Island-Island Fruit

The crowd was left behind, their presences in his perception growing ever fainter, yet that most powerful, scorching presence, like the sun in the sky, remained close behind him.

Pizarro cursed endlessly inside. He had never imagined that a momentary evil impulse would provoke such a ruthless opponent.

Pizarro still felt a dull ache from that earlier punch. At least three ribs had been broken, but fortunately, his thick skin and tough flesh had spared him any fundamental injury.

The more he thought about it, the angrier Pizarro became. He moved even more desperately toward the place richest in lightning, continuously assimilating the entire island.

Mobius followed unhurriedly behind him. Locked onto Pizarro with Observation Haki, he could clearly sense Pizarro's aura becoming increasingly dense and immense.

Recalling the events on Hachinosu, Pizarro had assimilated the entire island, taken a Conqueror's Coating punch from the elderly Garp head-on, and still retained the strength to attack.

Even Akainu had been locked in a stalemate and sent plummeting into a pit after taking Whitebeard's ultimate strike. Pizarro's Fruit ability was clearly extraordinary.

Of course, that remaining attack had been shattered by Garp's disciple, Koby, and had accomplished nothing.

Though it greatly increased his health bar, the Island-Island Fruit did not boost its user's attack power by much. After all, judging by the pirates' performances, the bodies of true powerhouses were far tougher than islands.

Among the three great criminals of the Blackbeard Pirates from Impel Down, Big Barrel, the Sake-Sake Fruit user, was basically dead weight. Devon, the Nine-Tail Fox Fruit user, had not shown much, and so far in the story, she could only imitate appearances.

Only Pizarro had displayed formidable power. His Fruit ability gave him at least island-level destructive force, and the larger the island, the stronger he became. He was more than qualified to be the second-in-command of an Emperor's crew.

Mobius's fighting spirit stirred. Having just gained the power of the Red Dragon Fruit, he needed a decent opponent to test it on!

Before long, the two arrived one after the other in a remote wilderness, where the lightning was at its most violent.

Unlike the scattered crackling bolts in the residential district, the lightning here poured down like torrential rain, striking the ground without pause.

It not only blasted out deep craters, leaving this area noticeably lower than the surrounding land, but also filled the air with a lingering scorched smell.

"We're here!"

Having reached what he considered the ideal battlefield, Pizarro stopped fleeing. He shot straight out of the ground, his body already covered in a thick layer of rock and earth.

Mobius looked up at Pizarro. This guy had already grown larger than an ordinary giant, nearly breaking through twenty meters, and he was still growing.

His feet rooted into the ground, continuously drawing material from beneath the earth and assimilating it into himself, strengthening every part of that body.

"You're finished, brat!"

Pizarro roared. Accompanied by a muffled rumble from the clouds above, a thick bolt of lightning crashed down and engulfed his entire body!

"Meowwwrrr!"

A rough roar rang out, and the falling lightning was assimilated by Pizarro as well. A layer of lightning armor appeared over the giant body formed from earth and stone.

At that moment, Pizarro seemed to have become a Titan from myth. His body was towering and terrifying, lightning forming his armor and weapons, as unscalable as a mountain.

Power—unparalleled power—surged through Pizarro's body, intoxicating him slightly.

In the past, Pizarro had only assimilated ordinary islands, controlling nothing but earth and stone, with trees being the most he could manage otherwise. But Thunder God Island was different. Lightning was also part of this island, and it too could be assimilated.

Lightning, one of nature's most terrifying forces, was now held in Pizarro's grasp.

"Die, brat!"

A hand larger than a giant's clenched as Pizarro threw a punch, the air splitting with continuous howls.

Earth and stone filled its interior while arcs of electricity spread continuously across its surface, shining with blinding light.

At that moment, the shadow of the fist was enough to cover Mobius's entire body, making him seem as tiny as an insect.

"The Island-Island Fruit's power really is terrifying~"

Mobius crossed his arms over his chest, watching Pizarro's attack with an amazed expression.

The next second, a vivid crimson flashed into view, and a giant dragon soared forth.

Crack!

A terrifying sound rang out. In an instant, a crimson dragon over a hundred meters long appeared in the sky, making the once-massive giant seem tiny by comparison.

The dragon's body twisted, its sturdy scales pressing against the lightning armor. Mobius gave a gentle coil, and with a bang, the earth and stone shattered instantly.

How could loose earth and stone compare to a body tempered a thousand times over!?

Pizarro's smug smile froze. Before he could do anything else, Mobius mercilessly swung his body and crushed over him.

Crack crack crack crack...

The seemingly indestructible lightning armor shattered in an instant, while the earth and stone beneath it were pulverized, leaving him as miserable as a rag doll run over by a cart.

Opening his dragon jaws, Mobius inhaled lightly. The lightning covering the giant's surface surged into his mouth like a tide.

A massive dragon claw came down and plunged into the giant's chest. With a slight squeeze, it crushed everything even more easily than tofu.

Finally, the dragon's tail swept out, severing the giant's legs where they connected to the earth and sending it crashing down with a thunderous boom.

"Urrghhhh!!!"

The perfect location he had struggled so hard to reach proved completely useless. Instead, he had been effortlessly crushed.

Agonizing pain came from his assimilated body. The feeling of his entire body being crushed made Pizarro groan and roar, his eyes reddening with pain.

"You actually wanted to use my food against me? What, were you trying to stuff me to death?"

Mobius's teasing voice came at that moment, making the already suffering Pizarro even more shocked and enraged.

With Pizarro's aura firmly locked on, Mobius reached in with his claw again. The body made of earth and stone could not resist at all and could only be plucked apart at will.

Now Mobius was certain that while the Island-Island Fruit greatly raised its lower limit, its upper limit was the quality of the island itself.

Once it faced an enemy who surpassed that threshold, the Island-Island Fruit's power would drop drastically.

Just like now, Mobius's dragon body completely surpassed an island in quality. The island Pizarro had assimilated was no different from foam beneath his power, naturally possessing no ability to resist.

The dragon pinned down the giant's body, its claws continuously digging through him, like a predator savoring the spoils of a successful hunt.

The throbbing pain of being disemboweled was even more unbearable to Pizarro. He felt like a chunk of meat in a can, being scooped out piece by piece.

Without thinking, Pizarro immediately severed the assimilation. He never wanted to experience that pain again!

"Hm?"

The instant he canceled his ability, the giant that had still retained its shape collapsed like a sand sculpture that had been smashed apart.

Seeing this, Mobius reacted at once. The lightning he had just absorbed surged up again, and he opened his mouth, spewing out a wave-like torrent of electricity that directly blanketed all the giant's remains.

Sizzle!

The high-temperature energy destroyed everything. The already broken fragments were reduced to ash, and Pizarro, hidden among them, felt danger emanating from all around him.

Bang!

Pizarro threw a Haki-coated punch, blasting open a hole as he immediately prepared to leap out of the wreckage.

Mobius had been watching closely. Seeing this, the ferocious dragon head gave a faint laugh as its tail immediately lashed upward from below, striking Pizarro squarely.

"Wah!"

The heavy impact traveled through his body. Pizarro felt as if he had been struck by a massive Sea King, his internal organs on the verge of rupturing as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Pizarro was sent flying, and Mobius's gaze remained firmly fixed on him. He could not let him touch this island again and assimilate it to escape!

With that thought, the dragon claw stretched out once more, fiercely grabbing toward Pizarro.

Bang!

But this time, Mobius frowned as a faint prick of pain came from his claw.