One Piece: Surrounded at Marineford? Just kidding!

Chapter 428: Timely Rescue!

The death that Ace and Sabo imagined did not come.

A loud bang followed.

clang!!

The sound didn't resemble swords or blades.

Two mountains collided. A violent sonic boom tore through the air. A golden lightning bolt cleaved through the void, blocking Ace and Sabo's path.

A supreme-grade sword, gleaming with golden light, hung horizontally in mid-air. Its golden, domineering aura exploded, forcefully blocking Nasujuro Sei's skeletal hoof by half a foot. A circular shockwave erupted, instantly pulverizing the rubble beneath their feet. Dust billowed like a tsunami.

Nassshuro's bone horse was knocked back three steps.

Every step I took left a deep crater in the ground.

A crack had suddenly appeared on that seemingly indestructible bone hoof.

The man with the knife had his red captain's coat billowing behind him, the hem rustling loudly. His tattered straw hat swayed violently behind him.

He stood very casually.

One leg in front and one leg behind.

In that very pose, he blocked the attack that could crush mountains.

Several old scars marked his angular face. At this moment, an unbelievably large smile graced that face.

Roger.

If he had appeared just 0.3 seconds later, Ace's skull would have been crushed.

the other side.

A dark shadow rose from the ground.

Silently.

A giant hand shrouded in thick darkness suddenly stretched out, its five fingers spread wide, and directly grasped Peter Saint's mouth full of sharp teeth.

The earthworm's head made a metallic crunching sound in the black palm.

Its massive body writhed and twisted desperately, sweeping out deep trenches, but it was welded to the spot.

Rocks's imposing figure blocked Sabo's path.

The shadow beneath his feet spread rapidly, swallowing up light and debris. His wild, long hair billowed upwards, and his sinister eyes were filled with bloodthirsty excitement.

He was excited, not because he had saved someone.

It's because he can continue to torment the Five Elders.

Lockes snorted and slammed the earthworm's head onto the ground.

boom!

A muffled thud. Peter Saint's head was smashed into the stone slab, the hard rock layer shattering like water, sending shards of rock flying skyward.

Rocks didn't stop.

He flipped his right palm, and a fan-shaped mass of dark energy spread out, colliding with attacks from two other directions.

The poisonous mist of Satan was swallowed up.

Mazsan's sound waves were scattered by the darkness.

The darkness cleared a safe zone in front of him.

Ace opened his eyes.

He saw the light first.

Then, he saw the tall figure clearly.

Red trench coat.

Broad shoulders.

The straw hat on her back.

And then there's the right hand that's holding a long sword called "Ace".

Ace's mind went blank.

It's not because I'm afraid I won't be able to speak.

It was something else, an emotion that couldn't be described.

Deeper, heavier.

A surge of emotion welled up in his eyes. He stared blankly at the retreating figure, unsure how to speak.

Sabo is a little faster than Ace.

He supported his nearly collapsed body with his right hand, braced himself on his knees and gasped for breath, barely managing to stand.

Then, he looked up and saw Lox's imposing profile.

Normally, Saab would take three steps back.

But now, this face is "alive".

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his flesh. The stinging pain reminded him that this was not a dream.

They actually survived.

Roger, carrying the famous sword "Ace," turned around.

He glanced at Ace, who was standing in a daze behind him, and Sabo, who was struggling to stand, and grinned from ear to ear.

"Hey guys! Stop spacing out!"

His tone was as cheerful as greeting someone in a pub, but a hint of lingering fear was hidden in his voice.

"Really, Brother Chen Ye guessed it right."

Roger hoisted Ace onto his shoulder, put his other hand on his hip, and looked past the two of them at the distant ruins.

"That guy said it when we were still standing by the pit watching the show." Roger's expression changed from laughter to exaggerated admiration, his eyebrows raised high. "He said that Im would definitely not come looking for the three of us head-on this time. She suffered such a big loss, she wouldn't be stupid enough to confront us again."

Roger slapped the back of his head and gave a wry smile.

"Brother Chenye said she will definitely find a weak point on the battlefield to attack. She will use the lives of important people to forcibly restrain Whitebeard and Long."

He shook his head and sighed.

"I didn't believe it at first. I thought that Im, the king of the world, a god who has ruled for eight hundred years, would never resort to such underhanded tricks. But hey, Brother Chenye was right. This guy really has no bottom line."

On the other side, Lox released his grip.

His palms were covered in a layer of sticky fluid. He flicked them twice expressionlessly, and the fluid splattered onto the ground.

Then, he turned his head and looked into the far distance.

Chen Ye still stood on the edge of the two-kilometer-wide crater, arms crossed, his posture upright, overlooking the changing landscape of the battlefield.

Locke's gaze lingered on Chen Ye for two seconds, his eyes filled with both apprehension and admiration.

He looked away, his voice low.

"That's right. Brother Chenye guessed correctly." Lockes sneered. "This Im does indeed have other tricks up his sleeve. A hundred times more insidious than I thought."

Lox's gaze swept over the five colossal beasts that had rearranged their formation.

He wasn't looking at their size, nor at their attacks.

They are their eyes.

Twelve scarlet light sources rotated in unison. The black ripples in the pupils rotated at the exact same frequency and direction.

"Roger and I both realized it," Rocks said in an extremely low, grave voice. "This isn't five people."

He held up one finger and pointed ahead.

"It's Im alone, controlling five bodies at the same time. Look at their eyes, they've all become the same."

The black mist surrounding Lox surged once more.

"Their movements were perfectly synchronized. There was no gap between their offense and defense. That guy Im actually has the ability to control five opponents at once. No wonder he dares to do this."

Roger's expression changed from laughing to serious.

He gripped the hilt of "Ace" tightly in his right hand. The golden light on the blade flickered, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, reflecting his changing emotions, like the pounding of a heart poised to explode at any moment.

"I really didn't expect that." Roger's voice was filled with caution and wariness. "Im can actually control five people all by himself. That kind of mental power is simply monstrous."

He turned to look at the white-bearded man and the dragon in the distance.

"Have you noticed? After being controlled, the strength and teamwork of these five old men are on a completely different level compared to before."

Roger's eyes sharpened.

"Before, they fought individually and were overwhelmed by Newgate and Shanks, leaving them with many openings. But after being unified and commanded by Im, their five abilities complemented each other perfectly, turning the tables and leaving everyone breathless."

Roger said, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Ace, who was still in a daze.

The black-haired young man stood not far away, his flames extinguished. His hands hung limply at his sides, his fingertips still trembling.

Roger's gaze lingered on him for a moment. A certain emotion, veiled by a thin veil, flashed through his heart.

The throbbing sensation originating from the bloodline.

But he forcibly suppressed that feeling.

With a formidable enemy at hand, we cannot afford to be distracted.

Roger looked away, a helpless, bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"No wonder Brother Chenye told us to come early," he muttered to himself. "If we had been even a second later, those two brats would probably be done for today."

Lockes nodded in agreement.

He didn't speak, but his fists clenched instantly, showing his attitude.

Thick darkness surged around him, and the area swallowed by the shadow beneath his feet expanded. The surrounding rubble was pulled by gravity and suspended in mid-air.

Rocks' fighting spirit was not driven by the desire to save lives.

It's because of Im's "one-man control of five" tactic.

This stirred his deep-seated desire for power. It ignited his most primal urge to fight.

"The mental power to simultaneously control five powerful bodies..."

Lox licked his chapped lips. In his sinister eyes burned an even stronger ambition.

"If I could use the power given to me by Brother Chenye to devour this power... Zehahaha, that would be true invincibility."

Extremely far away.

Chen Ye remained quietly standing at the edge of the giant pit.

He crossed his arms. One foot rested casually on the gravel at the edge of the pit.

He didn't want to be on the battlefield again.

It's like being in a theater box.

The scene of Roger and Rocks rescuing Ace and Sabo is captured in full.

He nodded slightly.

The curve of her lips remained unchanged.

This action is a form of confirmation.

The chess piece landed in the position he had predicted. Every move Im made was within his calculations.

Chen Ye's gaze pierced through the smoke and dust, through the rubble, and locked onto the five colossal beasts moving in unison in the center of the battlefield.

Im's mental fluctuations are constantly increasing through these five bodies.

"That's really impressive," Chen Ye thought coldly to himself.

Im is adapting to this high-intensity mode. The coordination of the five bodies is evolving, shifting from "uniformity" to "flexible coordination."

The attack rhythm became increasingly smooth.

There are fewer and fewer blind spots in the defense.

The five abilities are seamlessly integrated.

This terrifying fighting power is forcing Whitebeard, Shanks, Dragon, and others into a fierce battle. Whitebeard's naginata is finding it increasingly difficult to maneuver. Shanks's space for maneuvering is shrinking. Dragon's hurricane is unable to materialize.

Chen Ye slowly narrowed his eyes.

He tapped his left arm three times lightly with his right index finger.

Click, click, click.

One more time than last time.

"One person controlling five. Scattered mental energy. Connection method. Mental threads. Consequences of a broken thread. The limits of the physical body."

These words were arranged and combined in his mind.

A line.

A fatal line.

It took shape in his mind.

But he didn't move.

He knew that the best time was not now.

We need to wait until Im is most confident in his "one-man control of five" strategy.

Wait until she is most focused and her mental energy is at its peak.

Only in that instant can the most fatal blow be inflicted on Im's soul.

"Before that—" Chen Ye's lips curled into a cold smile, "I'll let you, this god, be smug for a little while longer."

Just then.

A loud shout.

"Rubber, rubber!"