Hearing Echo's words, Meiser's heart skipped a beat as he immediately turned to look behind him. When he saw what it was, his pupils contracted sharply. "What... is that?"
A... peculiar bear paw-shaped gas?
Wait... if he remembered correctly, that bastard Kuma had created the same bear paw shape when launching his Compressed Air Bomb earlier!
Could it be that bastard hadn't lost consciousness yet?
"Everyone be careful! That guy might still be standing!"
"After taking such a severe attack, he still hasn't been taken down?"
"Is this guy a monster?!"
At Meiser's words, Tooth and the others showed expressions of horror. To still be conscious after enduring such a terrifying attack... was this even human?!
That Divine Thunder earlier was practically divine punishment!!
The next moment, an enormous figure instantly appeared at the edge of the crater—Bartholomew Kuma!
"What terrifying rookies. You almost killed me."
"Given your current state, those words aren't very convincing..." Meiser said with a grim expression.
Though the other party looked miserable, with his glasses and clothes tattered, there were no severe injuries on his body!
Especially the parts that had been charred earlier—they had miraculously returned to their original state, as if... some special power had erased his wounds.
For a moment, despair began to spread.
How were they supposed to fight an enemy who couldn't even be killed?
"Run! Let's run away!"
"This guy is practically a monster!"
"Big Brother Meiser!" Echo shouted urgently. "You guys go first! We'll hold this guy off for you!"
"That's right! If it weren't for you, we'd never have gotten our Shadows back. It's time to repay our debt!"
"Brothers, prepare for battle!"
"Even if we die, we'll buy Big Brother Meiser enough time to escape safely!"
"YEAH!!"
"Big Brother Meiser, hurry and go!"
Watching Echo and the others step forward, Meiser was momentarily stunned.
In this situation... their first thought was to act as the rear guard?
Looking at Echo, whose legs were trembling but still refused to lower his weapon, Meiser suddenly smiled.
These friends... were truly worth making.
Patting Echo's shoulder, Meiser stepped past him and stood at the front of the group.
"Big Brother Meiser?"
"An enemy like this isn't someone you can handle. Stand down."
"Exactly."
"Wait, even Pirate Hunter is—"
"Hey, what's with you guys?!"
Watching the members of the Straw Hat Pirates ready themselves for battle one after another, Echo and the others were filled with shock.
Even now, they still refused to give up the fight?
Observing the Straw Hat Pirates preparing to fight again, Kuma spoke. "Have you prepared yourselves for death?"
"We have no intention of dying here!"
"Three-Sword Style · Demon Slash!!"
Without another word, Zoro charged forward, his three-sword technique slashing fiercely at Kuma's head!!
"Whoosh~"
The sharp blade slashed onto Kuma's palm without fail, only to be sent flying back once more by that terrifying Repel force. "Whoosh—"
"Boom!!"
"It's not over yet!"
Sanji shouted as he charged right in front of Kuma, delivering a fierce kick straight to the opponent's chest.
"Bang!"
With a loud crash, Sanji was also sent flying back.
However, Meiser didn't waste the opportunity his two comrades had bought him. Almost the instant Sanji was sent flying, he appeared right before Kuma.
"Lightning Blade!!"
"Whoosh—"
A terrifying arc of electricity pierced through the air, and Meiser's expression immediately darkened.
The opponent hadn't chosen to block his attack head-on but instead opted to evade it.
It seemed that after their previous encounter, Kuma had learned his lesson—he wouldn't give Meiser another chance to strike his body with Lightning Release.
"This is... really a terrible situation..."
Glancing at Tyrant Kuma standing in the distance, Meiser withdrew his Lightning Blade.
He was running low on Chakra now and couldn't afford to waste any.
"Dammit, what kind of ability is this?!" Franky roared.
As he spoke, he fired a cannonball straight at Kuma, landing a direct hit.
But unfortunately, it was still ineffective.
After sweeping his gaze over the reactions of those present, Kuma spoke up: "I am a Paw-Paw Human who has eaten the Paw-Paw Fruit. I possess the ability to Repel anything."
As he spoke, Kuma openly showed everyone the paw pads on his hands.
"Repel anything...?"
Meiser turned to look at the strange gas floating in the crater and said in disbelief, "You mean to say... this is the damage you Repelled?"
"Correct!"
"Hey hey hey, don't mess around!!" Tooth exclaimed incredulously. "How can such an ability exist in this world?"
"Exactly, isn't that basically invincible?!"
"Devil Fruit abilities are simply this miraculous," Kuma said calmly.
As he spoke, he recalled the memory of how he had obtained this Devil Fruit back then.
Had it not been for his good fortune, a Devil Fruit of this caliber would never have fallen into his hands.
After all... this was a top-tier Devil Fruit prepared for the Celestial Dragons!
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Meiser declared, "No matter what ability you have, it's no reason for us to surrender!"
"Damn right!"
Zoro and Sanji climbed out of the rubble, rejoining their comrades as they glared coldly at Kuma.
Clearly, they hadn't given up yet.
"Still resisting stubbornly, I see..."
"We never said we'd give up!"
"Admirable courage, but insufficient," Kuma said impassively. "Very well, I'll give you a chance—a chance to survive."
At these words, the group froze momentarily. What... did he mean by that?
Hadn't the person on the Den Den Mushi said they were to be exterminated?
Was this man... planning to defy the World Government's will?
Or was he... toying with them?!
"What are you getting at?" Meiser frowned.
"Hand over the Straw Hat Boy's head willingly, and I'll spare your lives. How about it?"
However, to his surprise, the Straw Hat Pirates didn't even hesitate before shouting in unison:
"We refuse!"
"Refused...have you..."
Kuma nodded without another word, slowly raising his hands to compress the air.
Meiser's expression changed, and without hesitation, he rushed toward his crewmates.
The others also understood what Kuma was about to do and did their best to move toward Meiser.
Soon, that enormous paw-shaped mass of air was compressed to an extremely small size, clutched tightly in Kuma's palm.
After glancing at Meiser reuniting with his crew, Kuma gently tossed the compressed air toward them.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
"Paw Impact!"
"BOOM!!!"
The compressed air instantly expanded, generating an overwhelmingly terrifying shockwave!!
This shockwave was even more fearsome than before—even behind the earthen wall, they could feel its dreadful force.
Some of the weaker members were immediately knocked unconscious by the impact.
'Hold on!!' Meiser roared inwardly.
Watching the cracks spread across the earthen wall, his eyes widened further.
Fortunately, it held in the end.
As Meiser withdrew his Chakra, the wall gradually sank back into the ground.
"We...we made it..." Nami sighed in relief.
"Now's not the time to relax!" Zoro barked. "Quick, that guy—"
Before he could finish, they realized Kuma, who had been standing in the distance moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
The next instant, a strange sound reached their ears—like...the sound of a balloon being inflated?
Hearing that familiar noise, Meiser's pupils contracted as he whipped his head around.
There stood the colossal Kuma, gripping Luffy's body as he used his ability to extract a strange mass of air from within him.
Meanwhile, Usopp, who had been carrying Luffy, had somehow been sent flying into the distance.
"Whoosh~"
"CRASH!!"
He slammed into a pile of rubble in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust!!
"Usopp!"
"Luffy!!"
"Bastard, what are you doing?!" Zoro snarled.
As he spoke, he charged at Kuma, ready to attack.
"Don't move."
At the sight of Kuma's hand resting over Luffy's heart, Zoro froze in place, not daring to take another step.
Kuma's Devil Fruit ability was bizarre—he could even expel injuries. Could he...also eject someone's internal organs?
If he used his power to blast Luffy's heart away, Luffy would die for sure!
"That should be the injuries from Luffy's body... What exactly are you trying to do?" Meiser frowned.
The color of the extracted mass matched what they'd seen in the crater earlier—likely the same type.
But why would Kuma do this?
Deliberately expelling Luffy's injuries?
Did that make any sense?
Why would Bartholomew Kuma, their enemy, do something like this?
At this moment, Meiser truly couldn't fathom the man's intentions.
"These injuries belong to the Straw Hat Boy," Kuma said calmly. "So this is how you regained your mobility..."
"Correct."
"This is... an invincible ability..." Meiser frowned.
"If you want to save the Straw Hat Boy, you'll have to bear this yourself," Kuma said, looking at Meiser.
"What do you mean?"
"If no one bears these injuries within a certain time, they'll return to their original owners," Kuma explained, then pointed to his own injuries. "And that includes mine."
"Now, I'm giving you a chance!"
"If you want them to live, you'll have to bear both sets of injur—"
Before Kuma could finish speaking, he sensed a massive sword imbued with Haki flying toward him from a distance, aimed directly at his arm!
Feeling the threat from the weapon, Kuma instinctively released his grip on Luffy and instantly dashed to another location.
The next moment...
"Thud!"
"BOOM!!"
The tremendous force blasted a massive crater into the ground!!
The sight left everyone dumbfounded.
What was that now?
"A sword?" Meiser muttered in surprise.
Where did that come from?
And it was so huge... the wielder must at least be a small giant.
Who could it be?
Before Meiser could figure it out, another enormous shadow flew over from the distance and landed directly on the strangely colored gas.
"Huh?!"
"What's this..."
Before the Zombie could finish speaking, his expression changed.
The gas representing the injuries was absorbed almost instantly by the colossal body.
The next moment...
"BAM!!"
The massive body, as if struck by an unimaginable force, began to bulge irregularly before exploding outright!
Debris scattered everywhere, splattering all over the group.
"What the hell is this?!" Echo exclaimed, staring at the enormous elephant foot that had landed by his feet.
"Hey, isn't that the General Zombie?" Merry said.
They had seen this guy when they went looking for Hogback.
He should have been purified by Robin using salt—why was he here now?
Just then, a black shadow suddenly shot out from the debris, flying at incredible speed toward the distance.
Though the dust kicked up by the sword obscured much of the view, they could faintly make out another colossal figure.
Soon, the wind cleared the dust, revealing the figure's true identity!
"M-Moria!!"
At the sight of the familiar figure, Tooth collapsed onto the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
They were already struggling against Kuma—now Moria had shown up too?
If two of the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea attacked them together, wouldn't they be doomed?
"Gehahahaha!"
"Quite the fierce battle going on here," Moria laughed heartily.
He scanned the battlefield, noting how thoroughly it had been wrecked—clearly, the fight had been intense.
Even Moria had to admit it now: the Straw Hat Pirates were truly formidable.
After a life-and-death battle with him just moments ago, to still be able to fight Kuma to this extent—they definitely have the capability to venture into the New World!!
As long as they can master Haki, their strength will undoubtedly skyrocket.
Thinking this, Moria casually tossed the person in his hand onto the ground.
The next moment, a shadow from the sky flew over and landed precisely on the man, restoring his shadow. "Huh?!!"
"Th-That's Usopp?!"
"Dammit, why is Usopp in Moria's hands?"
The members of the Straw Hat Pirates glared furiously at Moria, itching to cut him down right then and there.
How dare he sneakily attack their comrade?
"Don't look at me like that," Moria waved his hand dismissively. "I just borrowed his shadow for a bit. He's not dead."
Shortly after arriving here, he had heard Kuma explaining his abilities, forcing Meiser to make a choice.
So Moria casually grabbed Usopp, who had collapsed nearby, stole his shadow, and placed it onto the corpse of a General Zombie.
Then, he threw the newly revived zombie onto the mass of injury-laden gas.
Just as he had expected, the revived zombie, by the rules, was no different from a living person—it could still bear those injuries!
Meiser frowned as he watched Moria. The situation was becoming more and more incomprehensible to him.
First, there was Kuma, who deliberately expelled Luffy's injuries while spouting cryptic words, almost as if he was intentionally giving them a chance to survive.
Then, there was Moria, who suddenly struck, his weapon clearly aimed at Kuma!
What... in the world is going on?