Trinity · Darkness-Dark Space

Call out,

"What did you do—"

A figure flashed, and Luffy, already clenching his fists, instantly turned and charged towards Lia! Even if he were slow-witted, he now knew that his carelessness and 'arrogance' had harmed his crewmate! Although hitting a girl wasn't Luffy's style, however:

"Give me back Roman!?"

Luffy, who was Luffy along, suddenly turned around and slammed his fist, which was wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, into the ground behind him! Because a fist with a blazing white aura was coming from behind, he had no choice but to turn around to deal with it.

Even with a rubber body, one wouldn't dare to be careless and take a punch head-on without any defenses in the face of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

"You are the one—"

Bang!

Two fists, one black and one white, collided violently! Although Blackbeard didn't have Conqueror's Haki Entwine, his Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the most destructive Paramecia fruit, could still shatter space, making up for his lack of offensive power.

"What do you want to do to my cute little sister?!"

"Eight-Flower Bound!"

"Song of Plunder - Snowstorm Slash!"

"Water Strike!"

At the same time, Robin, Brook, and Jinbe launched their attacks simultaneously at the young girl, Lia! These three were seasoned veterans who had witnessed the true wickedness of human nature and the ruthlessness of pirates; they wouldn't hesitate to act when the time came! No matter how bizarre the ability, eliminating the user as quickly as possible was always the right thing to do—

Although they all subconsciously avoided touching the girl's vitals.

"How gentle,"

However, the rising darkness suddenly enveloped Lia, and both Brook's icy slash imbued with the aura of the underworld and Jinbe's high-pressure water bullet were perfectly absorbed upon striking the faint darkness, like ripples on water! Robin:

"Waaah~~"

The arm that had grown from the girl's dress was instantly devoured by the Dark-Dark Fruit ability, causing Robin's hands to twitch violently. Meanwhile, the previously pitiful girl calmly spread her hands, facing an attack from a group of powerful figures.

"I have already identified myself as the enemy, so you don't need to hold back, otherwise..."

"It would make me feel guilty."

At the same time, the darkness emanating from the girl surged and spread endlessly in all directions, threatening to engulf the entire Whole Cake Chateau. Wherever it went, everything was plunged into a bottomless darkness! It turned into black and white, like an ink painting, and the black beneath the girl's feet continued to thicken, as if it might overflow the canvas at any moment, flowing everywhere and polluting everything.

"Dark Hole!"

"What?!"

On the other side, aboard the Sunny Merry, which was towing the Blackbeard Pirates' warship like a kite on the high seas, Nami's suddenly raised voice even drowned out the rumbling thunder and cannon fire, causing Zoro to turn his head in surprise to look at her.

"Waaaaah, Roman's gone—"

????

"Stop crying, Chopper! Explain yourself! What exactly happened?"

Even Zoro was taken aback.

Throughout the journey, no matter what difficulties he encountered, even when Roman kept saying "There's no way," "We can't win," or "Let's just wait to die," he always managed to find a solution. He was definitely the epitome of reliability. How could he be "gone" so soon after the war began?

This is not scientific!

"... That's how it happened. Roman got bumped into by the other party, and then..."

"Don't panic,"

Nami rubbed her forehead as she looked at the little reindeer crying its eyes out on the other side.

"Roman should be alright; the fact that you can still communicate with us via 'Den Den Mushi Paper' is the best proof. The enemy's ability should only have temporarily sealed Roman away or banished him to another dimension. We just need to figure out a way... How's the situation on your end?"

The simplest method, of course, is to defeat the Devil Fruit user, rendering all their abilities ineffective. However, it probably won't be that easy, considering that the infiltrating team includes equally reliable partners like Robin and Jinbe. They would undoubtedly think of the same methods Nami could come up with immediately.

Brook:?

Although I usually have a funny afro, I'm also a very reliable skeleton in battle, yo ho ho~~!

"This is bad. Luffy and Katakuri are being held back by Blackbeard alone. We can only fight and retreat..."

???

"No way, is that Teach... really that strong?"

Nami and Zoro were both astonished. Luffy had just defeated the Strongest Creature, Kaido —although it was with his brothers and Yamato, he was still one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, and a former second-in-command of the Big Mom Pirates. How could Blackbeard...?

"It's true, that Teach is a monster! He has three top-tier Devil Fruit abilities... no, I should say that the three siblings have three different Devil Fruit abilities, and when they work together, even Luffy has a very hard time fighting them."

To say it was strenuous is an exaggeration by Chopper; in reality, on the battlefield of Whole Cake Chateau:

Fourth Gear—

"Dark Water!"

Like a monstrous python, a plume of black smoke bit down, instantly interrupting Luffy's attempt to enter Gear Fourth Gear. At the same time Blackbeard's fist, the size of a sandbag, came crashing down with a shockwave.

"Air Quake - Shattered Jade!"

Boom--

Even if he immediately wrapped himself in Conqueror's Haki and released Armament Haki for defense, Luffy was still blasted away! Before he could adjust his posture, lightning and flames caught up with him.

"Thunder Abyss - Rolling Wind!"

A massive, purplish-black lightning ball hurtled towards Luffy! The air distorted and warped wherever it passed, as if torn apart by a giant bolt of lightning. A continuous stream of frenzied and domineering lightning crackled and exploded, instantly shattering and shattering the battlefield already compressed by the 'Dark Hole,' leaving a deep, gaping dent in the path of the flying lightning ball.

"Sunburn - Blazing Sun!"

A dazzling, scorching ball of light followed closely behind, and in an instant, Luffy, who Luffy backward, was surrounded by incredibly intense light and heat, far exceeding the intensity of a steel furnace used for boiling iron and melting gold. The light and heat rushed in with a rumbling sound, baking the dent below into flowing magma!

Crackle, boom, boom!!

"Ah~~!"

Even Luffy now would feel pain after taking those two hits. Although his rubber body makes him immune to lightning damage, the flames... well, they weren't blocked by sheer willpower, but by his outward-released Haki. Otherwise, the fact that rubber is weak to fire wouldn't just disappear out of thin air.

"Hahaha~~~ Without that cunning advisor, have you become nothing more than a monkey that only knows how to charge and fight?"

Although he wasn't Conqueror's Haki Entwine, the blazing white aura around Blackbeard's fists was still capable of moving mountains and filling seas, shaking the world! And on his broad shoulders, two girls stood on either side.

Yeah, the kind of 'standing' where the lower body is submerged in Blackbeard's body.

In fact, they can merge into Teach's body at any time, and they can also emerge from anywhere else. In other words:

"I have overcome the weakness of 'double damage,' and I will crush all obstacles!" Teach, his body surging with Armament Haki Teach, finally regained the formidable aura he displayed when he fought Shanks bare-handed. He now focused on defense and hand-to-hand combat.

"I will strip the enemy of their abilities,"

On her left shoulder, Lia, with her black curly hair, stretched out her delicate white hand, from which black smoke drifted endlessly, engulfing everything!

"And I control the elemental attacks,"

Beside the gentle girl with long, straight black hair on the other side, the four Homies— lightning, fire, earth, and ice—are entwined and dancing!

"Hahaha~~ Did you see that? Straw Hat Kid— "

The arrogant and malevolent Blackbeard spreads his arms wide: powerful hand-to-hand combat, ability stripping, and elemental attacks, all in one.

"Now, I would be fearless even if I faced two Admiral at the same time!!"

"In other words—I am invincible!"

"I was careless,"

In the pitch-black space, Roman sat Pang Lei in the void, his entire body Armament Haki to resist the erosion. He had already tested it; this was some unknown alternate dimension, completely devoid of any sense of up, down, left, or right—just emptiness. No matter how Roman attacked with Armament Haki, it was all to no avail—

"As expected, Conqueror's Haki Entwine... If I knew how, I should be able to try to shatter this space."

Of course, if Roman's Armament Haki were strong enough to 'burst' this space, that would be possible, but such a 'Saiyan-style' method of breaking through is clearly too difficult. Therefore:

"Tsk, they're deliberately trying to trap me here to die."

This space also possesses the characteristic of the 'Dark-Dark Fruit' suppressing the abilities of other Devil Fruit, and it can continuously corrode the life force of those trapped within. It's fortunate that Roman is a powerful individual capable of Armament Haki; otherwise, he would have been completely eroded and reduced to ashes in no time.

Although this space doesn't have the same suppressive power as the Dark-Dark Fruit itself, Roman can only use a tiny fraction of most of the abilities he stole... no, recorded. He can forget about using his 'Swap Ability' or 'Door-Door Fruit ability' to escape directly.

As for his 'Paper-Paper Fruit' ability, he can still use most of it, but the idea of 'creating a large amount of paper to burst this space'... well, it's not entirely without feasibility, so let's keep it as a last resort. However:

Splash,

A piece of paper appeared in his hand; it was Roman and Nami's 'private notebook'. Because Nami had specifically requested it be enhanced, this paper was far more powerful than the 'Den Den Mushi Paper' used by the Straw Hat crew, even within this space affected by pressure abilities:

?

Nami pulled a piece of white paper from her pocket and looked at the lines of text on it, Satori what was going on.

This is indeed a good method.

"Franky, get the 'Windy Cannon' ready!"

With Roman imprisoned and Luffy's situation deteriorating, Nami decisively chose to go to his aid. —As someone absolutely trusted by both the Straw Hat crew and the Marines, the task of sending signals was entrusted to Roman. Result:

Roman is currently being held captive somewhere, preventing anyone from sending a signal to the distant Marines to launch an attack. Nami rubbed her forehead; even the usually reliable Roman can be unreliable?

If Roman knew, he would definitely feel very wronged:

If Luffy hadn't stopped Brulee from reading Lia's memories... well, maybe Brulee and others would have been the ones affected. Thinking about it that way, it's better if Roman had been the one affected; at least...

Now we just have to wait for Nami and the others to figure out a way to get us out of here.

Roman, who maintained a layer of domineering Haki that kept the darkness from spreading, closed his eyes and waited for news from his companions.

PS: The combined strength of Blackbeard three-in-one) is equivalent to that of two Admiral. That's right, as Luffy's nemesis, he can be considered the World's Strongest.