Desperate Straits, the Legend of the Devil Fruit

God Valley's edge, west coast.

A row of Marine warships was anchored a hundred meters offshore.

The shore was packed with slaves and civilians who had fled the island.

They stretched desperate hands toward the warships, crying and begging.

"Save us!"

"Let us aboard!"

"Please!"

Yet the commanders aboard the warships remained expressionless, even showing a trace of impatience.

"No! The situation on the island is unclear. Powerful pirates may be hiding among them! For the fleet's safety, we absolutely cannot dock!"

"Hey! Bring the ship over there, or I'll shoot you dead!"

Just then, a commotion broke out inside the command room of one warship.

Monkey D. Dragon, the young man who had just turned his back on the Marines, was pressing the muzzle of a gun firmly against a Marine officer's temple.

His voice trembled with rage.

"Dragon! You know what you're doing, don't you?!" a Marine commander beside him shouted.

"Even if your father is Garp, Headquarters will never tolerate this!"

"Punish me?" Dragon sneered, placing his finger on the trigger without hesitation, his gaze icy.

"Then let them come! But right now, immediately! Bring the ship over and save them!"

"Ah! Look!!"

Suddenly, the Marines on deck cried out in alarm, all eyes drawn to the drastic change deep within the island.

The entire island of God Valley began to shake violently, as if something inside was about to tear it apart!

"H-how could this..."

This island in the West Blue had been chosen by the Celestial Dragons as "God Valley."

It was because of those two enormous mountains, towering like the gates of heaven, which were regarded as sacred symbols.

And now, beneath countless terrified gazes,

those two peaks that had stood for untold ages began to erupt with countless blinding cracks from their waists.

Then, amid a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth,

the mountains split apart, collapsed, and toppled over.

Boulders tumbled down, and dust surged into the sky.

Beneath the collapsed mountains lay the core battlefield.

Lin Nuo flew low with Kuma, and the sight before him left him speechless.

Though the place had been ravaged by war, it had originally retained the outlines of some buildings and patches of charred vegetation.

Now, it had been completely reduced to a wasteland.

The earth was covered in enormous craters, and every protrusion had been flattened.

It was practically... like the surface of the moon.

"Did we succeed?" Kuma looked around nervously.

From Lin Nuo's perspective, the once invincible demon had vanished without a trace.

Only some black fragments the size of fingernails floated in the air.

"Looks like it disappeared."

...Maybe Kuma won't even need to make a move now. Hope rose in Lin Nuo's heart.

"Let's go find them!" Kuma urged.

Lin Nuo nodded. His wings swept aside the drifting dust, and he soon found the "culprits" behind all this.

Rocks, Roger, Garp, Linlin, Kaido, Rayleigh, and Gaban lay sprawled in different places, their breaths weak.

Only Whitebeard still stubbornly supported himself with Murakumogiri, kneeling on one knee.

But he too was at the end of his strength.

"Hey, Newgate," Roger said with a feeble grin as he lay on the ground.

"At a time like this, why are you still trying to look cool... You're suffering just to save face..."

"Gurarara..." Whitebeard forced out a difficult smile, his voice hoarse.

"Someone... has to stay standing... to welcome victory..."

"Cut the crap... I'm just... lying down to rest..."

Rocks was sprawled on the ground as well, but his mouth still refused to concede defeat.

The three of them traded barbs, and the relief of surviving a catastrophe quietly flowed across the ruins.

Aside from the three of them and Garp, who was also down but still conscious, the others had already fallen unconscious.

Pineapple Shrapnel!

Lin Nuo beat his wings in the air, scattering pure Flame of Regeneration over a wide area like warm raindrops.

It accurately covered every single person.

The flames danced as they began nourishing their exhausted bodies.

"This move is going to drain a lot of my stamina again..."

Feeling his strength ebb away, Lin Nuo slowly descended from the air.

"But since it's over now, it doesn't matter."

The moment he landed, Kuma's face immediately lit up with relieved joy.

"Lin Nuo! My ability... I can use it now! But do I still need to send them flying?"

Lin Nuo smiled and was just about to say, "No, there's no need—"

Before the words could leave his mouth, his expression changed drastically.

An indescribable feeling of dread suddenly gripped his heart.

"Urgh..."

Lin Nuo groaned, and the scene before his eyes began to sway and darken.

Did that move... really consume this much energy? Doubt flashed through his mind.

Then he saw Kuma's terrified expression.

He heard the incredulous roars of Whitebeard, Rocks, Roger, and the others.

"How is this possible?!"

"Lin Nuo—!!"

His hearing dulled, while his vision rapidly narrowed and darkened.

One second before he completely lost consciousness, Lin Nuo instinctively lowered his head and looked at his chest—

A spear condensed from dark energy had, at some point, pierced through his heart.

The spearhead protruded from his back, dripping burning blue flames.

"I told you..."

A cold consciousness once more rang clearly in the minds of everyone present.

"Nothing... you do... will matter..."

The black fragments on the ground that had once been regarded as "ashes" were now being pulled together by countless writhing threads.

A demon several times smaller grew from the earth.

"Damn it—!!"

Rocks' eyes nearly split with fury. He struggled to rise, but his overdrawn body made him collapse helplessly once more.

He could only watch as Imu's body swelled and enlarged again under the infusion of black energy!

"Damn it! Can this bastard... really not die?!!"

Garp roared, slamming his fist into the ground, yet he could barely gather enough strength even to stand.

Roger tried to rise as well, only to aggravate his injuries and spit out a mouthful of blood.

Imu's reformed spider-like limb aimed at Rocks on the ground and stabbed down fiercely!

"Not a chance!!" Whitebeard forcefully drew a breath and swung Murakumogiri, trying to block it!

Clang—

But how could his current strength possibly contend with Imu?

Murakumogiri was easily knocked aside, and the sharp edge of the limb tore a massive wound across his chest.

Newgate was violently sent flying, crashing onto the ground, unable to rise again!

"I will... completely erase... Davy's bloodline..."

"And... everything... that happened here..."

Several black spears erupted from the ground around Lin Nuo.

They pierced through Kuma, who had his palm raised as he desperately charged toward Lin Nuo.

Kuma's body was pinned in midair, blood streaming down the spears.

"Kuma—!!"

"Lin Nuo—!!"

In the distance, Rocks, Roger, and Garp, who had only barely managed to stand after being treated by Lin Nuo's flames, let out low roars.

They gripped their weapons tightly, but their arms shook violently from weakness.

The final moment had arrived.

The four exchanged a look. No words were needed; their wills clashed in the air.

They were ready to burn away their last strength and fight Imu to the death.

Yet just as all hope seemed lost—

A sudden change occurred.

Lin Nuo, whose heart had been pierced by a black spear and whose life should have been extinguished,

had flames on his body that had originally dimmed.

Without warning, they erupted once more in a violent blaze beyond comprehension!

"!..."

Imu's consciousness visibly wavered as it tried to pour in more power and completely extinguish that stubborn spark.

But rather than being suppressed, the flames only grew fiercer.

Lin Nuo's body began undergoing an unbelievable transformation.

His flesh-and-blood body was transforming into the purest form of flame element!

His body rapidly expanded as though inflated, surpassing ten meters, then twenty meters in the blink of an eye.

Behind him, a pair of enormous flaming wings that blotted out the sky unfurled.

A vast blue domain formed around him.

Within that domain, even the scorched earth and shattered stones were assimilated, dancing and burning with pure blue flames.

Rocks and the other three, within the domain, discovered in astonishment

that these blue flames were not only repairing their injuries, but also replenishing their stamina.

"Rocks, this is...?"

Feeling the warm current surging through his body, Whitebeard looked in disbelief at that giant flaming bird.

"This form..."

Roger dragged his weakened body closer, his expression incomparably grave.

"It should be... a Devil Fruit Awakening."

"Awakening?" Rocks asked urgently. "Then does that mean Lin Nuo is out of danger now?"

Roger shook his head, his eyes fixed on the flaming beast that was madly exchanging attacks with Imu.

Imu's attacks continuously blasted enormous holes through its body.

Yet as the flames flowed, it restored itself to normal.

"No, in my view..." Roger's voice carried a heavy weight.

"The creature within those flames can no longer be considered entirely Lin Nuo himself."

He looked at Rocks and revealed that ancient legend about Devil Fruits.

"You've heard of it too, Rocks."

"Every Zoan Devil Fruit houses an independent 'will.' They are imprisoned within the fruit."

"Awakening often occurs when an ability user's life faces an extreme threat, when the limits of their body and mind have been broken through again and again."

"At that time, the ability user's own will becomes incredibly weak due to injury and exhaustion..."

Roger's tone grew increasingly low and grave.

"And the sleeping 'beast' will within the fruit takes that opportunity to awaken and begin fighting for control of the body."

"In other words, if Lin Nuo cannot win this battle of wills and suppress the will of the Phoenix..."

"Then the 'animal' within the fruit will turn the tables, completely seize his body, and from then on... replace his personality!"