The stone giant no longer possessed the overwhelming power it had displayed earlier. The reason was simple—Junshi's single devastating blow had left it severely damaged. Even in close combat, it couldn't push Feiyun back anymore.
Though she lacked experience in hand-to-hand combat, the "voices" she could hear guided her, revealing the source of incoming attacks. Despite her injuries hindering her movements, this ability alone was enough to dodge the giant's strikes. The "darkness" spreading beneath her feet occasionally engulfed the stone giant's legs, keeping it at bay.
Even without proper weapons, Feiyun could hold her ground in this situation.
"Haa... Haa..."
"Guh... To think I'm being defeated by such a little girl..."
In a contest of pure strength, Feiyun now held the advantage. Junshi's single strike had been that devastating.
But—
"Damn it...! If it's come to this, I won't hold back anymore!!"
The stone giant transformed, wrapping itself around Feiyun like a cage to prevent her escape. The man who had vanished reappeared, diving into the earth to retrieve his greatest weapon.
Through the power of the Ishishi Fruit, he could merge with rocks, turning any stone into weapons or armor. While the user's inherent strength played a significant role, this man was a genius in that regard.
"Ohhhh!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Gravity can't do anything about this!"
"This isn't the time to stay calm!!"
Ignoring Georges' panicked cries, Junshi and Kuro tried to think of a way to break through—but with earthen walls closing in on them, there was nothing they could do.
Was there truly no hope?
Sensing their despair, the man smiled wickedly from within the earth.
—But then.
"—Freeze."
Thick ice pillars formed one after another, acting as shields to block the advancing earth. The stones transformed into spears, rushing toward Kanata as he leaped down, attempting to impale him. However, the attacks lacked Armed Color Haki and caused no damage to his ice-hardened body. The shattered fragments gathered together to form a new construct.
Zen descended using the ice pillars as footholds.
"Sorry I'm late."
"Heh heh. That was close."
"No, you saved us... But could you do something about that?"
Escaping alone would be easy enough—he could simply create ice stairs. But that wouldn't defeat their opponent.
This man's resilience, surviving even after taking a drill-like attack, combined with his formidable abilities—he definitely had the strength to seize control, even if his methods weren't straightforward.
But that was assuming Kanata and the others weren't here to face him.
"Kuro, can you drag him out?"
"I don't know. If he's inside the ground, I'll probably end up dragging something else out too."
"Try it. If you can get him out, that'll be enough."
"Alright, I'll give it a shot."
Either way, they couldn't win without forcing him to surface. They could pinpoint his location using their senses, but only Kanata and Junshi possessed that ability.
Feiyun was trapped in a stone cage and couldn't move, so Zen decided to rescue her first.
"I can't tell where the enemy is."
"Over there."
"Got it!"
Following Kanata's direction, Kuro extended his hand and attempted to pull the ability user's physical form toward them.
If the user was wearing stone armor like the construct on the surface, they couldn't pull just the "core" out. But if he was hiding within the earth itself, that was a different story.
Beki beki beki!! The sound of cracking earth echoed as rocks rose up, forming a giant arm that targeted Kuro.
The enemy must have sensed he was being dragged toward them and was counterattacking from within the earth—but this was no match for Junshi alone.
"Hmph!! Your kung fu isn't good enough."
He shattered the swinging stone arm, finally forcing their opponent to reveal himself.
Learning from his earlier mistake, the man appeared wrapped in stone armor of considerable size. Since he couldn't escape, he intended to defeat them here.
"Damn it!! I'll kill you all right here!!"
The stone arms, swung in fury, gained momentum from Kuro's gravitational pull as they charged toward Junshi.
Junshi caught the attack and used the momentum to execute a perfect shoulder throw, hurling it upward.
Without missing a beat, Kanata activated his ability.
"Kanata!"
"Leave it to me!"
He covered the sunken earth's surface with ice and launched Junshi onto it.
The Ishishi Fruit allowed its user to manipulate rocks freely. But if something else was placed between him and the stone, he couldn't use his ability.
He was cornered.
After everything they'd been through, now that it had come to this, the rest would be simple.
Defeat the man before them, and it would all be over.
"Haa... Haa... Don't think you've cornered me with just this...! With this...! I won't end like this!!"
Despite coughing up blood, the man continued to resist.
His stone armor deformed as he tried to break through the thick ice, the soles of his feet becoming spike-like as he swung downward.
But it wasn't something that could be easily shattered, and more importantly, Kanata and Junshi wouldn't let it go unnoticed.
"No, it's over."
In the blink of an eye, his entire body was frozen solid. Junshi hardened an ice spear with Armament Haki and pierced his heart.
Blood dripped from the spear that protruded from his back, and the "voice" Kanata had sensed through his Observation Haki faded away.
Breathing in air mixed with the metallic scent of blood, he realized the battle was finally over.
"...At last, we've defeated him."
"Ugh... I thought I was done for..."
Kuro collapsed heavily, exhausted, while Georges continued sobbing.
Kanata hadn't anticipated facing such a formidable enemy. His initial assessment had been too lenient. If there were reinforcements, they would be troublesome, but given that this man had been attacking indiscriminately, any allies would likely have been caught in the crossfire. If any remained, they'd be by the sea—but he had already dealt with those earlier. Even if some survived, what could they accomplish on a frozen ocean?
He thought they should return to the port first, but a voice called out from above.
"Ah, there! Are you okay?"
Feiyun cautiously peered over the edge of the crater.
The stone prison that had trapped her had been destroyed by Zen. While she had some scratches here and there, there didn't appear to be any serious injuries.
"Feiyun, could you pull us out?"
"That's no problem at all."
Feiyun leaped down, having already returned to her normal size. The pit was still deep enough that she stood head and shoulders above them.
She enlarged herself slightly, placed everyone on Junshi's palm, and returned them to the surface.
Between Junshi pulverizing stones and Feiyun wrestling with the stone giant, the port lay in ruins—even from an objective standpoint, the destruction was extensive.
Chinjao would probably scold them later.
"You've been through quite an ordeal."
"Indeed. This is the first time I've fought an enemy like that."
Since the man couldn't use Haki, he probably couldn't have defeated Kanata... but he was certainly strong enough to make victory difficult.
He had truly been a troublesome Devil Fruit user.
If he hadn't retreated underground, they would have had no choice but to rely on their Observation Haki to locate his true form and attack directly.
Regardless, now that it was over, they had to deal with the aftermath.
"They must have noticed by now, so contact Chinjao. If they demand compensation, we can offer them the Devil Fruit from our ship."
"Are you really going to give it away? It was quite a find."
"After causing this much destruction, they'll probably demand reparations anyway. I'm not going to bankrupt myself over a payment."
If that happened, they'd have no choice but to turn to piracy.
If they defaulted on the debt, Chinjao and his crew would come after them. While Kanata didn't plan to go down without a fight, avoiding conflict would be preferable.
At her core, Kanata was a pacifist who valued order—but she was also pragmatic about power.
"Though it depends on how much the Devil Fruit is actually worth."
The market price was supposedly one hundred million berries, but she wondered if that would be enough after such thorough destruction.
She looked down at the sunken port where the frozen body of the ability user still lay.
"... Hmm."
After returning to the ship, she took Kuro with her and descended into the crater once more.
Carrying a random fruit from their supplies, she approached the man whose heart had been pierced.
"... What are you doing?"
"They say that when a Devil Fruit user dies, another fruit with the same properties appears somewhere in the world."
Then why did such a transfer occur?
As the name "Devil's Fruit" suggested, eating the fruit caused a devil to inhabit the body—or so Kanata theorized.
When the user died, the devil left the body and became a fruit somewhere in the world, waiting for someone else to consume it. Though the exact mechanism remained unclear, Kanata believed it could be exploited.
"Eating a Devil Fruit causes a devil to dwell within the body. Eating two fruits causes the body to explode from the strain. So where does the devil go when the user dies?"
"Do you mean the devil resides within the fruit itself?"
"It's a possibility. Bringing you here was part of my experiment."
The power of the Yami Yami Fruit was "darkness"—a form of gravity.
If it could pull the demons from deceased ability users, just as it had drawn the living ones in their previous battle, that would provide excellent reason to hunt Devil Fruit users.
Alternatively, if demons inhabited the fruit closest to a deceased ability user, then the dark gravity wouldn't even be necessary.
She held the fruit in her left hand and brought it close to the dead man's chest, waiting a moment.
—Then.
"Oh, oh?"
"…Hmm."
The fruit, which had been ordinary, began displaying strange spiral patterns.
There was no doubt—these were the distinctive markings of a Devil Fruit.
Kanata smiled slightly and tucked the fruit into her robe.
"The experiment was a success."
"So if we defeat an ability user, we can obtain their fruit?"
"At least, that seems to be the case when they're dead."
It was still theoretical, but at least there was evidence to support it.
If an ability was powerful enough, she could feed it to a subordinate, or sell it for money if they didn't need it.
She now had compelling reason to prioritize targeting Devil Fruit users.
"But if someone discovers this method, wouldn't that be dangerous?"
"Yeah. The more powerful the ability user, the more likely they'll be targeted. You need to be careful too."
"I pride myself on being the weakest ability user around."
"You say that, but your ability is actually quite useful, and it's not the type that warrants taking from someone. I can only hope this transfer method remains unknown."
There was still a chance someone might discover it and begin a "hunt for ability users," but as far as Kanata knew, the only person who might have understood these conditions was "Blackbeard" from over thirty years ago.
How he had learned it remained a mystery, but this knowledge could provide a significant advantage.
Combined with the "ability nullification" power of the Yami Yami Fruit, it might be the optimal approach for collecting Devil Fruits.
"For now, only you and I should know about this. The fewer people who know, the better."
"Understood. Then you'd better do your best to protect me."
"I'll do what I can."
"Hey, don't make it sound like it's not your problem."
As she climbed the ice stairs, Kanata thought to herself:
(There are several Devil Fruits I'd like to acquire... but I can't consume them myself. If I had powerful subordinates, I could probably survive in these dangerous seas without much difficulty.)
"It won't be easy," she murmured under her breath.