RUMBLE—BOOM!
The massive hand, the size of a small mountain, slapped down toward Teach on the ground with apocalyptic force!
The other combatants on the battlefield had already stopped fighting, scattering to the sides to avoid the earth-shattering impact.
"That is one scary woman~"
Doc Q's sickly horse, Stronger, was running for its life. Its hooves were practically smoking by the time they managed to scramble out of the impact zone.
Doc Q lay flat on the horse's back, looking back from the safety of a rocky outcrop, offering a genuine sigh of emotion.
Pop.
Van Augur teleported to Doc Q's side. He stood there expressionless, watching the destruction.
"Another one dead."
The two exchanged a glance and fell into silence.
Yeah. Another one.
The Blackbeard Pirates had only been sailing for a few months, yet they had already lost two core members.
And both had died at the hands of the Phantom Troupe.
Van Augur looked over at Hisoka, who had long since fled the immediate blast radius and was casually shuffling a deck of cards.
It seemed that ever since that man appeared, their crew had started dying off one by one.
Is it just my imagination?
Van Augur looked toward the titanic silhouette that was currently blotting out the sun and fighting their captain.
For some reason, he had a nagging feeling…
It felt like they were… living in the shadow of that other group.
Both crews possessed a method to steal Devil Fruit abilities.
Both followed the same sailing route.
Both exerted a terrifying influence that stirred up the entire world.
Van Augur's sharp intuition had even picked up on a specific scent…
Many members of that team carried the same "smell" as them.
The smell of their own kind.
The kind of villains who could kill without blinking, who held a total disregard for life.
But…
Van Augur watched Machi, who was fighting desperately, and a look of confusion crossed his face.
That team is different from us.
People with that kind of cold-blooded aura… why do they have a concept like "companionship"?
They seemed genuinely angry when a comrade was hurt.
They seemed willing to go all out, even risking their lives, for the safety of their crewmates.
These were emotions that shouldn't exist in people like them. Yet, they appeared again and again in the members of the Troupe.
There was only one explanation for this anomaly. They were being influenced by one person…
Their Captain.
A strange glint reflected off Van Augur's monocle. "Is it because of that man named Chrollo…?"
"Just what kind of charisma does he possess…?"
---
On the other side of the battlefield.
Shizuku and Bonolenov had also retreated to their own lines.
Shizuku, her expression calm, moved to step forward and help, but Bonolenov grabbed her arm.
"Why stop me?"
Shizuku looked mildly curious.
"It's obvious." Bonolenov pointed at the catastrophic scene ahead. "That isn't a battlefield you or I can intervene in anymore."
Shizuku thought about it and realized he made sense. She stopped, pushed up her round glasses with her index finger, and stared at the chaotic fight.
"We're outdated," she said flatly.
Bonolenov was momentarily speechless.
Yeah. Outdated.
After acquiring their second abilities, the gap had widened. Aside from the main combat quartet (Uvogin, etc.), even Machi had left them in the dust in terms of raw power.
Bonolenov might be able to intervene with his Battle Dance: Jupiter, but that would be a one-and-done attack. It was the only thing he had that could match the level of the two monsters fighting up there.
"The Captain needs to speed up the hunt," Bonolenov sighed.
The feeling of not being needed… wasn't exactly pleasant.
BOOM!
Shukaku's massive sand hand swatted Teach out of the air.
The ground within a hundred-meter radius quaked violently.
A shocking, massive palm print was stamped into the earth. Dust rose like a dragon, and dense cracks spread outward like a spiderweb.
Inside the deep crater.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch…"
Blood seeped from the corner of Teach's mouth. "That hurts…"
He stumbled to his feet. He looked like he had taken some damage.
However, if one looked closely…
A layer of darkness covered Teach's body. The actual damage was extremely limited. And the darkness beneath his feet was still spreading.
As the darkness expanded, much of the sand and stone that made up the giant beast's hand was silently swallowed by the Black Vortex.
That single strike had rendered Shukaku's sand arm unusable.
Seeing that brute force wouldn't finish him off, Machi immediately changed tactics.
"Sand Burial!"
A massive sandstorm whipped up around Teach. The sand formed four massive walls, slowly closing in toward the center.
In the next second, a colossal sand coffin formed on the ground, completely entombing Teach!
"Got him."
Inside the forehead of the Shukaku beast, Machi's eyes flashed with hope.
Chrollo had warned the Troupe about how terrifying Teach was. Machi didn't expect to defeat him alone. Her goal was simply to test her limits—and to pin him down!
As long as she held him until Chrollo arrived, he wouldn't be able to escape even if he grew wings!
But before the excitement could fully settle on her face, the sturdy sand coffin began to sink.
It collapsed inward.
A pool of pitch-black darkness had covered the ground beneath it. Even the Shukaku beast itself began to sink silently into the void.
"Zehahahaha! I told you… darkness absorbs everything—"
"And that includes sand!"
The flowing sand was sucked dry. Teach's figure re-emerged from the collapsing coffin. By now, half of the Shukaku beast had already sunk into the darkness, reduced to nothingness.
"This is the true power of the Black Vortex. Darkness… accepts all."
Teach slowly raised his hand toward the remaining half of the sand beast. "Become one with the darkness—!"
A terrifying suction force erupted from the swirling black hole in his palm.
Under the immense gravity, Shukaku's body began to disintegrate and dissolve, exposing Machi hiding within.
Machi's body was instantly caught in the gravitational pull, dragging her toward the black hole.
"Sand Teleport—"
Machi tried to transform her body into sand to move at high speed, attempting to escape the vortex.
But it only bought her a few seconds. Her body was still being inexorably dragged toward Teach.
"Desert Spada!"
In a final struggle, Machi condensed a high-density spear of sand, nearly a hundred meters long, and fired it rapidly at Teach—
But the moment it touched the black hole, it melted away like snow in a furnace.
And that wasn't even the worst part!
The most fatal issue was internal… The berserk energy surging through Machi was fading. A wave of unprecedented weakness was invading her nerves.
The Rumble Ball's duration… was up!!!
A triumphant, treacherous grin spread across Teach's face. "Your ability is mine—"
"Once I touch you, you'll never be able to use that sand power again! Zehahahaha!"
Just as he was gloating—
Hisoka's expression changed drastically.
Using Bungee Gum, he launched himself in the complete opposite direction of Teach at high speed, not hesitating for a second.
He left only a grave warning hanging in the air:
"Run—!"
"Something is coming!!!"
Teach's expression froze.
Van Augur reacted instantly. He grabbed Teach and Doc Q, warping them away and chasing after Hisoka's retreat path.
Whoosh—
Only Teach's furious roar was left echoing in the air:
"Damn it—!"
"I was so close!"
"Next time we meet, I'll kill you—!"
At the same moment.
An Air Door materialized in the space between Machi and the fleeing Blackbeard Pirates.
From the green dimension, a figure in a black coat slowly stepped out.
Chrollo… had arrived.