Deathless, Karma

"I'll send you flying first, Lin Nuo, Ivankov!" Kuma shouted urgently as he looked at the encirclement around them.

"What about you?" Ivankov clutched the last treasure chest, his face full of worry.

Kuma raised both hands, revealing his pink paw pads.

"I can send myself flying too. Don't worry!" He stepped closer to Ivankov, his gaze resolute.

Ivankov looked at Kuma, then at Lin Nuo beside him, and finally smiled with trust.

"Then I'll wait for you on an island outside, Kuma! You have to survive!"

"Yeah! It's a promise!"

Thump—

A dull, elastic sound rang out.

Ivankov vanished from where he stood in an instant.

After sending Ivankov flying, Kuma immediately turned and aimed his palm at Lin Nuo.

However, God's Knights watched someone escape right under their noses, and they were instantly furious!

"Stop them! Don't let a single one get away!"

Lasers, bullets, arrows...

All kinds of attacks came one after another, sealing off every possible route Kuma could take.

"Kuma, hold on tight!"

Lin Nuo grabbed Kuma's arm, beat his wings hard, and shot into the sky with him, narrowly avoiding the first dense barrage.

But the attacks below pursued them relentlessly. Every gun and cannon shifted in unison, spewing fire.

The barrage formed a massive net that descended upon the two of them in midair.

"Azure Flame: Whirlwind!"

At that moment.

In addition to the Lunarian flames covering Lin Nuo's body, a mass of pure sky-blue fire suddenly erupted with a whoosh!

Like a living barrier, the blue flames instantly enveloped him and Kuma.

The dense attacks passed through the blue flames, but the scattered fire swirled and gathered again, completely restored.

Lin Nuo and Kuma, protected at the center, remained completely unharmed.

"What?!"

"The attacks... didn't hit?"

"No, it's not that they missed." Saint Garling's expression turned extremely grave.

"This is a Mythical Zoan..."

"The power of the Zoan-type Tori Tori no Mi, Phoenix Model."

Under everyone's shocked gazes, the blue flames in the air intertwined with Lunarian fire, swelling and shifting shape.

In the end, an extraordinary giant bird appeared before them.

Most of its body was covered in interwoven blue and yellow flames. Its wings were entirely formed from blazing azure fire, while its long tail feathers trailed streams of light, scattering sparks with every flap.

Some of the younger Marines were utterly captivated by that dreamlike figure and unconsciously lowered their weapons.

"Lin Nuo, this is..."

Kuma, carefully held in Lin Nuo's claws, had the interwoven glow reflected across his face. His eyes were full of anticipation.

"Oh, feels pretty good, doesn't it?" Lin Nuo's amused voice came from the giant bird's beak. "This is my ability."

"Konoha's Azure..."

"No, the pirates' Azure Beast!"

He spread his wings and flew at high speed toward the edge of the encirclement with Kuma.

"Listen, Kuma." Lin Nuo's voice became serious. "I'll hold off the Marines. Go find Ginny and the others."

"Once you've saved them, send yourself flying. Don't worry about me."

"How can I do that? You..." Kuma wanted to argue.

"Enough. I still have things to do on this island." Lin Nuo cut him off, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"Don't worry. Even without you, I can fly out on my own."

Kuma looked at the Marines and God's Knights pursuing them from behind, then gritted his teeth. "All... right."

"Then you have to be careful!"

"Don't worry."

Lin Nuo swooped down, landed at the edge of the encirclement, and gently set Kuma down.

"I healed your injuries with my flames while I was at it. Go!"

Kuma froze for a moment and touched his back.

The arrow wound where a Celestial Dragon had shot him, as well as the small cuts and bruises all over his body, had already healed completely.

"What a... gentle ability." Kuma raised his head and looked deeply at the angelic figure before him.

This man had appeared so suddenly, killed the Celestial Dragon who had been about to ambush them, helped them find the fruit, led them out of their desperate situation, healed his wounds, and was now going to stay behind alone to cover their retreat...

"We have to... meet again."

Kuma hesitated no longer. Using both hands and feet, he ran desperately in the direction Ginny might be.

He carved this heavy debt of gratitude deep into his heart.

"Come and fight me to the death, you speed bumps of the gods!"

The phoenix Lin Nuo had transformed into let out a clear cry, instantly drawing the attention of every pursuer.

He folded his wings, nimbly spun his massive body in the air, and gathered blue and yellow flames wildly.

"Guardian Fire Dragon!" "Crane Claw!"

A flaming dragon formed from Lunarian fire roared into existence.

Then Lin Nuo compressed it and wrapped it around his massive beast-form claw before kicking fiercely at Saint Garling, who led the charge!

"Arrogant fool! Even if you're a phoenix, I'll make sure you die without a corpse left behind today!"

Saint Garling roared. Haki erupted from the famed sword in his hand, joining the attacks of the other members of God's Knights into a surging torrent.

Boom—

A deafening explosion rang out as blue-red flames collided violently with the Haki shockwave.

The resulting blast stripped away an entire layer of ground from the surrounding area.

Yet before the aftermath of the explosion had even dispersed, Saint Garling's expression abruptly changed.

There was no one before him.

"Not good, he got away! Saint Garling!" one of the knights cried out.

Far off at the horizon.

The phoenix that had just shouted about fighting to the death was now flapping its wings desperately, about to vanish beyond the forest.

"Damn it! That despicable Lunarian, chase him!"

Veins bulged on Saint Garling's forehead in fury as he prepared to order an all-out pursuit.

But the surrounding knights suddenly fell silent. Uneasy, doubtful expressions appeared on all their faces at once.

"Garling... did you feel that?"

One of them spoke in a low voice.

"What's going on?" Saint Garling was initially puzzled, but then his face changed dramatically.

As Lord Imu's contractor, he possessed a special awareness of that dark power that ruled all things.

At that moment, he vaguely sensed several additional "demonic" auras appearing out of thin air on God Valley.

Lord Imu had made a move...

The anger on Garling's face was replaced by solemnity.

"Tch, the situation has changed..."

"Forget that guy for now. We're going to find Saint Saturn."

With that, God's Knights put away their weapons, swiftly changed direction, and raced toward the island's core.

Whoosh, whoosh.

After flying over one war-torn area after another, Lin Nuo sensed that he had shaken off those Celestial Dragons and breathed a sigh of relief.

"There are too many monsters on this island right now. Better not draw too much attention."

With that in mind, he dispelled his Phoenix Model and skimmed low through the air, his thoughts racing.

The reason he had not left with Kuma's help and was willing to remain behind despite the danger was to plant more "karma."

To bring down Imu, he could not rely on himself alone.

Even if he cultivated top-tier Haki in the future, victory would not be guaranteed.

He needed allies. He needed powerful support.

And the chaotic God Valley before him was the best place to make allies.

He knew that the Roger Pirates had come to save Shakky, while Rocks had also come to save his family.

If he could get there first and help those "hostages" when they were in danger, they would undoubtedly owe him an enormous favor.

Roger went without saying.

Rocks, that ambitious tyrant determined to kill Imu and overthrow the World Government, was an even more natural ally.

Unfortunately, the overlord of the seas was first controlled by Imu's dark transformation.

Then, after Roger and Garp defeated him together, several members of God's Knights finished him off.

"If I can find a way to let Rocks leave God Valley alive..."

Madness and ambition flashed in Lin Nuo's eyes. "What kind of raging storms will overturn the balance of this sea?"

With Rocks' courage to overturn the old order and die for those who understood him, he was worth the gamble!

"Compared to Rocks, Roger is basically a desk-job pirate."

He muttered the complaint under his breath and swept his gaze across the chaotic battlefield below.

"Let's find some locals and ask around."

"Information about Rocks' family..."

The flames behind Lin Nuo withdrew, and like a hunting night owl, he silently descended.