"!!!"
Seemingly surprised that Xia Chen would ask this question, the Five Elders all showed a hint of astonishment on their faces.
After a moment of silence, Venus nodded and said, "That's right, our current Devil Fruit abilities are all inherited from the previous Five Elders!"
"I'm not afraid for you to know, but our World Government has mastered the method to extract Devil Fruit powers from the dead, and all of this is thanks to the world's greatest scientist— Vegapunk!"
Venus spoke with conviction and logic, giving people a very convincing impression. Little did he know that Xia Chen was looking at him with a strange expression.
To be honest, if he didn't have God's perspective, and if he hadn't already extracted the Devil Fruit abilities of the previous Five Elders and then disappeared, Xia Chen might have actually believed his nonsense.
Vegapunk was indeed incredibly great, supposedly possessing wisdom that surpassed that of the world by five hundred years.
Not only did they create the Pacifista, but they later even created the most powerful human weapon— the Seraphim!
The most outrageous thing is that they can even unravel the mysteries of Devil Fruit and grant their powers to the Seraphim Devil Fruit.
Although we can only extract Paramecia Devil Fruit abilities at the moment, and cannot yet achieve Logia abilities, it is still powerful enough!
Oh, no, in the original work, the Seraphim n't appear until two years after the Paramount War. Only half a year has passed now, so it's uncertain whether they've even been created yet.
In conclusion, Xia Chen believes that Vegapunk possesses the methods Venus mentioned!
But the current situation is absolutely impossible for Vegapunk to achieve; back then, the abilities of those five Mythical Zoan had all been transformed into Devil Fruit and were quietly lying in his System Space.
In the end, it turned back into ordinary fruit. Xia Chen didn't believe Vegapunk had such an ability!
But it didn't matter anymore. Xia Chen already knew what was going on when Venus revealed that their Devil Fruit abilities were indeed the same as the previous Five Elders.
Xia Chen could understand the excuses Venus made; it was simply because she didn't want to expose Imu.
Xia Chen remained silent for a long time, and during this time the Five Elders and the others also did not speak.
After a while, Xia Chen slowly got up and walked outside.
Now that things are clear, there's no need for him to stay here any longer.
He didn't intend to kill these five old guys. He didn't lack those Devil Fruit, and even if it happened again, the fruit powers would eventually return to Imu and be passed on to the next Five Elders.
So there's even less need for it!
For the time being, it would be better to keep these old guys who are afraid of him around!
With a gentle breeze, Xia Chen's figure vanished from the Five Elders' sight in an instant.
In an instant, the five of them felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from their hearts, and they all involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.
Only then did they realize that their backs were soaked through; the pressure Xia Chen had put on them earlier was truly immense!
" Xia Chen... has become stronger again!"
Mercury's expression was grave, and he spoke with lingering fear.
"Yes, after half a year, he's even more imposing! Just seeing him standing there makes my heart skip a beat!" Saturn chimed in.
"I don't know how he can maintain such a high rate of progress; it's truly outrageous!"
"We have absolutely no way to deal with him now. We have to do whatever he tells us to do. We're making the World Government lose face!" Mars said with a hint of helplessness.
"What can we do? Those who didn't want to lose face are already dead, and only those who were willing to lose face are alive now. Besides, Lord Imu hasn't decided to take action against him yet, and in the meantime, we will all be at his mercy."
"Sigh! I just hope this doesn't drag on too long, otherwise..."
Jupiter stopped speaking halfway through his sentence, but everyone present knew what he was about to say.
For a moment, the five of them fell silent once again.
That's right, they were all afraid that if Xia Chen were given more time, even Lord Imu might not be able to defeat Xia Chen.
Although they had great confidence in Imu, Xia Chen's rate of growth was simply too fast, which made them fearful.
They just hope their worries are unnecessary, otherwise...
--
After leaving Mary Geoise, Xia Chen sped along the road and soon arrived at an island in the Calm Belt.
As soon as he entered within a few hundred meters of the island, Xia Chen felt waves emanating from it, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"Looks like it's getting lively!"
After muttering something to himself, Xia Chen flew directly towards the island without hesitation. He was very curious about how much those guys had improved their strength in the past six months.
At this moment, somewhere in the center of the island.
"Clang! Clang!"
The sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard continuously.
" One Sword Style!..."
A green-haired man murmured softly, then raised his hand and unleashed a fierce blade of energy that hurtled towards a figure in front of him.
"Yohohoho! What an incredibly powerful slash, Zoro!"
The skull with the afro chuckled a few times, then also drew his own knife.
" One Sword Style, Hanauta Sancho..."
Brook swung his knife out with incredible speed, so fast that it was almost invisible, as if the knife had never been drawn.
And indeed, it was as if nothing had happened; Zoro's Flying Slash was still hurtling towards Brook with incredible ferocity.
But Brook remained calm and slowly inserted the knife into its sheath.
Just before the blade was fully sheathed, Brook's lips moved slightly, and he said in a low voice:
" Yahazu Giri!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the enormous blade of energy that had been less than a meter in front of Brook suddenly turned into specks of light and dissipated into the air.
The scene was so beautiful that it could not be an exaggeration to describe it!
Zoro, watching this scene from afar, showed no change in expression, only uttering a single, indifferent remark.
"Fancy and over-the-top!"
Zoro bent his knees slightly, just about to rush towards Brook, when he felt that the environment around him seemed to darken a little, and he subconsciously looked up.
What came into view was an enormous black shadow, and a voice followed.
" White Tiger Heaven-Rending Claw!"
Seeing this, Zoro narrowed his eyes, and the sword in his hand instantly appeared above his head.
"Boom!"
A giant tiger claw clashed with Zoro's sword, sending sparks flying and a powerful shockwave spreading outwards, rustling the trees in the distance.
Even though a single tiger claw was many times larger than Zoro's entire body, Zoro's arms, bearing the claw, didn't tremble at all. Instead, he spoke calmly:
" Usopp, putting everything else aside, your sneak attack skills have certainly improved..."