The third blade of light slashed directly toward the ten Marine Captains!
In their panic, they raised their weapons to block, but were instantly sent flying.
Their specially crafted Seastone weapons were sliced in half the moment they made contact with the amethyst blade light.
Three of them collapsed on the spot, unconscious or dead—it was impossible to tell.
"This can't be..."
Strawberry knelt on one knee, blood dripping from his chin.
This was definitely not just peak-level Armament Haki—it faintly surpassed even that!
He had never imagined anyone could wield Haki to such an extent.
Ron's figure reappeared in his original position.
The amethyst glow on White Moon's blade gradually faded, returning to its original crystalline white.
He looked down at the blade and nodded in satisfaction.
"White Moon... It seems I must properly thank the Mermaid Princess for this gift."
The atmosphere was deathly still, broken only by ragged gasps for air.
Strawberry struggled to lift his head, meeting eyes colder than the sharpest blade.
"Seastone... is actually ineffective?"
He stared fixedly at Ron's composed figure, cold sweat trickling down his temples.
This realization shocked him more than the wound in his chest—it meant this man before him wasn't a Devil Fruit user, but had reached this terrifying level through pure physical skills and Haki!
Gritting his teeth against the searing pain in his chest, Strawberry kept his eyes locked on Ron.
When the tip of his tongue touched the specially designed capsule hidden in his molar, a flicker of resolve flashed in his eyes.
'I have no choice.'
Without a moment's hesitation, he crushed the Second-Generation Green Blood capsule hidden between his teeth.
Since the Third-Generation version contained the Dark-Dark Fruit power—which was useless against a non-fruit user—he opted for physical restraint.
CRACK.
A foul, bittersweet liquid instantly filled his mouth.
The taste resembled rust mixed with rotten fruit, nearly making him vomit.
"GRAHHH—!"
Excruciating agony wracked his entire body. Countless black lines suddenly surfaced beneath Strawberry's skin, writhing through his blood vessels like living creatures.
His muscles convulsed uncontrollably, his military uniform tearing apart as his body swelled.
Most horrifying of all, jet-black iron bars began emerging from his flesh, forming a vicious armor across his body!
"Cage-Cage Fruit?"
Ron raised an eyebrow slightly, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses.
He certainly recognized this ability—the signature Devil Fruit power of Hina, capable of producing iron bars from any part of her body to restrain enemies.
Strawberry rose to his feet, panting heavily.
Now he resembled a monster crawled up from hell, iron bars crisscrossing around his body with an ear-grating metallic screech.
"Didn't expect this... did you, Ron..." His voice was distorted with pain. "The World Government's technology... has long surpassed your imagination!"
Ron nodded thoughtfully. "I see. It's not replicating the Devil Fruit ability, but directly transplanting its characteristics via lineage factors... It seems Vegapunk has made progress again."
"Stop acting so high and mighty!"
Strawberry suddenly lunged, both arms transforming into torrents of iron bars rushing toward Ron.
"Cage Formation: Iron Spears!"
A single contact with Ron would instantly bind his hands and feet—allowing his capture!
Black iron bars writhed through the air like venomous snakes, sealing off all of Ron's escape routes.
Each bar was entwined with Armament Haki, gleaming with a cold metallic luster under the sunlight.
Facing this overwhelming assault, Ron merely let out a soft sigh.
"A waste of time."
The White Moon blade suddenly erupted with a dazzling purple light.
Ron's figure flickered like a phantom as he slipped through the gaps between the iron bars.
Every movement was precise to the millimeter, every swing of his blade sending severed iron bars flying.
"Useless!" Strawberry sneered, more bars surging from within his body to repair the damage. "These bars are infinite!"
A cold smile curled at the corner of Ron's lips. "Is that so?"
He abruptly changed his sword stance.
The White Moon blade transformed into a purple lightning bolt, thrusting directly toward Strawberry's chest.
The iron bars that tried to block it crumbled to dust the moment they touched the purple crystal blade, as if meeting their natural enemy.
"Moonlight Style: Piercing Void."
THUD!
The sound of blade piercing flesh was unnervingly clear.
Strawberry looked down in disbelief at the purple blade that had run through his chest armor and heart.
The iron bars retracted into his body like a receding tide as the effects of the second-generation drug rapidly faded due to the shock.
"Why...?" He coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Even though... I used Armament Haki..."
Ron slowly withdrew his long blade as the crystalline Haki gradually receded.
"Did you think Haki was only for brute force?" He flicked the blood droplets from his blade.
"Precision, restraint, breaking through surfaces with focused internal destruction ... that's the true essence of Haki."
Strawberry collapsed to his knees, his vision beginning to blur.
In his final moment before darkness consumed him, he heard Ron's indifferent voice:
"Vegapunk... his technology still has a long way to go."
With a casual swing, Ron's White Moon blade precisely sliced past a surviving Marine Captain's neck, only cutting off a few strands of his hair.
"Get lost," he said coldly.
"Go back and tell Sengoku that if he wants his Vice Admiral back alive, he'd better show some sincerity."
The Captain scrambled away as if granted a pardon, stumbling in his desperate escape.
'I wonder how much a Vice Admiral would sell for?'
Looking at the unconscious Strawberry, a flicker of interest appeared in Ron's eyes.
He crouched down, his fingers gently pressing against the iron bar patterns still visible on the other's neck.
"Second-Generation Green Blood drug... and the Cage-Cage Fruit ability..." His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Such excellent experimental material would be too wasteful to simply kill."
Just then, the laboratory lights suddenly flickered violently.
CRASH!
A blinding bolt of lightning shattered through the reinforced window!
Ron instinctively swung his blade, stopping the White Moon just an inch from the newcomer's throat before recognizing the energy signature.
"Cough... Ron..."
Enel knelt on one knee, covered in blood.
He clutched a horrifying penetrating wound in his abdomen, his lightning-form flickering in and out of existence.
The self-proclaimed God was pale, sweating, and clearly having reached his limit.
Ron's eyes instantly turned cold.
"What happened?"
He sheathed his sword and supported the swaying Enel, his voice filled with suppressed anger.
"Who did this to you? You are a Logia."
"The Marines... those treacherous bastards..."
Enel coughed up bloody foam, his eyes still filled with shock and fury.
"They... they have some strange ability! Pitch black darkness that nullifies my lightning... I couldn't transform!"
His fingers dug deep into his wound as he delivered the worst news of all.
"Crocodile... was captured... I barely escaped with my life..."