Stealing the Heart
Seeing that his "surprise attack" had worked, Sig immediately put in even more effort, taking advantage of the decrease in the speed of his punches to catch him from all sides with the railings!
Just as Sitoon unleashed even more Armament Haki, forcefully breaking free of all the restraints...
Fish-Man Jujutsu: Water Prison!
Sig has given up controlling his Devil Fruit ability, instead summoning moisture from the ground to form a water sphere about two meters in diameter, using a completely original technique to trap Sitoon inside.
Like "Fish-Man Jujutsu," "Fish-Man Karate" is a unique martial art of the Fish-Man Race. However, "Fish-Man Jujutsu" is better at controlling the water in the environment and is better at assisting or controlling than direct attacks.
When Sig was training, he followed the path of "Fish-Man Karate" completely, but he could also use some "Fish-Man Jujutsu" techniques!
Normally, if Sig got this close to Sitoon, he would probably be blasted away, and given Sitoon's reaction speed, there's no way he wouldn't be able to dodge this attack.
However, thanks to the opportunities created earlier, and the wet environment that Sig had laid out from the beginning, they managed to trap Sitoon in the "Water Prison" before he could successfully make a mistake!
The so-called Water Prison is extremely ineffective against non- Devil Fruit ability; anyone with some basic physical or sword skills can escape.
However, for Devil Fruit ability users, being completely immersed in water immediately causes a feeling of exhaustion.
Sig reached one hand into the water sphere to maintain the "Water Prison," while Sitoon, inside, glared angrily at Sig, but was powerless to do anything about it.
The forearms and calves had stopped rotating, and the springs in the upper arms and thighs, clearly lacking the strength to maintain their rotation, were gradually returning to their original state.
It's not that the Devil Fruit ability disappeared, but rather that after the stamina decreased, it became impossible to maintain the Devil Fruit ability.
Sig, Sieg watched Sitoon, neither making an immediate move nor approaching rashly. He simply kept his right hand, including the Seastone Handcuffs, submerged in the water sphere to avoid a desperate counterattack.
The Telepathist ability told Sig that Sitoon was still preparing his final counterattack, just waiting for Sieg to grab him...
When more than half of Devil Fruit ability's body is submerged in water, even fresh water, they will experience the same sense of detachment as when in contact with seawater. When less than half of their body is submerged, contact with seawater will cause the submerged part to lose strength, while contact with fresh water will have little effect.
This is likely due to the difference in the content of Seastone Factor...
Armament Haki throughout the body can temporarily block out the effects of countermeasures, but stamina will still be consumed at several times the rate. Sitoon is currently trying to maintain more than half of his Armament Haki; he cannot yet completely cover his entire body with it.
Saving up her last bit of strength, if Sig reaches out his hand...
However, in just a few breaths, Sitoon was completely desperate— Sig had no intention of being careless before success. After waiting quietly for more than ten seconds, Sitoon was completely exhausted and exhaled a string of bubbles!
After waiting another half minute, until Sitoon had fainted and was completely devoid of emotion, Sig reached out, grabbed his head, and imprisoned him, leaving only a pair of boxing shorts in the Water Prison...
Then the water sphere disintegrated, and Sig was panting heavily, clearly having expended a great deal of energy.
In terms of strength, Sig has improved in the past two months, but he is still inferior to Sitoon.
However...
In battle, it's not about the strong winning, but the victor becoming stronger!
With prior planning and Sitoon repeatedly falling into traps, he was directly exploited by Sig to exploit the weaknesses of ability users and trapped to death in the Water Prison.
The commotion had already attracted the attention of many people. After "detaining" Sitoon, Sig immediately left the scene.
Afterwards, while dealing with the other pirates he encountered along the way, Sig returned to the upper level and explored in the direction from which Sitoon had come—if Sitoon was indeed left in the castle by Silver Axe to prevent the heart from being "robbed," then there should be clues about the "heart" in the area he had been guarding!
However, Silver Axe clearly hadn't displayed the heart openly; Sig suspected it was in a secluded chamber, possibly in this area, so...
Fish-Man Karate - (Rounded) - Three Thousand Welas True Punch!
Sig began to wreak havoc everywhere with his punches, smashing through the tree walls layer by layer, until finally Sig discovered and broke into a secret room with no entrance.
The secret room was completely empty, with nothing in it, just a space with... in the very center, from the ceiling to the floor, a tree-like structure connected everything.
And right in the center, a beating heart is "grown" on this root system!
Clearly, the Silver Axe didn't simply hide the "heart" here, but transplanted it to the Tree of Sighs. It should be able to utilize the Tree of Sighs' power to restore its strength and even its life force.
Sig didn't understand the Op-Op Fruit either, only making a shallow guess.
At this moment, the pirates who had been attracted by the noise continued to rush over. Without hesitation, Sig reached out and grabbed the exposed heart!
However, at that moment, the surrounding despair suddenly surged to a boiling point!
Desperate faces stretched out desperately, each head connected to a tangled web of vines, like Distortion blood vessels, like monstrous snakes with human faces, reaching out to coil around or bite at Sig.
Clearly, there are countermeasures in place for the "heart" as well!
However, just as Sig was buried beneath the desperate "monster," leaving only a Distortion and coiled sphere in its place...
With his last ounce of strength, Sig stretched out his hand—though it was only a few centimeters short, at the last moment several bars, each a few centimeters long, extended from his palm, encasing his heart in the "iron net"!
The next moment, the railings suddenly closed.
The connection between the "heart" and the root system was definitely not as fragile as it seemed. However, when the "net-closing" encountered an obstacle, it was as if it had encountered some magical force. The "heart" detached directly and was pulled into Sig's palm... and disappeared!
The next moment, the "Monster" that had been wrapping Sig up in layers of clothing shattered into something resembling withered branches and leaves with a strange cry. Sig broke free from the debris, bearing some injuries, mostly strangulation marks and bite marks.
It was only then that Sig realized that Makoro's head had been severed in the "prison," and his heart had stopped beating immediately after he was taken into custody!
"This was a case of mistaken identity..." Sig muttered.
Afterwards, Sig analyzed the underlying principle and suspected that it was the "Prison-Prison Fruit's" ability to imprison and isolate. Although it could not sever the connection between the organs cut by the Op-Op Fruit, it could sever the connection between the Silver Axe and his own heart.
Makoro was certainly not dead when he was imprisoned, but his heart stopped beating immediately after the Silver Axe entered, and Makoro, whose head he had cut off, also died suddenly.
Sig guessed that Silver Axe must have used different abilities during his own heart surgery compared to transplants on others, since his heart also needed to control the Tree of Sighs!
However, this also became his death warrant, as this connection could be severed by Sig's ability to imprison him...
Instantly, a wave resembling "ROOM" enveloped the entire island of Axe Island. All the organs separated by the Op-Op Fruit were "teleported" and reassembled, with the original owner's heart as the core!
The heads on the Tree of Sighs vital organs were not on the island, quickly rotted into withered branches and leaves, but before their death, they all showed a relieved smile.
The Giant Axe Pirates were thrown into disarray by this scene.
At the same time, a Devil whisper reached Sig's ears.
This is... the Op-Op Fruit has regenerated? It seems like it's not far off!
Sig paused for a moment, then immediately followed the sound, eventually arriving at the castle's kitchen storeroom...