Watching Teach raging furiously below, Rowen and Fujitora exchanged a glance.
Done!
After consuming the Sacrifice Fruit, Teach's days were numbered.
As the name suggests, once you consume the Sacrifice-Sacrifice Fruit, your body ceases to be just a "body." It becomes a "sacrifice" offered to some unknown entity.
During this process, as a reward for providing the "sacrifice," the consumer gains tremendous power!
Hmm... That's the mystical explanation.
In Vegapunk's words, the Sacrifice-Sacrifice Fruit is actually a version of Devil Fruit that activates latent potential.
However, unlike ordinary latent potential activation techniques, the Sacrifice-Sacrifice Fruit, as a fruit ability, is more ruthless and domineering!
Each time a consumer exchanges for terrifying power far beyond their physical limits, it is obtained by burning their own flesh and blood... Quite literally "flesh and blood"! Not just depleting latent potential and vitality.
The amount of power obtained, the duration, and the way it manifests are all directly proportional to the amount of flesh and blood burned each time.
For example, Teach's vanished right hand...
He wanted to attack Ace from a distance, so the fruit treated his entire right arm as a "sacrifice" without any control, no need for any preparation time, and not even a hint of energy fluctuation, creating an explosion powerful enough to destroy an entire town!
If he were to "sacrifice" his entire body, including bones and spinal cord, he could easily obliterate an island. Even Kaido might not be able to withstand it. It's a wicked Devil Fruit that falls under the category of killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred.
The Yami Yami No Mi (Dark-Dark Fruit) is known as the "most wicked Devil Fruit in history," at least for those other than the Ability user.
The Sacrifice-Sacrifice Fruit is truly deserving of the title "most wicked Devil Fruit in history"! Because even the Ability user can't escape its grasp!
Therefore, throughout the nearly eight hundred years of CP0's history, this fruit has only had three consumers recorded, always consumed as a last-resort trump card for CP0 to turn the tide.
And the most terrifying aspect of the Sacrifice-Sacrifice Fruit is that once you consume it, your body is already a "sacrifice."
The specific effects are similar to the Mochi-Mochi Fruit, falling under the category of superhuman abilities that can alter one's physique, rather than being a Paramecia ability where there's no discernible difference if the fruit power isn't used.
Being transformed into a sacrifice by the fruit, every breath, and heartbeat while you're alive gradually deepens the transformation of your body into a "sacrifice." Even if you don't use the fruit's power, you will eventually become a living sacrifice, losing your consciousness, like a mindless zombie, numb and senseless.
That's why Rowen could be sure that Teach's days were numbered... Even if he didn't use the fruit's power, it wouldn't be long before he became a living sacrifice.
"This is much more convenient than the poisoning plan I had prepared earlier." Rowen smiled faintly and closed the Den Den Mushi.
With the recording of Ace and Teach hurting each other, Whitebeard would have some fun later.
The fact that Lirisk was young and greedy, and Teach had now become a sacrifice, tells us...
Children should never eat things indiscriminately!
Fujitora glanced at him, his mouth twitched, but he didn't say anything.
Did he forget what Devil Fruits taste like?
And poisoning? What kind of plan is this?
X... X has poison?
Oh...!!!
At this moment, at the center of the explosion, a hurricane suddenly twisted into the form of a wind dragon, roaring as it burst out from the splattering blood mist that scattered like sharp blades.
A tall but not bulky, upright but not overbearing figure appeared at the center of the wind dragon. Ace, with lingering fear, held Sabo in his arms and cowered behind him, his eyes filled with dread.
Just now, that explosion, he might have been able to dodge it with his slippery Logia Elementalization ability, but the Sabo in his arms would have been reduced to pieces in the explosion, the power was terrifying to the extreme!
However, in the face of such an explosion, the man in front of him only used one hand to create a storm, blocking all of it outside.
From their perspective, the area covered by the explosion seemed like a roaring torrent crashing into a sheer cliff. It appeared grand and mighty, but when faced with the cliff, it still had to divert its course.
The area covered by the explosion in front left no remnants, but the fan-shaped range behind it was completely unaffected.
Such terrifying power made Ace feel like he was facing Whitebeard himself.
"Who... who are you?"
"Take Sabo and your subordinates and run farther, Ace..."
The newcomer didn't answer, only turned his head slightly, revealing a resolute face covered in diamond-shaped tattoos.
"Afterwards, I will come to get him. For now, I'll leave it to you."
In an instant, Ace's eyes widened.
"Dragon!"
The most notorious criminal in history!
He's actually been lured out too?
"Leader... I'm sorry..."
Sabo, in Ace's arms, looked up and smiled weakly, his voice feeble.
"No, Sabo, this isn't your fault... We've all fallen into a trap."
Dragon shook his head and tossed him a vial of medicine. "Drink this, then get out of here."
"Yes! Cough, cough, cough!"
Sabo instinctively tried to reply but was overtaken by coughing from his wounds, his face flushed. Ace knew they couldn't delay any longer. He nodded, gave one last glance to the still frenzied Teach in the distance, then turned and flew towards the Second Division members who were still in battle.
"Everyone, retreat!"
Watching them move further away, Dragon only gave Teach a casual glance, then shifted his gaze to the sky above. His lips curled into a slight smile.
"Vice Admiral Soryu, won't you come down and chat with me?" His tone was light, but his voice resonated throughout Mustache Island.
"Vice Admiral Soryu?!"
Suddenly, Teach looked up at the sky, which was shrouded in smoke and fire, and a terrifying thought crossed his mind.
"Could it be... all of this is his doing?!"
"No, it's not possible. I never told anyone my intentions, and no one knows what I'm thinking."
"Which means..."
Was it just a coincidence???
Teach's eyes were filled with frustration. The thought that what he had painstakingly pursued turned out to be bait used to lure him was so infuriating that he felt like he might spit blood.
But if Rowen knew his thoughts, he would surely comfort him: Don't overthink it, I'm not targeting anyone else... It's just you!
"No, I must leave here as soon as possible and figure out what this ability is!"
Dragon, Vice Admiral Soryu!
If he had the true Yami Yami No Mi (Dark-Dark Fruit) in hand, with its ability to seal the fruit powers of Ability users, he would have confidence in facing Vice Admiral Soryu and Dragon.
But what he got was just an unknown Devil Fruit. He lost a hand on the spot, and there wasn't even an entry for it in his memory, let alone in the fruit catalog. With his current abilities, Teach had no confidence in being their match.
With this in mind, Teach decisively turned back and ran towards the distant sea.
There were many ships there. He could easily grab one and set sail.
Zi, zi!
Suddenly, a figure accompanied by lightning-like tremors appeared next to Dragon. The latter seemed surprised by Rowen's decisiveness and raised an eyebrow.
"It seems like you have no intention of trying to get past me to chase down Sabo and Ace?"
"Those two kids are no longer of use to me, Dragon... It's actually you. You owe me two favors, yet you show up to stop me."
Rowen spoke lightly, but then his expression turned cold. "Do you really think I'm afraid to kill you?"
Bang!
Within a radius of thousands of meters, there was a thunderous tremor! However, more transparent blades emerged from the space, shredding the thunder.
Dragon, the Hurricane-Hurricane Fruit Ability user, like Rowen, possessed formidable control over space, ignoring distances!
Rowen controlled space with the Thunder God Seal, indirectly manipulating the magnetic fields inherent to planets. Dragon, on the other hand, relied on the omnipresent air.
Where there was airflow, there was wind, and it fell under his control.
It wasn't that Rowen wasn't planning to get past him, but rather, Rowen didn't have confidence in getting past him.
Rowen's previous status as a Marine's strongest rookie was evident in his strength!
"Owing you two favors, isn't that owing the Marines? I understand..."
Dragon looked at him with profound eyes, his lips curling into a smile.
"One of those favors can be considered the price for keeping your secret. The other, consider it my reward for not confronting you this time. How about that?"
"You're asking for it!"
(End of this chapter)
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