Delta Island, Central Lake.
With a resounding whoosh, Bartholomew Kuma's massive frame tore through the air from afar. His landing carved a crater shaped like a bear's paw into the ground.
After ensuring Bonney's safety aboard Momousagi's battleship, Kuma had rushed back, concerned about the ongoing battle. What greeted him was the sight of someone he despised more than anyone else.
"Satan Saint!"
The moment Kuma's eyes fell on the cane-wielding old man in the distance, anger flashed across his face. His fists clenched with an audible crack.
"Bartholomew Kuma... I didn't expect your memories to have returned. It seems Vegapunk left behind some contingency I wasn't aware of," Satan Saint remarked, his voice tinged with displeasure.
Kuma's expression twisted with grief, as if recalling something unbearably painful. "Thanks to Vegapunk and Sephiroth, I know everything now! The Sapphire Scale Disease that tormented Bonney and Ginny... it was the result of your experiments on them, wasn't it?"
When Sephiroth's forces pursued the remnants of the Gorosei, they stumbled upon a hidden laboratory. Among the materials they discovered were records of Satan Saint's experiments on Ginny and the fetus she carried.
These documents were later transferred to Egghead Island, where Vegapunk pieced together the truth. Upon learning the details, Vegapunk shared them with Kuma.
Satan Saint's eyes remained cold and indifferent. He nodded without hesitation.
"You're correct. I conducted Devil Fruit-related experiments on Ginny back then. She was a failed test subject. The Sapphire Scale Disease was a side effect of that failure, and she passed it on to the fetus."
Kuma's chest heaved violently, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. "Satan Saint, today will be the end of this!" he roared, his voice thick with rage and hatred.
Without warning, Kuma raised his right hand, now cloaked in dark Armament Haki, and swung it forward with brutal force.
Paw-Paw Shock!
A transparent, bear-paw-shaped air mass materialized instantly and shot toward Satan Saint and the Gorosei at breakneck speed.
Satan Saint's eyes gleamed sharply. An invisible barrier materialized in the path of the attack.
Boom!
The air rippled violently as the bear-paw air mass collided with the barrier, scattering powerful currents that gouged a massive crater into the ground.
Seeing Kuma's attack, Sephiroth wasted no time. He barked out a command, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"Input wake-up command! Activate killing mode! All Seraphim, heed my orders: eliminate all non-friendly units except Ace and Marco."
The moment Sephiroth's voice echoed, hibernation pods within the spatial dimension began opening one after another. The Seraphim stirred from their slumber, their eyes snapping open as they locked onto their targets—Doflamingo, Blackbeard Teach, and other wanted pirates.
They surged out of the spatial dimension, launching themselves into the fray with deadly precision.
Simultaneously, to the astonishment of everyone present, the spatial dimension Sephiroth had opened didn't close. Instead, it began expanding outward, devouring the surrounding space like a monstrous abyss opening its maw.
Within seconds, a sealed space enveloping the entirety of Delta Island took shape.
From the outside, the scene was surreal—a translucent, light green hemisphere suddenly appeared on the sea's surface, encapsulating the island entirely.
With his preparations complete, Sephiroth turned his gaze toward the distant Gorosei and Imu, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"To keep you here and prevent you from escaping again, I've put in quite a bit of effort!"
Hearing this, Satan Saint was instantly startled.
He completely ignored the enraged Kuma in front of him and quickly tried his teleportation ability, but to his horror, he found that he could only teleport within the confines of this island and couldn't leave it at all.
This light green sealed space was actually a super-enhanced version of the spatial dimension created by Sephiroth using the power of the Door-Door Fruit.
After Vegapunk's repeated research and testing, it was finally confirmed that even using spatial relocation jump devices, one could not jump out of the range of this sealed barrier, so it was more than sufficient to deal with the Gorosei's teleportation ability.
If there was any drawback to this spatial barrier, it would probably be the massive life force required to maintain its existence every second.
However, after Sephiroth underwent the immortality surgery, his body could continuously generate vast amounts of life force, so he didn't need to worry about this consumption at all.
......
On the sea surface several kilometers away from Delta Island, ten battleships with fluttering flags formed a battle formation, slowly advancing towards the island ahead, propelled by the sea breeze.
At the forefront of the battleship formation, on the lookout post of one battleship, the lookout, after seeing the anomaly appearing on the island through the binoculars, quickly reported to Gion on the battleship deck below:
"Admiral Gion, the entire Delta Island is suddenly enveloped by a giant light green barrier!"
Gion was not unfamiliar with Sephiroth's spatial abilities, so she wasn't surprised after hearing the report. Instead, she pondered the intention behind his action.
This step was not included in the previously arranged action plan. She estimated that the reason Sephiroth created such a sealed cage was probably to prevent the Pirates on the island from escaping and to annihilate all of them.
Considering that Sephiroth was carrying fifty Seraphim with him, plus several Shichibukai had also landed on the island to participate in the battle, while the Pirates side only had two Four Emperors crews and one Bullet who were relatively strong.
Therefore, even if Sephiroth took some risks and wanted to have a cornered beast's struggle, it wasn't impossible.
Thinking of this, Gion immediately turned to the communication soldier beside her and said:
"Quickly contact the fleets of the other two Admirals and tell them not to attempt to land on the island for now, but to first set up a purse seine around the island. It won't be too late for them to lead their troops to land when the barrier breaks or disappears."
"Yes!"
After hearing Gion's words, the communication soldier turned and quickly ran to the communication room, using a Den Den Mushi to relay this message to the other two units.
......
High above Delta Island, at an altitude of ten thousand meters, over thirty spacecraft bearing the Umbrella Corporation logo were cautiously hidden within the clouds, making it impossible for people on the sea surface below to see them.
In the control room of the Interstellar Ark, Marigold, who was sitting on the golden chair, suddenly stood up and said with a frown:
"Huh!? The entire Delta Island suddenly disappeared from my perception..."
Hearing this, Boa Hancock, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but slightly furrow her brows and said to her sister:
"Quickly turn on the surveillance to check the situation on Delta Island."
"Okay!" Marigold nodded and quickly pressed a few buttons on the control panel.
The control panel's screen flickered to life, displaying a bird's-eye view that sharpened as she adjusted the focus. Delta Island's coastline came into crisp detail.
Yamato, Kuina, Kozuki Hiyori, and Sandersonia—who'd been resting nearby, waiting for their turn in the fight—jolted upright at the alert. They crowded around the display, shoulders brushing.
"That barrier..." Yamato's brow furrowed as she studied the shimmering dome. "It's got Sephiroth's fingerprints all over it. How the hell are we supposed to land now?"
The others exchanged glances. Every one of them had witnessed Sephiroth conjure those impossible shields before. Yamato especially remembered—she'd been ordered to smash one apart with Haoshoku Haki.
It hadn't so much as cracked.
Hancock tapped a finger against her crossed arms. "I can't speak to Sephiroth's intentions," she said, "but we'll station the fleet directly above the island. If things go sideways, we'll be close enough to intervene."
In the original plan, the Marine and Umbrella Corporation's aerial fleets were meant to enter later to encircle and annihilate the fleeing Pirates. But with this unforeseen complication, Hancock had no choice.
The ships would hold position, hovering just beyond the barrier's reach, while they waited for an opening.