The CP agents protecting the [Curse Killing Squad] were cut down by lightning and sniper fire.
After confirming that he could not transfer the attack to Brook, the gray robed old man, the one who had previously used the Paramecia Libra Fruit for equivalent exchange, immediately turned his power on Redfield, who had come hunting them down.
He wanted to use the rest of his life to buy his teammates a chance to escape, and at the same time severely wound the Red Earl.
This Devil Fruit ability seemed to require no special setup at all. He could directly use his own body as the price and launch a long range exchange attack on the enemy.
No one knew whether this was the fruit's normal function, or a twisted development method Imu had specifically taught him.
As for the old man who looked like a scarecrow, his curse killing ability worked best with the enemy's blood. Even people stronger than him could be killed if the conditions were right.
After already wasting an eye, a leg, a hand, and even a kidney on Brook, the gray robed old man unleashed his suicidal move on the Red Earl, sacrificing his heart and lungs and trading his life for a heavy blow.
Redfield was nearly killed by that strange ability.
If he had not possessed monstrously strong Armament Haki and forcibly broken through the Devil Fruit's law like effect, he would have died from cardiac arrest on the spot.
He even had to restart his own heart with electricity.
He survived, but his internal organs were still injured by the gray robed old man's attack.
That made him furious.
So he started killing.
When the scarecrow old man saw the Redfield coughing blood, he was overjoyed. Under the cover of the remaining CP agents, he actually managed to break away from the group.
He planned to risk everything, circle back, collect Redfield's blood, and kill this Hell King completely. If he could do that, it would count as a glorious sacrifice for Lord Imu.
If Redfield had not been injured, the scarecrow old man would never have escaped his Observation Haki.
But because he had nearly been killed just now, Redfield's fury made him momentarily careless, and the scarecrow slipped away.
Unfortunately for them, luck was on the side of the World Government's enemies today.
Just as the scarecrow old man excitedly ran back to the place where Redfield had been injured, he spotted a trace of blood and rushed toward it in delight.
As long as he got Redfield's blood, he could activate his curse and kill the Redfield
Then, in the next instant, two golden laser beams pierced straight through him, blasting two large holes in his chest.
Even so, he still staggered forward toward Redfield's bloodstain.
"Yo, another unkillable monster?"
Kizaru Borsalino instantly returned to human form and appeared in front of the scarecrow old man, blocking his path.
"Can't kill you, huh?"
Kizaru tilted his mouth and raised a finger with a doubtful smile.
Then his hand lit up like a machine gun.
"Biubiubiu!"
A barrage of laser shots repeatedly punched through the seemingly indestructible scarecrow.
The old man jerked and twisted like he was dancing, his entire body riddled with holes.
"Still not dead? Ever taken a kick at the speed of light?"
Golden light gathered on Kizaru's right leg.
He kicked the scarecrow old man in the face and sent him flying straight into the wall of Pangaea Castle.
At that same moment, seven or eight CP agents protecting the remaining mysterious men suddenly sprouted bloody holes across their bodies and collapsed dead.
"Yo, teacher's orders said not to let any Devil Fruit user get away."
Borsalino turned into a flash of light again and shot into the ruins, determined to finish off this troublesome ability user completely.
The scarecrow old man never expected that he would become the mysterious ace who contributed absolutely nothing in this war.
Before he could even make a move, he fell straight into the hands of the Flash Flash Fruit user.
On the flying battleship, Hiruba had also discovered a small old man in a light green cloak who simply would not die no matter how many times he was sniped.
His regeneration was even more outrageous than a Mythical Zoan's.
But if he really were a Mythical Zoan user, why was he running so desperately?
Before Redfield came to support them, this group could have counterattacked the flying fleet Hiruba was on. Instead, they ran the moment they saw him.
A noncombatant?
But what Devil Fruit could grant such terrifying recovery?
Even while injured, Redfield blocked the entire team's retreat by himself, hurling lightning at the CP agents and mysterious knights and blasting them apart.
At last, the middle aged man covered in strange runes stopped running.
He could not see the battle between Imu and Brook from here, and he did not know whether Brook had already left the Hell God state.
Should he attack Brook now?
Or deal with Redfield first?
Forget it.
Help Lord Imu first!
Only if Lord Imu won could this battle be called a true victory.
Even dying here with the Red Earl would mean little to the overall war.
He immediately bit his finger and wrote Brook's name over his heart.
The moment Redfield saw the tattooed man make that move, his special Observation Haki instantly caught the man's intent.
"Same fate? Synchronized damage feedback?"
Then he saw the tattooed man charge at him fearlessly, fanaticism burning in his eyes, as if he wanted to die by Redfield's hand on purpose.
"Let Captain Brook die by my hand? What a disgusting idea!!"
Redfield flew into a rage.
That tattooed man could have attacked himself, but instead he chose to crash into Redfield's thunder spear. The bastard clearly wanted everyone to think Redfield had personally killed his own captain.
Vicious.
"Thunder Net!!"
Most of Redfield's moves were overwhelmingly offensive. He did not have many control techniques.
So he changed methods.
"Thunder Metallurgy!!"
Redfield actually melted down a golden electromagnetic cannon from a nearby warship and poured the molten metal over the charging tattooed man, sealing him in place and leaving only his head exposed.
"Little brat, no one plays tricks in front of me!!"
Redfield wanted to smash the tattooed man's skull with a punch.
But after remembering the man's strange Devil Fruit ability and the chance that it might really be linked to Brook, he forcibly held back.
At that moment, Hiruba rushed down as well and captured the old man in the green robe.
"He's actually the doctor assigned to Imu and this squad? A Life Fruit user? He even worked with the previous Op Op Fruit user to treat Imu's wounds before?"
Hiruba used mind reading, and his eyes lit up.
He had not expected to pick up such a treasure.
This ability was no worse than Crocus's healing fruit. Like the Op Op Fruit, it was one of the famous medical type Devil Fruits.
"Hurry and cuff them with seastone! We need the purest seastone!"
Hiruba shouted to his men.
At that moment, Kizaru Borsalino also flew over carrying another old man.
From then on, the mysterious team Imu had specially prepared for Sun God Nika was completely wiped out by the Hell Guild.
------------
After Brook knocked Charlotte Linlin back to her senses and threw her out of the battlefield, Linlin regained her mobility and immediately rushed toward Kaido's fight.
Compared to the others, the curly haired Five Elder, Saturn, had already been injured, making him the easier target to kill.
"It's not enough! It's not enough! I need a stronger soul!!!"
Linlin still could not accept the fact that she had been unable to help Brook at all. She wanted more power, and she wanted to devour another Elder's soul.
When Saturn saw Charlotte Linlin charging at him with naked killing intent, his scalp went numb.
For a moment, he saw Mars's miserable death all over again.
Without saying a word, he rushed toward Lord Imu, seeking the last refuge left to him. There was no way he could survive if he had to face three Hell Kings alone.
The World Government was already doomed unless Lord Imu killed Brook immediately.
Otherwise, they were all finished.
As for surrender?
How could the highest authorities of the world surrender?
And even if they did, Brook might not accept it.
On the other two battlefields, Newgate did not object when Aokiji Kuzan joined the fight.
Shiki, however, looked at Akainu Sakazuki with open displeasure.
Even if he could not defeat the blond Five Elder alone, he still did not want a new admiral helping him.
Shiki hated the navy from the bottom of his heart, including Brook's new navy.
Especially Sakazuki.
That bastard had injured some of the wilder members of Shiki's First Division.
Worse, Brook had ultimately upheld Sakazuki's strict law enforcement in the new navy, according to the rules.
Because of that, the most unruly groups in the Hell Guild, Shiki's First Division and Kaido's Fourth Division, had both been restrained and punished.
Now the Universal Government and the Hell Guild had become the strongest force in the world. This was no longer the old era of the Hell Pirates, where loyalty and emotion came first.
Everything now had to follow rules and regulations.
Brook could not personally settle every conflict among his subordinates or satisfy every cadre's feelings. He could only prioritize the overall interests of the Universal Government.
Still, he had privately lectured and comforted hot tempered troublemakers like Shiki, Kaido, and Sakazuki.
"Lava brat! Go help Newgate! I'll handle this Elder myself!"
Shiki shouted loudly, trying to drive away the new navy admiral he disliked. He had no intention of teaming up with Sakazuki.
"Fine!!"
Akainu agreed immediately.
He had already exchanged several moves with the blond Five Elder, and even had his magma copied by the Seven Deadly Sins [Greed] ability, which let him personally experience an even hotter magma than his own.
And just now, Shiki had clearly shown signs of not cooperating, which allowed the blond Five Elder to land an explosive Haki attack on Sakazuki.
That made Sakazuki realize something very clearly.
Fighting alongside Shiki might get him killed faster.
So he decisively withdrew from that battlefield, carrying some injuries, and searched for another target.
Then he saw the fleeing Saturn and instantly moved to intercept him for the three Hell Kings.
"Out of my way!!!"
Saturn recognized Sakazuki at once, the former navy rear admiral.
He remembered that the Elders had once kept a close eye on this monstrous rookie. As long as Sakazuki's loyalty could be guaranteed, they had intended to grant him the natural Magma Fruit.
But no one had expected Sakazuki to be captured by the second generation of Hell and vanish.
Even more unbelievable, the admiral candidate known as Crimson Magma had died, and the Magma Fruit had ended up in the hands of the new navy admiral, Sakazuki.
"Red Lotus Hell Dog!!"
A massive amount of magma erupted from Akainu's body, condensing into a giant fist more than ten meters wide.
In the next instant, it transformed into a magma hound and charged straight at the fleeing Saturn.
Although the giant magma dog was blasted away by Saturn's punch, Linlin, Kaido, and Kozuki Oden had already caught up.
They dragged Saturn back into the battlefield and locked him down again, determined to kill him.
Sakazuki also lingered nearby, shamelessly sniping opportunities, throwing magma punches at Saturn from time to time.
The death star above Saturn's head was already shining bright.
"Lord Imu, save me!!!"
Saturn was truly panicking now.
If he did not beg for help, he was really going to be beaten to death.
"Come die for me!!"
Charlotte Linlin smashed a punch at Saturn.
This one still had plenty of stamina left and was not as badly injured as Mars had been, so Linlin could not directly rip out his soul yet.
Seeing another servant trapped in a life or death crisis, Imu finally could not hold back anymore.
"Brook, are you retreating or not?!"
Imu roared in fury.
If this kept going, all his servants would die. If that happened, what was the point of Brook retreating later?
At that point, Imu might as well drag Brook down with him right now.
"What are you saying? You still want half the world now?"
Brook pretended to be confused while frantically absorbing fresh souls from the battlefield.
Linlin had completely devoured Mars's soul, so Brook had gotten nothing from that.
But he had already absorbed the souls of Navy Admiral Saint Sargon, a huge number of CP agents, and many others.
More and more ghosts drifted through the sky, circling around the gigantic Hell God, Jin.
"Stop talking nonsense! Otherwise I'll destroy Mary Geoise and take you with me!"
Imu's eyes were bloodshot with rage.
Why was it that whenever Brook threatened him in the past, it always worked, but now that Imu was threatening Brook, the bastard refused to compromise no matter what?
Did Brook really want mutual destruction that badly?
"Alright, alright! I'll leave the Grand Line to you, okay? Do you really have to make it this big? Is dying together that fun?"
Brook immediately shouted back when he saw Imu's mood spiraling.
But even then, he was still negotiating.
"That's not enough! Split the Red Line in two! You must swear it with a Conqueror's Haki faith oath! Otherwise, we go to hell together!"
Imu was nearly driven mad by Brook.
Especially now, when he saw the Redfield and his side bringing back a large number of prisoners. The [Curse Killing Squad] was gone.
Saturn was being besieged by four people again and could fall at any moment.
Imu could not tolerate it any longer.
He would never let Brook keep stalling.
"That's enough from you!! Let's go to hell together!!"
Brook suddenly leaped forward, and the gigantic Hell God Jin charged straight at Imu's God of Destruction form, Beerus, at full speed.
Imu went numb.
Not only had Brook refused to compromise, he was actually pressing forward now?
Did this bastard really think Imu did not dare to die together with him?
"Brook!!! You bastard!!! Then let's die together!!"
A red light flashed through Imu's eyes.
He detonated all of his own destructive power and triggered all of Mary Geoise's high tech, high energy explosives infused with destructive force.
.....
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