One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 171 That betrayal was worthwhile.

Shadows are a common element in all things.

Whether it's stones, flowers, grass, or flowing water—everything has a shadow.

The shadow of a living being possesses power; it is a reflection of spirituality, vitality, and mental strength, a unique 'other side of the soul' of each living being.

And as it should be.

As a 'perfect copy,' the fox-tail clone created by the 'Thousand Faces Nine-Tailed Fruit,' which can even copy Devil Fruit abilities, will naturally have its own 'shadow.'

That was exactly the scene Wang Zhi was seeing at that moment.

After blocking his attack, the nine 'Shadow Mages' beside the dog and his eight fox-tail clones slowly transformed.

Their bodies were compressed in an instant, then gradually transformed into a pitch-black shadow ball, which landed in the hands of their respective owners.

then
The dog and its eight fox-tailed clones swallowed the shadow balls whole without hesitation.

【Shadow Gathering Place - Ninefold Devouring】

"boom!"

The next moment, the immense power contained within their surging aura burst forth from their bodies.

The immense power boost, equivalent to that of two hundred shadows, appeared simultaneously on the dog and the eight fox-tailed clones at this moment.

then
"boom!"

The next instant, Wang Zhi was horrified to discover that, apart from the dog, the other eight clones vanished instantly with a loud sonic boom.

"So fast!"

Wang Zhi almost instinctively exclaimed in his heart—this speed is more than twice or even three times faster than before!
But his reaction was also extremely fast.

"Zi Ziwen·Yu Shou!"

"Free-flowing words, five senses!"

He immediately wrote four characters on his body.

The next moment, his five senses were greatly enhanced, allowing him to clearly hear the surging wind coming from his side!

"boom!"

'Katakuri', the fist is already upon us.

"boom!"

His fist suddenly slammed into Wang Zhi's body, producing a piercing sound like metal clashing.

"Uh!"

Even though Wang Zhi had cast a spell on himself to make his body as hard as steel, he couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

"My strength has also increased."

Wang Zhi was horrified.

"Free-flowing words - Thunder!"

Without hesitation, he continued to write a character in the air, and a burst of thunderous lightning surged forth, attempting to repel 'Katakuri'.

But
"Buzz!"

At that very moment, he saw the 'books' and 'mirror' that had appeared before him.

"Boom!"

A deafening bolt of lightning shot into the book and the mirror, engulfing them completely.

Those are the abilities of 'Charlotte Montort' and 'Charlotte Brûlée'.

And it was at this very moment
"Buzz!"

Katakuri's fist, which had transformed into glutinous rice, had already wrapped around him.

at the same time
"bake!"

Flames roared, steam exploded, and a torrent of slashes came from behind—it was Owen, Dafu, and Smoothie.

"boom!"

The fists roared, the sugar syrup flowed, and the sharp cookie drill came flying forward—it was 'Counter', 'Perospero', and 'Cracker'.

The aura and abilities emanating from them now are on a completely different level from before!
"We must liberate another part!"

Then, Wang Zhi gritted his teeth.

His armor dented again at a visible speed, and his life force weakened once more.

But as a price, the words 'amulet' engraved on his body seemed to shine even brighter at this moment.

【Free-flowing characters - Enhanced protection】

At the same time, Wang Zhi activated one of the martial arts techniques he had learned in the past.
"Steel Qigong - Iron Bridge!"

His body hardened again instantly.

"Boom!"

Moments later, the fists and slashes of numerous fox-tail clones struck Wang Zhi instantly.

The immense power caused the ground where Wang Zhi stood to crack inch by inch—the slashes flew far and wide, and flames burned everything in their path.

"click"

But at this moment, even though the whole body was making a 'creaking' sound like steel being bent.

But Wang Zhi did not fall even when surrounded by those eight men.

"We barely managed to defend against it."

But just as he gritted his teeth, looked at the eight people around him, and was about to make his move,
"!!!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a scene that horrified him.

Because at this moment, apart from the eight fox-tailed clones...

The figure of the Dog (戌狗) itself also moved at this moment.

"boom!"

He took one step forward.

Those icy, piercing fox eyes slowly rose in Wang Zhi's gaze—his figure began to grow larger and taller as if inflating.

From his hands, the figure of Napoleon in the tricorn hat appeared.

"Boom!"

Zeus, the thundercloud, drifted by.

"bake!"

The sun Prometheus orbits around.

Yes—in just a moment, he had become 'BIGMOM'.

【Nine-Tailed Transformation: Charlotte Linlin】

"So it was you."

Seeing this, Wang Zhi naturally understood.

At the very beginning of the battle, the one who delivered that heavy blow to him was none other than the true form of the dog.

But the difference lies in...
The dog that year transformed into a weaker version of an old woman.

But now, after consuming the shadow, the form he transforms into is still not the same as the old lady in her prime.

However, neither its aura nor its momentum can be compared to what it was just now.

And the most terrifying thing is...
"I can't move."

At this moment, Wang Zhi had already discovered the opponent's true purpose—although he had blocked the attack of the eight fox-tailed clones, they had also firmly restrained his body, making him unable to move.

"sky!"

"on!"

"fire!"

At that moment, the sound resounded again and again—countless 'aunties' appeared out of thin air around Wang Zhi.

They each raised their hands, tearing flames from Prometheus in the sky and attaching them to Napoleon in their hands.

then
"Elbaf Spear - Flame of Might!" Without warning, a massive sword, carrying a terrifying slash, came crashing down from all directions.

The figures of several fox-tailed clones vanished in an instant.

[Mirage Fruit LV5: Allows you to swap positions with phantoms within the mirage at any time]

But Wang Zhi, who had finally broken free of his restraints, had no chance to dodge—no, or to be precise, he had no idea which attack to dodge.

At that moment, Wang Zhi's teeth were clenched so tightly they were clicking.

But faced with that terrifying slash, he knew he only had one choice.

"Power. Unleash it completely!"

With a low growl, the slash was already upon him.

The next moment.

"Boom!"

The violent slash caused the entire mirror world to shake violently.

The earth was instantly torn apart by the powerful slash, the ground was lifted up, and the surrounding mirrors shattered in an instant. The powerful shockwaves and flames spread outwards in layers, almost piercing through everything in their path.

"."

Upon seeing this, even the dog who delivered the attack turned serious.

"As expected of the power of Big Mom."

Yes.

Even just the effect achieved by copying and then combining it with 'Shadow Gathering Place'.

The power of BIGMOM that he replicated was so overwhelming that it could be described as devastating.

It is conceivable that if it were the actual body of one of the Four Emperors, the power of this attack would likely be even greater.

Of course, this brief moment of reflection...

The dog's gaze remained firmly fixed on the center of the attack.

Between that single strike that almost pierced the entire 'Mirror World'.

He could clearly see that at the center of the bombardment, a figure was still standing stubbornly amidst the flames.

【water】

The flowing water characters were extinguishing the flames from the scorching black spots on his body.

【shield】

The numerous 'shield' characters encircling the ground, along with the massive shields that had been pierced through, demonstrated his timely defensive maneuver.

That's Wang Zhi.

But obviously.

The current Wang Zhi is completely different from the one he was just moments ago.

Because at this moment, his close-fitting black armor, which had covered his entire body and withstood numerous attacks, had been completely knocked off.

As the armor disappeared, the dog was able to see the body that the other party had revealed.

It was a horrifying sight.

All that could be seen on Wang Zhi's body was a putrid gray color, except for his head.

Large swaths of muscle tissue had long since atrophied and decayed, leaving only a layer of leather clinging tightly to the bone, revealing the stark white skeleton beneath.

His body seemed to be dead long ago, and even now it could be clearly seen that it was decaying at an extremely rapid rate.

Meanwhile, the Dog (戌) can be clearly seen.

On Wang Zhi's armor that had been shot down, lines of text were clearly disappearing.

[More][More][More][More][More].

In the end, only one word remained in the area of his heart.

【live】

"I see."

Seeing this, the Dog (戌狗) understood everything completely.

"You were supposed to die long ago, you've only managed to survive this long thanks to your abilities?"

Yes.

During those attacks, Xu Gou had naturally noticed Wang Zhi's abnormal physical condition—each time he unleashed a stronger power, his vitality would decline, and even his domineering aura would weaken.

And now, the answer is clearly right in front of us.

Wang Zhi was already on his deathbed.

His body, even in essence, seemed to be dead.

He barely managed to keep his body from decaying by creating a suit of armor through his own abilities, and his life was sustained only by the "living" function in his heart.

Therefore, although he displayed powerful martial arts skills at the beginning of the battle, he gave the impression of being weak overall, which was completely inconsistent with his seniority.

Besides, his strange vitality is easy to explain—he was just forcibly prolonging his life with his abilities, so he probably wouldn't feel anything even if he suffered a little damage.

This also answers a question that the Dog (戌狗) had had ever had since meeting Wang Zhi.

It's important to know that in the original story, Wang Zhi was defeated and killed by Blackbeard 'Teach'.

As is well known, after obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit, Blackbeard mastered the method of obtaining other people's Devil Fruit abilities by using their corpses.

It should be noted that although Wang Zhi was limited by his physical condition and could not fully utilize the power of the 'Writing Fruit'.

But even from that fleeting glimpse, it's clear that the fruit's effects are undoubtedly top-notch and comprehensive.

Blackbeard would definitely keep this fruit no matter what, even if he doesn't eat it himself, he could give it to his subordinates.

However, none of the Blackbeard Pirates in the original story possessed the power of this fruit.

Now, the Dog knows the answer.

"Blackbeard's ability to steal other people's Devil Fruits, judging from his stealing of Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, requires at least a complete corpse, or even a 'fresh corpse' that has just died."

But given Wang Zhi's current state, he will likely die when he turns to ashes.

It's not surprising that Blackbeard couldn't take away his power.

But then again.

"Living like this is more painful than death, isn't it?"

Looking at Wang Zhi's posture, Xu Gou couldn't help but click his tongue.

"Heh heh. What do you know?"

At this moment, Wang Zhi's bloodshot and cloudy eyes were fixed on Xu Gou.

“If it weren’t for the fact that two-thirds of my abilities are needed to maintain the ‘King’s Armor,’ I would have killed you long ago.”

He spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Why did you come to me at a time like this? Why are you so strong?"

"You piece of trash!"

His chest heaved violently.