Corruption and Vitality

Golden light flashed, dazzling and brilliant.

Unable to dodge, the people enveloped by the pale golden light felt as if they were bathed in sunlight, warm and comfortable.

Many ragged people widened their eyes, their gazes filled with disbelief. In their perception, the pain in their bodies gradually healed, wounds from sword cuts and bullet penetrations closing at a visible rate.

The weakness caused by severe dehydration and malnutrition also gradually recovered, a long-lost sense of health seemingly reappearing in their battered bodies.

Snapping back to reality, they all raised their heads in unison, gazing at the golden figure slowly advancing on the high wall, dragging a spear, their eyes filled with streaks of gratitude.

On the high wall, over a dozen agents and a group of soldiers from the Kingdom of Jacob looked on in shock and uncertainty. After realizing they themselves were unharmed, their expressions turned exceptionally grim.

"Damn it, how dare you toy with us!"

"Damn lower-class scum, die!!"

The soldiers charged forward in unison, swords in hand, ready to spill the blood of the one who had played them.

The dozen or so agents hesitated slightly. Unlike the hot-headed bumpkins from the East Sea, they instinctively felt that the young-looking boy before them was not simple, possibly an ability user of the Mythical Zoan type.

Therefore, they raised their vigilance to the highest level, preparing to let the soldiers test his threat first.

But unfortunately, their superior, CP0, thought the same.

A cold command came from dozens of meters away: "You few go, make the wicked who interfere with World Government actions pay!"

CP0 believed that the man before him, who gave him a strong sense of crisis, could not be fully assessed by these soldiers alone. Having CP agents act might allow them to investigate further.

"..." The dozen or so agents froze on the spot, their expressions shifting unpredictably, their hearts filled with bitterness. They desperately wanted to ask their superior why he wasn't going himself.

But for the sake of their families, they ultimately swallowed the words, gritted their teeth, and launched a desperate attack on the unknown youth.

In an instant, sharp blades neared Louis's body, the smooth blades reflecting the angry and terrified contorted faces of the onlookers.

However, the next moment, they all froze in place. The sharp blades slipped from their hands, hitting the city wall with a crisp sound.

The life force entering their bodies began to flicker, awakening billions of bacteria and fungi within the human body, disrupting the balance and gaining the upper hand.

The faces of the soldiers and agents contorted visibly from extreme pain. Their bodies became incredibly stiff, their harrowing screams drowning out the roar of gunfire, sending chills down one's spine.

Dozens of meters away, Joseph's face, hidden by his mask, showed a look of "as expected."

The abilities of Devil Fruits were indeed bizarre; one could suffer heavy injuries with the slightest carelessness. It was something to be wary of.

Then, under Joseph's gaze, the stiff bodies of the soldiers and agents underwent a horrifying transformation.

Their skin turned black and blue, festering at a visible rate. Their bodies swelled like bloated corpses, their abdomens splitting open with gaping wounds, resembling monstrous mouths. Dark blue intestines protruded, writhing as if alive.

Horrifically, despite these terrible transformations, they were not dead, but remained stiff and writhing in agony.

Everyone who witnessed this scene shivered, feeling a severe impact on their minds and bodies. They instinctively flinched, feeling nauseous and trembling uncontrollably.

Louis dragged his spear, advancing at an unhurried pace, bathed in the dawn light. Under the sun's rays, he appeared incredibly sacred.

As he advanced, the land beneath the high wall came to life, vibrant plants rapidly proliferating. In just a moment, a lush green carpet emitting a fresh fragrance appeared before everyone's eyes.

"All things decay, life endures..." Louis whispered.

Looking around, life and decay coexisted.

Bathed in the golden dawn light, Louis was the opposite of the hellish scene, like an angel descended to the mortal realm, utterly divine.

The next moment, Louis vanished from everyone's sight, leaving only a crumbling section of the city wall in his wake.

Before the scattered debris could even fall, Louis's figure was reflected in Joseph's pupils. He raised his spear, a blazing sun formed of flames coiling around its tip.

The scorching heat washed over him, charring Joseph's clothes black. A fatal crisis enveloped him, causing his pupils to widen in shock.

Joseph instinctively wanted to use the Rokushiki technique, Tekkai, to withstand the blow, but the frantic warning from his Observation Haki forced him to abandon the idea.

"Kami-e."

With no time to dodge, Joseph's body contorted unnaturally like paper, sensing the airflow. At the last possible second, he managed to make the spear graze past his throat.

"Pfft..." The intense heat instantly ignited his upper clothing and directly scorched his throat.

The intense pain made Joseph grit his teeth and narrow his eyes. He quickly reached out, removed the burning clothes, and discarded the severely deformed mask that obscured his vision.

"Flying Shigan..." He wrapped his finger in Armament Haki and pointed it at the golden-haired youth before him.

Louis tilted his head slightly, causing the attack, whose power was immeasurably greater than a bullet thanks to Haki, to pierce through his hair.

His special Observation Haki extended, enveloping CP0's body, rendering everything the opponent did transparent in Louis's eyes.

Muscle twitches, blood flow, subtle bone shifts – all these details allowed Louis to know CP0's every next move like the back of his hand, easily predicting his next action.

In another work, such an ability might be called "Advanced Observation Haki."

Under Louis's Observation Haki, he could even learn the opponent's abilities by observing their movements.

Like this...

"Explosive Shot." Louis vibrated his spear with one arm, once again suspending a blazing sun before thrusting it out like lightning.

"Whoosh..."

A miniature sun combined with a shockwave, forming a golden beam that enveloped CP0 head-on.

"!!" CP0's expression changed drastically. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, wrapping them in Armament Haki.

"Boom..." The sun suddenly exploded, flames expanding, the high temperature scorching the city walls within dozens of meters until they were glowing red, nearly turning into lava.

Louis raised his hand and conjured a violent gust of wind, dispersing the smoke and dust that swept towards him. Then, with a flap of his wings, he flew low to the ground, charging directly into the high-temperature zone.

As he advanced, his finely crafted spear sliced through rock, splashing brilliant sparks while leaving a smooth, foot-deep gash.

Louis didn't give the CP0, whose body was already burned and nearly charred to a crisp, a chance to react. He abruptly raised his spear.

Red-hot rock fragments were kicked up from the ground, scattering like fireworks. Louis's spear, moving from bottom to top, traced a beautiful arc.

After leaving bone-deep gashes on Joseph's charred body, it sent him flying horizontally through the air.