I've Grown Stronger-No Longer Someone You Can Crush at Will...

In the darkness, something was growing.

Dozens of humanoid figures made purely of darkness "rose" from the floor. Their faces were blurred, featureless, yet every one of them lunged precisely at Shamrock and his group.

The CP agents reacted quickly, drawing guns and blades, assuming combat stances. But the dark humanoids moved faster. They did not attack their upper bodies; instead, they all pounced on their thighs, black arms locking around the agents' legs like iron clamps before dragging them downward.

"What—"

"They're Dark Men!"

The cries had barely rung out when the dark arms yanked hard. Spandam, the CP agents, and the Holy Land Guard were dragged into the darkness without even a chance to struggle.

Shamrock was the only one still resisting. A layer of flowing pink light appeared over his body, like a shield formed from gathered cherry blossom petals.

The dark humanoids' arms were immediately shredded the moment they touched the shield, but new dark humanoids constantly emerged from the ground, charging forward one after another.

On the water outside the workshop, a ship was docked—a colossal vessel over a hundred meters tall, its bow carved into the shape of a majestic, sacred, yet domineering dragon head.

The hull was black, and the entire ship radiated an ominous aura. It sat in the middle of the canal, nearly occupying its entire width. Compared to it, the surrounding ships looked like children's toys.

Several people stood on the deck of the dragon-headed ship.

At the very front stood a man in a white lab coat. He stretched out his right hand, spread his five fingers, and a transparent hemispherical space expanded around him, swiftly enveloping all of Tom's Workshop.

He crooked a finger, and Tom, Iceburg, Franky, and Granny Kokoro instantly vanished from the workshop. The