Queen’s feelings became complicated once again. Even he did not know how to describe his current mood. However, Ryokugyu’s next move quickly made Queen put aside those little thoughts.
That b*stard seemed to be trying to run.
A pink flower grew from Ryokugyu’s back. As its petals began spinning like a rotor, Ryokugyu started rising into the air. Yamato’s ice dome did not cover all of Udon, so he still had a chance to escape.
In a sense, Ryokugyu and Queen were quite similar. Not only were their abilities somewhat alike, even their lack of integrity was roughly on the same level. Faced with this kind of situation, different people would make different choices.
Akainu would most likely choose to fight to the death without retreating, and might even disobey orders.
Kizaru would not disobey orders, but while retreating, he would prepare the appropriate euphemisms to give himself a dignified excuse for leaving.
Ryokugyu was different. He would simply say outright that he did not want to fight or that he could not win. He would not even bother dressing up his tactical retreat with fancy wording and would straightforwardly admit defeat or flee.
The Five Elders represented not only the highest authority, but also the highest level of military power. One of the Five Elders had already died in battle, another was trapped inside the ice dome, and even Garp had failed to break through. If Ryokugyu still did not run under circumstances like these, then he really would just be acting stupid.
And as far as Queen was concerned, this guy absolutely could not be allowed to escape. If Ryokugyu managed to get away, regardless of whether someone else stepped in and brought him back, Queen himself would still be the one to suffer.
For the sake of his own future, Ryokugyu’s future had to be sacrificed.
“You coward! Aren’t you an Admiral?! Keep fighting me, damn it! Is running away all the Marines ever taught you?!”
The wings on his back beat furiously as Queen immediately gave chase. Neither he nor Ryokugyu possessed the Lunarians’ absurd adaptability, so in this kind of low temperature, both of them were inevitably affected.
The environment treated them equally, but their bodies did not. The layer of fat Queen had accumulated over the years finally proved its worth at this moment.
“I’ve got no intention of throwing my life away here. When the battle turns against you, you retreat. Isn’t that common sense?”
“Retreat? Dream on! You think this place is your backyard, where you can come and go whenever you please? Without our permission, even if you were a god, you’d still have to stay here today!”
Queen caught up to Ryokugyu in an instant, and the familiar Plague Bullets were fired once again. As someone who moonlighted as a plantation owner, it was perfectly reasonable for him to carry large amounts of pesticide on him at all times.
Queen had also realized that, combined with the current extreme cold, his herbicide could restrict Ryokugyu’s regenerative ability to the greatest possible extent.
“Leaf Storm!”
The swirling leaves swept up the Plague Bullets Queen had fired. The vaporized chemical surrounded Ryokugyu’s body under the force of the wind, and the leaves growing from his body once again turned yellow and withered, further draining his stamina.
“You b*stard! That damned chemical again!”
Ryokugyu surveyed his surroundings, but there were not many suitable targets left. His Devil Fruit also possessed traits of carnivorous plants, allowing him to replenish himself by stealing the stamina of others.
But most people had already escaped his attack range. The only ones still inside were a small number of CP0 agents and the Straw Hats.
“To hell with it! Hand over your stamina!”
When pinching persimmons, you pick the soft ones. Trying to drain Queen’s stamina would take Ryokugyu considerable effort, and might even result in the two of them getting locked into a mutual draining match. But things were different if he targeted a group of weaker people.
Whether CP0 were his allies, or whether someone was Garp’s grandson, no longer mattered in Ryokugyu’s eyes. Right now, this was an emergency, and protecting his own life took absolute priority.
His fingers grew and extended wildly as countless roots spread downward. The already injured CP0 agents were instantly pierced through by Ryokugyu, their bodies shriveling into mummified corpses as he drained them dry.
The Straw Hatz struggled desperately against the onslaught, while Luffy, who was being carried away by Hercules, found himself facing the same predicament.
The severe cold was still affecting Heracross’s ability to fly, making flight even more difficult for a species that was never particularly fast in the air to begin with. Most importantly, Luffy could not move at all right now.
[Damn it, move! Move already!]
Several vines stretched toward them. Hercules did everything it could to dodge, but failed to evade them all.
After repeated use, Protect’s success rate had begun to decline. In order to shield Luffy hanging beneath it, Hercules used its own arm to block one of Ryokugyu’s incoming vines.
[Hercules!!]
Luffy, recovering his stamina and Haki, did not shout out loud, but from Hercules’s eyes he somehow understood the words, [It’s okay.]
A mysterious power rose within both of them, and Hercules’s body gradually became enveloped in white light.
When the white light faded, Hercules’s appearance had changed dramatically. Its beetle-like form had transformed into that of a Hercules beetle. [TN: Hercules name and Hercules beetle is different.]
A much thicker horn now grew from its forehead, and its forearms were far thicker and powerful than before. However, the wings on its back had not disappeared. Instead, they had become even stronger.
There was no Mega Stone, nor any other power, yet Hercules had undergone a unique evolution. This was an extremely rare phenomenon between Pokémon and their partners—Bond Evolution.
Yamato’s bond with her Pokémon was certainly strong enough, but this kind of evolution had little to do with her. She had the confidence and ability to protect the other Pokémon, ensuring they would not be caught up in the war.
An orange spot appeared on Hercules’s head, looking almost like a straw hat. Beneath the corner of its eye, there was even a mark resembling Luffy’s scar.
Luffy felt his vision suddenly shift. He seemed to be seeing through Hercules’s eyes, and could understand Hercules’s thoughts far more clearly. He could even feel the pain coming from Hercules’s arm.
[Hercules, just hang on for one more minute! Give me one more minute, and I swear I’m gonna beat the crap out of that guy!!]
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