Now, Terra's wings were like two huge slabs of stone. Logically speaking, these wings were not meant for flight; their bulk would only add to the body's burden.
However, the Mountain Drake was able to fly with them. As a creature of the magical side, it defied science.
There were special chemical reagents applied by Oran on the pier. These reagents would display different colors as time decayed them. Oran used these reagents to deduce the approximate time Deli could adjust with each attack.
This was Oran's advantage. His connections allowed him to access things that most people couldn't see, such as the Devil Fruit encyclopedia.
According to the encyclopedia's records on the Fast-Forward Fruit, although each user could fast-forward different amounts of time, the amount of time fast-forwarded with each attack was the same for each user.
After confirming it was safe, Oran allowed Terra to actively endure the opponent's attack.
"Roar ~"
Terra turned its head to look at Oran behind it. Its strange "father" had suddenly become smaller, or rather, the reflection on the sea made it realize that it wasn't Oran who had shrunk, but itself that had grown larger.
However, Terra didn't mind this. The bond that had been nurtured since hatching still existed. Now, it seemed it could help the other party even better.
Dragon species were powerful creatures. They had long life cycles, requiring years of accumulation to grow, but it was worth it.
Elemental Drakes didn't even need to learn; once they reached a certain age, they would awaken the power in their Lineage Factor.
"Roar!"
Terra felt an unknown power accumulating in its throat. Following its body's instincts, it let out an angry roar at Deli, but this time, it wasn't just sound that came out, but also a thick earth elemental power.
Dragon Breath, a standard skill for the Dragon race, was a common skill for all Elemental Drakes, differing only slightly depending on the element.
Terra's Dragon Breath wasn't fire, but it was mixed with countless fragments of rock. Where the fine gravel and sharp stone blades swept past, even the heavy armor made of fine steel crafted by skilled artisans would be eroded with a hole.
That was a difference in the level of creatures, a difference that couldn't be evened out by numbers.
"Dragon?! How could there be dragons in this world?!"
Deli rolled around clumsily on the ground, barely dodging Terra's Dragon Breath. Terra, releasing Dragon Breath for the first time, wasn't familiar with this power, so it failed to hit its target.
In the years since arriving on this island, Deli's ability had made him invincible. Those who refused to obey his orders had become withered bones.
Even the sharpest swords and blades were nothing more than a piece of rusty iron under his ability. Today was the first time his ability had backfired in all these years, after all, he had never seen a long-lived species in the past.
An ability that could destroy human life had become a strengthening agent for the other party.
This terror didn't last long, and soon turned into joy.
He could fast-forward time, but he couldn't stop the passage of his own time.
The changes in his body constantly reminded him that he was no longer young.
The reason he came to this island was also related to the research he conducted with the former King. He also had his own desire for time.
"Since such dragons exist, then Millennium Dragons must also exist. As long as I find the Millennium Dragon's dragon bones... I can live forever! Hahahaha!"
Treasure, power, these things were simply not worth mentioning compared to the years. However, Deli, who was in a state of excitement, seemed to have forgotten one thing: he was still in the middle of a battle.
Roar!
Terra flapped its wings, and its claws swiped at Deli through the air. In an instant, a boulder rose from the ground, lifting Deli, who had just dodged the Dragon Breath, into the air.
Watching Terra, who had raised its dragon claws, swoop down towards him, Deli took a deep breath, suppressed the excitement in his heart, but didn't choose to dodge. At the moment Terra approached, its body suddenly shrank, turning back to its original form.
Unless the target was directly fast-forwarded to the point of temporal disappearance, maintaining this ability consumed stamina. Deli wouldn't continue to do such a stupid thing as to waste his own stamina to strengthen the enemy.
"Awoo!"
Terra was about to release Dragon Breath again, but found that its body had returned to its original size. Its youth period was just a three-minute experience card.
However, Deli still underestimated the dragon species. Although the ability was very strong in terms of rules, Deli's physical skills were very poor, and coupled with his old age, his body's reactions were even slower.
This was also the reason why he had this ability, but failed to dominate the island, and instead formed an alliance with several other pirate groups, even allowing the Black Hand to occupy a territory.
Although Terra had shrunk, it was still a dragon. Flying at full speed, it crashed into Deli's chest.
At the same time, a book in Oran's hand had also been opened, enlarged, and covered Deli like a cover.
His body was still outside, but his consciousness had entered Oran's book world, trapped in an illusion.
"Oran, is it over?"
The development of the battle was somewhat beyond Kuma's understanding. Deli, who was incredibly frightening in the mouths of the islanders and could decide a person's life and death with a wave of his hand, seemed to be performing too weakly.
"Simply relying on the Devil Fruit, with physical fitness completely unable to keep up, is like this."
Zephyr always criticized Borsalino for paying too much attention to Devil Fruit abilities. This sentence was not wrong, but Kizaru's physical skills were still crushing against most people.
For people like Deli, once the information was grasped and a targeted method was found, it was not difficult to deal with.
"Okay, don't be discouraged, that's what you'll look like in the future.
You can still become like this in the future, maybe you can do it soon."
At this time, Terra was a little unhappy. It hadn't experienced enough of its youth period. Adults always reminisce about the past, and children always want to grow up faster. This was also true for young dragons.
"Kuma, next, this old pirate... is still going to cause a lot of trouble for people."
Oran originally wanted to prepare for the next step of action, but suddenly sensed a troublesome thing, and hurriedly took out several syringes and began to draw Deli's blood.
"Oran, what happened?"
"This guy is dead, died of old age."
Oran realized that Deli in his illusion world had disappeared. There were only three reasons for this situation: he voluntarily released it, the other party broke free, or his consciousness dissipated. Deli was currently in the latter.
Originally, Oran wanted to do something with this ability's Lineage Factor, but now it was a bit too late.
Now he can only hope that his research conclusion is not wrong, that the ability will still remain in the body for a while after the ability user dies, after all, Blackbeard stole Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability after his death.
Using the Book-Book Fruit's ability, Oran preserved those blood samples in the warehouse and stopped their time.
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/DaoistRoeoNQ
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