Whoosh—
"What did you do—?!"
Luffy moved in an instant, charging at Liya with his fist clenched tight!
At this point, even he realized that his own carelessness and arrogance had put his crew in danger. He didn't like hitting girls, but—
"Give Roman back!?"
Mid-charge, Luffy suddenly spun around!
A fist, glowing with blinding white light, was already coming for him from behind—forcing him to turn and block the attack!
Even with a rubber body, taking a direct punch from the Quake-Quake Fruit without any defense would be reckless.
"You're the one—"
Boom! A black fist and a white fist clashed violently!
Blackbeard Teach didn't have Conqueror's Haki infusion, but as the strongest Paramecia in terms of destruction, the Quake-Quake Fruit could shatter space itself, making up for any shortcomings in raw attack power.
"What do you think you're doing to my little sister?!"
"Eight-Wheel Flower: Bind!"
"Reaping Song: Blizzard Slash!"
"Water Shot!"
At the same time, Robin, Brook, and Jinbe launched their attacks at the girl named Liya!
These three had all seen the cruelty of the world and the heartlessness of pirates. They wouldn't hesitate when it was time to strike! No matter how strange an ability was, the best option was always to take down the user as quickly as possible—
Though, instinctively, they all avoided her vital spots.
"How kind of you,"
But then, darkness surged up and swallowed Lia completely.
Brook's icy slash, imbued with the chilling energy of the Yellow Spring, and Jinbe's high-pressure water shot both struck the faint black aura around her—yet they rippled like water and were perfectly absorbed!
As for Robin—
"Ugh—"
The arms she had sprouted from Liya's dress were instantly devoured by the darkness, making her real hands spasm in pain.
Yet, despite being surrounded by powerful enemies, the seemingly delicate girl spread her arms with absolute calm.
"I've already made my stance clear. There's no need for you to hold back. Otherwise—"
"That would make me feel guilty."
At the same time, the darkness around her expanded endlessly in all directions, threatening to engulf the entire Cake Island.
Everything it touched fell into a bottomless black void, turning into a monochrome world of black and white, like an ink painting. And beneath her feet, the darkness grew denser and deeper, as if it would soon overflow and stain everything like thick, spreading ink.
"Dark Pit!"
———
"What?!"
Out at sea, aboard the Thousand Sunny, which was skillfully maneuvering to evade the Blackbeard Pirates' warship, Nami's sudden shout was so loud it even drowned out the thunder and cannon fire.
Zoro turned toward her, surprised.
"Roman is… gone—"
"Chopper, stop crying! Tell me exactly what happened!"
Even Zoro couldn't stay calm after hearing that.
No matter what kind of trouble they had faced, even when Roman complained, saying, "We're doomed," "We can't win," or "We're dead for sure," he always found a way to solve the problem in the end.
He was the definition of reliable.
So how could he just disappear at the start of a fight? That didn't make sense!
"...That's what happened. Roman got touched by the enemy, and then he just… vanished…"
"Don't panic."
While Chopper was crying his heart out, Nami rubbed her temples.
"Roman is probably fine. The fact that we can still communicate through the 'paper transponder' proves that. Their ability likely sealed him away or sent him to another space temporarily. We just need to find a way to—how's the battle going on your side?"
The easiest way would be to take down the ability user, which would nullify their power.
But if it were that simple, it would've been done already.
After all, the infiltration team included Robin and Jinbe—both of whom were just as reliable.
Whatever ideas Nami could think of, they had surely already considered.
Brook: ?
Hey, I may act like a goofy skeleton, but I'm actually pretty reliable in battle too! Yohoho~!
"Not good. Luffy and Katakuri are both struggling against Blackbeard alone. We can barely hold our ground…"
???
"No way—Teach is *that* strong?"
Nami and Zoro were both shocked.
Luffy had just defeated Kaido, the world's strongest creature. Sure, he had help from his brother and Yamato, but he was still one of the Four Emperors now. And on top of that, he had Katakuri, Big Mom's former right-hand man, fighting alongside him.
So how was Blackbeard able to—?
"It's true. That Teach is a complete *monster*! He doesn't just have three of the strongest Devil Fruits—"
"No, it's not just him. It's the three siblings. They each have a powerful Devil Fruit, and together, their teamwork is overwhelming. Even Luffy is having a hard time!"
Even calling it "tough" was already Chopper trying to soften the words. In reality, on the battlefield of Whole Cake Island:
"Gear Fourth—"
"Dark Water!"
Like a massive black serpent, the swirling darkness bit down, instantly interrupting Luffy's attempt to enter Gear Fourth. At the same time, Blackbeard's massive fist, glowing with shockwaves, came crashing down.
"Quake Smash!"
Boom—
Even though Luffy immediately coated himself with Conqueror's Haki and used Armament Haki for defense, he was still sent flying! Before he could adjust himself, lightning and flames came roaring toward him.
"Thunder Abyss: Rolling Storm!"
A massive purple-black lightning orb shot forward at Luffy! The air twisted and distorted in its wake as if torn apart by the force of the thunder. Violent, crackling electricity erupted non-stop, shattering the battlefield that had already been compressed by the Dark Vortex. The passing lightning left behind a deep, massive trench in the ground.
"Blazing Sun!"
A dazzling, scorching sphere of fire followed right behind. In an instant, Luffy's vision was filled with overwhelming light and heat—hotter than molten metal, like a steel furnace at its peak. The fiery blast surged forward, baking the ground below into molten lava.
Crackle! Boom!
"Aaah—!"
Even Luffy, as strong as he was now, couldn't help but feel the pain from those hits. While his rubber body made him immune to lightning, the flames...
It wasn't sheer willpower keeping them at bay—it was his advanced Armament Haki. Otherwise, rubber's natural weakness to fire wouldn't just disappear.
"Zehahahaha~~~ Without that cunning strategist by your side, you're nothing but a reckless brawler now, aren't you?"
Blackbeard's fists weren't coated with Conqueror's Haki, but the glowing white rings around them still carried the power to shake mountains and make the world tremble!
And on his broad shoulders, two girls "stood" on either side.
Well, "stood" in the sense that their lower bodies were fused into Blackbeard's form.
In fact, they could merge into Teach's body at any time—and emerge from any point they wanted.
Which meant—
"I've gotten rid of my 'double damage' weakness. Nothing can stand in my way now!"
Blackbeard's entire body surged with Armament Haki, his presence returning to the same overwhelming force he had when he wounded Shanks.
He would focus on defense and close combat—
"I'll strip away the enemy's powers."
On his left shoulder, the black-haired girl, Leah, reached out her small, pale hand. Swirling darkness shrouded her fingers, capable of devouring anything.
"And I'll control elemental attacks."
On his right shoulder, the long-haired girl stood calmly, surrounded by four Homies—lightning, fire, earth, and ice, circling around her.
"Zehahahaha~~ See this, Straw Hat?"
With a wicked grin, Blackbeard spread his arms wide.
Brute strength, power absorption, and elemental attacks—all in one.
"Even if I had to fight two Admirals at once, I wouldn't be afraid!"
"In other words—I'm invincible!"
—
"You let your guard down."
In a pitch-black space, Roman sat cross-legged in the void, his entire body covered in Haki, resisting the surrounding erosion.
He had already tested it—this place was some kind of strange dimension. There was no up, down, left, or right—just endless emptiness. No matter how much he attacked with Armament Haki, it was useless.
"As I thought... If I knew how to coat my attacks with Conqueror's Haki, I might be able to break out of here."
Of course, if his Armament Haki was strong enough to "burst" this space apart, that would work too. But using brute force like that was far easier said than done.
"Tch, so he really wants to trap me here for good."
This space carried the same power as the Dark-Dark Fruit, suppressing Devil Fruit abilities while constantly eating away at the trapped person's life force.
Luckily, Roman could maintain his external Haki defense. Otherwise, anyone weaker than him would be drained dry in no time.
Even though this place didn't have the same overwhelming suppression as Blackbeard's main ability, Roman's recorded powers were mostly sealed. Escape through "Switching Ability" or the "Door-Door Fruit" wasn't an option.
As for the "Paper-Paper Fruit" ability itself, Roman could still use most of it, but ideas like "creating a massive amount of paper to blow up this space"—well, not entirely impossible, but more of a last resort. However—
A piece of paper appeared in his hand. This was a "private notebook" between Roman and Nami. Since Nami had specifically asked for it to be reinforced, this paper was far more durable than the "paper phones" used by the rest of the Straw Hat Crew. Even in this high-pressure space, it could still—
?
Taking out a blank sheet, Nami watched as lines of text began to appear on it.
So that's how it is.
It was actually a pretty good idea.
"Franky, get the 'Coup de Burst' ready!"
With Roman captured and Luffy struggling in battle, Nami made a quick decision to provide support. As someone trusted by both the Straw Hat Crew and the Marines, Roman was the one responsible for sending the signal. But now, with Roman trapped somewhere, no one was there to alert the distant Marine forces for a coordinated attack.
Nami rubbed her forehead. Even the usually reliable Roman could be unreliable sometimes?
If Roman knew what she was thinking, he'd probably feel wronged—
If Luffy hadn't stopped Pudding from reading young Lia's memories back then… well, Pudding and others might have fallen into the trap instead. In that case, it was probably better for Roman to be the one caught. At least now, all Nami and the others had to do was figure out a way to get him out.
Sealing himself with a layer of Haki to block the slow corrosion around him, Roman closed his eyes and waited for his crew's response.
PS: With his three-in-one power set, Blackbeard Teach is equivalent to two Admirals in strength. That's right— as Luffy's ultimate rival, he is now arguably the strongest "man" in the world.
(End of Chapter)
----
You can read 30 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu