Some unknown change occurred inside Queen’s body. As his weapon system switched modes, a new Plague Bullet was prepared, and an utterly ordinary-looking shell was fired toward Ryokugyu.
Unlike Queen’s previous Plague Bullets, this shell had no pungent odor and produced no strangely colored poisonous mist. It practically looked like a blank round.
“Queen, do you seriously not know where your bounty came from? You think your lousy technology can—urgh… N-No way… What is this…?”
Before Ryokugyu could finish speaking, he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. The plants growing from his body began turning yellow and withering.
“Nothing special. It’s just the herbicide I normally use. Those weeds are really troublesome. Looks like even a guy like you who claims to be nature itself can’t avoid a human invention specifically made to deal with nature.”
There were countless things Queen hated, including two in particular.
One was having his bounty increased for inexplicable reasons.
The other was having his technology denied.
With one sentence, Ryokugyu had once again stabbed Queen directly in both sore spots. The Plague Bullet Queen had just assembled on the spot was actually pesticide he normally used in the Reverse World.
He needed to grow many special crops there, but the soil in the Reverse World was far too fertile. Combined with the power of Arceus and Giratina, along with the creations of the Forces of Nature, the weeds there possessed extraordinarily tenacious vitality.
Using substances such as Muk’s crystallized poison, Mareanie’s paralytic poison, and waste gases from Weezing’s body, Queen had invented this specialized herbicide.
It was colorless and odorless, and it wouldn’t even affect Berries. To prevent accidental consumption, he had deliberately added a foul-tasting element. But weeds couldn’t tolerate the stuff at all.
Simply put, it was nothing more than a highly specialized pesticide. But Ryokugyu was the user of Woods-Woods Fruit.
While Logia-type Fruits granted their users the power to wield natural elements, they also inherited weaknesses stemming from those elements. Water could prevent the Sand-Sand Fruit from elementalizing, while insulators could strike the body of a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user.
In a certain sense, specialized herbicide was a natural weakness of the Woods-Woods Fruit.
“You b*stard… You actually used this garbage on me…”
“Muhahaha! Who cares what it is as long as it works? Looks like this stuff is pretty damn effective on you!”
“Cut the crap! You really think something like this is enough to defeat me?!”
A weakness alone wasn’t enough to defeat a Logia user unless the user himself was weak. Ryokugyu hadn’t fallen to that level. The power of nature began growing violently, but the herbicide’s effects remained.
Ryokugyu had no choice but to spend energy counteracting the damage it caused. Until its medicinal effects wore off, the boost Sunny Day gave him was effectively gone. And Queen had achieved his objective.
“I’m the one who’s going to beat you! You’d better hurry up and accept reality!”
In his Human-Beast form, Queen unleashed his full firepower. Instead of launching two air blades, he used them like gauntlets, keeping the pair of air blades spinning beside his hands as he attacked Ryokugyu like a reaper.
Luffy wasn’t idle either. He was still trying to avenge Hercules.
Meanwhile, not far away, the rest of the Straw Hats were dealing with a headache of their own.
“What the hell are we even doing?!”
“I don’t know either, but these guys already see us as enemies! Let’s beat them first and figure everything else out later! But these things are way too awkward to use. Hey, Ero-cook! Find me three swords!”
“Where the hell am I supposed to find you three swords?!”
The moment Sanji finished speaking, three swords suddenly flew toward Zoro. Hercules was clutching its stomach while waving at them.
Because of Luffy’s method of distinguishing friend from foe, CP0 had classified them as enemies and was attacking their group. But Hercules thought that was actually perfect.
As long as they didn’t escape the prison, anything else could be discussed. After all, someone was preparing to get them released. But if they tried breaking through the Beasts Pirates’ outer defensive lines right now and died there, nobody else would have anything to say about it.
If they fought on behalf of the Beasts Pirates, maybe Kaido would be in a good mood after winning and simply release them directly.
To prevent these people from doing something irreversible, Hercules dragged its injured body over and explained the situation to them. Ryokugyu’s earlier attack had hit it hard. Looking across the entire Heracross species, it was probably the one suffering the most pressure in the world.
Fortunately, the Straw Hats had already grown accustomed to Hercules’s resourcefulness and patiently listened as Hercules gave them its heartfelt advice.
But at that moment, another Marine’s combat power had already recovered. The black flames Mars had left behind earlier finally melted the layer of ice, allowing Garp to regain his freedom.
“Vice Admiral Garp, your injuries have been treated. Please act according to the Five Elders’ orders and lead the captured Marines here in an attack against these pirates.”
Among the CP0 members accompanying them were even specialized medics, including the user of the Paramecia-type Transfer-Transfer Fruit. His ability allowed him to transfer wounds onto other humans, provided the recipient could withstand the consequences of those injuries.
Several pirate prisoners had already died after receiving Garp’s injuries. Wounds that weren’t fatal to Garp were a very different matter when transferred onto ordinary people.
However, only the injuries could be transferred. The stamina Garp had consumed couldn’t be restored that way, so expecting him to fight at his full peak strength was unrealistic.
Even so, freeing a combatant like him was still very bad news.
“Looks like your remaining forces aren’t enough to stop us.”
Saturn, who was fighting Shayna, noticed what was happening on Garp’s side out of the corner of his eye. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he seemed even more confident about what was to come.
“Your weapon is impressive. It possesses a mysterious power I have never seen before. But your strength is unworthy of possessing such a treasure.”
“You pieces of trash are the ones unworthy of coveting divine blessing. Being allowed to die beneath the Red Chain is already a blessing for you. And what gave you the illusion that a single Garp would be enough to deal with us?”
Shayna knew Arceus had left contingency measures here. If the situation ever went beyond their control, someone would naturally take action. The area around the Udon quarry had already been surrounded by a wall of ice. She knew perfectly well who had created it.
But what happened next was something neither Saturn nor Shayna had expected.
A whirlwind swept in from behind, carrying with it the flames Shayna had just released and hurling them toward Saturn. The wind fed the flames, and the raging inferno swallowed Saturn in an instant.
“You are… Monkey D. Dragon?”
“Pardon the intrusion. I mean no hostility. Your forces seem somewhat stretched. How about a small trade?
“Marine Hero Garp—my father—will be handled by me. I won’t allow him to interfere with your situation. In exchange, all I ask is that you let me take him away.”
Dragon hadn’t come here to take advantage of the chaos. The Revolutionary Army’s primary enemy had always been the World Government. The fact that the Beasts Pirates had managed to draw out the World Government’s top combatants was already beyond his expectations.
Although both the World Government and the Beasts Pirates themselves still used the title of “pirates,” that was merely a matter of global perception. In essence, the Beasts Pirates had long since become the largest military warlord on the seas.
Provoking a group that controlled the economic lifelines of the Underworld at a time like this would be unwise. Establishing cooperation with them would be far more advantageous. Even the Revolutionary Army’s resistance required high-quality weapons.
After seeing the situation here, Dragon had already decided on his objective. He simply intended to take his family member away.
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