Just hearing the name made it clear she was a Celestial Dragon, a combat member of the God Knights.
The Marcus Family, the family of the former Five Elder, Saint Marcus Mars.
Her arrogant combat posture was something Ace had never seen before. This woman possessed Conqueror's Haki and was a Logia Devil Fruit user with the ability to control water, far beyond his imagination.
Ace grinned. "Then we'll see. It's not that easy to take me down."
He spread his arms wide, flames erupting behind him. A pillar of fire soared into the sky, taking the shape of a massive dragon.
"Fire Dragon!"
The fire dragon radiated blistering heat, every scale lifelike, its vast form exuding terrifying power.
Rain poured down. The water on the ground surged, and from it emerged a long-haired woman made entirely of flowing water. Her lower body was like a mermaid's, her form swelling rapidly until she was massive, resembling an adult Shirahoshi.
"Sea God!"
The fire dragon clashed with the mermaid princess formed of water. The two collided mid-air, fire meeting water. The temperature rose sharply, and a thick mist filled the air.
Below, Ace and Suiren collided. With their abilities, it was extremely difficult for either to gain an advantage over the other, so the outcome would have to be decided by Haki.
Elsewhere, never-before-seen abilities erupted. The Celestial Dragons had deployed an overwhelming number of Fruit users, so many it was hard to believe such power even existed in the world.
And the World Government's long years of research had not been without results.
For instance, Bonney's powers came from an injection. The Celestial Dragons always sought to keep Devil Fruits tightly under their control.
Using a Devil Fruit once meant the demon's will within would escape and no longer remain under their grasp.
But the Celestial Dragons didn't truly care about the fruits themselves, because they held the Forest God, who could manufacture them.
To them, eating a Devil Fruit was merely consuming disposable trash. They squandered them, while the World Government collected every runaway fruit, fearing they might fall into enemy hands, especially the Gum-Gum Fruit, which had to be reclaimed at all costs.
The World Government had been studying Devil Fruits for all these years, especially people like Saturn, trying to grant more people powers.
Bonney was an experimental subject, and a successful one at that. What about others?
Who knew how many human experiments the World Government had conducted over its nine hundred years? How many people had been used as test subjects?
Not to mention the several awakened Jailer Beasts in Impel Down. They were once human, too. Government researchers forcibly awakened their powers, until the Devil Fruits replaced their very bodies.
Those beasts were, in truth, manifestations of the will inside the fruits. They had existed not for decades but over a century.
Because they were will and fruit manifest, it made them extremely durable and near ageless.
Only when they die would the will within the Devil Fruit escapes and find a new fruit to inhabit.
Through endless experimentation, the World Government had unleashed a flood of Devil Fruits, and their fighters now wielded countless abilities.
Even when facing the Whitebeard Pirates, whose members all have Devil Fruits, they don't lag behind.
The war was a meat grinder, fighters constantly crashing down from the sky.
They knew only one side could survive.
Inside Uranus, the Five Elders sat around a circular table, observing the battle situation above them.
Their expressions varied, until Saint Nusjuro suddenly stood up.
"Where are you going?" Saint Topman Warcury asked.
"I'm going to kill. They're too slow at it," Saint Nusjuro replied coldly.
"The Whitebeard Pirates, the Beasts Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates... I never thought they would join forces against us," said Saint Ju Peter.
"Talking about this is pointless. Let's deal with the current enemy," said Saint Garling, drawing his sword and charging out in an instant.
Clang!
Sparks flew. The remaining four revealed their abilities. Even Kong transformed into a terrifying monster.
Without a doubt, along with the others, the two new Elders who filled the vacancies were also ability users, and both Zoan types at that.
"What's the rush?"
A mocking voice rang in their ears. Garling looked up to see Roy before him. His own form had become a red-faced, long-nosed monster, glaring at Roy as if to devour him whole.
Behind Roy, wings crackled with thunder, lightning and formless wind swirling together.
"Tch. One freak after another. Even Logias don't compare to the complexity of your powers." Roy heaved, sending Garling flying.
"Storm and Thunder Strike!"
Two more arms sprouted from Garling's back. One hand held a hammer, striking out a bolt of lightning as thick as a barrel; the other hand held a fan, stirring up wind currents that formed countless blades.
Roy raised a hand, as if grabbing hold of the air itself, and gave a fierce tug.
The atmosphere in front of him warped, bending the incoming attacks until they veered aside and smashed into a wall.
"So this is the Mythical Zoan, Human-Human Fruit, Model: Tengu, huh?" Roy laughed.
Garling hovering in mid-air, looking coldly at Roy. His current form was that of the mythical Tengu: four arms, a pair of wings on his back, commanding the power of wind and thunder.
That's why nobody wants Logia abilities anymore. Every Zoan user commands so many abilities.
In the end, the whole world will be dominated by Zoan types, especially the Human-Human Fruit, which has produced a bunch of monstrous things.
"I came here for a reason. Can you summon Imu for me?" Roy asked with a grin.
"How dare you speak Imu-sama's name!" Saint Topman Warcury charged forward, his massive body crashing towards Roy.
But it wasn't sheer size that was terrifying, it was the shockwaves of compressed Conqueror's Haki he released, projected as devastating blasts.
"Whummm!"
The Conqueror's Haki was compressed into an air cannon, fired out along with his charge. A visible shockwave shot towards Roy.
However, Roy raised his hand. Black flames appeared on his body, and his entire form turned black. An evil aura rose from him like flames.
At this moment, the Five Elders all felt a chill run down their spines, especially Garling and Kong, who were seeing Roy's ability for the first time.
He looked like a monstrous beast, seeing them only as prey.
Roy stretched out his hand toward the incoming shockwave.
Boom!
With a single grasp, he crushed the Conqueror's Haki blast into nothing.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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