Genesis Flame vs. Devouring Darkness

On the deck of Noah's Ark, ten thousand meters beneath the sea, the air over the battlefield was heavy as lead.

Blackbeard stood at the edge of the hole, black mist writhing around him like a living thing, devouring the surrounding light and sound. Five meters to his left, the CP0 agent Purple Lightning held his long blade at an angle, purple arcs dancing along its length and giving off an eerie hum in the deep sea.

"Zehahaha..." Blackbeard licked his lips, staring greedily at the Nika Core suspended in its halo. "Flame Emperor brat, you got away on Jaya Island last time, but there isn't enough seawater here for you to pull your tricks this time. The deep sea is my turf-my darkness can swallow even seawater!"

Before he finished speaking, his right hand shot forward in a grasp!

"Dark Water: Abyssal Devouring!"

A terrifying gravitational pull erupted from his palm. The seawater on the deck, shattered coral, and even fragments of Noah's hull became a black torrent surging toward his hand! Worse still, the flame armor covering Lin Yan began to flicker unsteadily-the Dark-Dark Fruit's "ability nullification" property was forcibly stripping away the energy structure within the flames!

Lin Yan's pupils contracted slightly.

He did feel the pressure. In the deep sea, his flames required a constant expenditure of energy to keep burning, and the Dark-Dark Fruit's devouring power countered precisely this sort of "sustained output" ability. A head-on contest of endurance would put him at a disadvantage.

But-

"Who told you my flames needed to 'burn'?"

A cold smile curled Lin Yan's lips.

He pressed his palms together before his chest, and the flame armor covering him suddenly went out!

No, it had not gone out. It had "withdrawn inward"-all the flame energy contracted inward, gathering at his heart. There, the projection of the Nika Core was resonating with him. Golden-red light shone through his skin, illuminating his chest as though it were transparent.

"Sun God Nika: False Form: Second Stage-"

"Genesis Flame, ignite!"

BOOM-!!!

A pillar of pure white light shot upward from Lin Yan, piercing straight through the kelp forest above Noah and tearing a vacuum passage through the deep sea! Inside the pillar there were no flames, only "light" and "heat" of the utmost purity-a form of energy release that simulated a stellar core!

The gravitational pull of Blackbeard's Dark Water touched the edge of the pillar and instantly melted away like ice meeting boiling oil!

"What?!" Blackbeard's expression changed drastically. "My Dark-Dark Fruit... got 'purified'?!"

"Not purified." Lin Yan's voice echoed within the pillar. "'Negated.' Your darkness can devour energy on the level of 'phenomena,' but my Genesis Flame exists on the level of 'rules.' Before stellar-level rules, that little darkness of yours... is nothing but a child's scribble."

He raised his right hand and spread his fingers.

The pillar split, becoming five enormous dragons of pure white flame, each a hundred meters long. Their bodies were made of high-temperature plasma compressed to the utmost limit, and the seawater in their path vaporized instantly, leaving five vacuum trails!

"Flame Dragon: Five-Dragon Strangle!"

The five flame dragons lunged at Blackbeard from different angles!

Blackbeard gritted his teeth and crossed his arms:

"Dark Emperor: Absolute Defense!"

Black mist poured out wildly, forming an enormous black-hole vortex before him. The vortex spun furiously, trying to devour the flame dragons. The first dragon plunged into it and did lose some of its energy, but the remainder still pierced through and slammed into Blackbeard's chest!

"Uaaagh-!" Blackbeard flew backward, his clothes burned through at the chest and his skin scorched black.

But he lived up to his status as a future member of the Four Emperors, with an astonishing ability to withstand punishment. He forcibly twisted his body in midair, then plowed two deep furrows into the deck with his feet, bringing himself to a hard stop.

"Bastard..." He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Not bad. But you think that's all I've got?"

He turned toward the CP0 agent. "Hey, World Government lapdog, aren't you going to move? If I die, you won't get Poseidon either!"

A cold glint flashed in the eyes behind Purple Lightning's mask.

He moved.

Not toward Lin Yan-instead, he became a streak of purple lightning and appeared before Princess Shirahoshi in an instant!

"Poseidon, the World Government invites you to visit." His voice was cold and mechanical as his long blade slashed toward Shirahoshi's neck. "Don't worry. It's only 'research.' We won't take your life."

"Not a chance!" Ace roared, blue-white flames erupting. "Fire Fist: Flame Emperor!"

An enormous fist of flame thundered toward Purple Lightning. But Purple Lightning did not even look back. He raised his left hand-

"Rokushiki Ogi: Iron Body: Godsteel."

The skin of his left hand instantly turned purplish-black, and he caught Ace's Flame Emperor head-on! Flames exploded against his palm without leaving so much as a scratch!

"What?!" Ace was stunned.

"The ultimate level of the Six Powers, combined with internal hardening through Armament Haki," Purple Lightning said flatly. "Your flames have decent heat, but not enough penetrating power. Before the true pinnacle of martial arts, a Logia... is not invincible."

The long blade in his right hand continued toward Shirahoshi.

But when its edge was three inches from her neck, it stopped.

It had not been blocked. It had been "frozen."

A hand burning with crimson-gold flames had seized the blade. Flames clashed with purple arcs, giving off an ear-piercing sizzle.

At some point, Lin Yan had appeared before Shirahoshi. His left hand gripped Purple Lightning's long blade, while his right rested against Purple Lightning's chest.

"Your martial arts are indeed impressive," Lin Yan said calmly. "But there's one fatal weakness-"

"You rely too much on 'technique.'"

The Genesis Flame in his palm erupted.

It was not intense heat or an impact. It was "Rule Rewrite: Matter Disintegration."

The armor, clothing, skin, and muscle on Purple Lightning's chest began disintegrating at the molecular level the instant they touched the flames! They were not burning or being cut. They were simply "disappearing"!

"?!" Purple Lightning's pupils contracted sharply. He tried to retreat, but Lin Yan's hand held the long blade in an iron grip.

"Six Powers: Soru!" He stamped down, trying to move instantaneously.

But Lin Yan was faster.

"Furnace Domain: Space Lock."

Crimson-gold patterns of flame spread outward from the two of them, forming a spherical domain ten meters across. Within it, all rules governing "high-speed movement" were temporarily rewritten-Purple Lightning's Soru was forcibly reduced to one-tenth of its speed!

That tenth of a second of delay was enough.

Lin Yan's right hand pressed fully against Purple Lightning's chest.

"Genesis Flame: Matter Reorganization: First Stage-"

"Flesh Separation."

HISS-!!!

A cloud of bloody mist burst from Purple Lightning's chest! It had not been pierced by an external force. Instead, the muscles, bones, and organs inside had been forcibly "separated" by the flames, then reduced to the most basic particles of flesh and blood and sprayed out through his back!

A hole the size of a bowl appeared in Purple Lightning's chest, its edges smooth as a mirror, with the shifting seawater behind him visible through it.

Purple Lightning lowered his head and stared at the hole in his chest. For the first time, horror appeared on the face beneath his mask.

"You... what did you do..."

"Nothing much." Lin Yan let go. "I just 'took apart' your body and then 'put back' part of it. Don't worry, I didn't damage your heart. You won't die. But for the next three months, you'd better stay in bed and rest."

Purple Lightning swayed and dropped to his knees with a thud. The hole in his chest was slowly healing-Lin Yan's control had been precise, stripping away only some tissue without destroying the core of his life. But that precision only made it more terrifying.

"Monster..." Purple Lightning rasped. "This ability of yours... has already gone beyond the scope of a 'Fruit'..."

"Maybe." Lin Yan turned away, no longer looking at him.

But the instant he turned-

"Now!" Blackbeard laughed wildly. "Black Hole: Maximum Release!!!"

His entire body burst apart.

It was not self-destruction, but "elementalization: darkness form"-his body transformed completely into boundless black mist, instantly enveloping Noah's entire deck! Hair-raising sounds of devouring came from within the mist, signs that even light, sound, and space were being swallowed!

Worse still, the black mist began spreading toward the Nika Core!

"If I can't have it, neither can you!" Blackbeard's voice came from every corner of the mist. "I'll drag this thing into the abyss of darkness and let it sink there forever!"

The halo around the Nika Core began to distort, its golden light eroded and polluted by the black mist.

Lin Yan's expression changed.

Blackbeard was trying to "take it down with him"-using the Dark-Dark Fruit's ultimate technique to drag the Nika Core into "conceptual darkness," making it forever unusable!

"Not a chance!" Lin Yan charged toward the Nika Core.

But countless dark tentacles suddenly reached out of the mist and wrapped around his limbs!

"Zehahaha! Too late!" Blackbeard's wild laughter was deafening. "My Darkness Touch can grab even a Logia! Just watch as the Sun God's core becomes part of my collection!"

The Nika Core's light grew dimmer and dimmer.

At that critical moment-

"Lord Sun God!" Shirahoshi suddenly cried. "Please use my power!"

She pressed her palms together, closed her eyes, and began to sing.

It was not the gentle song from before, but a solemn, sacred "voice of divine revelation," as though it came from the depths of the ancient Ocean.

The instant her song rang out, the entire Sea Forest... came alive.

The enormous strands of kelp began to glow, their ghostly blue light gathering into streams that surged toward Noah's Ark. Farther away, Fish-Man Island's bubble membrane also began to resonate. Countless Fish-Men and merfolk unconsciously began singing along with Shirahoshi-a response to Poseidon rooted deep within their blood.

"Poseidon: All-Domain Resonance-"

"Sea's Blessing!"

Endless Ocean energy became a blue torrent of light, pouring into the Nika Core!

Under the infusion of blue energy, the once-dim golden light suddenly erupted!

A pillar of gold and blue light pierced heaven and earth, forcibly scattering the black mist! Blackbeard screamed, knocked out of his elementalized state and back into his original form, and crashed heavily onto the deck.

And beneath that infusion of energy, the Nika Core began... to melt.

No, it was "activating."

The golden core turned liquid and flowed toward Lin Yan as though alive, spreading along his arm before merging entirely into the area of his heart.

[Nika Core fusion detected]

[Sun God Nika inheritance unlocked: 6/6 (complete)]

[Warning: the fusion process requires enormous energy support. Immediate replenishment recommended]

[Available energy source: Poseidon resonance energy (sufficient)]

Lin Yan felt his heart pounding violently.

With every beat, an unimaginably vast power surged throughout his body. It was not a simple increase in strength, but a "leap in the level of life"-every cell in his body was reorganizing, his genetic chains were being rewritten, and his soul was resonating with some ancient being.

Pain.

Tearing pain.

But at the same time, it was also... rebirth.

"Aaaaah-!!!"

He threw back his head and roared, crimson-gold flames surging from within him. But this time, the flames began to change color-blue mingled with the gold, the Ocean power of Poseidon; silver then emerged within the blue, the property of the Sky Shard.

The three-colored flames intertwined, forming three pairs of wings behind him: golden wings of flame, blue wings of water, and silver wings of light.

His hair turned pure white, his pupils turned molten gold, and intricate Sun God patterns appeared across his skin.

[Fusion complete]

[Sun God Nika: False Form → Sun God Nika: Awakening Form (30%)]

[New abilities unlocked:]

1. Genesis Flame: Three Forms (freely switch between flame/water/lightning forms)

2. Life Resonance (can establish deep resonance with Poseidon and those who possess the Voice of All Things)

3. Rule Rewrite: Domain (unfold a "divine domain" one thousand meters in diameter, with partial control over physical rules within it)

Lin Yan opened his eyes.

At that moment, the entire deep sea fell silent.

All the Sea Kings, great and small, near and far, bowed their heads toward Noah.

It was... worship of a "god."

Blackbeard stared blankly at the scene, then burst into wild laughter:

"Haha... hahaha... so that's it... the Sun God's core needs Poseidon's resonance to activate completely... zehahaha! No shame in losing this one! But-"

A final flash of madness appeared in his eyes:

"Even if I die, I'm taking you all with me!"

He pulled a black remote control from inside his clothes and slammed the button!

"Noah's self-destruct system-I planted the bombs long ago! In ten minutes, this ship will be blown to pieces, and the entire Sea Forest will go down with it! You can't escape!"

The countdown on the remote control began: 09:59, 09:58...

"Lunatic!" Ace roared.

"That's right, I'm a lunatic!" Blackbeard grinned, his mouth full of blood. "But this lunatic is taking the legendary Sun God and Poseidon to the grave with him! Worth it!"

The countdown continued.

Ten thousand meters beneath the sea, a hopeless situation.

Yet Lin Yan smiled.

"Blackbeard, you think... blowing up Noah can kill us?"

He raised his right hand, palm facing upward.

Three-colored flames gathered, forming a miniature "sun" of three intertwined colors.

"Then let me show you-"

"What true 'creation' is."