The Summit War · Oars

"Boom!"

Just as Chen Qiang pulled Ace out of the blood sphere and brought him behind his back, the shockwave unleashed by Sengoku slammed directly into him, pinning Chen Qiang—who had just leaped into the air—back down to the ground.

However, because the blood sphere had become more defensive under Chen Qiang's control upon contact, it didn't completely block the shockwave, but it did prevent Chen Qiang from being knocked out by the impact.

"Go!"

Enduring Sengoku's attack head-on, Chen Qiang tucked Ace under his arm and, without a moment's hesitation, swiftly changed direction, desperate to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Buddha Shockwave!"

But before Chen Qiang could take two steps after turning, a massive shockwave erupted from behind, sending both him and Ace flying.

"Damn it!"

Facing Sengoku's attack, Chen Qiang felt helpless; he simply couldn't block it. However, to ensure that Ace, who was currently weakened by the Seastone and even more vulnerable than himself, wouldn't suffer too much damage, Chen Qiang placed Ace in front of him just before the impact arrived, taking the full brunt of the force himself.

Fortunately, Chen Qiang's cheat was powerful. Even after taking Sengoku's attack, he only lay on the ground for a few breaths before pulling Ace up and continuing to charge toward the pirates' position without looking back.

Behind Chen Qiang, Sengoku, who was preparing to continue his pursuit, was intercepted once again by Marco. Although Marco was no match for him, his Phoenix fruit ability granted him incredible regenerative powers. Having just been knocked away by Sengoku, he had already recovered enough in this short time to block him once more.

Taking advantage of the moment Sengoku was held back, Chen Qiang rushed past the Marines closing in on them, drawing closer to the ice field ahead.

"Ace!"

Just as Marco was knocked away by Sengoku again and Sengoku turned his attention toward Chen Qiang, a massive voice rang out, calling for Ace.

The giant Oars, who had been struck down in front of the execution platform, had actually regained consciousness and was looking in Ace's direction.

"Oars!"

Hearing his name called, Ace lifted his head toward Oars, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked at the battered and scarred giant!

"Heh! Since you're not dead, that's perfect—help me out, and we'll save Ace together!"

Seeing Oars wake up, Chen Qiang, who was about to be caught in Sengoku's pursuit with no clear escape route, instantly thought of a plan.

Tucking Ace under one arm, he flashed a few times, arrived before Oars, and leaped onto his head.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

With a few flashes of a blade, Chen Qiang, standing on Oars' head, quickly carved several deep gashes into his own body, simultaneously controlling his blood to spray out from the wounds as if it were worthless.

"Boom!"

As the sprayed blood hit the air, it ignited rapidly, forming plumes of blood-red mist that completely enveloped Oars' massive body.

The red mist wrapping around Oars did not linger; it quickly burrowed into his gargantuan frame.

"Roar!"

As all the blood-red mist vanished, a fierce crimson light flared in Oars' eyes, and he let out a thunderous roar toward the heavens.

"What did you do?"

Bound by Oars' hair to prevent him from falling, Ace noticed the strange change in Oars beneath him and shouted angrily at Chen Qiang.

Chen Qiang did not answer Ace's roar. Instead, he bent down, secured himself to Oars' head with the giant's hair, and closed his eyes.

As Chen Qiang closed his eyes, the crimson light in Oars' eyes—which had stopped moving after the roar—grew even more intense. Simultaneously, his exhausted body stood up once more; even his severed foot, which had fallen to the side, was pulled by the blood and rapidly reattached to its original position.

The wounds on his body that had been bleeding profusely stopped flowing at the same time and began to heal rapidly.

"Blood Control!"

Having recovered from his injuries in just a few breaths, Oars stood up to his full, towering height, picked up his massive butcher knife from the ground, and let out a low growl.

Yet, at this moment, his voice no longer sounded like his own; it sounded much more like Chen Qiang's.

"Is he being controlled?"

"Oh no, run!"

"Don't run! Block him!"

"."

Seeing the rapidly recovering Oars, the Marines who had been chasing Chen Qiang lost their composure. If not for Sengoku, who had arrived from behind and quickly shouted to stop them, some of the Marines might have started fleeing.

"Heh! What a truly powerful body! It's a pity the consumption is so high!"

After standing up, Oars flexed his limbs, feeling the surging power within, and said with a smile.

After all, controlling such a massive body—even with Chen Qiang releasing all his blood and using his powerful mental energy—was barely manageable. This was only possible because the target's spirit offered no resistance and his desire to save Ace aligned with his own, allowing him to cooperate with Chen Qiang's movements.

Even so, Chen Qiang could only maintain this control for about a minute. Once that time passed, his mental energy would be exhausted, and even with his powerful regenerative abilities, it would take a long time to fully recover his mental strength.

After all, his cheat primarily targeted physical damage; its effect on mental recovery was far inferior.

"Tiger Roar!"

Feeling his current state, Chen Qiang didn't hesitate. He raised the butcher knife in his hand and swung it down rapidly. A massive tiger's roar erupted from the blade, instantly stunning all the nearby Marines.

Then, under Chen Qiang's control, the butcher knife in Oars' hand flipped and slashed toward the wall beside them.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

With just a few slashes, the surrounding walls were cleared away by Oars under Chen Qiang's control.

After all, Chen Qiang remembered that in the original plot, Sengoku had an ambush set here, complete with countless cannons.

"Raise the enclosure walls immediately!"

"Yes!" Hearing the order, the Marines moved quickly!

Seeing Oars' actions, Sengoku was puzzled as to how the opponent knew his plan, but now was clearly not the time for hesitation; he directly ordered the surrounding Marines to raise the walls and launch an attack against Oars.

At the same time, Sengoku himself rapidly transformed into a giant radiating immense golden light, then struck out with a palm toward where Oars was located.

"Crack! Crack!"

A massive sound of space shattering rang out; the enormous shockwave Sengoku had just unleashed was completely blocked by the fissures that appeared, while those Marines who had just prepared to attack Oars were all sent flying by the immense force of the vibration.