A Brutal Battle (5)

The Navy Six Powers Life Return.

Shiki was aware of this ability, but even with the Life Return, all he could do was to manipulate flesh and blood to the extreme, causing it to change. Or he could activate a portion of the power of blood and qi. For someone like Oboro, whose physical body had already been damaged and was incomplete, there was no way to restore her to her original state through 'regenerating flesh from bones'.

Perhaps someone could achieve that level of skill, but at least I've never seen Shiki.

This power... is beyond the reach and imagination of humankind.

It is something that is difficult for human genes and flesh to achieve.

He was pulled into the void passage, partly because he was exhausted and severely depleted.

Secondly, Oboro unleashed a power that was not something his severely injured body could normally generate.

Oboro's physical condition... has improved to some extent.

This was something the Shiki hadn't anticipated.

In an instant, a variety of thoughts flashed through Shiki's mind.

A sensation, like passing through a transparent film, swept over my entire body.

When his vision returned, Oboro had already led him to another 'space'.

Seabed!

The Shiki understood.

As Devil Fruit user, unless you belong to a special race, if you sink into the sea... your power will be infinitely 'weakened'.

A feeling of Exhaust immediately seeped into my limbs and bones.

It made him feel utterly powerless.

In contrast, there God Slayer facing off in the sea, along with his crew.

The two people are unharmed.

This indicates that neither the God Slayer nor the other person possessed Devil Fruit abilities.

"Actually... I've known for a long time that someone who can make those Celestial Dragons so wary... is probably not just this." Shiki chuckled, revealing his usual arrogant smile to Oboro.

He knew that his fate had come to an end.

What bad luck...

The ocean again!

In a daze, Shiki seemed to recall the Edd War with Roger Pirates. That time, he lost to the storm, not to Roger! It seemed that God couldn't bear to see him do well, and always came to interfere in his battles... Right now, although it wasn't due to the weather, he still lost.

The God Slayer, but nature itself.

The power of nature.

In the sea, blood still floated around Oboro's body with the current, but many of his wounds had already healed.

Mysterious and eerie abilities.

It's not just one kind.

That is precisely why World Government are wary of it.

That's true... Even that man was defeated by the Celestial Dragons back then. One Piece who can make those bastards afraid can't be weak.

"I won!"

Suddenly, the Shiki's eyes widened, and even though it was submerged in the sea, it still mustered its strength to shout at Oboro, who was right next to it.

He let the seawater fill his mouth.

His voice pierced through the seawater at that moment, scaring away the surrounding fish.

"Golden Lion Shiki... you will fall into eternal sleep here."

Facing the barrage of bubbles that blew against his face, Oboro didn't speak, but conveyed his voice to the other party through mental fluctuations.

Then, his arm lashed out like a black whip.

It flashed by in an instant.

In an instant, this once-great One Piece, who represented an era, was separated from his body.

Shiki, die! After doing all this, Oboro's cold and calm eyes suddenly changed, showing signs of trembling and exhaustion.

He forced himself to stay conscious and Separation the Shiki's power, transforming it into cards.

He also added the two famous swords of the Shiki, the Kogarashi and the Oto, into the system's inventory.

I watched as the corpse, which was about to float to the surface, was gathered, torn apart, and devoured by some ferocious aquatic creatures. Before I could even take a closer look, everything went black.

He fell into a coma.

A moment later, on land.

The spatial passage was reopened.

Soaked to the bone, Dom reappeared before Rob Lucci and the others, carrying the unconscious Oboro.

"Where is the Shiki?"

Upon seeing this, Rob Lucci, Dorans, and Kaka all realized what was happening.

"Dead."

Dom simply uttered two words coldly, then placed Oboro aside.

Dead?

How could someone like that be killed?

The captain actually won?! Unlike Kaka and Dorans's shock, Rob Lucci quickly analyzed the reason.

It is the ocean.

Oboro used Dom's power to take the Shiki to the deep sea.

"Is the captain alright?"

Dorans's eyes darted around, and he immediately stepped forward with a worried expression, saying with heartache.

"The injury is very serious."

Dom didn't even look at him, and simply replied.

"There are only three of them left... Should we make a move? Now is the perfect opportunity to take down the God Slayer! Even the Shiki was defeated... If we let someone like this grow any stronger, he will become an uncontrollable threat in the future." Rob Lucci clenched his fists and began brainstorming while the three of them were not focused on him.

This is absolutely the best opportunity of its kind! The entire Hell Pirates is injured and exhausted from a major battle, while he is currently in the best condition.

Aside from Dom being a bit tricky, Rob Lucci was confident he could take down Dorans and Kaka in a very short time.

"Should we go...?"

"Now's the time!"

Dom and the other two stood in front of Oboro, unaware of what was behind them. Rob Lucci's eyes flashed with a cold light as he took a step forward.

Instead, he used one hand to make a 'Finger Pistol' gesture.

Rob Lucci was already planning to use his Devil Fruit ability to launch a sneak attack... but when he glanced out of the corner of his eye at Oboro, who was lying on the ground and seemed to be 'sleeping', his mouth suddenly felt a little dry.

Etc!

Could it be a trap?

Was he pretending on purpose? Was he testing me?

He may have already sensed something... After all, this guy is extremely cunning, and he has repeatedly thwarted the plans of the government and the navy, leaving them to suffer in silence.

Had he given himself away before? You know, when the Celestial Dragons were executed in the Bole Kingdom, he felt that the God Slayer's gaze towards him was somewhat intriguing.

Although he passed the assessment at the time, it's hard to say that Long didn't observe anything.

They had just killed the Celestial Dragons when this whole thing happened.

As the first thought crossed his mind, Rob Lucci began to hesitate.

He worried that if he made a move now, it was very likely that... the God Slayer, who was originally unconscious, would wake up in the next second, defying common sense. This One Piece's overall vision was quite terrifying, and he could predict many things! So, exposing his weaknesses and opportunities at this moment, did he also predict that the World Government would definitely take some kind of 'action' against him? The more Rob Lucci thought about it, the more uneasy he became.

For a moment, he stopped in his tracks.

"Cough cough cough..."

Just as the air seemed to freeze, a noise came and woke Rob Lucci from his thoughts.

Dom and the others also looked over.

Yurivich, who should have been 'dead,' dragged his mangled body back to the battlefield, following a 'red carpet of blood' flowing beneath his feet.

Upon seeing them, Yuri's eyes glazed over, and he collapsed to the ground.

He lost consciousness.

He seemed to be thinking of coming back and continuing to fight the Shiki, but to have come this far with his beastly will and survive... that was already his limit.

Dorans and Kaka rushed forward to check on Yuri's condition.

Seeing that Yuri was still alive, Rob Lucci's eyelids twitched.

He glanced at Long on the ground, pondered for a long time, and finally withdrew his outstretched finger.

He wanted to go forward and check on Oboro's condition himself, but the problem was that Dom was quite cautious, seemingly forbidding them from getting close. Even Dorans and Kaka were 'deterred' by his gaze and intentionally kept their distance. This Rob Lucci feel 'a bit' suspicious.

After an unknown amount of time, when Oboro opened his eyes and woke up, he found himself lying in a room.

After sensing and exploring his surroundings, he felt relieved.

Then, he raised his arm and looked at it.

I checked her physical condition again... and there was nothing missing.

The wounds have all disappeared.

It's just that the body's Qi and blood are somewhat deficient.

The image of the Shiki's arrogant and satisfied smile before his death flashed through his mind again.

Yes, in this battle... although he killed Shiki, the winner was the other side.

Because in a one-on-one situation, he really can't beat the Shiki.

Even if he later used magic to absorb external energy from heaven and earth to nourish his flesh and blood and heal his injuries, he would still lose if they were on land instead of in the sea. Shiki's remaining strength was enough to defeat him again...

The defeat of Shiki was thanks to the entire Hell Pirates. If Yurivich hadn't held Shiki back for that brief moment, giving Oboro a chance to recover enough power to decide the outcome in a very short time, and if that brief burst of power hadn't created an opening for him and Dom to go into the sea, catching Shiki completely off guard... the consequences would have been unpredictable.

Shiki underestimated the Hell Pirates... Even if Dom and the others are trash in terms of pure strength, as long as they play a role at key moments, they can be of great use in his life-or-death battle with Shiki.

Shiki won in terms of pure combat strength... but the one with greater strength is Oboro.

Combat thinking and decision-making, including wisdom... are also part of strength.

Because Oboro anticipated that Shiki would be careless, he had been planning the battle meticulously, using his intellect to exhaust Shiki to the maximum extent possible, so that this final move could be put to use.

When Oboro initially failed to kill Shiki after gouging out his eyes, he thought of 'nature,' which was Shiki's most fatal weakness— Devil Fruit user.

Make use of the ocean!

Fortunately, Dom and he had a good understanding.

"You're the one who wins, and you're the one who loses..."

He muttered to himself.

The flaws in the personality of the person with the Shiki are too obvious.

Arrogant!

He wasn't cautious enough... but you could also say that this was part of his 'charming personality'.

At least that's true for the One Piece and their crew recruited by them.

"However... with my current strength, I am indeed still some distance from the Yonko... I need to hurry up and learn the methods of Qi cultivation."

Long sighed.

Despite being old and frail, and lacking the energy of his prime, and even without his two legs, Shiki still displays terrifying power with so many buffs. Not to mention the others in the New World.

"It's a pity... Joining the Hell Pirates would have been the best outcome."