And at the very moment of that earth-shattering clash—
"Gyahahaha... Got it!"
Golden Lion Shiki laughed wildly as he swooped down.
He paid no attention at all to the battle between Garp and Rocks.
Those two were on a whole other level. If he rashly interfered, he'd only get caught in the aftermath.
From beginning to end, he had only one target:
The Heavenly Tribute!
Shiki activated the Float-Float Fruit and planted both hands on the rail of the transport ship carrying the Heavenly Tribute.
The feel of the ship beneath his palms filled him with delight. Yew wood, gold trim, and the intoxicating scent of wealth wafting from the hold!
"Get up... and float!"
Vmmm—
The entire ship shuddered violently!
The Treasure Ship began to lift away from the sea.
An inch, a foot, a yard... The distance between its hull and the water grew larger and larger.
"N-no... The transport ship's been stolen!"
"Stop him! Stop Golden Lion!"
The naval officers' shouts were filled with despair.
They opened fire frantically, sending cannonballs raining toward Shiki, but every attack bounced off the "floating barrier" created by the Float-Float Fruit.
Worse still, as the transport ship rose into the air, it began to escape the Navy's encirclement.
Once it reached a sufficient height, none of the Navy's cannons would be able to aim high enough. They could only watch helplessly as the treasure was stolen.
"Damn it!" Sengoku and Garp cried at the same time, their expressions changing.
If the Heavenly Tribute was taken, the battle would be a complete failure.
Not only would they fail to wipe out the Rocks Pirates, but the Navy would also face the Celestial Dragons' boundless fury and blame.
Sengoku tried to break away, but—
"Gurararara... Taking your eyes off the fight now could get you killed!"
Whitebeard swept Murakumogiri across the field, and the Tremor Power surged like a raging tide, sealing off every escape route Sengoku had.
The golden Great Buddha had no choice but to fight with all his might. He couldn't break away.
Garp was in even worse shape.
Rocks's blade clung to him like a bone-deep parasite, every strike precisely aimed at a vital spot, forcing him to stay fully focused.
The slightest distraction would cost him his head!
The only ones on the battlefield who still had the strength to move were Zephyr and Tsuru, who were facing off against Luo Tian.
They exchanged a glance and reached an unspoken understanding.
Zephyr stepped forward, his blackened iron fist blasting toward Luo Tian like a cannonball. The force of his punch tore through the air with a shrill whistle.
"Kid... Get out of my way!"
At the same time, Tsuru's figure blurred. Combining Soru and Geppo, she shot toward the transport ship in the sky at a speed close to short-range teleportation.
All she had to do was use the Wash-Wash Fruit to rinse the transport ship, then its power of "purification" would erase the Float-Float Fruit's effect, sending the ship crashing back into the sea.
But—
"Hmph."
A cold glint flashed in Luo Tian's eyes. He raised his left hand and clenched his fingers toward Tsuru as she sped away.
"Universal Pull!"
At the same time, he raised his right hand and spread his fingers toward the charging Zephyr.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Zephyr was once again thrown back by an invisible barrier of repulsive force!
A hundred meters away, Tsuru suddenly felt a tightness around her waist. A terrifying force seized her and dragged her toward Luo Tian!
"What?!"
Tsuru's pupils contracted sharply. She instantly turned the Wash-Wash Fruit's power to defense, forming a shield of transparent water around herself to try to counter the pull.
Luo Tian raised the "Black Dragon" in his right hand. The blade was as dark as ink, coated in Armament Haki that burned like black flames.
"Flying Slash: Dragon Devour!"
A slash of light streaked out.
Not just one, but countless.
Black slashes intertwined and coiled through the air, merging until they formed a lifelike black dragon.
Its target—
Tsuru's back!
"Tsuru!!!"
Zephyr's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets!
He frantically launched into "Razor"—a combination of Soru and Geppo—in an attempt to intercept the slash as quickly as possible.
But Luo Tian spun around and swung his blade.
"Lion Threat: Thousand-Slice Valley!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Dozens of massive slashes appeared out of nowhere, each twenty meters long. Their cutting force crisscrossed through the air, completely blocking every route Zephyr could take.
"Damn it... Damn it!!!"
Zephyr roared as his iron fists flew like a raging storm, smashing apart the slashes one by one.
Meanwhile—
Tsuru, still caught in the relentless pull of Universal Pull, saw her pupils contract.
A deadly chill from behind set her Observation Haki blaring with warnings.
"Wash-Wash Fruit: Purify!" Tsuru shouted.
Vmmm—
Ripples of water spread from within her, washing over her body in wave after wave.
The invisible force binding her vanished the moment the ripples passed over it, as if it had been washed away!
"What?!"
Luo Tian furrowed his brow, surprise flashing in his eyes.
Universal Pull could only be broken by an explosive burst of powerful Haki.
But to "erase" it?
This was the first time he'd seen that happen.
The Wash-Wash Fruit's powers were far stranger than the intelligence reports had described.
This wasn't simply "washing matter." It touched on a kind of "purification" that operated on the level of rules!
What's the difference between this and purification? Luo Tian wondered.
The instant Tsuru broke free of the pull, her gaze turned cool. She held both hands in front of her chest and unleashed the Wash-Wash Fruit's power to its fullest!
"Purification Wall!"
Splash—
A massive sheet of transparent water, half a meter thick, appeared out of nowhere.
It stretched between her and the black dragon speeding toward her.
Boom!!!
The black dragon slammed into the water wall.
Its sword energy slowed sharply as it plunged into the barrier.
The transparent water wall shook violently. Countless cracks like a spiderweb appeared across its surface, but it still didn't shatter.
The cracks swiftly "healed" after appearing, as if the water wall were alive and repairing itself.
"That's one hell of a defense..."
Luo Tian's gaze sharpened.
He could feel the black dragon's power rapidly fading under the water wall's successive layers of weakening.
Seventy percent, sixty percent, fifty percent...
When the black dragon had been weakened to forty percent of its original power, it finally broke through the wall!
At the same time, Tsuru lashed out with her right leg!
"Rankyaku: Stream Breaker!"
A crescent-shaped slash wrapped in Armament Haki tore through the air and struck the black dragon head-on—
Rumble!!!
An explosion erupted above the sea.
Under the cleansing force of the Rankyaku slash, the black dragon melted away like snow under the blazing sun, evaporating until it finally dispersed into a rain of black sparks.
But Tsuru was hardly unscathed.
The blast's shock wave hurled her away. She grunted, a thread of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth as she plunged uncontrollably toward the sea.
"Staff Officer Tsuru!"
"Someone, save her!"
Shouts rang out from the Navy's ranks.
"Roar!!!"
On the other side, Zephyr had been swallowed by "Lion Threat: Thousand-Slice Valley."
Amid the storm of golden slashes, he stood like a wrathful guardian deity, his black iron fists hammering out like a raging tempest.
But for every slash he shattered, another streak of blood appeared on his body.
Ten breaths later, the storm of slashes finally dissipated.
He smashed apart the last slash with a punch, and it scattered into a rain of black sparks.
Covered in blood, Zephyr dropped to one knee on the warship's deck, gasping for breath. Then he looked up at Luo Tian in the sky.
He never expected a younger man to force him into such a desperate position.
Before you continue