Alabasta. Preta Path and Blueno's battleground.
Blueno and Preta Path were still locked in a fierce battle, which had lasted for nearly five minutes. Although neither had used their ultimate moves yet, it showed that Blueno's strength had indeed improved significantly.
Blueno's patience was wearing thin. After a prolonged attack without finding a suitable opportunity to use Armament Haki for a fatal blow, Blueno became somewhat irritable. He decided not to wait any longer and would use his ultimate move to finish the enemy. His hands instantly turned black with Armament Haki. With a 'Soru' move, he appeared directly to Preta Path's side and swung his fist at Preta Path.
Pain had no idea that Blueno's dark gray hands were Haki, thinking it was Blueno's previous move, 'Iron Body'. So, he didn't make Preta Path dodge, choosing to take the hit head-on. Pain originally thought Preta Path's body would be pierced, but that didn't happen. Instead, Preta Path was directly sent flying by the impact, tumbling backward through the air and falling to the side.
Blueno didn't give Preta Path a chance to breathe, continuing with another 'Soru' to catch up. He activated his Door-Door Fruit ability, intending to open a door on Preta Path's body to incapacitate it and prevent its sandification from recovering.
Pain was briefly surprised when Preta Path was sent flying, but he instantly reacted. The ability to touch Logia Devil Fruit Ability Users must be the Haki that Reno mentioned.
Pain watched the flying Preta Path and the pursuing Blueno. Just as Blueno's Door-Door Fruit ability was about to land on Preta Path, he made Preta Path activate the Sealing Technique Absorption Seal. A curtain of light appeared, and Blueno's door vanished, absorbed directly.
Seeing his Door-Door Fruit attack was ineffective, Blueno rapidly retreated, maintaining distance from Preta Path while using another move, 'Haki: Iron Body: Shatter'.
His body was covered in Iron Body. He raised his hands above his head, pushed off the ground, and spun rapidly, attacking Preta Path's light curtain like a black, high-speed drill.
A grating friction sound continued to emanate. Pain controlled Preta Path to maintain the Sealing Technique Absorption Seal, resisting and attempting to measure the current endurance limit of Preta Path's Sealing Technique Absorption Seal. In less than five seconds, Pain felt that the Sealing Technique Absorption Seal had reached its limit. Pain decided it was time to intervene and end the battle.
Almighty Pull pulled Blueno's black drill-like body towards him. Shinra Tensei then blasted Blueno away, forcing him out of his 'drill' state.
From a distance, Blueno, whose attack had been interrupted, was gasping for breath. It seemed this move was quite draining for Blueno, and combined with the prolonged battle, Blueno was nearing exhaustion.
Blueno's gaze shifted to Pain, warily staring at the man who had been observing from the side. A solemn expression appeared on Blueno's face.
Alabasta. East Coast.
Reno and Oden had been waiting here for almost a day, but they hadn't found a large ship capable of carrying all the Materials. As the sun set and darkness approached, a large 'ship' with a massive sail finally appeared on the sea. It was described as massive because the ship was still far from the shore, yet its wide sail was visible from such a distance, indicating that this 'ship' must be quite large.
The distance was too great to clearly see the ship's flag. Reno and Oden simply sat casually at the port, waiting for the ship to approach, while enjoying the beautiful sunset. As the 'ship' drew closer, it gradually revealed itself to Reno and Oden. They finally saw the colossal object floating on the sea.
It was a small island floating on the sea, estimated to be at least fifty square kilometers in size. On the island, a giant, sail-like flag was planted in the middle, emblazoned with a massive Golden Lion's head.
The 'bow' of the 'ship' was also a large lion's head carved from gold. The 'bottom' of the 'ship' was entirely rock and seaweed. It looked like a pirate crew, and one associated with a lion. Oden watched the island, flying closer and closer, and the large flag pattern on it. He finally knew which pirate crew it was. It was the Golden Lion Pirates, led by Golden Lion Shiki, a strong figure from the same era as Roger and Whitebeard. Golden Lion is a Float-Float Fruit Ability User; he can make any object he touches, including himself, float in the air, and his pirate ship is also formed by the power of the Float-Float Fruit.
Golden Lion used his ability to make the island float in the air, building decks, sails, and so on, turning the island into his pirate ship. His pirate ship was incredibly sturdy, as it was made of an island, not ordinary wood, and floating in the air, the Marine had no way to deal with him.
Oden watched the island rapidly flying overhead, many thoughts flashing through his mind with a sense of helplessness.
"This ship is definitely big enough... but we can't operate it ourselves, can we?... And it's Golden Lion's ship... what a headache, isn't it?..."
"Forget it... let's wait for the next ship..."
Oden subconsciously wanted to give up, not wanting to meet Golden Lion, fearing unnecessary trouble because they were too familiar. Reno's gaze followed the Golden Lion's head on the giant sail. Although he knew the other party was a pirate, he didn't know which pirate crew it was.
Reno, puzzled, asked Oden about this unknown pirate crew.
"Senior... which pirate crew is this?... Why can it make an island fly in the air?"
"This is the Flying Pirates... their Captain is Golden Lion Shiki... he's a Float-Float Fruit Ability User... this island is floating in the air because of his ability..."
"Although this island is big enough, it's still useless to us... forget it... no need to think about it..."
"Ha ha ha ha..."
Oden answered Reno's questions with a carefree attitude.
Reno became excited upon hearing Oden's reply. Oden didn't know Pain's ability, but Reno was well aware that Pain could plunder Devil Fruit abilities. Moreover, Pain happened to lack capable corpses to perform his Ninjutsu, which Reno saw as a win-win situation. Seeing the island about to fly overhead, Reno hastily told Oden his plan, hoping Oden could stop Golden Lion.
"Senior... stop this pirate crew... but don't kill the Captain you mentioned... I know Pain has a way to solve the problem... I'll go inform Pain using Illusion Body!"
After speaking, he didn't wait for Oden's reply and instantly disappeared.
"Don't kill?..."
Oden heard Reno's words and saw Reno's disappearing figure, only able to give a helpless, bitter smile.
"Seriously, is Golden Lion that easy to kill?... If I appear and can't keep him here, it'll be troublesome..."
"Well... forget it... since Pain can solve it, I'll just stall Golden Lion for now..."
Oden drew his two swords, channeling Qi into them. With a powerful jump, he launched himself towards the island.
Pain stared coldly at the heavily breathing Blueno. Since the objective had been achieved and the limit of what the Sealing Technique Absorption Seal could withstand had been tested, there was no need to waste time. While Blueno's ability seemed strange to Pain, to take down Blueno, Pain only needed to team up with Preta Path.
Feeling that Almighty Pull's cooldown was over, Pain once again extended his right hand towards Blueno. He mentally controlled Preta Path to get ready. The moment Blueno was pulled over, Preta Path would lock him down and unleash its ultimate power, Devour: Sandification World.
Although Blueno's body was somewhat fatigued, his mind remained highly focused and in a state of readiness after Pain made his move. Seeing the opponent's right hand directed at him, Blueno, without time to consider what the enemy intended, tried to use 'Soru' to retreat. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Almighty Pull was released. Blueno, who hadn't managed to escape the attack range with 'Soru', was directly pulled by the suction towards Pain. Preta Path also sandified its body and followed closely, its right arm circling and locking around Blueno's neck, its left hand pressing against Blueno's back. Devour: Sandification World was instantly released, and a pained scream erupted from Blueno's mouth.
Blueno felt his body's moisture rapidly draining away. An erosive sand sphere was completely enveloping his body, corroding it. Blueno knew that if the sand sphere fully enclosed him, there would be nothing left but bones. Amidst his screams, Blueno reacted quickly, turning his entire body into Iron Body, attempting to slow the loss of internal moisture and resist the sand's erosion. His Armament Haki-infused hands tried to pry away Preta Path's arm from his neck.
But Preta Path was a corpse, without Pain. Under Pain's will, it had already received the command not to let go even if its arm broke. Despite Blueno's desperate struggles, he couldn't pry away Preta Path's arm.
"Ugh... cough..."
Blueno felt that even with his body in Iron Body, it couldn't stop the loss of moisture. No matter how hard he tried, his hands couldn't pry open Preta Path's tightly clasped arm. The sand sphere was slowly closing in, already reaching his neck. Once all the moisture was gone, his Iron Body would be difficult to maintain, and he would be instantly devoured by the sand sphere.
Seeing he couldn't pry away Preta Path's hand, Blueno had no choice but to use his last resort: he quickly opened a door behind him using his Door-Door Fruit ability. He gave up prying and directly unleashed 'Ten-Finger Pistol', not to harm the enemy, but to use the impact of 'Ten-Finger Pistol' to propel himself and Preta Path into the door. But unfortunately, he still failed.
When Blueno opened the door, Pain noticed Blueno's situation. Seeing Blueno trying to escape into the door with a burst of force, Pain flashed to the doorway. A Shinra Tensei directly blasted Blueno, Preta Path, and the sand sphere about ten meters away.
A mournful howl came from within the sand sphere. Blueno lost his only chance at survival and died within it. Pain didn't pause. He quickly approached the sand sphere, his right hand aimed at it. He mentally controlled Preta Path to retract the sand sphere, and the moment the sand sphere receded, he activated Almighty Pull, drawing in the Devil Fruit energy...