One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 145 The Dream Legion, Unexpected Guests!
Inside the fairytale forest.

"Shhhhhh!"

A piercing sound of wind breaking through the air, accompanied by the sound of flames burning, could be heard.

"Transformation - Shield!"

BABY5, covered in wounds, instinctively turned around, her hands transforming into a giant shield.

In an instant, a rain of arrows fired by a group of centaurs behind her struck the shield she had conjured.

As a user of the Weapon-Weapon Fruit, BABY5 knows very well that the shield she conjures can even withstand the attack of a cannon.

But at this moment.
She could see that the countless arrows were clearly made of ice—but strangely, the ice was burning with flames, yet it did not melt.

If you look closely, you'll find...

Both the ice arrows and the flames themselves are, in fact, 'living things'.

【Dreamy Spirit - Fairy Flame】

【Dreamy Spirit - Ice Spirit】

At that moment, the flames and the ice each wielded a short sword of fire and ice, charging towards her.

"Transformation: Multiple Short Guns!"

So, BABY5 quickly transformed her shoulders into countless short guns.

"Bang bang bang!"

Amidst the volley of bullets, she barely escaped the pursuit.

"What kind of monsters are these guys?!"

BABY5 gritted her teeth as she looked at the few remaining mercenaries around her.

She knew, of course, what had happened in the forest during that brief period of time.

Those legendary, dreamlike creatures that have captivated the imagination and inspired countless biologists to capture and study—they are clearly terrifying monsters!

She had witnessed the power of these fantastical creatures firsthand.

She had seen a leprechaun easily smash a boulder in the forest, and a chimera easily tear an assassin to shreds.

Their individual strength certainly cannot be said to be the top powerhouse in the sea, but it has reached a point where even someone like her, who ate a Devil Fruit and is undoubtedly a 'strongman' on the sea, must take them seriously.

If it's just one or two, that's fine.

But the key is
BABY5 has absolutely no idea how many and how many kinds of these fantastical creatures there are in this forest.

Beyond quantity, the more crucial issue is...
"Stop attacking them, you idiot woman, it's a complete waste of energy—didn't you see when your companion died? These monsters are immortal."

At that moment, a voice came from beside BABY5.

That's Kelly Van Cleef, or rather, 'Kelly Bobby Van Cleef'.

At this moment, this top assassin, who had eaten the 'Jacket-Jacket Fruit' and merged with his younger brother, was already panting heavily.

Upon hearing this, BABY5's expression darkened.

She knew the other person was right.

Gladius, the Donquixote Family combatant who came to Neverland with her, died not long ago.

His 'Boom-Boom Fruit' has considerable destructive power, but it is too weak in terms of self-defense.

Before he died, he triggered a massive explosion that caused dozens of mythical creatures to perish along with him.

But as Van Cue said, that makes no sense.

She witnessed firsthand how those dozens of dreamlike creatures were blown to pieces and then regenerated moments later.

Baby 5 didn't seem to care much about Gladius's death—they were just colleagues, and her feelings toward the Don Quixote family were quite complicated.

but…

"If we don't attack them, how can we escape?"

Although she knew the other person was right, given her personality, she always felt the urge to refute them.

"escape?"

Upon hearing this, Fan Ku scoffed, "What are you trying to escape from?"

He lowered his head as he spoke.

At this moment, there were several extremely gruesome wounds on his chest—the wounds were so deep that the bone was visible, which was the key reason why he was in such a poor condition.

And to know.

Among the Fanku brothers, the younger brother Bobby Fanku was born with an extremely powerful physique. After fusing with the 'Jacket Fruit', his physical strength was comparable to that of someone who had been imbued with Armament Haki for a long time.

But even with such immense physical strength, he was still injured to this extent by a terrifying creature when he tried to leap out of the forest and escape through the sky.

Fan Ku didn't know what kind of creature it was; he was shot down before he could even see it.

But he understood.
"We can't escape this forest. The real monsters haven't even made a move yet."

"They weren't serious at all."

He said so.

BABY5 remained silent.

Because at that moment, out of the corner of her eye, she could even see that one of the celestial flames seemed to be arguing noisily with another one nearby.

Both of them appeared to have been hit by bullets, but they were rapidly repairing themselves.

"It's all your fault for tripping me, otherwise I wouldn't have been hit!"

"It was your sword that cut me!"

"It's all fire anyway, and the sword is fire too, so what's the harm in getting cut?"

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Hurry up and continue forming ranks, the next round of training is about to begin—if the training performance is good enough, it is said that the Beast Master and the Island Spirit will reward you with 'gold' today."

Such conversations were almost entirely undisguised.

Yes—all the survivors here today actually know this.

These fantastical creatures could easily kill them all in an instant.

But they didn't do that.

The reason is that they are training.

BABY5 herself could also sense it—the various fantastical creatures cooperated with each other, resembling a 'legion'.

"This entire island."

She gave a wry smile: "What do you mean by 'Dream Island'? It's clearly Monster Island."

“Who says otherwise?” Van Ku shook his head.

The next moment, he and BABY5 stopped in their tracks and leaped away to dodge the claws of a giant lion with nine heads in front of them, as well as the vines attacking from behind.

"Transformation - Giant Cannon!"

"Fanku Killing Fist!"

The cannons and fists blasted out, their figures passing over the giant lion—whose two heads were shattered, but were rapidly regenerating.

The two no longer communicated, but simply cooperated in battle.

Even now, they have no affection for each other whatsoever.

They are cooperating now only because they know each other's only chance to escape.

"The fleets of the various nations should already be on their way."

BABY5 thought to herself, "As long as I can hold out until then, I'll have a chance to escape."

If they are to wait for this opportunity, the survivors in the forest must unite.

But it is precisely at this moment
"Buzz!"

BABY5 then saw that in the nearby forest, a group of 'knights', their bodies engulfed in flames and riding skeletal warhorses, had already formed ranks.

【Dream Legion - Flame Knight Legion】

All the survivors wore solemn expressions—having survived this long, they all naturally knew what was to come.

These knights will charge at them at great speed, and those who are stabbed will be burned by flames!
But
"Um!?"

The next moment, they were stunned.

Because at this moment, it was very abrupt.

The group of 'fire knights' actually stopped charging.

Then, as if they had received a command, they all retreated into the shadows.

Besides that.
"sieve!"

The vines that had been relentlessly pursuing them also stopped at that moment.

"Woo!"

The centaurs stopped in their tracks, and the harpies, who had been constantly wielding wind blades, also collectively ceased their attacks.

At this moment, the survivors could almost hear an invisible voice giving them orders—training to be temporarily suspended.

Even at this moment, they could see that the forest, which had been tightly closed off, had clearly opened up a passageway in the distance.

"exit!"

So, they didn't care what had happened and rushed straight towards the exit.

In the blink of an eye, they had already rushed out of that terrible forest.

The long-awaited sunshine shone on their faces, almost bringing tears to their eyes.

"They survived!"

Fan Ku couldn't help but sigh.

But only a moment later.

"Um!?"

They discovered something unusual.

Of course, this anomaly did not originate from the terrifying forest behind them.

Instead, it originated from the sky not far away.

From the sky, they could clearly see a figure, seemingly flying.

And behind him, what supports his flight, seems to be...
"A flower?"

At the same time, in the center of the forest.

Inside the giant ram's head mask, Wei Yang's gaze was also fixed on the sky not far away.

"That's something I didn't expect."

There was a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Yes.

Just as BABY5 and the others thought—Wei Yang didn't really take these intruders who entered the island seriously.

For him, these people served only two purposes.

One
[Analyzed Devil Fruits: Weapon Fruit, Jacket Fruit, Boom-Boom Fruit]

He had already obtained all the Devil Fruit abilities possessed by the Devil Fruit users among them.

After all, his body is an island, and anyone who sets foot on this island will naturally have their fruit analyzed by him.

Besides the fruit's abilities.

He did indeed have the idea of ​​letting these uninvited guests train his 'Dream Legion'.

But he didn't expect
"He actually came."

Looking at the figure in the sky, Wei Yang became slightly solemn.

This is also why he made the dream creatures stop attacking.

"Although I have stored up a lot of life essence, if I let a lesser dream creature fight that guy, the losses will definitely be too great."

The life essence he had painstakingly collected was crucial to his upcoming plan, and he didn't want to waste it on something like this.

But then again
"This guy's abilities might be able to solve the problem of vital energy."

Wei Yang murmured softly, deep in thought.

"But other countries' fleets are arriving soon—we must get rid of this guy before they arrive. Hmm?"

Upon thinking of this, he seemed to realize something else and immediately looked in another direction on the island.

He realized that another old acquaintance... had also just returned at that moment.

The Sheep raised an eyebrow, and then...
"That's quite a coincidence."

A slight smile appeared on his lips.

　1.14 words updated today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)