Chapter 57: Terrifying Domain! Intense Clash
"BOOM RUMBLE!"
Accompanied by deafening, earth-shaking tremors across the ground,
From the roots of nearly a hundred towering giant trees, terrifying branches erupted outward, spreading across the cracked earth and completely engulfing the entire island.
The Marines who hadn't yet arrived froze in place upon witnessing the shocking scene.
"What… what the hell is this?!"
"What just happened?! How could something like this occur?!"
"Damn it! The Admiral is still waiting for our support—cut down these branches immediately!"
The leading Commodore snorted coldly and drew the long sword at his waist.
Just as he prepared to slice through the branches, they moved with lightning speed—piercing straight through his body in the blink of an eye!
Strangely, no scarlet blood dripped.
The Commodore's body deflated like a punctured balloon; his once-vibrant skin withered instantly.
The surrounding Marines stared wide-eyed in horror.
"Commodore Brighton!"
Before they could even react in shock,
The surrounding branches came alive like living creatures, transforming into tree spikes that surged toward the Marines.
Then came an endless series of miserable screams.
...
Tree World Descent.
Just as Lotte had demonstrated earlier, it was an all-purpose technique capable of controlling every attack and defense within the forest while capturing enemies.
Lotte's original stamina was insufficient to unleash Tree World Descent.
After all, this was one of Hashirama Senju's signature moves. The sheer amount of chakra required just to create towering giant trees was already beyond what he could sustain.
But this location was Sabaody Archipelago!
At its core, Sabaody was the root system of the world's largest mangrove—the Yggdrasil Mangrove.
The towering giant trees that extended outward
Perfectly solved Lotte's greatest consumption problem.
Additionally, Lotte had deliberately spent time connecting his Hashirama Cells to the nearby giant trees,
Finally managing to successfully unleash Tree World Descent just in time.
Even so,
This didn't mean Lotte could fully unleash the technique's complete power.
But even with only A-rank ninjutsu-level potency, such a massive range was already enough to keep the Marines completely occupied and prevent them from providing support.
That was Lotte's true goal!
For Admiral White Fox—who possessed the Logia-type Cloud-Cloud Fruit—dealing with Tree World Descent without Armament Haki reinforcement was relatively easy.
But that guy was being handled by Whitebeard and the Red Count.
All Lotte needed to do was hold off Garp.
As Tree World Descent enveloped the entire island,
Both White Fox's and Garp's expressions changed dramatically.
White Fox finally understood why Lotte had deliberately stalled for time earlier—it was all to set up such a massively powerful move!
A domain that covered an entire island—
From any perspective, it was absolutely terrifying!
For Tree Demon Lotte to grow to this level in such a short time was simply unimaginable from every angle!
But precisely because of that,
They absolutely could not miss this precious, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
"Garp, you go deal with Tree Demon Lotte. He just used such a powerful Devil Fruit ability."
"It must have taken a heavy toll on his stamina."
White Fox spoke calmly.
Garp nodded without hesitation, then looked toward Tree Demon Lotte and stepped forward fiercely.
BANG!
With the sound of air bursting like a sonic boom,
Garp's figure instantly appeared before Lotte. Facing this, Lotte was already prepared—he abruptly drew Flame King and Shodai Kitetsu.
They clashed against the pitch-black iron fist.
BOOM!
The terrifying shockwave from the collision swept outward in all directions.
Lotte's body was forced back several steps by the sheer force of the iron fist.
Though he now possessed two Supreme Grade Swords, in terms of pure physical technique, he was still far from Garp's match.
But Lotte's goal was never to defeat Garp.
[Ding! Host is currently battling Garp. Flame Dance Dual Sword Style proficiency increased! Rokushiki comprehension increased!]
As the system voice rang in his mind,
A smile curled on Lotte's lips. Holding his dual swords, he continued facing Garp.
"Long time no see, Garp."
"Looks like you've really missed me. Perfect timing—let's catch up."
Garp grinned widely, his fists still coated in pitch-black Armament Haki.
"Yeah, it really has been a while, Tree Demon Lotte!"
"This time, no matter what, I'm sending you to Impel Down. You'd better prepare yourself!"
He had been looking forward to this battle for a long time.
A pirate with such terrifying talent like Tree Demon Lotte had to be crushed by his iron fists!
Now the chance had finally come!
Newgate and Redfield had no intention of stopping Garp.
Since Lotte had said he would handle him,
They simply had to trust him.
Moreover, the opponent they had to face was no pushover. Even though White Fox was the oldest among the current three Admirals, his strength was not to be underestimated!
Whitebeard gripped Murakumogiri tightly.
Tremor power surged through his palm as he sneered coldly at White Fox.
"Gurararara! Let me see just how strong you are, White Fox!"
"I wonder how you compare to Night Leopard?"
Redfield calmly looked at the elderly Admiral.
"My name is Redfield."
"Let me witness the power of an Admiral in the coming battle."
Armament Haki once again coated the umbrella-sword in his hand. The blade sliced through the air with an extremely sharp aura, resembling a blood-red crescent moon.
White Fox coldly stared at the two men.
Pure white clouds began spreading beneath his feet.
Gradually, they covered the entire sky, the eerie white clouds blocking out the blazing sun.
The great battle was about to erupt!
...
Marine Headquarters.
Having finally sent Garp off to Sabaody Archipelago, Steel Bone Kong sipped his tea.
He looked at the report in his hand from the intelligence division.
They still hadn't located Tree Demon Lotte and Whitebeard. Though they could confirm the two were somewhere in the waters near Marine Headquarters,
Searching would still take considerable time.
Steel Bone Kong wasn't surprised by this.
After all, there were plenty of islands in the waters around Marine Headquarters. If they had to check them one by one, it would likely take at least half a month.
He hoped the auction on Sabaody could proceed smoothly.
These Celestial Dragons really were troublesome.
Just as Steel Bone Kong was about to rest properly, the urgent ringing of the Den Den Mushi on his desk rang again.
"Buru buru buru—!"
He looked closely—it was the Den Den Mushi from Sabaody Archipelago.
A bad premonition instantly rose in his heart.
No way…
It couldn't be that coincidental, could it?!
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