"Yeah, it really felt faster than Borsalino," Diarmuid added, nodding seriously.
Borsalino, who had been silent until now, couldn't take it anymore. He spoke up immediately: "Who are you two trying to insult? How could there be an attack faster than mine? Do you think they call me the 'World's Fastest Man' for nothing?"
"World's fastest what?" Diarmuid asked, surprised.
"I am!" Gion suddenly raised her hand.
Borsalino's face twitched slightly before he retorted, "In your peak state, you're at most on par with me!"
Perhaps because he was being "disdained" in the very field he took the most pride in, the usually indifferent Borsalino had actually turned petty and competitive.
Just as the group looked like they were about to spiral into a heated debate over whether Borsalino was truly the world's fastest, Sakazuki finally had enough.
"I say, what is wrong with you people?" Sakazuki barked. "What time do you think it is? Is this the moment to discuss how fast Borsalino is? Do you want to get hit by another... another..." Sakazuki hesitated, seemingly unable to recall the name of that thing.
"Mini-Pluton," Kuzan whispered beside him.
"Right, the Mini-Pluton!" Sakazuki snapped, quickly continuing.
It truly wasn't the time. Diarmuid and the others promptly dropped the "fastest man" dispute.
"That attack just now came from that bizarre castle over there. If I'm not mistaken, that should be the core of the Domain of the Gods, and very likely where Uranus is located... According to our intel, Uranus shouldn't be operational right now, but nothing is absolute. Let's strike first," Diarmuid said, looking toward the distant fortress.
The moment he finished speaking, Sakazuki's body erupted into rolling magma, billowing thick black smoke.
Without needing another word, Sakazuki thrust his arms toward the sky and roared, "Great Eruption!!!"
Sakazuki transformed into a living artillery battery. Volleys of magma fist-cannons blasted from his arms, piercing straight through the high clouds.
Since Mariejois was situated at the very peak of the Red Line, the terrain naturally occupied the high ground. The clouds were quickly stained black by the massive amount of volcanic ash. Then, after the magma projectiles lost their upward momentum, they succumbed to gravity and began to plummet.
During the descent, their power intensified even further.
From a distance, it looked like a literal meteor shower falling from the sky, but this meteor shower was lethally real, composed of genuine magma!
Great Eruption was one of Sakazuki's signature field-clearing moves, comparable to Borsalino's 'Yasakani no Magatama', Kuzan's 'Ice Age', or Gion's 'Raigo'. According to Sakazuki himself, if he were to use this move at full power without any restraints, he could completely obliterate an entire island in a single wave.
This was one of the reasons why, a long time ago, Diarmuid had looked down on the Ancient Weapon: Pluton.
Destroy an island in one hit? Who among us can't do that?
They didn't rush toward the castle just because they found it. Sakazuki's opening salvo served as a tactical probe. Diarmuid and the others watched intently to see if this strike could bring the fortress down.
However, just as the Great Eruption was about to slam into the castle, dozens of laser beams shot out from the surrounding area. They intersected, briefly forming a "woven" curtain of light.
This rapid, temporary "light curtain" formed by the lasers intercepted every single magma projectile in the air. It forcibly turned the once-imposing "meteor shower" into a fine "magma drizzle."
The burning heat remained, but the heavy, crushing impact was gone.
After the rain of magma subsided, the castle still stood tall. It looked slightly singed but otherwise largely unscathed.
"What is this?" Sakazuki asked, surprised.
Borsalino's expression turned solemn as he muttered, "It's the technology held by the Special Science Group... Laser technology. Part of it was modeled after my ability."
"What do you mean?" Kuzan frowned and asked.
"Dr. Vegapunk was born in the 'Future Land.' He has been brilliant since childhood, said to possess wisdom 500 years ahead of the world. Even as a young man before leaving the Future Land, he had already invented many things. Back then, he was younger and more aggressive, which led him to develop this novel method of attack: the laser..." Borsalino explained.
"Is the laser really that novel?" Gion asked hesitantly.
After all, it felt like the Marines saw lasers quite often. Especially with Borsalino around, it was always lasers this and lasers that. Later, various high-tech weapons had circulated across the seas, making lasers not particularly rare.
Gion was also well aware of the 'PX-Pacifista' project within the Special Science Group; those war machines could fire lasers too.
As soon as she finished speaking, Borsalino clarified, "If the laser technology existed over thirty years ago, would you call it novel?"
"Over thirty years ago?" Gion was stunned.
"That's right. Over thirty years ago, Dr. Vegapunk had already roughly completed this technology. After that, he didn't pursue further offensive inventions. Instead, he researched a geothermal system for the Future Land before leaving to travel the world and exchange ideas with scientists from various countries. During that process, his personality changed significantly. He lost that youthful 'aggressiveness' and became much kinder. You know what happened after that. He was forcibly conscripted because he discovered the Lineage Factor. The ones who carried out that mission were Diarmuid and I," Borsalino added.
"Yeah, and we ran into that old hag Charlotte Linlin," Diarmuid said with a smirk.
"However, after being forcibly conscripted into the Special Science Group, Dr. Vegapunk was compelled by Mariejois's orders to research offensive weaponry once again, such as the PX-Pacifistas. Because of his increased knowledge and experience over the years, the laser technology was further refined. Most importantly, he used my ability as a reference to further increase the power and speed of these lasers," Borsalino said, his face darkening slightly.
"That truly is a troublesome matter..." Sengoku murmured.
Diarmuid also recalled something similar. If he remembered correctly, in the original story, Franky was sent to the Future Land by a palm-strike from Bartholomew Kuma. There, he inherited some of Dr. Vegapunk's "legacy." After emerging from the Future Land, Franky's strength soared, and lasers became his standard equipment.
"What exactly is the trouble? I'm not following," Kuzan asked, scratching his head.
"The trouble is... Look..." Sengoku started to explain, but before he could finish, he pointed into the distance.
"What is that!?" Kuzan stared blankly.
A light curtain composed of countless lasers was hurtling toward them. From afar, it looked like dense, shimmering raindrops.
This familiar sight made Diarmuid and the others glance at Borsalino. Indeed, no matter how you looked at it, this appeared to be his field-clearing ultimate: 'Yasakani no Magatama'!
Borsalino sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have cooperated with the Doctor back then..."
The attack arrived in an instant. A golden flash flickered under Borsalino's feet as he flew into the air. Crossing his arms before his chest, he shouted, "Yasakani no Magatama!"
The power of the Glint-Glint Fruit was more than sufficient. In a moment, a massive light curtain manifested before Borsalino. Then, lasers as dense as rain and as fierce as a gale erupted from him.
In the next second, the lasers fired from the castle collided with Borsalino's lasers in mid-air, resulting in a series of wild explosions. The scene was spectacular, a visual feast for Diarmuid and the rest.
While Borsalino blocked the incoming fire, Diarmuid unsheathed his cursed blade, Kokorowatari. With a flicker of purple light, he swung it forward: "Tengai Shinsei!"
After a few heartbeats, a "meteor shower" infinitely more exaggerated than Sakazuki's Great Eruption began to fall from the sky.
"This is?" Gion looked at the scene in surprise.
It was different from the usual Tengai Shinsei. Because of Doflamingo's Birdcage, no one had initially expected Diarmuid to use Tengai Shinsei to probe the castle, as the meteors would undoubtedly be sliced apart by the cage.
But this time was different. The meteors weren't being pulled down from space by Diarmuid. Instead, at the very top of the Birdcage, a black void appeared—the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit. It was as if the void were "birthing" meteors out of the infinite darkness, dropping them directly toward the castle.
A moment later, the now-familiar Mini-Pluton fired again, obliterating the meteors in the air with a single shot.
However, a smirk played on Diarmuid's lips. Without any surprise, he reached out and made a grasping motion in the air. The shattered fragments of the meteors actually began to coalesce and fuse back together in mid-air!
Then, Diarmuid jerked his arm downward. The forcibly recombined "meteor" seemed to be bolstered by an invisible force, gaining massive acceleration as it crashed toward the castle.
Let's see what other tricks you have... Diarmuid thought.
As it turned out, they really did have more!
The ground shook violently. An invisible, translucent barrier with a faint shimmer suddenly expanded, enveloping the entire castle. The barrier continued to grow, reaching the edge of the wasteland Diarmuid had created with his darkness before the meteor could strike.
The massive, heavy meteor slammed into the barrier. The shield flared with a blinding light, but it actually managed to completely and steadily block the meteor!
A bolt of electricity flickered in Gion's eyes. Her black hair stood on end, and a powerful current surged around her, forcing Kuzan and Sengoku to step back and give her space.
The lightning around Gion surged, converging entirely on her arms.
"Raimei Hoho!!!" Gion bellowed. (Thunder Roar Cannon)
Pressing her arms together like a cannon barrel, she fired a blast toward the castle inside the barrier.
A beam of plasma cut through the air, leaving a scorched scent in its wake. The ground beneath its path turned charred black, and in some places, it even began to liquify into magma. There was no doubt that the energy gathered in this move was immense; the flash of electrical heat alone was enough to melt the soil!
Gion's Raimei Hoho struck the barrier with incredible speed. Everyone's eyes lit up as the barrier, which had just blocked a meteor, clearly "flickered" upon impact, as if its stability were wavering.
Although it ultimately held against Gion's powerful strike, everyone now had a better idea of what they were dealing with... It wasn't truly unbreakable!