Self ROOM

Within the range of "Self," everything was laid bare in the finest detail; nothing could escape Ye Qiong's perception.

"Die!!!"

Niveya's cat face twisted slightly, and she kicked off the air with all her strength, joining Taigu in a pincer attack from both sides.

The black and white figures moved above his head within a breath, cat claws and bear paws crashing down!

"Shigan—Triple-Claw Rend!"

"Shigan—Bear Impact!"

The terrifying force came crashing down like Mount Tai. Ye Qiong, who had not moved at all, had already missed the best chance to evade. He could even feel the sensation of being shredded to pieces.

Then the two prepared attacks struck with a thunderous boom. Two forces crushed the earth, tearing apart the floor and soil, whipping up boundless shockwaves. The turbulent air exploded, scattering shattered stones and dirt in every direction.

In the dark night, when the dust settled, Niveya and Taigu remained in the posture of striking the ground. Between them, the earth had collapsed into a massive black crater and three deep ravines.

Yet at that moment, their bodies were rigid as statues.

Niveya's eyes were filled with shock, and even the ever-steady Taigu wore an expression of disbelief.

Because in the instant before their Shigan touched his head, he had vanished!

He had disappeared without a sound, without the slightest warning.

How had he dodged their attack?

"Are you two looking for me?"

Two hands suddenly landed on their shoulders from behind. Before they could react, Ye Qiong kicked twice in rapid succession, sending them flying. Just as he had earlier, they crashed into the ruins amid flying rubble.

Ye Qiong smiled faintly. "Now we're even."

The rubble piles were blasted apart as Niveya and Taigu swiftly rose to their feet, paying no attention to their tattered clothing. Their beast eyes glimmered faintly in the darkness.

"You're also a Devil Fruit user? Your ability is teleportation?" Taigu asked doubtfully.

"Of course. But it's more than that." Ye Qiong pressed his left hand downward.

In Ye Qiong's eyes, the circular space he had created became even more solid, suffused with an unusual gleam.

Niveya and Taigu instantly felt as if they had fallen into a gigantic swamp. Above, below, left, and right, resistance surrounded them, an oppressive force filling every corner around them.

Space Restraint.

This was an ability Ye Qiong had created a year ago. With Self enhancing his control over everything within the circular space, it was like squeezing a balloon to create pressure and resistance, greatly slowing enemies trapped within it.

If this ability were condensed and strengthened, he could even trap others by controlling space.

"This is my home ground now."

Ye Qiong kicked off, shooting toward them like lightning, no slower than Soru.

Within R's space, he was like a tiger with wings, his combat strength soaring.

"Damn it." Taigu kicked off, but the resistance surging around him made even moving immensely difficult. He could only raise his arms to defend himself.

"Ancient Martial Arts—Inch-Extreme Collapse!"

Ye Qiong rushed before Taigu and threw a punch. Layer upon layer of hidden force directly shattered his hasty Tekkai defense.

Taigu's massive bear body staggered backward, his feet carving two deep trails into the ground.

"Shigan—Steel Split!"

Niveya pounced from the side, her cat claws flashing with cold light.

"Hm? You still have that kind of speed?" Ye Qiong was slightly surprised. Then he raised his left hand, his palm facing the incoming Niveya.

The next moment, Niveya's body froze in midair. Her outstretched cat claws hung in the air, while only her cat eyes continued to glow with a faint green light.

"What... what is going on?"

Niveya's body trembled slightly. She felt as if an invisible hand had grabbed her, leaving her unable to move.

"With your strength, you can't break free from my Space Restraint." Ye Qiong shook his head and flung his hand downward.

Niveya was smashed viciously into the ground. Rubble flew everywhere as her cat body curled up and groaned in pain.

Was it over?

The night breeze blew gently. A few clouds above drifted apart, and silver moonlight fell upon the uneven ruins, revealing the figures of the three.

"You're very strong."

At that moment, Taigu's steady, powerful voice rang out.

"But how could I, the third-ranked member of CP9, possibly let you defeat me so easily!"

"Maximum Wheel—Life Enhancement!"

Taigu's face instantly twisted. He spread his legs and clenched both fists, the white fur across his body standing on end. His already massive bear body continued to swell, muscles bulging one after another as crisp crackling sounds like popping beans rang out nonstop.

His eyes turned incomparably crimson, his heartbeat pounding like a drum. His violent aura surged outward, intimidating everything around him.

"What is this?" Ye Qiong's gaze sharpened. He could clearly sense that Taigu was absolutely stronger now than before.

He was no different from a ferocious beast breaking free from its cage.

"Soru!" Taigu kicked off, shattering the ground beneath him. His figure blurred and stretched as he charged at Ye Qiong at extreme speed.

Ye Qiong's eyes widened. What shocked him was that even within the resistance of Space Restraint, Taigu still possessed such terrifying speed.

The bear paw came slamming down. Ye Qiong flashed and vanished from his original spot. The bear paw shattered his afterimage and struck the ground, collapsing a patch of earth and leaving behind a gigantic bear paw print.

"This clearly shouldn't work. Why is he..." Ye Qiong appeared ten meters to Taigu's left and muttered in confusion before abruptly falling silent.

Taigu had moved to that position, grabbed Niveya's hand, and hurled her away with all his strength. Her body was thrown dozens of meters into the distance by his enormous power.

After Niveya was thrown beyond the range of Ye Qiong's R, she somersaulted through the air, stepped on empty space, and used Geppo to flee into the distance.

Ye Qiong watched quietly without trying to stop her, allowing Niveya's Black Cat body to swiftly blend into the night until she was nowhere to be seen.

"So this was your plan—stay behind to hold me off while Niveya escaped to report this information to the World Government."

Ye Qiong was somewhat moved. The World Government had dominated the powers of the sea for so many years; it truly possessed immense foundations and strength.

"You're wrong. I'm not sacrificing myself just so she can escape." Taigu shook his head, his crimson eyes fixed on Ye Qiong. "She was simply in the way, keeping me from giving this final battle everything I had!"

Taigu suddenly kicked off, blasting apart the dirt beneath him as he sprinted at extreme speed, almost completely ignoring the resistance of Space Restraint.

"You're still coming at me from the front?"

Ye Qiong had complete control over Taigu's movements. Almost the instant Taigu's bear paw came down, he had already teleported away.

Taigu's bear paw still missed, striking the air instead. A burst of air exploded, and the enormous recoil force sent his huge bear body turning and charging backward.

"This!" Ye Qiong had just teleported behind Taigu when he sensed Taigu reversing direction and charging at him.

"Using your hands to perform Geppo?!" Ye Qiong's expression was somewhat strange.

In the original story, no one from the later generation of CP9 used their hands to perform Geppo. Perhaps they lacked Taigu's powerful bear paws in his current state, or perhaps there was simply no need.

The bear paw came crashing toward him with terrifying force!

Although spatial teleportation could be used continuously, there was an extremely brief interval between uses!

Ye Qiong spread his hands outward. Self rapidly contracted, becoming a small circular space just large enough to envelop him.

"R Tensei!"

Centered on Ye Qiong, a powerful outward repulsive force erupted in an instant.

Taigu's fist halted before Ye Qiong. Then his enormous body was violently blasted away, rolling across the ground and smashing down tree after tree.

Ye Qiong stood where he was, piercing pain blooming in every part of his body. This was the backlash from overusing his Devil Fruit ability.

"Sure enough, using this move with my current body is still too much."

Ye Qiong smiled bitterly. But with no way to use teleportation to evade just now, he could only force himself to use this move.

R Tensei compressed R in an instant into a circular space with a radius of only one meter, granting nearly perfect control over space and creating an outward rebounding force in that instant. It was the strongest defensive technique Ye Qiong currently possessed—an absolute defense that ignored all attacks!

Thud.

Trees were pushed aside as Taigu's massive bear body slowly rose. His crimson eyes stared straight at Ye Qiong.

"Forcing me to use Shinra Tensei, you're an opponent worth remembering!" Ye Qiong met his gaze and nodded.

But Taigu shook his head. The light in his crimson eyes gradually faded as he sighed. "I lost. Even after using Maximum Wheel's Life Enhancement, I still lost. I concede wholeheartedly."

Then his body deflated like a leaking balloon, returning to its original bear form. The white fur on his body faded away, his frame shrank, and he turned back into his original human form.

Ye Qiong could sense that Taigu's vitality had withered until he was weaker than even an ordinary person.

Ye Qiong suddenly understood. Taigu must have used some forbidden body technique just now, pushing himself to the utmost limit and strengthening his body to gain power beyond his own for a brief time.

But that was all.

The CP9 member before him was now no different from a cripple.

Ye Qiong fell silent. He could not help but feel respect for such an opponent.

Because if they relied solely on physical techniques, he had to admit that he was inferior to Taigu!

"Come on, give me a quick death. Don't hold back. To die at the hands of a strong person like you, I'll have no regrets." Taigu said calmly.

"Fine, as you wish!" Ye Qiong walked toward him step by step and struck his palm against Taigu's heart.

Taigu's life force had already been as weak as that of an old man with one foot in the grave. This palm strike directly extinguished the life within him.

Watching Taigu's body fall, Ye Qiong sighed softly.

If they had not stood on opposing sides, perhaps they might have become good friends.

Ye Qiong found one of the bear-paw craters left from the battle and buried Taigu's body there.

Sensing the Space Mark left on Niveya, his figure flashed and vanished like a Silver Flash.

The ruins and shattered forest returned to their original tranquility. Moonlight flowed silently, draping everything in a thin veil of silver-white.