"For a rebellious brat, I tend to prefer stick! education!"
Slap!
Sato Sakura's stunned face was grasped by a suddenly extended large hand, clenched, and then, the Twilight Sword in Sakura's hand violently transformed, forming a trinity Twilight Giant Axe.
Conqueror's Haki Infusion - Burst!
The heavenly drum reverberated. Terrifying power, accompanied by Boil Release's Chakra Steam, erupted and poured forth, mercilessly striking down.
The technique once created by the Pirate King's right-hand man once again manifested completely in the mortal world.
Axe Heaven Music!
A crimson rainbow light descended from the sky, yet also seemed to rise from the ground, easily tearing open the beast's scaled armor, carving a massive wound across its chest.
"Argh-!"
Amidst the beast's scream, Sato Sakura's eyes rolled back as she crashed toward the earth. Blood gushed like a spring, raining a shower of blood upon Punk Hazard.
The entire island trembled violently. The earth-manipulating ability previously imposed upon it collapsed with Sato Sakura's unconsciousness.
The world began tilting in one direction. The island fell, a colossal tsunami dispersing the surrounding glaciers.
"Damn, that move is..."
Having finally climbed back onto the island from the cataclysm, Sommers trembled all over upon seeing the axe technique that cleaved the sea, recalling the battle at God Valley over thirty years ago.
"Don't just stand there! The watchdog the boss left was defeated!" Killingham grabbed his arms and shook him. "You go find a way to retrieve that clone weapon. I'll go detonate Caesar Clown's little toy. We must not let this island fall into her hands!"
"Right... right... huh?"
The dazed Sommers only then registered what Killingham had just said. He turned to exchange tasks, but the other had already vanished.
Cursing once, he could only let thorny wheels grow beneath his feet, speeding toward the island's center.
Several minutes later, at the island's very center, Sakura let out a deep breath.
The Celestial Manifestation state ended. Her body rapidly shrank.
'System, how many points did this cost?'
[Informing, this Celestial Manifestation usage time was 4 minutes, 29 seconds. Rounding down, 440 achievement points deducted.]
'Tch, that's some serious rounding down!'
Sakura clicked her tongue, internally complaining about the unscrupulous system.
After completing her daily task of dissing the system, she stepped toward the unconscious Sato Sakura before her.
Lying in the huge crater she'd smashed, Sato Sakura had completely lost consciousness. Her body also began shrinking from the hundreds-of-meters height until finally reverting to a twenty-meter-tall giant form, collapsed in the desolate crater.
"Well then, what should I do with you?"
Sakura jumped onto Sato Sakura's body, using the height difference to lean over, stepping on her chin, elbows propped on her thighs.
Just as she took out her Kumotsuna to measure over the other party's body, a flicker of electricity suddenly sparked at the back of Sato Sakura's neck, catching her attention.
Sliding along Sato Sakura's collarbone to her neck, Sakura discovered the source of the electricity: A control chip that had started operating, its Seastone-coated casing cracked, causing the leakage and the earlier spark.
It seemed the designers hadn't considered that even Seastone could be damaged under repeated assaults by powerful Haki users.
"Hey, stay away from… our big toy!"
Amidst a sudden roar, Sommers, holding a thorned spiked club, charged, smashing down fiercely toward Sakura.
Slap!
The girl extended five fingers, effortlessly catching the thorned spiked club Sommers swung.
Then, Haki flowed to her fingertips. With a casual squeeze, she crushed his ability-created weapon into fragments.
"Ability is mediocre, but Haki is abysmal. Who gave you the courage to attack me? Your immortality?"
Sakura frowned, her hand continuing its motion to lift Sommers up.
Blazing light emerged from her palm. Terrific heat and flame radiated onto Sommers, charring him to a crisp.
"Aaaaah! It's hot, damn it!"
The burning charcoal struggled mid-air, screaming.
Even though branded with the mark by Imu, allowing Sommers's manifestation on Punk Hazard through the pentagram to grant him immortality, the sheer gap in strength left him unqualified to even contend with Sakura. In such a case, immortality became their greatest torment.
"Tch, what a nuisance." Sakura clicked her tongue.
He used Sommers's body as a hammer to smash the chip on Sato Sakura's neck, then throwing him away.
To shatter this bizarre immortal state required higher-level Conqueror's Haki application, it's something Sakura currently didn't know how to advance towards.
As for using Sealing Technique, it would be resisted by Haki, which maintained self-integrity and repelled all external erosion.
Thus, for now, Sommers was, to Sakura, unkillable, undismissable, unsealable… like a cockroach, bothersome and detestable.
"Cough cough... Don't think you can take this island so easily! Haruno Sakura!"
The slowly recovering Sommers panted heavily, his pupils fixed on the girl's face. "Opposing us, your only fate is destruction along with this place. Ahahahaha!"
Sommers's words sparked a bad premonition in Sakura. A flash of insight crossed her mind.
'Punk Hazard's destruction... Caesar Clown... mass slaughter weapon… Shinokuni.'
'Not good! Has Caesar Clown's poison gas been developed already?!'
Sakura grabbed Sommers by the back leg, dragging him as she ran toward the distant Research Facility No. 1.
Meanwhile, in the underground facilities of the research facility.
Hastily using his trident to clear away rubble blocking the path, Killingham's hoofbeats echoed in the silent corridor.
Researchers had all evacuated. The facility was now in disarray. The power system, without maintenance, also supplied erratically, lights flickering intermittently.
According to the memories of Caesar Clown, whom he'd left on the facility's top floor, the developed slaughter weapon was sealed in Room 13 of Area R0.
Following the room plates along the corridor, Killingham finally found the room sealed entirely by a metal door.
"This is it!"
Raising his trident, he tore open the door with two strikes and entered.
Inside the room stood multiple large glass tanks. Independently supplied power ensured the preservation equipment here hadn't failed. Inside the largest tank, purple mist churned.
That was Caesar Clown's developing slaughter weapon. According to his plan, there should have been a compression step.
But due to the gas's extreme instability, Caesar Clown had been seeking a method to compress it all. Experiments repeatedly failed, leaving it sealed here in this form.
However, Killingham didn't need a portable, explosive Shinokuni now. All he needed was to release this poison gas, turning all of Punk Hazard into a true Kingdom of Death.
That way, even if the World Government completely withdrew, Sakura couldn't obtain this island.
"Scum of the lower world, die!"
Armament Haki wrapped around the trident. Killingham's face contorted ferociously as he thrust fiercely at the glass tank before him.
Crack!
Where the glass tank was struck, a fissure abruptly cracked open. From within the fissure, purple poison gas began leaking out.
"Ahahaha, ahahahahaha!"
Amidst Killingham's laughter, at this moment, Punk Hazard welcomed a terror it had never known. Dazzling purple flames shot towards the sky. Savage poison fell upon the earth, spreading out.
Accompanied by a scorching ring of light sufficient to incinerate soil and stone, tear apart steel, it swept like a blade with a roar, rising inch by inch, turning the contours of matter into smoke and mist under the shockwave.
The ignited poison gas caused a secondary explosion, instantly forming a hemispherical bubble upon the earth. Cyan lightning erupted, unleashing a majestic, vast light.
'Too late...'
In the forest, Sakura felt as if struck by lightning, retreating without a second thought.
"Ahahaha, Haruno Sakura, this poisoned land shall be our congratulatory gift for your coronation!" With undisguised disgust and killing intent, Sommers coldly looked back. "No need to thank us too much!"
Then, he used ring-shaped thorns formed into blades to sever his thigh. Before the blood and severed limb could fall, he dove headfirst into the explosion, completely evaporating.
"Damn scum, trash, villains!"
The furious girl cursed, retreating continuously while also regretting her own negligence.
Cracks spread all over the island of Punk Hazard. Fissures appeared on the supporting island shelf. The earth wailed, continuously shattering. The spreading poison gas eroded all life indiscriminately, turning all plants and animals into silicon-based crystals.
It was still expanding, expanding, expanding...
Carrying the developer's malice, the damage gradually began spreading from land to sea.
Seawater, already liquid, rapidly underwent chemical reactions upon contact with the poison gas, forming flowing purple venomous liquid. Fish and microorganisms in the sea all died, floating densely on the sea surface.
'Leviathan, take Kuina and retreat!'
Through the Chakra Connection, Sakura transmitted the message to the hydrofoil floating in the sky.
'What about you?'
Leviathan's anxious voice came through, her usual laziness gone.
'I'll try to see if I can deal with the island's poison gas. Don't worry about me. This poison can't erode a strong Haki user!'
Sakura sent her final reply, then wrapped herself in Armament Haki and charged into the poison mist.
Feeling the Chakra Connection severed, Leviathan gritted her teeth and began retreating with Kuina.
The huge hydrofoil's side and rear propellers rotated, propelling the ship to fly outward from the island.
"Hey, Leviathan, what are you doing?! Sakura-nee isn't out yet!"
Noticing the scenery around the ship receding, Kuina hurried forward, grabbing her, trying to seize control of the airship.
However, shadows within the cabin suddenly expanded, entangling Kuina's limbs, pinning her to the floor.
Leviathan also turned her head. The worry on her face surpassed even Kuina's, but the resolve in her eyes didn't waver in the slightest.
"This is a captain's order. Follow it!!!"