Next, the two began a high-speed chase through the sky above the island.
Luo Tian kept teleporting to evade Imu, whose tentacles pursued him like shadows.
Their battlefield shifted from the island's center to the northern mountains. Wherever they passed, mountains collapsed and forests burned.
With the Space-Space Fruit's nearly invincible, drawback-free abilities, Luo Tian could at least hold his own against the powerful Imu.
Anyone else would have been killed long ago under Imu's full-force assault.
Meanwhile, at the island's center.
Everyone stared in horror at Rocks's transformation.
The man who had once led an era was now kneeling on the ground, both hands sunk deep into the earth.
His body twisted and swelled. Something writhed madly beneath his skin.
"Rocks!" Linlin strode forward. "What's wrong with you? Say something!"
Whitebeard held out an arm to stop her. "Wait. Something's not right."
Linlin brushed his hand aside. "What do you mean, not right? He's just—"
Before she could finish, Rocks jerked his head up.
Everyone drew a sharp breath.
His face was completely inhuman. His skin had turned dark purple, and three curved horns bulged from his forehead.
Behind him, a pair of tattered black leathery wings burst through his clothes and slowly unfurled.
But what chilled them most was the fleeting trace of human anguish deep in his eyes.
At that moment, Rocks thought: Damn it... I'm disappearing...
He was fighting back.
Though his body was mutating, his consciousness was still battling the invading force of darkness.
But the next moment, Rocks's body completed its final transformation.
His body grew enormous, and the black wings behind him spread to their full span. He rose to his feet.
Linlin looked up at the monster, nearly twice her size. Her throat bobbed as she managed to force out a