Pluto's orbit. The battle had entered its thirtieth minute.
The number of Void Soldiers had surged from several dozen at the start to several hundred.
A dense black swarm poured endlessly from the three motherships like locusts, completely surrounding Luffy and the other two.
"Will they ever stop?!" Luffy scattered a Void Soldier with one punch, but three more immediately lunged at him. "How many of them are there?"
Zoro swung his blades and severed two Void Soldiers, but their black fluid had already coated his swords. Every attack drained his willpower, yet the number of Void Soldiers showed no sign of decreasing.
"No. If this keeps up, they'll wear us to death." Zoro panted heavily.
Ace was in the worst condition. Not only could his flames not harm the Void Soldiers, they became their food instead. Whenever he unleashed a Fire Fist, the surrounding Void Soldiers grew more active, their bodies becoming more solid.
"Damn it!" Ace was tangled up by five Void Soldiers at once and felt his life force rapidly draining away. "My attacks are healing them!"
Even more terrifyingly, all three could sense Pluto's life force rapidly fading.
The glow of this distant planet had become so faint it was nearly invisible, and the blue-white radiance across its surface was going out bit by bit.
"I... I can't be saved anymore... Run..." Pluto's consciousness had weakened to the point of breaking apart. "Don't let them... catch you..."
"We'll never give up!" Luffy roared, though sound could not travel through the vacuum and his words could only be conveyed through consciousness. "Lin Ye never gives up, and neither will we!"
He forcibly broke free from the Void Soldiers' entanglement and rushed toward Pluto.
But dozens of Void Soldiers immediately blocked his path, forming a purple wall.
"Get