving Shiki and the others a bad feeling.
"Someone from the World Government?"
Wang Zhi raised an eyebrow, his expression hostile.
They clearly hadn't expected Captain John to have kept such a hidden card. What was even more infuriating was that he was suddenly joining forces with the World Government!
However, probably only Shiki was truly outraged by this. Wang Zhi and Silver Axe didn't think much of it—as long as there was profit to be had, they had no qualms about dealing with the World Government.
"What a joke, John! You actually teamed up with those World Government scum!" Shiki immediately started cursing.
"We're scum? That's rich coming from a pirate." The masked agent sneered, then said no more.
Instead, he looked at Captain John, intending to take him and leave right away.
But Captain John didn't choose to leave immediately.
He had gone through great trouble to lure everyone into this cavern. Although it was a pity that the Inazuma group hadn't come in, he was still quite proud of having tricked Shiki, Big Mom, Wang Zhi, and Silver Axe all at once.
"It's such a shame, Shiki—all of you walked right into my trap!" Captain John laughed.
His smug appearance made Ren shake his head in disbelief. But since Captain John thought he had victory in his grasp, he clearly couldn't resist explaining everything before making his exit.
"Look up, you fools! I've planted countless bombs throughout this place!"
"Hahahaha—you lot who've been eyeing my treasure, being buried alive here is a fitting end for you all!"
"What?!"
Kaido looked up with an ugly expression. Only now did he notice the remains of the Ancient Guardians embedded halfway into the rock walls.
"Is that bastard going to detonate all of these?"
"That's exactly right, Kaido! You've grown quite a bit," Captain John said with a twisted grin.
"We're a thousand meters beneath the sea. Think about it—what happens when this cavern is blown apart?"
His gaze swept across everyone present. "Devil Fruit users aside, even those without abilities—can you withstand the water pressure and destructive force of the ocean currents?"
"Are you going to keep blabbering, Mr. John?" The masked agent glanced at him, unable to resist reminding him.
"Sorry, got a little carried away."
Captain John grabbed the agent's arm, then added one last thing. "Enjoy your final moments!"
And then, before Shiki and the others could make a move, he vanished from the cavern. At the same moment, the entire cavern was engulfed in crimson light!
The cores of the Ancient Guardians embedded in the ceiling and walls all lit up at once.
Everyone felt as though death itself had descended upon them. Perospero was especially panicked.
"What do we do, Mama!"
Big Mom, whom he had called out to, looked grimly at Wang Zhi and Silver Axe as they scrambled back the way they came, but could do nothing more.
"Linlin, you should know too—there's no time to escape now!" Kaido roared.
BOOM—
A machine in the distance exploded first!
The entire cavern was immediately filled with cracking sounds from all directions.
Ren took this opportunity to move to Matsuri's side.
"What should we do, Lord Ren? Should we stop these machines?" Matsuri wasn't too worried—she knew Ren could control these machines.
But her words clearly dealt a heavy blow to the captured King. A wild guess formed in his mind.
"No need. I'll take you out directly," Ren glanced at King and said simply.
With everyone else in chaos, no one was paying attention to him. Ren switched to the Soul of Doors and discreetly opened a cross-dimensional portal, grabbing King and stepping through.
Inside the door, Matsuri still seemed unwilling to let it go.
"Lord Ren, are we just letting that John escape?"
"Let him escape? No, he's a dead man. It just depends on whether that guy keeps his word," Ren said.
When Captain John was leaving, Ren had seen Redfield seize the final opportunity and teleport away along with him.
That fool John—if he had left immediately with the agent, the Red Count would never have had a chance. But he just had to run his mouth at the very end.
By now, he must have already been subdued by Redfield.
[
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